Garden Ministries

Janet Weaver Smith ©4-27-2016 – gardenministries.org

In Acts 5, we read how the Apostles are carriers and prophetic administrators of God’s divine power in unprecedented levels. Peter walks across town and his shadow falls upon people and they are healed and delivered (5:15). Greedy believers named Ananias and Sapphira, pretending to be generous but lie to the Holy Spirit are confronted with the truth behind their heart motives and fall over dead. Yikes! This level of God-power sparks intense jealousy within the Jewish religious leaders and they arrest and imprison Peter and the rest of the Apostles (5:17-18).

In John 18:10 we learned that back in the day, Peter packed heat! He carried a sword and when he and his Lord were threatened with arrest, feisty Peter whacked a guy’s ear off! Jesus later tells Pilate that “His guys” were well able to defend and protect Him if He called for it. John 18:36 Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place.”

From these scriptures we learn that even before the Apostles were so greatly empowered to do miracles, they were fighters. Peter was always defending himself, making grand and noble claims about himself. He even tried to correct the Lord from time to time. With so much spiritual chutzpa (prounounced: “hoot-spa”) at their disposal, why did the Apostles even let themselves get arrested and imprisoned? That leads us exactly to the point of this article. God is preparing a bridal vessel to walk in great authority and power and humility. This vessel must not misuse such power and authority and must love sacrificially and be Lamb-like in her nature.

The Apostles had been forewarned by Jesus that these kinds of tough situations would occur, and just like Him, they were never to “take things in their own hands” and protect themselves with natural means but were to submit their every move to the Holy Spirit’s leading and let Him direct their paths. This is the Way of Love and why it is critical for anyone who aspires to walk in complete union with Jesus Christ to learn how to process the pain of His training into greater love and submission to Jesus’ leading. We are being cleansed of our knee-jerk self-protective defensive reactions.

The Apostles had processed their love relationship with Jesus so thoroughly that they did not take matters into their own hands and resist imprisonment but complied with the arrest and waited in jail for the angel to release them. From there, the Apostles followed the angel’s direction which ironically put them all right back into a position of being arrested again. This time, not only were they arrested, they were flogged! And get this: they left rejoicing that they had been flogged for the sake of Jesus! What the….? Who does that?

Acts 5:40-42 [the religious leaders] called the apostles in and had them flogged. Then they ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. 41 The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name. 42 Day after day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Messiah.

When asked what the sign of His coming and the end of the age would look like, Jesus has also forewarned us, the last day’s apostolic generation, to expect the same treatment and to handle the power and glory of our supernatural God in the same humble manner that He and His first church age Apostle’s handled the Holy Spirit’s power. Matthew 24: 9-10 “Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. 10 At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, If we don’t know how to process the pain of betrayal and hardship and persecution without retaliation or self-protective defiance, we will not be entrusted with the power of God to deliver, heal, and restore.

This gives us a foundational understanding of why God allows pain to come our way. When processed toward the end of knowing Jesus more intimately, the hardship of pain plays a significant role in driving us to Jesus to be delivered from our self-centered, self-serving, self-protective, knee-jerk reactions to injustice. Through the empowered Word of God, the Holy Spirit teaches us how to process pain toward the humility of reverent submission which prepares us to host and administrate the great power of God at all times and in all situations from a purified heart of the sacrificial love of the Lamb. Our hearts have become purified through the painful corrections of God’s discipline and the comfort of His healing in order that we will not turn to or rely on anything in ourselves, apart from the Holy Spirit. We have learned to completely depend on Him in all things.

Faith is the resulting fruit of the human being’s process of becoming fully persuaded that God is truly Who He says He is and that He extravagantly and completely loves each and every human being—enough to send Himself as the Son to die and now ever lives to intercede for us to become fully persuaded in faith.

The environment in which we learn faith—especially great faith—is an environment of pain and hardship.

Hebrews 11:5-6 By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death: “He could not be found, because God had taken him away.” For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God. 6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

All human “love” is based in fallen human nature with its source being the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. All human generated affection or love has its limit and will eventually completely fail and betray us. It’s good to come to the end of trusting in human love as an answer to the holes in our hearts.

Only God’s love never fails. When God loves us through another human, it is because that person is putting Jesus in the place of First Love priority, is receiving God’s chastening love and comforting affection, and is becoming a trustworthy vessel that the love of God pours through.

We know that God’s love is pouring through us because our process of becoming inwardly persuaded that God extravagantly loves us—even when every circumstance seems to contradict this truth. The fruit of being heavenly minded is manifesting in an ever-increasing faith and trust in God. We have more hope then ever that He will deliver on His promises to heal, deliver, and transform us to become just like Him.

Hebrews 12:5-7 And have you completely forgotten this word of encouragement that addresses you as a father addresses his son? It says, “My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, 6 because the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son.” 7 Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father?

When God comes in answer to His BIG promise, and the supernatural of God breaks through and fills a lovesick bridal vessel, the distinct hallmark that differentiates the empowered bride of Jesus Christ from the empowered bride of satan is how Christ’s followers love one another. John 13:35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” The Love of God means everything.

Malachi 3:1-2 describes the intensity of God’s coming in the last days. In His mercy, God has sent His Spirit through the spirit and power of Elijah-like vessels to help prepare our hearts to receive His purifying Presence. Without this preparation of Love, the Spirit of the Fear of the Lord would overwhelmingly terrify us. It is His love that stabilizes our hearts and helps us stand in His Presence. No one can come to Jesus unless the Father draws them and no one can come to the Father except through Jesus. (John 14:6 and John 6:44). When I ask the Father to draw me closer, He will answer my prayer. And because He is an all-consuming fire and launderers soap, I can expect things in my life to heat up because He is leading me into situations where my human love cannot hold me.

Only God can bring us to the brink of ourselves and offer us a breaking point, which carries us into a ChoicePoint opportunity. ChoicePoints come when we reach the end of ourselves in a matter and must now choose whether we will admit that we have nothing left to give to solve our problem. Upon admitting this, we also then choose to turn to Jesus and ask Him to fill us with His divine love for that person and situation instead of trying to escape it. We confess that we are tempted to run away, isolate, stay mean and angry, fearful, or controlling and ask God to deliver us into His way through the pain.

At this ChoicePoint juncture, we pray: “God. I can see that I do not yet fully trust you in this area. Please forgive me and cleanse me of my fight-or-flight anger, meanness, fear, self-defending, self-centered heart responses. I want to love myself and other people beyond the weaknesses and infuriating compulsions and I have no power to love like that. Only You can love me and other people like that and I need Your love to replace my self-centered, human love. Please do this in my heart. Fill me with Your love. I ask this in Jesus Name.”

Until we reach a breaking point, receive the clear Spirit of conviction Who has graciously provided a ChoicePoint, we need God’s loving discipline (i.e., the pain of hardship) to work on us and create a need and desire for change, while leading us to the end of our own strength and ability to exert any more human love. The road toward brokenness and humility is longer for stronger people and ironically, most of God’s leaders are really, really strong people. There is productive pain that creates maturity. There is unproductive pain that keeps us immature. Either way, all humans will have pain. We might as well seek the productive route.

