'TO SEE AND BE SEEN" (A Prophetic Insight)

Over the last week at our church there has been a lot of preaching/teaching on the difference between the natural man and the spirit man.   The natural man being the result of a man and woman (our fathers and mothers) coming together physically; and the spirit man being created by God before the foundations of the earth.   Our pastor, Tony Boyd, has been greatly anointed as he has taught on this subject the last two times he has preached.  About a week ago I had the chance to teach on what it not only means to be a son or daughter of God, but what some of our God given rights are by being His son or daughter.  At the time I spoke a bit about the spirit man and without the slightest hint of what Tony was going to be preaching on the following Sunday, and again tonight.  The Holy Spirit did though, and I love it when He puts things like this together.  (By the way, if you are ever in Geneva, Ohio, be sure to visit us at "The City."  We are experiencing the Lord in incredible ways!)

Ephesians is one of my favorite books of the Bible.  I have found it both mysterious and intriguing. It really introduces and addresses who and what the spirit man truly is before God and Jesus.  Within Ephesians I have many favorite verses.  A couple of them are found in Ephesians 2.  In verse 5 we see that we (the believers) have been made alive together with Christ and verse 6 follows it by telling us that we have been raised up together and made to "sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus."  

Now as for me I can tell you that the body of the person that I see when I look in the mirror has never sat down with Jesus in heavenly places. Yet when I read the Bible and specifically passages such as Ephesians 5 & 6, I have no other choice but to believe that yes I have.  At least if I take the scripture literally.  I love the mysteries of the Word of God.  Mysteries that God, by the way wants to reveal to us.

I posted the following vision back in 2010.  It is a vision that God allowed my great friend and brother to see while he was praying in his church.  Larry is a man who loves Jesus deeply and is a man of integrity.  He is passionate about prayer and the Word.  I would trust him with my life and he has spoken into my life many times.  I tell you this not to puff him up, but so hopefully you will understand that he is not a baby Christian, nor is he blown around by whims and emotion.  When Larry has a vision, or a word from the Lord, he can be trusted.  I hope his vision helps you to better understand the difference between our natural man and our spirit man.  I'm going to drink a nice, cold glass of sweet tea now.  You should go get something for yourself, too, so that we can relax and take our time as we read................................

To See and Be Seen................. Saturday, 5-22-10

During Wednesday prayer time the Holy Spirit spoke this phrase into my spirit- "to see and be seen."

Saturday morning, while I was alone at the church in prayer, I was laying on my face asking Jesus to show me the Father and to help me understand the phrase"to see and be seen". As I was asking Jesus to see the Father I felt that He took me by the hand and started leading me toward a large red curtain. As we walked I became younger and younger to the point that when we got to the curtain I was a small child and He was holding me in His arms. As we went through the curtain I knew that we had just passed through the blood of Jesus and had entered the throne room of the Father.


As Jesus took me over close to the Father I had now become a small baby, but was very aware of my surroundings. Jesus then laid me before the Father. I just looked at the Father's eyes. I then saw a large warrior standing to the right of the Father and watching both of us with great intensity. Without a word from me the Father spoke and said "welcome, this warrior is you,and you are always in My presence in the spirit realm." I knew immediately that I had just become aware for the first time of who I was in the spirit. I actually was seeing my spirit being standing next to the Father and I was amazed at how focused he was.

I then understood that the baby I had become in the presence of the Father represented everything I was in the flesh. I was being shown that even though I am a full-grown man on earth, in heaven this fleshly person has only the wisdom and maturity of a small baby. I then knew that for me to make decisions based on my human knowledge and wisdom was equivalent to this small baby trying to tell this mighty warrior about anything. I knew that this warrior was who I was created to be from the moment of conception and that this was how the Father always saw me. I also knew that this warrior was not complete but, even though he already appeared as a valiant warrior, he was still in the process of being transformed into the full image of Jesus. I then began to cry out for the Spirit to not only transform me so that I would always remember who I was in the spirit and quit walking according to the flesh, but to also transform this warrior into the full image of my Lord & King Jesus.

The Spirit spoke to me and said that my spirit man was always in the Father's presence and as He said this I began to feel the great intensity of my spirit, this warrior, waiting to hear anything that the Father would say or even think. It was bread for my spirit man to consume. As this mighty warrior I stood by the Father desiring Him to speak a word, think a thought, or give a command as any of these from Him would feed me. I just kept crying out to the Father for more of His commands so that I could be fed. I now understood better the verse "man shall not live by bread alone,but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God". And "I have meat to eat that ye know not of...my meat is to do the will of Him that sent me,and to finish His work." I then asked the Father if He would also show me Ginger's (my wife's) spirit. As soon as I had spoken this, I saw the most beautiful woman coming toward the Father. She was reclining on what looked like a mist of cloud and was several feet off the ground. I immediately knew that this was my wife in the spirit. She would come close to the Father and then move away as if just wondering around the throne room. I watched the Father's eyes as He watched her with great compassion and joy. It was like a young child being observed by their parent as they rode a bicycle past them several times. The Father was so enjoying just watching His child. Ginger would come close and then move away and just continued to relax in His presence and do this. The only time she changed positions was when we began to worship the Father, then she would come as close as possible to Him and get on her knees with her head bowed. You could tell that this was what she loved.

