The Holy Spirit has recently been speaking to me from the life of Abraham, in Romans 4 he is called the "father of us all" because he lead the way in believing God's promise against impossible conditions. This phrase in Romans 4:18 stood out to me, "In hope against hope he believed...". As I looked into the commentaries it seems that there was a war going on within Abraham between natural hope (in he and Sarah's own ability to conceive a child) and the supernatural hope (God's ability to bring His promise to fruition despite no hope in the natural). There were two dynamics happening within Abraham his hope in he and Sarah bringing the child to fruition was dying (natural realm) and yet God had been working in Abraham to believe more and more in God's ability to do the impossible (supernatural realm). Could it be that Abraham had to come to the end of his hope, so he could receive this gift of hope that was solely rooted in God's power to bring about what He had promised? This is a crisis of hope. Abraham had a choice though, he could have kept pursuing natural hope beyond Hagar (and then Ishmael) to another natural way but he gave up. This is often the point in our lives when despair sets in, since hopelessness set in and takes the dream away. The promise and dream in my heart have been to know the Father's Love and bring many into the reality of the Father's Love for them. As I face my own crisis of hope, realizing that I have come to the end of my own hope to see this happen there is a new hope and faith arising within my heart. The genesis of this hope is not in my own ability, striving, or attempts to must faith but an assurance of His ability to do what He says He will do. At one point when my hope was thin, the Holy Spirit spoke to me saying "Jesus came to make a way to the Father, did He fail?". If you are the author of your own hope, then there will be a time it will fail but if God is the author of the hope that you carry then it is unshakeable. The Holy Spirit asked me another question about 1 1/2 years ago when I was in Toronto, He said "You have never asked Me what My purpose was in your father's death." I realized I was so seeking to heal from this deep wound in my life, walking through the daily struggles that I had seen from God's heavenly perspective. The perspective that comes from being "seated in Christ in heavenly places" is a whole new realm of seeing versus being under our circumstances, season, or difficulty. A growing understanding was coming that Father loves to take the weak things of the world and glorify who He is and that my carrying the Father's love had everything to do with His purpose and not just my healing. In His Hope, Bret
As many attended "Kingdom Foundations: A school of healing and impartation" I was stunned by the Lord highlighting one session on Open Heavens. Many don't understand the concept of an Open Heaven and think it is some charismatic thing for the super-elite Christian, hype, or a scam. Yet could it be that Biblically the foundation of an open heaven was all the way back with Jacob when he had an encounter with the Lord where there was a ladder with angels ascending and descending from heaven.
In our world we have a fascination with the supernatural but seem to quickly lose the truth of how the Bible clearly describes the heavenly realm and also many TV shows are currently obsessed with the supernatural but mainly the dark and demonic side. Genesis 28:12 describes this encounter this way, "And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it." Many people throughout the Old and New Testament have had encounters with angels, yet in our secular society that tends to only look at the physical realm angels are often relegated to cupid looking creatures that shoot love arrows at their victims. While I would say that I had a mental ascent that angels are real and certainly are Biblical, they still seamed almost unnecessary in my heart of hearts. As Randy Clark talked about the actual partnering with the angelic realm and their profound impact on ministry and miracles, I began to realize that my attitude about angels needed some adjustment. Also the concept of the heavens being opened up by the the Father over Jesus the Son of God and then never closing seemed like a nice sentiment for Jesus but not really important to me. Amazing how our unbelief can be arrogant as repentance (change of mind) occurs and we have revelation of the truth. In John 1:51 Jesus claims to be the ladder between heaven and earth by the title "Son of Man", "And He said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see the heavens opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.” Many believers do not understand the covenant and Jesus Christ and simply believe this was for Jesus but has no relevance for us today, whereas an understanding of covenant brings revelation that Jesus is the representative for all regenerated people. Thus when the heavens were opened over Jesus they were opened over every born again believer who has been placed "in Christ". Jesus throughout His life and ministry had the assistance of angels to minister to Him, to strengthen Him during times of weakness (the desert and Gethsemane), to make a way for Him (Gabriel's appearance to Joseph and Mary), and angels had an important role in Jesus resurrection. We are told in Hebrews 1:14 that angels have a special role to serve those who will inherit salvation (redeemed people). Could it be that out of Father's love (His Nature) we are given angels to assist us in carrying out His will on the earth, just as Jesus was on the Father's mission of bringing the Kingdom of heaven to earth. Yet I believe this is a subject where there is not only a lot of mystery but also much deception, delusion, and distortion. Hollywood Horror films seem to be hell-bent on using the supernatural to bring nightmares to the big screen. Many conjure up the mental picture of the "Exorcist" with the demon -possessed woman's head spinning. Under an Open Heaven, Bret