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The following is an excerpt from my article entitled, “Entering Into, Receiving, and Delivering the Glory of God The Process of Brokenness and Humility” Janet Weaver Smith 1-8-2012 – ©gardenministries.org

THE PATH TO ENTERING INTO THE GLORY IS VIA HUMILITY: Brokenness Precedes Revelation.

The yielding process between God and us occurs in our daily circumstances. God deliberately engages us through daily opportunities that lead us into a state of brokenness—or not. In his faithfulness to our hearts and to his promises, and within the context of the assignments we have accepted from him, God brings us opportunities to grow—or not. These opportunities purposely exert greater pressure than our self-will can withstand (usually incubated within a “too-much-with-too-little” environment). This pressure creates a continual need to choose greater dependence on God OR greater independence from God. I will continually get to the point where the end of me hits and a series of choices will be presented to continue my assignment and grow in love—or not.

END OF ME SYMPTOMS (symptoms usually hit within the context of circumstances surrounding our various life assignments)

Note: Be Encouraged when “End of Me Symptoms” occur. The Breaking point and ChoicePoint opportunity is near. Ask God to release the Spirit of Conviction and Repentance.

Phase 1: venting stage: “self” feels emotional explosions and/or implosions (which are not wrong) “I can’t do this anymore!” – “I’ve had it!” – “I’m so sick of this!” – “That’s it!” – “I can’t take it anymore!” – “Fill in your own words here _____!”

Phase 2: venting stage: emotional explosion causes “self” to seek self-solution to problem (still not wrong) “I can’t take it anymore, so I won’t. I quit!” – “I’m not understood and never will be, I’m leaving!” “What’s the use, I don’t seem to fit in here anyway, I’m going to find someplace where I do.” “What’s wrong with me?” – “What’s wrong with these people?” – “Fill in your own words here___”

Phase 3: Decision-making stage. I either turn to God and seek His clear answers and wait for Him to speak and lead me into my next steps or I turn to and act on my Phase 2 self-solutions. There is no neutral here. A ChoicePoint has come and I either seek out and follow the Holy Spirit or I seek my own religious-looking, self-centered solution that do not produce lasting fruit or transform me.

By Janet Weaver Smith – 1-8-2012 – ©gardenministries.org
(Authors note: I wrote this article on 1-8-2012 and find it as relevant now as then and am posting it to encourage us in our process of becoming one with Jesus)

How does the world know that we are in complete union with God?
Answer: John 17:21-23, they see and experience the glory of God in and through us.
Does Jesus receive glory through our complete union with Him?
Answer: Yes. John 17:10, “…and the glory has come to me through them.”
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OUR NUMBER ONE PURSUIT AND PASSION IS COMPLETE UNION
The prayer of Jesus in John 17 for complete union with us will be fully answered.
For those of us who want to be called the Bride of Jesus Christ, our life goal is to have the witness of the Holy Spirit in and through us that bears the fruit of complete union with Jesus— The fruit of complete union with God is: dwelling in and delivering the GLORY of the Living God.

Are we in complete union with God yet?
Answer: “more than I was but I know there is more “entering in” available to me.” Philippians 3:10-16

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Galatians 6:7-9 Keep going. Don’t let weariness dull your believing edge.
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“Get Ready” means that we are asking God to pinpoint everything in us that is apart from him and to deal with everything in us that is independent of our full surrender to him as Lord of our life, not just Savior.
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THE PATH TO ENTERING INTO THE GLORY IS VIA HUMILITY: Brokenness Precedes Revelation
The yielding process between God and us occurs in our daily circumstances. God deliberately engages us through daily opportunities that lead us into a state of brokenness—or not. In his faithfulness to our hearts and to his promises, and within the context of the assignments we have accepted from him, God brings us opportunities to grow—or not. These “opportunities” purposely exert greater pressure than our self-will can withstand (usually incubated within a “too-much-with-too-little” environment). This pressure creates a continual need to choose greater dependence on OR greater independence from God. I will continually get to the point where the end of me hits and a series of choices will be presented to continue my assignment and grow—or not.
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THE PATH TO COMPLETE UNION WITH GOD AND THE FIRE OF HIS GLORY
• • • • •
THE GLORY COMES TO THE HUMBLE OF HEART (Titus 2:12-14) THE PROCESS OF BREAKING IS THE PATH OF HUMILITY HOLINESS IS THE FRUIT OF COMPLETE UNION WITH GOD COMPLETE UNION WITH GOD MEANS THAT WE ARE COMPLETELY DEPENDENT ON HIM HUMILITY IS COMPLETE DEPENDENCE ON GOD (Andrew Murray, “Humility”)

END OF ME SYMPTOMS –Symptoms Usually Hit Circumstances Surrounding our Assignment
Note: Be Encouraged when “End of Me Symptoms” occur. Breaking point is near.

Phase 1: Venting stage: self-discovery: “self” feels emotional explosions and/or implosions (not wrong) “I can’t do this anymore!” – “I’ve had it!” – “I’m so sick of this!” – “That’s it!” – “I can’t take it anymore!” – “Fill in your own words here _____!”

Phase 2: Venting stage: self-discovery: emotional explosion causes “self” to seek self-solution to problem (still not wrong) “I can’t take it anymore, so I won’t. I quit!” – “I’m not understood and never will be, I’m leaving!” “What’s the use, I don’t seem to fit in here anyway, I’m going to find someplace where I do.” “What’s wrong with me?” – “What’s wrong with these people?” – “Fill in your own words here___”

Phase 3: Decision-making stage (no neutral here, it is time to choose one way or the other):

GREATER DEPENDENCE (humility) OR GREATER INDEPENDENCE (self-will)
Self-Will (resisting God): Incomplete Assignment / Impatient with the Process
BREAKING FAITH—PATH TO SEPARATION: GREATER INDEPENDENCE: Apart from God Prolongs my time in the wilderness. Perpetuates immaturity and denies the glory of complete union.

• Self-will: doesn’t want to ask God and others for help, stops believing God about the assignment, stops or significantly reduces personal resources (time, emotions, money, energy) that engage me with the assignment: examples: showing up at the place, giving to and receiving from others. “Don’t tell me what to do.” “I can handle this. I can do it myself.” “I’m fine.”

• Self-will seeks to “go it alone.” Creates greater independence from God and the body he has called us to and lengthens our endurance process—we stay immature and do not enter into greater union with God as long as we are refusing God’s help to overcome self-will.

• Self-will withdraws by ignoring or rejecting others and by rejecting God’s grace.

• Self-will ultimately says, “I am closing my heart. I don’t trust you God. I will not be vulnerable.”