As I continued to observe this warrior (me) standing and communing with the Father I knew that this was the Spirit teaching me how to first see the kingdom as a little child, so that I could then be seen as I truly am in the spirit. I realized that the man I thought I was on earth was nothing compared to who I truly was in heaven. I am truly seated in heavenly places in Christ Jesus (Eph. 2:6). Each of us needs to first see the kingdom so that we can be seen as we truly are. I now want to see every Christian that I meet as they truly are seen in heaven before the Father's throne. I want to know the person in the spirit, not just according to the flesh any more(2 Cor. 5:16).

Sunday morning during worship I felt an unction from the Spirit to go forward and lay before the Lord. I hesitated and the Holy Spirit immediately took me back to the scene with my warrior spirit next to the Father. This time the warrior was laying on his face before the Father and worshiping Him, the only choice is will your soul and flesh yield and join what your spirit man is already doing or will you grieve and fight against your own spirit and this mighty warrior. I immediately went forward and laid on my face before the Father and wept for how many times I must have fought against this mighty warrior that was trying to do everything that pleased the Father, without any hesitation. The Father showed me that when we yield to an unction from the Holy Spirit to do anything, it is simply coming in line with our spirit man that is already doing it. It also gave me understanding of the scripture "But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshipers shall worship the Father" in spirit and in truth."

Later, during prayer time, I began to pray for a financial need I had in my life and again was immediately taken back to this same scene. The warrior was standing next to the Father listening for every word from the Father. I could also understand that because this warrior was in heaven at the throne he had access to all of heaven's resources; healing,deliverance,finances,......everything heaven had was available to him. I then wondered why, if my spirit warrior had access to all of heaven's resources and I was praying for finances, he wasn't going and retrieving the finances for me. The Spirit then spoke to me and said "the spirit man only moves at the will of the Father , not prayers form the soul". I knew that the finances I was praying for were available, but that it wasn't the Father encouraging me to ask for them but just my soul praying out of a need. I knew that when the finances were needed the warrior would hear the Father's command and the resources would be made available. This also made me realize that everything that comes from heaven is from the Father's will and is actually a part of the Father himself, as He is the creator of all things. Anything that gets poured out from heaven is the Father pouring Himself out upon His children (every good and perfect gift). What a blessing to know that if I listen and come in line with my spirit man that I will only respond to the Father's words.

I am now beginning to look to my spirit man much more often. Always watching to see what he is doing and how he is responding to situations. His only place to respond from is before the throne of God. How differently we would respond to every situation if we only became aware that our responses are while we stand before the God of all creation. It's truly amazing how many situations that happen here on earth, and so easily distract the fleshly-side of us, never even got so much as a flinch out of this great warrior. His eyes remained fixed on the Father, waiting for the next piece of food. The things on this earth just are not important compared to what the next morsel of bread is coming from the kingdom.

I hope this vision from my Brother has ministered to you. I hope it has made you also ponder. I especially hope it has made you think about making decisions and walking in the flesh verses walking in the Spirit. I hope you better understand the difference between the natural man and the spiritual man.

God loves you incredibly,
Mark S.

A PARABLE AND A TROUBLED DREAM

Wow, it sure has been awhile since I've written to you.  I hope you've been well!  I always hope that you find my thoughts to be written to you as a personal letter and not something just to a group of people.  You are important to God.  God loves you and He is on your side and rooting for you, especially when you desire to follow Him and the teachings of Jesus.  I can back that up with scripture, too.

If you've been around for awhile, you know that I really try to be positive and encouraging.  Today may look a little different on the surface.  I do believe that this will be a warning to someone, but I hope that in the long run this can offer some encouragement as well.  I do have to tell you that I was really shaken by the dream that I will be telling you about.

Also, last night I woke at  2:37 am.  I haven't figured out why yet, but it seemed that the Lord wanted me to take note of the time I woke up and then when I went back to bed at 3:19.  Maybe a scripture, or scriptures?  I'll be praying into that and if God gives you any insight or a word for me as you read this, please leave a comment or send me an email.  Anyway, as I began to read the scriptures I was taken back a little by what seemed to be highlighted to me.

