House of God - a ladder?

We are all part of the bigger story of God and in this story, we begin to realize how we are part of the eternal plans and purposes of God. A deeper narrative exists within all of us. We are all created to experience this Garden where we know God intimately and interact with Him conversationally. In this place we discover deep and meaningful friendship and a joining of our lives realizing it is not good for man to be alone. Even in our brokenness God is working to restore and rescue us. In his image we discover our design to build some form of an Ark to help and even rescue others.

As we journey forward God invites us to explore the reality of a Ladder that exists between heaven and earth - God’s presence can come into any place in which we dwell. The house of God is the gate of heaven. We are the house of God. We are the gates of heaven. "Lift up your heads O ye gates that the king of glory may come in."

We read about an amazing encounter with God in Genesis 28 that has very famously become known as Jacob’s Ladder. If only we could have this kind of encounter! Perhaps we can if we can figure out what it was that Jacob was doing just before this all took place.

Jacob had just deceived his father, stolen the birthright from his brother and was running for his life. Lonely, desperate, weary and tired of dealing with instability and confusion in every direction. He was afraid, exhausted and in a very bad place.

No matter how desperate your situation may be, God’s point of view can change it all! The sun had gone down and Jacob was all alone, but not really. The Lord was standing at the top of this stairway declaring God’s promises were still alive even though he’d made such a mess of things in this season of his life.

He’s a God who functions in another realm! Your impossible circumstances are not an issue to your eternal God! God is doing more than you think he is doing even in what may feel like your worst moment! Aren’t you glad God’s promises are alive even when you grow discouraged!

Gen 28:16-17 When Jacob woke up, he thought, “Surely the LORD is in this place, and I was unaware of it.” 17 And he was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven!” NIV

Notice the house of God is the gate of heaven. The Bible clearly says in Ephesians 2:19-22 and 1 Corinthians 3:16 that you and I together are the Temple of God. We are the house of God. We are the gate of heaven. This is why Psalm 24 declares, “Lift up your heads O ye gates the that this King of Glory may come in!” Wherever we are is the place heaven and earth intersect. Not because of what we do but because of what He has done!

We have no true ability to be fruitful in ministry without the rich and deep love union with Him. Everything flourishes from this place of intimacy with God! Think for a moment about what was taking place in ordinary believers’ lives just before The Great Awakening was taking place. Surely there were thousands of personal encounters that began to be experienced in a deeper way.

Last week I noticed there are some unusual things taking place in the lives of people in our church family. One person messaged me saying she was reading her Bible and had a question about something she was reading. She did what she always does. She immediately reached for her phone to google. As she did she felt the Lord prompting her to consider that the Bible says the Holy Spirit is our teacher. She put her phone down and before googling anything she prayed and felt the Lord spoke an explanation to her about this text. She then googled it and found out the Lord was right! LOL. She messaged me in astonishment that God is awakening a deeper reality of what it means to truly sit with the Author as we read his Book that carries so much life for all of us. Another person shared an experience of reading the Bible where the words seem to just be leaping off the page. This person has been reading the Bible for years and years but something seems so different right now. God is up to something and he’s inviting us to a deeper place of participating in what He’s desiring to reveal.