Humility (embracing the cross-Matthew 16:24, Luke 9:23) Tips to Help us Grow Patient in the Process of Preparation

• Remember the anchor points of your faith. Through humility, we GROW INTO THE GLORY
• Love for God: Obedience, “those who love me will obey me.” (I John 2:5) Love is patient. (I Cor. 13)
• The fire is when the truth of my call to love God and love others hits my self-centeredness
• Religion gets turned into the REAL in the fire of love
• Assignment not over because he hasn’t said that it is.
• Talk to the people who you know God has joined you to in the assignment. Beware of isolation.
• See the opportunity to grow closer to God by turning to him for help in our brokenness and by refusing to act out any self-willed options.
• Engage the language of the garden: “Lord, not my will but your will be done.”
• Dependence/Humility: I acknowledge my powerlessness, my inability to go on this way, I need your help to keep going.
• Ask for the greater grace.
• Ask for the desire to ask for the greater grace to continue in this assignment.
• Recall and review the promises and prophecies over your life: Choose to believe them • Say out loud: Decreeing the promises and prophecies over your life
• Saying yes to Jesus because of who he is sets me free from self.

Janet Weaver Smith © 3-19-16 gardenministries.org

John 14:6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

It’s not how, or in what condition we come to Jesus, it’s that we come, just as we are. We simply keep coming, fully believing His promise to draw near to us when we draw near to Him. God’s Presence always changes us. He is the Transformer of our hearts. All He asks, is that we come—we come to Him.

The Spirit-filled bride of Revelation 22:17 has learned that all attempts to fix herself and be “good enough” for God before she comes to Him always fail and only keep her from the One who can change her. The bride has learned that no matter what she looks like or feels like, she is to “Come!” This lovesick Bride of Jesus Christ has so learned the secret of continually coming to Jesus, that now she cries out to any and all who would hear her profound revelation, “Come!” and those who are thirsty for the waters of life as she is, will learn from her that they too, can just come. He will respond. He will draw near. He will wash them and give them the free gift everlasting life. Any attempts on her part to “earn” this free gift of cleansing will come to naught. It is free. She must just come.

Revelation 22:17 The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let the one who hears say, “Come!” Let the one who is thirsty come; and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life.

The great revelation we can expect to have of God when we simply come to Him for His transformative work is this: God is Gracious and His kindness toward us is everlasting (James 5:11). For most of us, the full revelation of God’s gracious nature does not come in fullness all at once, though at times, it can feel very big. For most of us, this revelation of God’s compassionate, merciful kindness comes progressively.

Before we are even capable of realizing God’s kindness and mercy, we are led to the place where we realize how desperate we are for it and how broken we are without it. He is a gentle High Priest and deals ever so tenderly with the human heart. He does not treat us as our sins deserve (Psalm 103:10). We may think that we want all our outward behaviors and inward thoughts dealt with and perfected all at once, but God knows how much of the sword, fire, and hammer of His Word our heart is willing to process and endure. God’s mercy covers us in our brokenness while His grace empowers us to come to Him for change and transformation.

God draws us into an ever-deepening relationship that continually surfaces our “not-yet’s” until we reach an insufferable end to our every self-effort to change them and again, simply “Come!” He is right there, positioned to remove another layer of sin, self, and unbelief from our hearts and replace it with Himself through faith, hope, and love. He is doing two things at once, He is delivering us from the thing itself and all potential for pride that may have taken credit for fixing the problem in our own self-effort.

God sees all of our “not-yet'” imperfections and brokenness and simply asks us to “Come.”

Why do we even struggle with this simple concept? Perhaps we think that it is up to us to make ourselves clean, ready, and good enough for God before we can come to Him. This is not true. When scripture tells us to “clean the inside of our cup,” or “wash our robes and hands,” or “purify ourselves,” or “make ourselves ready,” or “put off the old man and put on the new man,” it does not mean that we have to figure out how to fix ourselves before we can come to Jesus. It’s the opposite.

It means that over and over and over again, we simply come, just as we are, in whatever condition we may be in, and we draw near to our gracious, loving, forgiving, compassionate, and merciful God and expect Him to be true to His Word that promises to transform us into His image and cleanse us as we just keep coming to Jesus. He provides all of the resources of the Way, the Truth, and the Life that frees us.

In our continual coming and depending on Him, we are “cleaning our cup,” we are “purifying and making ourselves ready,” we are “putting to death the earthly nature and thereby ridding ourselves of bad attitudes and behaviors.”

The coming to Him IS the work of yielding that we are asked to do.
The coming IS the yielding and turning to Him.
The coming IS the humbling of self and relying on Him to do the work.
The coming IS the receiving.
The coming IS the cleaning.
The coming IS the “fixing our eyes on Jesus.”
The simple act of coming, over and over again, IS the act of overcoming.

Hebrews 12:1-3 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.

Instead of trying to fix ourselves first, every time we turn, set our focused attention on Jesus, and just come, the very faith that makes us pleasing to God and righteous in His eyes is growing and being perfected and is what makes room for Him to fill us with Himself so that we can actually throw off the sins and hindrances. One drives out the other. We cannot function in a vacuum. We must have the greater power of the Holy Spirit drive out the lesser powers of sin and self. Until that happens, we are in process about it.

In the meantime, no religious-looking outside-in fixes will work as a substitute. Since true transformation only comes from the inside-out process of the Holy Spirit’s outpouring and inworking, we do no one a favor pretending to be something we’re not. Jesus rebuked the Pharisee’s for trying to “polish the outside of the cup” through their self-righteous performance-oriented religious system that boasted in outwardly, good-looking forms of godliness but fostered hypocrisy and injustice. Their outside-in approach denied the real power of inner transformation that only comes from intimate dependence on the Living God, not on a system about Him (Matthew 23:25-28).

Since only God can truly change a willing human heart, the workaround of the outside-in approach seeks to change outward behavior through rule keeping without first dealing with the inward condition of the heart. Success and failure within this structure has nothing to do with inward transformation nor does it bear the lasting fruits of the Holy Spirit.

Paul purposed to press in to fully know Christ and become like Him (Philippians 3) and described “maturity” as simply being filled with the fullness of Christ (Ephesians 4:13). Paul’s process toward this maturity involved being utterly stripped of everything that qualified him for human and religious approval in order to gain true righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. Toward the end of his life, when Paul was the most spiritually “mature,” he had a robust realization of God’s utter graciousness and mercy when he referred to himself as the worst of all sinners whom Christ came into the world to save (1 Timothy 1:14-16).

Excerpt from the article: GOD’S FACE: SIÓNÉ – SPIRITUAL ZION – Entering the 7th Day Rest
Entering the state of Spiritual Zion or Sion is to seek and find God’s face. To “find” God’s face means that we fully enter into His Living Presence. Thus, seeking and finding the face of God is equivalent to entering the Presence of God. In His utter graciousness, Our God, Who is Light and lives in unapproachable light (1 Timothy 6:16, 1 John 1:5), has provided a way for us to be so close to Him that we are literally face to face with Him! But we have to want to be that close to Him. That is why He has asked His children to diligently seek His face. We must show desire for Him and invite Him to lead us into the processes that prepare us to fully enter into His Presence and become filled by Him in His glory.