As I've said in previous posts, I believe that 2014 is a year of acceleration pertaining to seeing and experiencing the power of God and His kingdom.  At the same time I believe that we are going to see a separation between those who really desire and dare to follow Jesus and those who are lukewarm with Christ, or even trying to fake their way as being true followers of Jesus.  Along with acceleration, God is also calling for holiness among His people.  An important question would be, where are you at in relation of the two examples I've just given, or are you somewhere in between?

The scripture that the Holy Spirit seemed to hi-light for me last night/early this morning?

"Then Jesus told this story, 'A man planted a fig tree in his garden and came again and again to see if there was any fruit on it, but he was always disappointed.  Finally he said to the gardener, "I've waited three years and there hasn't been a single fig!  Cut it down, it's just taking up space in the garden."  The gardener answered, "Sir,give it one more chance.  Leave it another year and I'll give it special attention and plenty of fertilizer. If we get figs next year, fine.  If not, then you can cut it down."' (Luke 13: 6-9, NLT)

In this parable, Jesus was most likely referring to Israel.  A nation chosen by God that had grown cold towards God and was not producing spiritual fruit, but God is now giving the people one more chance through Jesus Christ.  As I've already said, this will be a year of acceleration.  In fact I've heard  and read of reports and testimonies that speak of some pretty amazing things that have occurred to confirm this.  However, at the same time, I believe God is growing weary of lukewarm churches and people. I believe that this parable is being used as a challenge.  A wake up call.  I don't need to give a talk about the end times.  The Father wants the real deal when it comes to His people.  The battle between good and evil has intensified, both in the natural and in the spiritual.  For those who haven't been producing good fruit, don't take a chance on running out of time to do so.

I mentioned that I had a  recent dream that shook me up.  I woke with a feeling of horror and it caused me to examine my own life and heart.  After being given the parable last night, I feel that it is now time to tell you of this dream also.  It was short, but right to the point.  Something I have avoided until now.

There was an accident with two vehicles involved.  In the one vehicle there was a man who didn't have a scratch or showed any visible signs of injuries.  In the other vehicle, a man who was bloodied and mangled. At first all attention was being given to this man.  Survival appeared hopeless, but yet suddenly this man was sitting up and looking around, even though blood was pouring down his face.  In an instant, all attention shifted to the other man, because suddenly he was collapsing.  Even he seemed shocked that something was wrong.  In seconds he was dead.  By looking at him you would have never known that his internal organs had been so badly crushed that death was certain.  Everyone was surprised.  Before he died, it flashed through this man's mind that he was about to die.  He was shocked, but didn't have time to process this because, in a split second his life was over.   Instantly the dream was interpreted to me.  I saw faceless people who carried signs around their necks.  Some of the titles on those signs were.....................Pastor, Priest, Minister, Reverend.  These men of God appeared to have it all together.  They looked like they had the perfect Christian life.  But they were "white washed tombs." They were represented by the man who had died.   I saw all kinds of secret sin and hypocrisy being shown to me.   The day for accountability comes.  The Spirit showed me that those with the secret sins were so infested internally that a death that was visible to on one was imminent.  On the other hand, the ones who appear beaten and lost in an ugly sin infested life, who don't "look" the part of even a "good person", are seen in the man who was mangled in the accident. Though he appears headed for certain death, he recognizes that he is sick and dying, needing help; needing to be saved, and he will be shown mercy, forgiveness and spiritual healing as Jesus is revealed to him.  This one finds life.

When I awoke, I had such a feeling of horror at what I had just seen.  I instantly told the Lord that if there was anything within me that I needed to confront and deal with to bring it to light.  I am not going to add or take anything away from this dream.  I think I need to leave any further meaning to be between the reader and the Lord.  I'm afraid to even ask God to interpret for me what "death" really meant.  Did it really mean that a spiritual death, separation from God was about to take place?  I was and still am afraid to ask the Lord this question...................fearing the answer.

So there you have it.  This man, meaning me, who loves to encourage, talk about grace, the coming kingdom of God and all the excitement that comes with it, has today told you of things that I would rather have not have had to do.  But even though this was against my own nature, the Lord showed me that it was time to do it, and to be honest I fear God more than man.  If I had not shared this, I would be in complete disobedience.  There are a couple of verses  in Jude that I believe apply here. It is very difficult to fully understand the meaning of these verses completely, but I believe they are important to us, especially when we see someone who has fallen so far from God that we become indignant towards them, feeling like they are so far gone that they could never repent, or even be saved in the first place.

.........."keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.  And on some have compassion, making a distinction; but others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire, hating even the garment defiled by flesh."  (Jude 21-23)  

I believe by writing this, there will be someone who was being swallowed up by internal, hidden sin, that will be quickly reawakened, being "snatched back" if you will, into repentance and a renewed commitment to Jesus Christ.

You know that I love you.  I want only the best for you just as God wants the best for you.  May we each renew our love in committing our lives to Jesus.

With a brother's love,
Mark S.