In this study series we have been exploring what the Bible says about the Invisible Spiritual Realm. I pray that the reader will be challenged to explore in depth, the hundreds of references in the Word of God that I am unable to share in this blog. The invisible spiritual realm is more real than the earthly realm, and the supernatural beings who live in this realm are eternal beings, whereby, the physical human being on the earth lives in a temporary existence.
As the apostles of Jesus Christ watched Jesus ascend into Heaven, two angels were sent with a message from God...Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into Heaven?...this same Jesus, who was taken up from you into Heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him into Heaven...Acts 1:11. Two beings, who reside in the invisible spiritual realm, became visible to the apostles so they could give a special message to them from God.
Now the apostles have been sent with the gospel message of Jesus to take it to the utter most parts of the earth - but they began in Jerusalem. One day King Herod had had enough of their harassment, so he killed James, the brother of John, and threw Peter into prison to be killed after the Passover celebration. Peter was bound in chains, between two soldiers, sleeping like a baby...Acts 12:1-6.
An angel of the Lord stood by him, and a light shone in the prison; and he struck Peter on the side and raised him up, saying, Arise quickly!...and his chains fell off his hands...then the angel said to him, Gird yourself and tie on your sandals...put on your garment and follow me...Acts 12:7-8. The angel led Peter past the first & second guard posts without being seen, even the iron gate that leads to the city opened of its own accord, then the angel disappeared...verses 9-10. His mission accomplished.
God has His plans, and to accomplish His plans, He will provide supernatural assistance -- whether or not we see His messengers. Sometimes He will allow us to physically see His messengers, but most time He will not, nonetheless, He does provide assistance to human beings in order to complete His plans and preparations for the return of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the end of the world.
At conception each human being is endowed by God with His plans...My frame was not hidden from You when I was made in secret, and skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth...Your eyes saw my substance being yet unformed and in Your book they all were written...the days fashioned for me, when as yet there were none of them...Ps. 139:15-16.
This reference clearly explains that the days of each human being were planned by God before he physically lived on the earth, confirming how critical it is for us to seek God and His plans and purposes for our existence -- then He can provide supernatural assistance.
I have been sharing some of my experiences in the invisible spiritual realm hoping the reader will realize how normal this is for a Christian. When I was in the 6th grade I received a paper back from a teacher with a grade B written in red with a note: You deserved an A, but your writing held your grade back. I had been criticized for my bad handwriting for years, but no one offered to help me change it -- and I didn't know how. My mother was an artist with beautiful penmanship, but could only find fault saying, "Why don't you do something about your atrocious handwriting?" All I could do was cry!
I was the correspondent in the family writing notes to family members, wanting to keep family together. In those days a telephone call, even local, was so costly most of us wrote letters. Every time I wrote a newsy note to my grandmother, I would receive a tongue lashing the next time I saw her about my illegible handwriting. One day in 1968, I got a phone call from her after she had received a 10-page letter from me. She didn't even ask how I was, but launched right into the purpose of her call, because of the cost, "Just received your long letter. I'm sure it was interesting, if I could have read it -- go back to school and learn how to write legibly." No good bye, she just hung up.
I slipped to the floor in a heap of exasperating tears of helplessness. Sobbing uncontrollably once again over unkind accusations, I cried out, "I don't know what to do! Why are people so mean about something I can do nothing about?!" While still sitting and sobbing on the floor, right before my eyes I saw something unusual. I saw myself sitting at a desk in my second grade classroom. I saw my pigtails with ribbons and a blouse my mother had made - she was a gifted seamstress.
Then I saw the teacher, Mrs. Brown, coming toward me with her usual stern look - she was an angry person. We were being taught cursive, and she had just given the order to put our paper straight on the desk, then copy the cursive figures that were permanently printed on all blackboards. Her handwriting was not good, so she had to use the permanent figures for proper instruction.
By the time she got to my desk she saw that I had turned my paper slightly to the left so that I could get the proper right-slanted angle for proper penmanship. The nails on her fingers were bitten so severely, they looked red & puffy this time as she reached for my paper and jerked it straight, as she yelled out to the class, "I said keep you paper straight on your desk!"
While watching this scene I felt all the emotions that I experienced the day this incident occurred. I was so scared I didn't know what to do. In order to comply with her demand, I turned my right hand to a left slant, which I could accomplish easily while keeping my paper straight. I was transfixed as I watched the scene from my past that clearly showed me the cause of my atrocious hand-writing.
I stopped crying, and didn't move a muscle, for I was mesmerized by this supernatural experience. Then the scene changed. I saw my mother sitting in the living room of the home of my teen years. She was writing a letter. My eyes were drawn to the angle of her writing tablet and the book under it for support. No words were spoken to me, but I innately knew that I was being shown in an instant how to correct my handwriting. I jumped up, found my tablet, pen and a book and sat down on my sofa. I turned the tablet and support book to my left, as I saw my mother do, and turned my hand to a right angle and began to make an "M" over and over.