We must “Come!”

The Overcomer’s Witness Protection Program
Janet Weaver Smith ©3-9-16 gardenministries.org

Hebrews 11:35b, 39-40 …There were others who were tortured, refusing to be released so that they might gain an even better (Greek: kreittón or kreissón) resurrection. These were all commended (Greek: martureó) for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised, 40 since God had planned something better (Greek: kreittón or kreissón) for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect (Greek: teleioó).

Hebrews 12:1 Therefore, since we are surrounded (Greek: perikeimai) by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us,

Revelation 12:11 They overcame (Greek: nikaó) him [satan] by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony (Greek: marturia); they did not love their lives (Greek: psuché) so much as to shrink from death.

6 Key Greek words help us understand the role of those who have gone before and those who are still alive in the earth that we call the champions of the faith, or the Witnesses.

1. Kreittón or kreissón: better, stronger, more excellent, mastery, dominance.
2. Teleioó: as a course, a race, or the like: I complete, finish, reaching the end-stage, i.e. working through the entire process (stages) to reach the final phase (conclusion). This root (tel-) means “reaching the end (aim).” It is well-illustrated with the old pirate’s telescope, unfolding (extending out) one stage at a time to function at full-strength (capacity effectiveness).
3. Martureó or marturia: I witness, bear witness, give evidence, testify, give a good report, commended, witness, evidence, testimony, reputation.
4. Perikeimai: surround; I am encompassed, surrounded, or clothed with, am in submission to.
5. Nikaó: I conquer, am victorious, overcome, prevail, subdue.
6. Psuché: the soul, life, self.

Witnesses are overcomers. They are those who not only accept Christ’s forgiveness from sin, they also make daily choices to run an intense race of shedding self-centered temporal gain in favor of winning the prize of being filled to the fullness of Christ Himself. Having let go of all other lesser love’s, overcomers relentlessly seek the Face of God and being filled with the fullness of His Divine Presence is their great reward.

Hebrews 11:6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that (1.) he exists and that (2.) he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

Hebrews 11:16 Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.

Hebrews 12: 22-23 But you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, 23 to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the Judge of all, to the spirits of the righteous made perfect (“only together with us, would they be made perfect” see Hebrews 11:40).

The messages to the 7 churches in Revelation 2 and 3 specifically call for the church to overcome certain spiritual evils and then describes the rich rewards that will be awarded those who overcome. These are they who will fully participate in the eternal purposes of God. Thus, it is important to understand the eternal purpose of God in creating man in the first place.

Terry Bennett (terrybennett.net) has given the body of Christ important revelation on this subject in his “Within the Circle of the Throne” series. In short, Terry teaches us that the eternal intent of God in creating man is for representation. A representative is another term for witness. Those overcomers who finish their race are those who will represent or be witnesses of God Himself to all creation throughout the entire universe for all eternity!

1 Timothy 6:15b-16 …God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords, 16 who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see. 1 John 1:5 …God is light;

Terry Bennett teaches that due to the unapproachable nature and essence of God’s eternal existence, the council of the Godhead entered into counsel and purposed to create an order of beings and a throne room from which to govern them and their habitation. In order to become approachable to these created beings, God must make an image—or representative—of Himself. He did this when it was decided in the Council of the Godhead to form the Man—who is the Word of God, the Son of God, and who would also come into humanity and become the Son of Man. The Representative Word of God/Son of God created and made all of creation (John 1:1-4).

Human beings are the only created beings who were designed for representation of God and were “created in the image of God.” (Genesis 1:27) The first image of God is the Son and then in the Son, is His body, who consist of created human beings who bear the image of God in and through the Son. In order to fully bear the image of God, one must enter into union with Him and thus, become like Him. The only way to become one with God, is to allow Him to fully conform them to the image of the Son of God, Jesus Christ.

Romans 8:29-30 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. 30 And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.

The eternal intent of God is to have fully glorified human representatives or witnesses of Himself in the earth who testify of the Lord’s goodness and faithfulness to all creation forever. In order to become fully glorified, one must become fully conformed to Christ’s image and transformed into His nature, filled to the fullness by the Holy Spirit and be shining lamps, or witnesses of the Living God wherever they go.

The overcomers who have gone before us are “made perfect” together with the Last Day’s saints. These faithful witnesses are very motivated to see us complete our race because, like our forerunner Jesus has fully entered and occupies the Holy of Holies, we too, together in Christ, will become fully manifested family members of the Romans 8:29-30 Church of the firstborn. These are they who fully occupy Spiritual Zion and are made one with the Godhead, just as Jesus prayed in John 17. (See article: “GOD’S FACE: SIÓNÉ – SPIRITUAL ZION”)

We can interact with those who have gone on before and are now surrounding us in the Spirit. Just as we may encounter angels, we may encounter humans who are from the Hebrews 12:1 Cloud of Witnesses. Their testimony serves as a protection of God’s family, thus the title “Witness Protection Program.” These witnesses are engaged in helping those of us, who are alive in the earth today, run our race and finish strong like they did. They are very much alive and God is the God of the living, not the dead. These witnesses learned much in their overcoming process and can help teach us what we need to overcome. Their testimony of faithfulness, their stories of learning faith, hope, and love are precious to the Lord and He is not ashamed to call them His family or share the glory of their story with us.

I have encountered the ultimate Witness, who is Jesus! And I have also encountered at least 7 other witnesses: the Apostle John (the Revelator), the Apostle Paul, Anna Ziese—a missionary to China, LaVerne (my mother), Elijah, Moses, and King David. Each encounter was unique and never the same as the other. Some happened while I was awake and I physically saw or conversationally heard from and spoke with them. Some happened while I was asleep. I talked to and heard from them as though I were awake.

Encounters like these have imparted greater strength for me to endure. I learned from their testimony, how to fix my eyes on Jesus and throw off sin that hinders. The dynamic family connection that I felt with them assured me that I am not alone and imparted new energy to run my race with perseverance (Hebrews 12:1-2).

These witnesses can expound upon the revelation they have gained of Jesus and help us better understand the Word. Whatever revelation our generation of bridal overcomers lays hold of, they get to feast upon too! It’s so beautiful how, working together, God makes His family complete and perfect and fills us with Himself—making us perfect representatives of His nature for all eternity to all of His creation. What a gift of grace and love!

Entering the 7th Day Rest

Janet Smith © 3-2-16, edited 10-10-19 gardenministries.org

SIÓNÉ means “God is gracious.” The English variant of this name is John, Sean, Jane, etc. In Psalm 27:7-8, David cries out to the Lord, asking Him to be gracious to him by showing His face. To enter spiritual Zion or Sion is to seek and find God’s face. To seek face time with God means we seek God for who He is more than what He will do for us. Above all else, our prayerful cry is to intimately know God and dwell in the restful sanctuary of His great and mighty Presence. This is David’s secret and why God’s pleasure rested on him. David was a man after God’s own heart.

