Stairway to Heaven
The other night I found myself once again at 2 in the morning up and praying. As I would finish a prayer it streamed into another and another and soon I saw a vision in my minds eye. It wasn't visible as in an open vision but I knew this was the Holy Spirit sharing something important.
I saw stairs with children filing upward. There were lamp posts along the way and at the top a doorway with the brightest light shining through. The children, I knew, were not dying and entering heaven....they were going to meet their heavenly Father. Soon the door began closing and the lamp posts went dark. I couldn't see the children anymore but I knew they had to be there. I asked God what he was showing me. I asked God why He shut the door and dimmed the lights. My heart heard, "I didn't." And then I realized that we were the lamp posts and we led the children to their Father. We meaning, the body of Christ.
I began crying with great sadness as I realized that many within the Body of Christ have learned about God, yet never met their Abba Daddy. 2 Cor. 6:18 They haven't yet realized the fullness of what it means to be a son and daughter of Father God. We can have the desire to help the hurting and we can even move into action but if we haven't ourselves joined in relationship with Him, it's quite difficult to bring others to Him. We become like the Israelites wandering around in the desert.
May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you (Father God) sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. 24"Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world. 25"Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. John 17:23-25
If we have met judgment when we needed mercy, if we've been kicked when we needed a hug, if we have been lied to, abused, used and discarded on earth and if those who were to protect us were themselves a part of our pain, it can be quite difficult to imagine a Daddy in Heaven who could love us. The orphan does not know to whom they belong. How many within the Body does not know that not only did Jesus come to die for their sins, but also to have intimate, personal relationship with a living and true Father God who has loved them from before their conception.
How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 1 John 3:1
Ministering to the orphan, is not just about physical rescue or adoption in the usual sense of the word, but it means we ourselves have met the Father and we are the lamp posts who stand at the doorway. As we walk in intimacy with Him, receiving his comfort, his love, his mercy and flow in his grace, we can extend it. Not because we are talented, but because we have received Him. You give what you have received!
3Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, 4who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. 2 Cor. 1:2-4
Our lights grow dim if we rely on flesh or move in wrong motives or fear. (Perfect love casts out fear.) But if we walk in our spirit of sonship, receiving His love, we are promised His blessings. It's a great exchange. He takes the pain, We receive his fullness. That fullness IS OUR LIGHT! It leads others to Him. That's orphan ministry.
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. Ephesians 1:3
I saw stairs with children filing upward. There were lamp posts along the way and at the top a doorway with the brightest light shining through. The children, I knew, were not dying and entering heaven....they were going to meet their heavenly Father. Soon the door began closing and the lamp posts went dark. I couldn't see the children anymore but I knew they had to be there. I asked God what he was showing me. I asked God why He shut the door and dimmed the lights. My heart heard, "I didn't." And then I realized that we were the lamp posts and we led the children to their Father. We meaning, the body of Christ.
I began crying with great sadness as I realized that many within the Body of Christ have learned about God, yet never met their Abba Daddy. 2 Cor. 6:18 They haven't yet realized the fullness of what it means to be a son and daughter of Father God. We can have the desire to help the hurting and we can even move into action but if we haven't ourselves joined in relationship with Him, it's quite difficult to bring others to Him. We become like the Israelites wandering around in the desert.
May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you (Father God) sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. 24"Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world. 25"Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. John 17:23-25
If we have met judgment when we needed mercy, if we've been kicked when we needed a hug, if we have been lied to, abused, used and discarded on earth and if those who were to protect us were themselves a part of our pain, it can be quite difficult to imagine a Daddy in Heaven who could love us. The orphan does not know to whom they belong. How many within the Body does not know that not only did Jesus come to die for their sins, but also to have intimate, personal relationship with a living and true Father God who has loved them from before their conception.
How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 1 John 3:1
Ministering to the orphan, is not just about physical rescue or adoption in the usual sense of the word, but it means we ourselves have met the Father and we are the lamp posts who stand at the doorway. As we walk in intimacy with Him, receiving his comfort, his love, his mercy and flow in his grace, we can extend it. Not because we are talented, but because we have received Him. You give what you have received!
3Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, 4who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. 2 Cor. 1:2-4
Our lights grow dim if we rely on flesh or move in wrong motives or fear. (Perfect love casts out fear.) But if we walk in our spirit of sonship, receiving His love, we are promised His blessings. It's a great exchange. He takes the pain, We receive his fullness. That fullness IS OUR LIGHT! It leads others to Him. That's orphan ministry.
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. Ephesians 1:3
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