"Oh my," I thought, "this is amazing." My hand began to ache a bit since it was writing in the opposite direction, but I was so excited, I just added a different letter and practiced it for several rows until I accomplished the whole alphabet. Then I began to write out short sentences to find some consistency. I didn't know what had just happened -- I didn't know this was a vision -- God had intervened. Later I would know to give Him all the glory for my experience in the invisible spiritual realm.
My mother told me that when she received my first letter with my new handwriting, she thought something had happened to me, because it was obvious someone else had addressed the envelope. That's how different and very legible my handwriting was from then on. All my grandmother had to say was, "It's about time I could read your letters."
The Apostle Paul said to Timothy...all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution...II Tim. 3:12. So be prepared when others hurl accusations, insult you or humiliate you -- God is using every experience to draw you into intimacy with Him, preparing you for His invisible heavenly kingdom.
God's sheep question the doctrines of men...sheeple follow without question~~~
The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, and upon those who sat in the region and shadow of death Light has dawned...from that time Jesus began to preach and to say, Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand...Matt. 4:16-17. Jesus Christ is the Light who came to the earth to reconcile sinners to their Creator - Father God in Heaven. The place called Heaven resides in the invisible spiritual realm. Jesus brought Heaven to the earth to reveal this realm to us, while explaining how to get there.
Jesus preached more about the happenings in the invisible spiritual realm than anything else. If we saturate ourselves with the Word of God, our eyes will be opened to this reality. Jesus said...Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven...Matt. 5:3.
What does this mean? Those who are poor in spirit are hungering for spiritual food. Jesus said...I am the Bread of Life...John 6:48. So the poor in spirit who are hungering for intimacy with Jesus Christ, wanting to know Him, will be blessed with the Kingdom of Heaven.
Last week we studied how Daniel sought God earnestly in prayer for the interpretation of his vision...Daniel 10:1-13. God sent an angel to him that gave the appearance of a man, yet, was an angel from the invisible spiritual realm. This angel explained that God's answer to Daniel was impeded by the demonic angels who live in the invisible spiritual realm. Daniel was not shown the demonic angels, but understood what the angel told him. Michael, the archangel, was sent to help fight the demonic angels so that Daniel could finally receive his answer from God.
These events are also written for our benefit in the 21st century. The beings who in the invisible spiritual realm, and all the happenings in this realm, have not changed throughout the ages. Todays believers in Jesus Christ need to understand that more than any other time in history, this realm needs to be understood, because governments around the world are legalizing sin - they are blatantly endorsing pagan religions and immorality -- massive demonic activity is at work.
If the happenings in the invisible spiritual realm haven't changed throughout the ages, what has changed? I believe what has changed is the fact that modern Christians no longer participate in the invisible spiritual realm, because they have educated themselves to trust in the intelligentsia -- the learned theological scholars -- who pooh-pooh the happenings of the invisible spiritual realm. As a whole, the Church no longer embraces or endorses the Great Commission - signs that should follow a believer -- cast out demons, speak with new tongues, and lay hands on the sick so they will recover...Mark 16:14-18.
While I always believed that Jesus died and left the earth to live again in Heaven, I never realized that the invisible spiritual realm was full of non-stop activity -- the concept never entered my mind -- and no one taught me. When we were last together, I began to share an experience I had with this realm, before I understood anything about it. I left you in the middle of my testimony with me standing in front of the car, horrified by what I was seeing through the windshield -- my husband was transforming into a grotesque creature right before my eyes.
I was transfixed by the horrific sight, couldn't move a muscle, while I thought in my mind, "What in the world am I sleeping with?!" I rarely watched horror flicks, because the evil monsters just seemed too real, and I didn't want to fill my mind with those scary sights. But, now I was seeing an evil monster in real time, and didn't know what to do -- this was no movie!
Suddenly he pushed the gear shift into drive, his foot on the brake still, since the car didn't move yet. I was still standing between the car and the wall, but I couldn't move out of the way -- still frozen to the ground. At that moment I heard the voice of my mother coming from my left, where she was standing safely on the front porch. She anxiously pointed and yelled, "Mary Ann, he looks like a demon -- get away from the car, he will run you down!" I realized that she saw what I was seeing. She had no knowledge of demons, nor interest in them, and neither did I. We both knew innately though, we were watching a manifestation of demons in a human being -- just like the man of Gadara in the Bible...Mark 5:1-15.
At the sound of her raised voice, he looked her way, then pulled the gear into reverse, spun the wheels, throwing gravel everywhere, and sped sway. Later we looked out the window and saw that my car had been returned and his truck was gone. Two years later, when I was born again by the Spirit of God, the Bible explained what had happened on this day.