Psalm 27:7-8 Hear, O Lord, when I cry with my voice, and be gracious to me and answer me. 8 When You said, “Seek My face,” my heart said to You, “Your face, O Lord, I shall seek.”

Isaiah 30:18 Yet the LORD longs to be gracious to you; therefore he will rise up to show you compassion. For the LORD is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him!

Our God, Who exists as unapproachable Light (1 Timothy 6:16, 1 John 1:5) has graciously provided a way for us to abide close to Him—so close we can see His face and not die. This gracious provision has come through Christ’s living sacrifice that carries us into the Presence hidden in Him. But we must want that closeness. We are instructed to diligently seek His face so there is our response to consider.

Psalm 24:3-8 Who may ascend the mountain of the LORD? Who may stand in his holy place? 4 The one who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not trust in an idol or swear by a false god. 5 They will receive blessing from the LORD and vindication from God their Savior. 6 Such is the generation of those who seek him, who seek your face, God of Jacob. 7 Lift up your heads, you gates; be lifted up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. 8 Who is this King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle.

The old saying, “you’re so heavenly minded that you’re no earthly good,” is a lie. In fact, the more heavenly-minded a believer in Christ Jesus is, the more earthly good they will do. We are living in a time when the end of this age has finally come and the millennial reign of Jesus Christ is upon us. We are in the very transition zone between two ages—the church age is over and the kingdom age has begun.

Those who are willing are being prepared to receive the King of kings in His progressive, 3-fold arrival. Going from glory to glory, each wave of Christ’s transformative, invisible and one-on-one encounters with us prepare us for HIs final and visible coming. When He comes to take us up with Him, we are ready to serve Him as His royal, priestly agents—or witnesses—who rule and reign with Him for all eternity.

We see these waves of His invisible and private encounters expressed in the Greek word, “Parousia,” which comes as the manifested Word of God that separates and purifies (Matthew 24:36-51). Another wave of the Lord coming to us before He comes for us in expressed in the Greek word, “Epiphaneia.” This word describes the Lord’s dawning and shining, sanctifying Presence that glorifies (2 Timothy 1:9-10, 1 Timothy 6:14-16).

This Parousia and Epiphania process prepares us for the final Apokalupsis, which means “unveiling.” The Apokalupsis of Jesus Christ is the fully visible unveiling of Jesus when He comes for His people. It is the result of a culmination of first two waves preparing His overcoming bride to enter into full sonship and experience the Resurrection Power of His life that swallows up death forever (Romans 8:18-21, Revelation 1:1, 1 Corinthians 1:7-8).

King David prophetically saw our day and the millennial age to come and whole heartedly sought the Lord to fully enter into His Presence. Even under the Old Covenant, David set his sights on Zion and built the Tabernacle of David. These keys of David are used to open heaven and to keep it open. No one can close these doors. God rewarded David’s diligence to seek His face and dwell in union with Him by giving Him His Presence. Throughout history, many have sought the Lord as David did and now, at the end of the age, together, we enter the 7th Day rest and enjoy the full reward of God’s gracious gift—His Presence.

Hebrews 11:6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

My husband George was shown in a night encounter with God that the key that opens the Door that Jesus is knocking on is called, “the A.S.K. key.” We are to Ask-Seek-Knock until the door opens. This pursuit of God represents a heart of longing and desire. We are pursuing God!

Hebrews 6:17-20 Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, he confirmed it with an oath. 18 God did this so that by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope set before us may be greatly encouraged. 19 We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, 20 where our forerunner, Jesus, has entered on our behalf. He has become a high priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.

Spiritual Zion represents the state in which the overcoming believer in Jesus has fully followed their anchored hope through the veil of separation and, going from glory to glory, has become fully conformed unto the image of Jesus Christ. Spiritual Zion is the state in which an overcoming believer has entered the Holy of Holies and is on heavenly ground, though still on earth. Heaven and earth have merged in these overcoming temples within whom God Himself dwells in the earth as He exists in heaven. Living stones manifest the living God in His glory and act as His representatives—or witnesses in the earth, leading many to righteousness (Daniel 12:3, 2 Corinthians 4:6).

Hebrews 12:22-24 But you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, 23 to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the Judge of all, to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, 24 to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.

Spiritual Zion (Hebrews 12:22) all refer to the same concepts found in this list of metaphors:The Temple of God (1 Cor. 3:16, 6:19, Eph. 2:22) = The House (Bethel) of God (Haggai 2) = The Mountain of God (Micah 4) = The House of Prayer for all Nations (Isaiah 56:7) = The Parousia Presence of God (Matthew 24:36-51) = Open Door to Heaven (John 1:50-51, Revelation 4:1, Genesis 28:12-17) = City of Refuge (Joel 3:17, Obadiah 1:17-21) = Dwelling Place of God (Revelation 21:3, Ephesians 2:21-22) = New Jerusalem (Revelation 21:2) = Married Bride & Bridegroom (Revelation 21:9-10) = Tabernacle of David (Acts 15:16-17) = Glory of God (Haggai 2:9) = Light of God (Revelation 22:1-5) = Holy of Holies (Hebrews 10:19-22) = Church of the first born (Hebrews 12:23).

The fulfilled bride carries out the will of her Bridegroom King Jesus on earth as His agents and witnesses of Divine Love. What heaven has known now fully manifests in the bride of Jesus Christ in the earth. The heavens will witness this change and rejoice! These Christ-like witnesses will testify to God’s eternal goodness and love throughout His universal creation forever. The Faithful Witness of Jesus Christ bears witness to the eternal nature of God through a pure and spotless bridal company of witnesses who rule and reign in His name forever.

The exodus of the Hebrews from Egypt was to ultimately lead them to Zion. Our present day exodus is taking us out of worldly incompleteness and into God’s dwelling place of completion—fully transformed and clothed in Christ’s glory. Forerunners are expected to reveal the first fruits of this truth. God prepares and sends forerunners ahead of what He is about to do on a larger scale. These forerunners are the tip of the spear whom God uses to pierce through the veil of darkness and corruption and open up zones throughout middle heaven.

These openings, or zones, are spiritual gates to Zion (God’s Presence) that lay a path upon which the Lord of Glory enters, releases Himself, and blesses us with His Presence. Heavenly eternal Life Himself comes to earth and earth gloriously responds and reveals His nature. (Isaiah 40:5, Revelation 21:1-7)

2 Chronicles 7:14-15 if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. 15 Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place. 16 I have chosen and consecrated this temple so that my Name may be there forever. My eyes and my heart will always be there.

Houses of Prayer for All Nations that seek God’s Face and host His Presence provide a place for these gates to function: Isaiah 56:6-7 And foreigners who bind themselves to the LORD to minister to him, to love the name of the LORD, and to be his servants, all who keep the Sabbath without desecrating it and who hold fast to my covenant—7 these I will bring to my holy mountain and give them joy in my house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be accepted on my altar; for my house will be called a house of prayer for all nations.”

