John 3:16
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
Whoever believes in Jesus, God's one and only Son, shall not perish but have eternal life. "Eternal life" it says. Our human bodies do not have eternal life. They die and eventually go back to dust. So how can we have eternal life without a body? For one reason only, we are Spirit also. The only way that we can have eternal life as a believer of Jesus Christ is with our Spirit. We have eternal life in our Spirit. You have a spirit. You are Spirit. You were made in the likeness of God. God is Spirit.
Genesis 1:27
So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.
As a believer you posses the Holy Spirit promised to you by Jesus. For Christians this human physical house carries in it our spirit and the Spirit of God. When your body has stopped housing your time on earth, your Spirit lives on. You are Spirit. This study explains the Spirit of you. There is a body me and a Spirit me. Now let's go to John and see him in the Spirit to get a better idea of how our spirit works.
Revelation 1:9-11
I, John, your brother and companion in the suffering and kingdom and patient endurance that are ours in Jesus, was on the island of Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. On the Lord's Day I was in the Spirit, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet, which said: "Write on a scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea."
Revelation 1:10 King James Version
I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet,
John was on the island of Patmos for preaching the Gospel. While on this island, he tells us that one day he was "in the Spirit" and heard a loud voice. This voice told him to write down what he saw and send it to seven churches. John says that he was in the Spirit. John did not visualize the book of Revelation based on a mental image given to him. He did not create a mental image from a story that was told to him. He wrote what he saw. Jesus told him to write what he saw.
Revelation 1:19
Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter;
Throughout the entire book of Revelation John writes, "I saw."
Revelation
- Revelation 1:17 And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. (When he saw Jesus.)
- Revelation 4:1 After this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven.
- Revelation 5:1 Then I saw in the right hand of him who sat on the throne a scroll...
- Revelation 6:1 I watched as the Lamb opened the first of the seven seals. Then I heard one of the four living creatures say in a voice like thunder, "Come!"
- Revelation 7:1 After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth,...
- Revelation 8:2 And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and to them were given seven trumpets.
- Revelation 9:1 The fifth angel sounded his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen from the sky to the earth.
- Revelation 10:1 Then I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven
- Check out Revelation chapter 11. Revelation 11:1 says, "I was given a reed like a measuring rod and was told, "Go and measure the temple of God and the altar, and count the worshipers there." John was given something and ordered what to do with it. John was in the Spirit. He was not visualizing anything an angel or Jesus told him. He was there.
- Revelation 12:10 Then I heard a loud voice in heaven...
- Revelation 13: 1 And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw...
- Revelation 14:1 Then I looked...
- Revelation 15:1 I saw in heaven another great and marvelous sign...
- Revelation 16:1 Then I heard a loud voice from the temple...
- Revelation 17:3 Then the angel carried me away in the Spirit into a desert. There I saw a woman...
- Revelation 18:1 After this I saw another angel coming down from heaven.
- Revelation 19:1 After this I heard what sounded like the roar of a great multitude in heaven shouting: "Hallelujah!
- Revelation 20:1 And I saw an angel coming down out of heaven...
- Revelation 21:1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth...
- Revelation 22:1 Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb
On the Lord's Day I was in the Spirit, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet,
Did John say "On the Lord's Day I had a vision"? He did not. I do not know with absolute conviction that it was not a vision but I do believe with all my heart it was at the very least a vision of spiritual proportions. I just want you to
open your mind to your spiritual self and to John's spiritual self.
If you believe God and his Word you must believe there is a world of spirituality. You must believe in heaven and a spiritual realm. You must believe that "the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters" at the time of creation. You must believe that John the Baptist saw "the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him." The Spirit remained on Jesus. As a Christian believer in the Word of God, you must choose to believe in the Spirit of God. There is Spirit. We Christians are made in the image of God. We are given the Holy Spirit. Jesus said, "I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you" in John 14:18. This is his promise to us to send the Holy Spirit to us. This became available to mankind at Pentecost when Jesus had gone to heaven to join the Father.
If you believe God, if you believe his words in the Bible - you must believe that He is Spirit and you are Spirit. You have more parts to you than that, but the Spirit is one of your parts. Got it? I hope so because learning this part of your being is going to change a lot of things for you. Believing you are body, mind and spirit is key to improving your prayer life and your time at the throne of grace. Knowing that you truly are Spirit as well as body and soul can take you places you didn't realize possible.
We will start with John in Revelation chapter 1 and his time in the Spirit to understand that we can do more than imagine the throne of grace, we can be there. It may sound awfully astounding or impossible. It is worth a try at least. It can certainly turn your imagination wheels in high gear to really stretch to see the throne. But quite possibly you could open up enough to let God help you use your Spirit and it's vision.