Angels are messengers sent from God to help us accomplish His plans and purposes on the earth. Are there other notable angelic interventions described in the Bible? Stay tuned...
God's sheep question the doctrines of men...sheeple follow without question~~~
In this blog series we are attempting to open our eyes to the abundant activity in the Invisible Spiritual Realm. If we spend time in the Word of God - Bible - and in communion with Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, He will reveal the reality of this realm. I remember one day in the early 70's when my husband snarled through clenched teeth, "I don't have to live, eat and breath Jesus Christ, like you do, to know I will go to Heaven."
And he was right. Repenting of our sins and accepting Jesus Christ as our Savior is the way to Heaven. But this wasn't enough for me - I wanted to know Him intimately - I wanted to know everything about Him - the One who loved me when I couldn't even love myself - the One who died in my place so that I could be reconciled to my Creator. I had a real family now, who accepted me just as I am, and I wanted to know all about them -- God, Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit and the angels - so my passion has been lifelong! Yes, I still live, eat and breath Jesus Christ, and will continue until He sends His angels to bring me to His home in the City of God. The wonderful invisible spiritual realm has become a reality to me.
Daniel the prophet received a vision with esoteric imagery that perplexed him as to its meaning. He sought God in prayer for three weeks for the answer. Suddenly he saw...a certain man clothed in linen, whose waist was girded with gold of Uphaz!...his body was like beryl, his face like the appearance of lightning, his eyes like torches of fire, his arms and feet like burnished bronze in color, and the sound of his words like the voice of a multitude...Daniel 10:5-6.
The hand of this radiant being touched Daniel, who then spoke...O Daniel, man greatly beloved, understand the words that I speak to you, and stand upright, for I have now been sent to you...do not fear, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand, and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard; and I have come because of your words...Daniel 10:10-12.
It is important to note that the moment Daniel began to seek God for the meaning of the esoteric imagery in the vision, God heard Him and sent the answer -- but it took 3 weeks for the answer to reach Daniel. Why did it take so long?
But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days; and behold, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I had been left alone there with the kings of Persia...Dan. 10:13. There is an earthly nation of Persia, and there is a prince(s) in the invisible spiritual realm that presides over this pagan nation. These spiritual rulers are described by the Apostle Paul...for we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places...Eph. 6:12.
Wicked rulers of darkness in the invisible spiritual realm are poised to oppose believers in Jesus Christ the moment they seek God for an answer, but prevailing prayer brings forth the answer, just as it did for Daniel. Prevailing prayer means: gain the victory. I prayed over 20 years for my mom and over 25 years for my dad to accept Jesus Christ as their Savior, never doubting for one moment that this was His desire, because I knew...the Lord is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance...II Peter 3:9. Just before they died each received the Lord. Believe me, the battle is worth it! Are you daily standing in the gap for someone's salvation? If not, why not?
When we were last together I asked, "Can demons manifest through a human being right before your eyes? " In this series I have been sharing with readers a few of my experiences with the invisible spiritual realm. The Lord will educate us about this realm if we ask him, just as He did for Daniel. It was Christmas time in 1970 and my mother was spending a few days with my sister who lived about 50 miles from me. She did not want to encounter my husband, so invited me to join her there so she could see my baby who was nearly 4 months old, and my 6 year old.
Every weekend my husband took on his drunken womanizing gambling adventures, but I quietly packed, hoping he would use his company truck this particular weekend -- and he did. We left on our adventure, knowing we would never be missed, because he was rarely home -- except to shower and sleep off his alcohol. The kids had opened their packages and were enjoying their stockings from Santa, while the adults were relaxing after breakfast with more coffee, and catching-up.
Suddenly we heard car doors banging out front and tires spewing gravel. As we looked out the front window we saw that my husband had parked his truck and got in my car ready to take off. Without thinking I ran out to stop him. Just as I got in front of the car, which was facing the exterior of the house, I looked into the window and saw a horror that froze my feet to the ground -- I couldn't move.
As I looked through the windshield I saw my husband slowly transform into a monster-like creature. First I saw his eyes with flames spewing from dark pits. Soon I saw lumps appear where his shoulders should be - then his face contorted into pits and ugly bumps & knots. His very lovely curly hair disappeared, leaving his head pushed out of shape with grotesque bulges appearing all over. His hands on the wheel took on the appearance of claws. I could feel the desire to kill me emanating from him through the windshield -- it was that real!
I was transfixed by the horrific sight, couldn't move a muscle, while I thought in my mind, "What in the world am I sleeping with?!" What happened next? Stay tuned...
God's sheep question the doctrines of men...sheeple follow without question~~~