The bulk of those Israelites who left Egypt in pursuit of the Promised Land and Zion never let go of their self-centered focus. They groaned and complained their way through the wilderness until they died—never entering God’s promises and rest. Those today who would seek and find God’s face and enter into His Presence will only do so if we quit our propensity to focus on ourselves; groaning, complaining, and whining about our unique cleansing and purifying processes.

When the pressure of opposition hits and depressing circumstances loom, instead of turning inward in self-pity, we can deliberately turn to God and thank Him for sending us customized circumstances to better trust Him. Trust is essential to entering His Presence. In seeking His face, trust is the fruit of our faith which we purchase as the gold refined by fire (Revelation 3:18). Every time we purpose to turn and worship God with a thankful heart in the midst of opposition, injustice, and trials, we are exercising Trust and growing in our faith, hope, and love.

Meditating on God’s word is an important way to seek God’s face. His living and active word is often how He comes to us in His Parousia Presence. The Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus illuminates His word in us and soon we see how His Epiphaneia dawning and shining Presence increases in and through us. One day, His Apokalupsis Presence will demonstrate His mature Sonship and Resurrection Power in us in undeniable ways.

Our hope in God’s fulfilled word is how we enter and access our High Priest Jesus who stands in the Holy of Holies beyond the veil. When we choose to turn and trust Him instead of sulking in self-pity, we are remembering SIÓNÉ! We are believing that God is gracious and is our only true Answer. We are refusing to stay stuck in our own ways (…which aren’t working anyway) by turning to God and trusting that His ways are higher and better than ours. Whining, complaining, disobedient children are choosing unbelief and as such, are unable to enter into His rest because they do not want to (Hebrews 4).

Each time we refuse to turn inward in self-focus and instead turn upward and exercise faith and hope in God’s Word, the veil of darkness in middle heaven thins and separates before our ascending faith. One day, the veil will be torn asunder. The places where the middle-heaven veil is torn will experience an open heaven—an opened gate of spiritual Zion. These heavenly gates, when opened, release divine exchanges of the glory of God between heaven and earth. As vessels of hope in the last days, we will literally carry the glory of God to the nations and live in Cities of Refuge where the full Presence, i.e., the Face of God dwells and we will minister to Him in Houses of Prayer for All Nations throughout the earth (Colossians 1:27).

Exodus 33:14-18 The LORD replied, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” 15 Then Moses said to him, “If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here. 16 How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your people unless you go with us? What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?” 17 And the LORD said to Moses, “I will do the very thing you have asked, because I am pleased with you and I know you by name.” 18 Then Moses said, “Now show me your glory.” God rewards Moses for pursuing His face and for becoming His friend.

The apostle John, whose name is the same as SIÓNÉ, meaning: “God is gracious,” has the last word about his own personal witness of God’s face (Revelation 22:4, 8) In his closing benediction, John calls upon the Face of grace to be with God’s people. Revelation 22:21 The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God’s people. Amen.
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Note: In speaking of a spiritual Zion in this article, it does not mean that it replaces literal Zion. We do not believe in Replacement theology (also known as supersessionism). This theology teaches that the church has replaced Israel in God’s plan and that the Jews are no longer God’s chosen people, that God does not have specific future plans for the nation of Israel. We believe that there are two harvests of the believing remnant. One harvest comes in the time of the Gentiles and one harvest comes in the time of God’s revelation of Jesus to literal Israel (Romans 11). The end of the age will see two great revivals: one in “spiritual Zion,” which consists of all overcoming ethnicities who believe in Jesus Christ and who constitute His church and one in “physical-literal Zion,” which occurs after “the time of the Gentiles is fulfilled,” and consists of Hebrews who see the truth of who Jesus is and become believers in Him as their Messiah.

Janet Smith © 1-22-16 edited 11-13-19 gardenministries.org

The 4 Living Creatures are representative of the government of God which consists of 3 branches and manifests in a 3-in-1 relationship. The face of the lion represents the branch of the King. The face of the flying eagle represents the branch of the Prophet and the face of the ox represents the branch of the Priesthood. All three of these branches are manifested in the face of the man, who is fully represented in Jesus Christ and His body.

This same governmental setup is what served as the backdrop for the setup of the American government: Prophet (Judicial Branch), Priest (Legislative Branch), and King (Executive Branch); representing the people (Man).

God has prophetically promised to restore the “Prophets, Priests, and Kings” governmental structure in the earth. This article focuses on the Priesthood component of that structure.

In the government of God, the priesthood’s main function and purpose is to minister to the Lord of Glory in response to His initiation, leading, and Lordship as our Great High Priest. The church-age ministry of the priesthood comes to us through Jesus Christ Who is from the Hebrews 7 priestly order of Melchizedek. This priesthood is ethnically non-exclusive within the human race (Hebrews 7:3 “without genealogy,” meaning without genetic and ethnic exclusivity such as the Hebrew Aaronic-Levite priesthood).

1 Peter 2:9 describes this priesthood as a holy nation set apart unto God as His own possession with a specific function; to declare His praises: “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.”

The submissive and responsive priestly heart requires sensitivity to discern the will of God and to instantly obey the Holy Spirit in all things and in all His ways. Interaction between the priestly nation and their God is one of union and ministerial pleasure.

Psalm 133 eloquently describes the priestly blessing upon the body of believers: “How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity! 2 It is like precious oil poured on the head, running down on the beard, running down on Aaron’s beard, down on the collar of his robe. 3 It is as if the dew of Hermon were falling on Mount Zion. For there the LORD bestows his blessing, even life forevermore.”

This glorious union and interaction between God and His priestly temple in the earth is the manifestation of heaven-on-earth, glory-come-down dwelling and habitation of God! (Exodus 25:8, John 1:14, Revelation 21:3, Zechariah 2:10, Psalm 132:13-14, Ephesians 2:19-22)

The vigorous and oftentimes grueling process of becoming fully yielded to Jesus will continue until His priestly bride is fully surrendered and mature. Once she has made herself ready to marry Him, she can be filled with His fullness and walk in His glory.

We are created for Jesus, not the other way around. He first chose us. We did not choose Him. He first loved us and asks us to respond and make Him our First Love. This idea that we are, on any level, in charge of ourselves more than God is in charge of us must go undergo the complete work of the cross. He’s in charge. And His ways are not our ways. Humility is the complete realization and deep appreciation of this truth.

Hebrews 12:1-14 connects Father God’s discipline with love and holiness. The first 13 verses tell us to appreciate God’s discipline and then verse 14 follows with the connection between discipline, peace, and holiness.

“Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord.”