I want to call this part of the Bible series, "The Spirit Me." We are still moving forward to the throne of grace, but God is giving us a fantastic opportunity to move from visualization of his throne to actual spiritual vision of it. Don't freak out on me ladies. I have not lost it over here. I really feel this is God's leading for us now. I could never be so bold to write this with such confident expectation without the Lord moving my hand on paper. This is as new to me as it is to you. I have little experience in Spiritual vision, only once that I can remember. This writing from God may just confirm that what I saw a few years ago was indeed through my spiritual vision. With that told, trust me even the slightest, quickest, faintest spiritual vision or view can turn your fears away, increase your faith beyond measure and grow your heart for God larger than ever.
Please trust me ladies and take this ride. What is the worst thing that could happen? You could try to open your mind beyond the physical and find you may not be ready yet. What is the best thing that could happen? You could step closer to God.
Revelation is revealing. It is not intended to put fear in Christians. Ladies we are not going into an exploration of Revelation. We are just looking at the throne of God and learning how to see with our spiritual vision. So don't be concerned, we are only touching the beginning of Revelation - no serious study of the book.
Revelation 1:10-12
On the Lord's Day I was in the Spirit, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet, which said: "Write on a scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea." I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned I saw seven golden lampstands,
John said "I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me." Notice that John while "in the Spirit" heard a loud voice like a trumpet then turned to see who was speaking. Did this loud voice like a trumpet frighten John? I don't think so. He turned to see the voice. He didn't drop to the ground in fear at this voice. He did not run away at this sound. He turned to see who it was speaking to him. Don't feel fearful or hesitant to open your spiritual eyes or ears. God does not need to take you in the Spirit like He did with John. Revelation is written and finished. Your spiritual vision and hopefully time at the throne of grace will be a time of blessing. God does not need to rewrite Revelation. We can read it for ourselves. God wants us to approach the throne of grace to do what? Receive mercy and find grace - unlimited blessings, unconditional love and compassion. That is what we can look forward to in our spiritual vision and approach to the throne of grace. But we can learn from John in the Spirit.
When John heard this loud voice like a trumpet, he did not hesitate. John did not stop and say, "What was that?" John did not stop and wonder if he should turn to it. At least I don't think that he did. But I do know according to Revelation 1:12 he turned around to see the voice that was speaking.
Step #1 to opening your spiritual vision (and remember this will take us closer to the throne of grace more easily):
1. When you hear a voice speaking to you - whether soft in your head, loud in your head, while reading the Bible in a verse or between a verse, while meditating or praying, maybe even an audible voice (all things are possilbe with God) - recognize it.
When you hear a voice, know it is speaking to you. If you hear it and you are alone with God in prayer, meditation or reading - it is speaking to you! Recognize that a voice is speaking to you. Are you in the Spirit like John? Maybe, maybe not. You are part Spirit, so you could be! That is not the important thing now. If you are alone with God (spending time with Him somehow) and you hear a voice (not a human), acknowledge it. Acknowledge it like John did. John did not ignore it. John did not ignore it and hope it would go away. John did not ignore it because he feared he might be hearing things or was crazy.
When you hear a voice be aware of it. Don't ignore it. Don't assume you are hearing things. It is not as if you don't hear voices all day right in your head - your voices. You recognize them as real. Acknowledge the voice. John acknowledged the voice by turning to see it. You can acknowledge a voice also by not dismissing it as unreal or your imagination.
#1 When you hear a voice while with God - recognize it as a voice.
When you hear a voice while in the presence of God - recognize it as a voice.
That's not hard. In fact it sounds logical. I did not even ask you to recognize the voice as the voice of God. Simply said if you hear a voice while spending time with God doing anything (prayer, meditation, studying the Bible, reading the Bible, listening to a teaching, reading a teaching -maybe this one- or in church...) simply recognize and acknowledge that you heard a voice.
One more time, this week spend time with God in any way, shape, form or fashion you choose and in any place you choose. This week while spending time with God anyway you want, if you hear a voice inside you or outside you (you never know) - simply say, "I heard a voice." Say, "I really did hear a voice and I acknowledge it." To acknowledge that you hear something, anything while in the presence of God says to God
"I accept that I am a spiritual being as well as physical and have the ability to hear you God." God is with us always. When I say "in the presence of God" I mean when you are sincerely making an effort to speak to Him, hear Him or learn from his Word. So any effort at all that you make to be with God counts. When you spend time with God if for only a couple of minutes here or there throughout your day, listen. If you hear a voice, recognize it as a voice. I did not say recognize it as God's voice, just a voice. You may even think it is your voice. That does not matter. Recognize it as a voice. It is that easy. Please remember to do this so that God can bless you for your efforts and show you that He is taking you somewhere very special in these lessons on "The Spirit Me."
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