This first encounter is an open vision I had in the mid 90’s. It was one of the strangest experiences I have ever had with the Lord. It is the only open vision I have had to date.
I was at a home group from our Church, and one of the associate pastors was leading the group. He had picked five songs for us to worship God during the meeting, and they all had a similar theme about the Kingdom of God and worshiping the King. We had finished the last song, and everyone was in an attitude of reverence.
When the last song ended, we all remained silent with heads bowed, except me. In times like these, I usually look around and ask the Lord what I should do. As I lifted my head to look, an open vision appeared in front of me of what looked like a courtyard surrounded by thick stone walls that reminded me of a fortified castle. I saw this from a bird’s eye view from what seemed to be a thousand feet in the air. I could see this vision floating in midair in front of me and could still see and interact with my surroundings.
The only way I can describe it is that it looked like a transparency we used on old projectors—a transparent plastic sheet with words or pictures on it. I could see the room and everyone in it, but I could also see this open vision right in front of my face.
I reached my hand up and passed it through this vision twice, thinking how odd and amazing this was. Then I realized that God was trying to show me something, and I jerked my hand down quickly, convicted for playing with it.
As soon as I took my hand down, this vision began to move and change. I began to descend on this structure like I was falling or flying. As I got closer, things came into focus. I could see the walls were very thick and made of heavy stone. The shape of the structure was random. not square, not round, but a very abstract with what seemed like a building that a child would design. As I continued to descend, I noticed that outside the walls was a dry, dead, desert-like place with stumps of dead and broken trees and dried-up plants. Nothing moving, nothing living, no water or any sign of moisture or life as far as the eye could see.
Inside the walls was a lush, green carpet of beautiful grass with healthy, colorful trees and plants. A crystal-clear stream of water ran through the midst of this enclosure. It was a perfect paradise, the likes of which I had never seen before. As I descended, the word KINGDOM came into focus in the center courtyard of this structure, stretching across the perfectly manicured grass. I instantly knew that this structure represented the Kingdom of God in our hearts.
Once I descended past the top of the very high castle-type walls, I started to fly parallel to the ground around the inside of the structure. I noticed that there were many doors every few feet along the base of the thick stone wall. There were more doors than I could count. On every door was written the same word: OBEDIENCE.
As soon as I noticed this, I started moving towards one of the doors, still feeling like I was flying or gliding through the air. As I approached it, the door opened into the desert that I saw surrounding the enclosure while descending into it. As soon as I passed the door’s threshold, I stopped. Within a few seconds, stone walls seemed to rise right out of the desert, and the ground I was standing on changed from dry desert sand and quickly became carpeted with the same lush green, well-manicured grass that I had seen in the courtyard.
I could tell that the Life of God filled this new space as if someone poured it in like water. I noticed doors appearing all along the walls of this new room, just like the one I passed through, with the same word, obedience, on every door. I found myself standing in another space, like the courtyard.
As I watched this new room quickly transform from a dry, dead desert to a lush and thriving garden with a carpet of beautiful grass, I noticed that all the plants, trees, and streams were tiny. Although it was colorful, fresh, and vibrant, it was obviously a younger version of the space I just came from. It was new growth.
Walking through one door of obedience expanded this beautiful Kingdom into a larger space. I began to see that every door of obedience we pass through takes new territory for the Kingdom of God within us.
The vision slowly faded and came to an end. I then began to prophesy to the group about the Kingdom of God in our hearts and how obedience to God’s word expands the Kingdom of God inside us and causes us to grow spiritually.
It took me a while to understand the significance of this vision. God has shown me new things about this encounter many times over the years, and I am still gleaning knowledge and understanding from it. It was a clear lesson in Kingdom dynamics.
Not long ago, I had another vision about the same kingdom. Not an open vision like the first, but I saw this in the Spirit.
I was walking in the courtyard and peeking into some of the doors that had been opened. Most of them were beautiful with different levels of growth. Some had huge trees with other mature plants and roaring rivers. Some had not developed as much.
Then I looked into a room where the trees had lost their leaves, and the grass looked like it needed watering. The stream was not moving but had become still, with a smell that stagnant water gets when it stands for a while. I realized that I had initially obeyed God in this particular area, but had gotten lazy about guarding my heart and being diligent to stay my course. I had started out strong in obeying Him, but had slipped into disobedience.
This is how Kingdom dynamics work in our hearts. Obedience creates more space for God to occupy and expands our capacity to represent Him well. This is what spiritual growth looks like on the inside.
JESUS IS COMING!
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