The Father’s loving discipline is what works His humility into us. Humility is the highest virtue by which God’s holiness gets into us, whereby His glory can then rest within us. By trusting and receiving God’s love through His discipline, we receive His humility, which opens the door to His holiness, and that is where His glory enters us. Humility, holiness, love, and the glory—they all go together. Without holiness and humility, we cannot see God, receive His transformative love, and be transformed into His image with ever-increasing glory.

2 Corinthians 3:16-18 But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. 17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18 And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

The key to sustaining His Presence understands the importance of the initiation and response protocols of heaven:

He invites us to come.
We come.
He asks us to wait.
We wait.
He reveals.
We receive.
He asks us to obey.
We obey.
He helps and blesses those who obey.
We release praise and thanksgiving back to Him.
He releases loving discipline and trains us.
We respond and say yes to His leadership—He’s in charge!
The Veil lifts. He reveals Himself.
We become more like Him.

As a Romans 12:1 living sacrifice, the priesthood chooses to daily yield and respond to God’s invitations to come and minister to His heart. We sacrifice our rights and compulsions to do our own thing and set apart time and energy to give to Jesus. We come. We wait. We receive. We obey. We release our worship and praise. The veil lifts. We see more of Jesus. We are changed to be more like Him.

Matthew 11:28-30 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

Gentleness is at the heart of our High Priest and King Jesus. He is able to deal gently with those who respond and come to Him.

Hebrews 5:1-4 “Every high priest is selected from among the people and is appointed to represent the people in matters related to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins. 2 He is able to deal gently with those who are ignorant and are going astray, since he himself is subject to weakness. 3 This is why he has to offer sacrifices for his own sins, as well as for the sins of the people. 4 And no one takes this honor on himself, but he receives it when called by God, just as Aaron was.”

Janet Weaver Smith © 9-26-2015 gardenministries.org

We have been invited, chosen, and prepared to be an integral part of God’s execution of His end-time plans and purposes in the earth. Just like Daniel, we too can study the end-time prophecies of Scripture, ask to enter the Revelation 4:1 open Throne Room door and, like Daniel and John and Ezekiel, we can be shown from heaven’s perspective, how to pray and release God’s divine purposes in the earth. By entering into Throne Room intercession and praise, we are directly participating in and releasing on the earth in our time, the prophecies of ages past that we have found in scripture. In some cases, like Daniel and Esther, we will literally be saving people’s lives because of our prayers, and in other cases, we will see the impact of God’s judgments lessened in certain places in the earth.

Revelation 4:1 After this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven. And the voice I had first heard speaking to me like a trumpet said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.”

In praying like Daniel, we are not seeking to stop what is prophesied that “must be.” We are, however, praying for people to receive the grace and divine awareness of God’s truth so that they can “reposition” themselves and align correctly with God and His Word, and thus, lessen the impact of how they experience the released judgments of God against the enemy. The less we have of the world, the flesh, and the devil in us, the less there will be in us that will be judged by God with appropriate consequences for rejecting Him. Aligning with God’s Word is our sure protection. God’s mercy always has precedence and place throughout His judgments and we are a part of releasing that “repositioning” opportunity in the earth through our prayers and by shifting the spiritual environment through praise and worship of the Lamb, Jesus.

Our Sovereign God has chosen to release His authority in the earth to a people He has prepared and anointed to pray and petition Him about His heart and desire for the nations. There is a Sovereign Head. And there is a Team that He heads up! Amazingly, the God of the universe has chosen to move in response to His sovereign vessel’s prophetic prayers and petitions. These end time servants, who know their God, and know the times and seasons, are constantly searching the scriptures and are engaging in Throne Room prayer, establishing heaven’s Golden Altar on earth, as it is in heaven.

Revelation 8:1-5 When he opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. 2 And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them. 3 Another angel, who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense to offer, with the prayers of all God’s people, on the golden altar in front of the throne. 4 The smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of God’s people, went up before God from the angel’s hand. 5 Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and hurled it on the earth; and there came peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning and an earthquake.

Psalm 141:2 May my prayer be set before You like incense; may the lifting up of my hands be like the evening sacrifice.

Daniel 9:2-3, 17-18 … in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, understood from the Scriptures, according to the word of the LORD given to Jeremiah the prophet, that the desolation of Jerusalem would last seventy years. So I turned to the Lord God and pleaded with him in prayer and petition, in fasting, and in sackcloth and ashes. … 16 Lord, in keeping with all your righteous acts, turn away your anger and your wrath from Jerusalem, your city, your holy hill. … 17 “Now, our God, hear the prayers and petitions of your servant. For your sake, Lord, look with favor on your desolate sanctuary. 18 Give ear, our God, and hear; open your eyes and see the desolation of the city that bears your Name.

When the Golden Altar is filled with the prayers of the saints, heaven makes a contribution of “much incense” that combines with these prayers and then an angel prepares it all to “go up in smoke” to God. It should be noted that “much incense” implies that there is “much prayer” that fills the Golden Altar. And until it is full, not-good-stuff [i.e. much evil] will be allowed to happen because we are not engaged in our place of prophetically inspired, of-one-heart, personal and corporate prayer. Once this incense/prayer offering finally finishes and goes up to God, then we see in scripture how good things begin to happen. This is when the Ancient of Days responds and sits down and rules on behalf of the saints (Daniel 7:21-22) and the judgments of God against “the horn” (the murderous spirit of antichrist) that is destroying God’s people will be swiftly dealt.

Revelation 13:7 It [the beast] was given power to wage war against God’s holy people and to conquer them. And it was given authority over every tribe, people, language and nation.

Daniel 12:1 At that time Michael, the great prince who protects your people, will arise. There will be a time of distress such as has not happened from the beginning of nations until then. But at that time your people everyone whose name is found written in the book [not just Israel] will be delivered.

Daniel 7:21-22 As I watched, this horn was waging war against the holy people and defeating them, 22 until the Ancient of Days came and pronounced judgment in favor of the holy people of the Most High, and the time came when they possessed the kingdom.

This divine intervention by the Ancient of Days reconciles the apparent contradiction of Revelation 13:7 with Daniel 12:1. For a time, bad stuff happens (Revelation 13:7) but then it is stopped in certain places (Daniel 7:22 & 12:1) because the Golden Altar prayer-and-incense offering has been completed, the Ancient of Days has responded to His people’s fervent cries (even Jesus had to cry out!), and justice against the enemy has been swiftly dealt. What seemed to be going in a very bad direction has stopped, and is now reversed because Daniel assures us that a time comes “when the saints possess the kingdom!” Just like Daniel’s prayers affected outcomes and released global revelation, our engaged Throne Room prayers and worship have direct cause and effect! James 5:16 confirms that effective, fervent prayer of faith-filled, righteous people has great impact.

Now when we read the sequence of events described by Jesus in Matthew 24, they make more sense because He told us about all of this stuff and said, “Don’t be alarmed by it!” When we are tuned in the heavenly counsels within the Throne Room’s Golden Altar intercession and worship, we will prophetically see much of it before it happens and be sent as witnesses of the Gospel of hope to the nations right in the midst of all of the chaos, fully empowered in God’s love. Isaiah 43.

Haggai’s prophetic promise is another end-time scripture to activate as we engage in Throne Room, Golden Altar harp-and-bowl worship and prayer. This beautiful prophecy belongs to our generation to personally and corporately take responsibility for it, and to actively and aggressively believe and pray for its fulfillment!

Haggai 2’s message was addressed to three “types”: 1.) Zerubbabel 2.) Joshua 3.) The Remnant. Zerubbabel symbolizes the apostolic kings who are anointed to build the end-time House of God as wise master builders with plumb line revelation. Joshua represents the Golden Altar high priestly worship and prayer anointing. The Remnant represents the end-time prophetic bride of Christ who sees through the eyes of the LORD and serves Him faithfully as His kings and priests unto God. Together, these three “types” form the capstone that finishes the bridal Mountain of God. Zechariah 4:10 “For who has despised the day of small things? But these seven will be glad when they see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel, these are the eyes of the LORD which range to and fro throughout the earth.” Zecharaiah 4:7 tell us what Zerubbabel brings to the building process, “What are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you will become a plain; and he will bring forth the capstone with shouts of ‘Grace, grace to it!'”

Haggai 2:1-9 …on the twenty-first day of the seventh month, the word of the LORD came through the prophet Haggai: 2 “Speak to Zerubbabel … governor of Judah, to Joshua … the high priest, and to the remnant of the people. Ask them, 3 ‘Who of you is left who saw this house in its former glory? How does it look to you now? Does it not seem to you like nothing? 4 But now be strong, Zerubbabel,’ declares the LORD. ‘Be strong, Joshua … high priest. Be strong, all you people of the land,’ declares the LORD, ‘and work. For I am with you,’ declares the LORD Almighty. 5 ‘This is what I covenanted with you when you came out of Egypt. And my Spirit remains among you. Do not fear.‘ [i.e., do not fear the shaking!] 6 “This is what the LORD Almighty says: ‘In a little while I will once more shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land. 7 I will shake all nations, and what is desired by all nations will come, and I will fill this house with glory, ‘ says the LORD Almighty. 8 ‘The silver is mine and the gold is mine,’ declares the LORD Almighty. 9 ‘The glory of this present house will be greater than the glory of the former house,’ says the LORD Almighty. ‘And in this place I will grant peace, ‘ declares the LORD Almighty.”

Mountains in scripture can symbolize kingdom authority and cultural influence. The Zechariah 4 capstone is the top of the Mountain of God. This Mountain rises above all other mountain’s as the Micah 4 governmental center of the world from which Jesus and His bride rule and reign together. The capstone on this mountain is now being placed in our generation! Fulfilling Jesus’ prayer in John 17 for complete union, this glorious remnant forms the Bride-and-Bridegroom capstone in which the Psalm 24:1 / Micah 4:1 “Mountain of the House of the Lord” is completed and makes way for Father God to come and dwell in His house with His people and grant them peace. You, the Bride of Jesus Christ, are the set-apart remnant called to work to this end. The Cloud of Witnesses are pouring into the earth to actively witness this crowning day. Will you perceive them?

1 Peter 2:9 tells us why a royal priesthood is formed and chosen. “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.” We are chosen to offer up heaven-on-earth, one-with-Jesus, Golden Altar praise and prayer to the One who called us out of darkness (Who extracted a remnant) … into His wonderful light.

This is not a time to procrastinate, be lazy or self-centered. Our assigned angels are ready to get to work and fight the greatest battle of all time right along our side. This is the time for the REMNANT to RISE AND SHINE and get to work.

Let’s enter the Revelation 4:1 Throne Room door and fill the Golden Altar with our prayers and praise and stop evil. Let’s join the great worship scene of heaven and build a house on earth for Father that He’s excited to come and fill with His glory!

Janet Weaver Smith ©gardenministries.org – June 25, 2015

In my article entitled, A Faithful Bride for the Faithful Bridegroom, I describe Phase 1 and 2 of the believers walk with Christ. In this article, I introduce Phase 3.

The 3 phases of relationship with Jesus are as follows:
PHASE 1.) THE EVENT of SALVATION = Eternal LIFE
PHASE 2.) THE PROCESS of SANCTIFICATION through SURRENDER = Eternal GLORY
PHASE 3.) THE BEGINNING OF THE END = Fullness in Christ. The blameless, spotless bride.

In Phase 1, a person has accepted and come to know Jesus as their Savior.
In Phase 2, a person has entered into the process of sanctification and surrender to know Jesus as their LORD.
In Phase 3, a person has continued through Phases 1 and 2 and now comes to know Jesus as their Bridegroom-King.

Phase 3 marks the culmination of Phases 1 and 2 and happens as our spirit, in surrendered partnership with the Holy Spirit, peaks and groans under the burden of life itself; crying out for perseverance to finish its work and to be filled to the fullness of Christ that Ephesians 4:13, Colossians 2:9-10 promises.

Phase 3 is the time when we confront the last enemy, which is death (1 Cor. 15:16) by overcoming the fear of death that Hebrews 2:15 describes as a lifelong “slavery.” We are “crossing through the valley of the shadow of death and fearing no evil,” (Psalm 23:4) and we are overcoming [satan] by the blood of the Lamb, the word of our testimony; and we do not love our lives so much as to shrink from death. (Revelation 12:11)

In Phase 3, we have accepted the call of God on our life. When tested, we stand firm in the faith by believing His word and promises. We have passed through the Romans 8:30 bridal process of being called, and justified, and now, we are about to become “glorified.” Jesus Himself modeled this process for us before He died so, like Him, and in and through Him, we too can attain by His grace what he modeled for us—even before we die.

The Matthew 17:2 transfiguration and subsequent interaction with the Cloud of Witnesses is available to Christ’s overcomers on this side of eternity. If we hold fast to the word of life and patiently endure the intense bridal preparation process, we will enter the state of fullness, which is union with Christ Himself, and experience the light of God as we become one with Him—on this side of eternity! Like Jesus, though we are not yet in our final resurrected bodies, we can be transfigured though not fully changed into the final resurrected state. The parousia presence of God fill us as He comes to us before He comes for us. (For more on the parousia, see my article: The Spirit of Might and Power – The Fullness of Christ)

In Phase 3, the believer is entering the stage of transition into a complete new-man rebirth. They are crossing over into the fullness of Christ and are experiencing the climatic end juxtaposed by the intense groanings of their dying flesh and the Spirit’s emerging new life. And yet, the greater grace to endure and complete this phase is always available and dispensed upon request. The process of sanctification is almost done and the pure and spotless, glorified bride emerges.

Supporting Scriptures:

2 Corinthians 5:1-7, Philippians 2:15, 2 Peter 3, Daniel 12:3, 2 Peter 1:19, Matthew 13:43, Romans 8:11, Romans 8:18-23, Romans 8:30

2 Timothy 2:10-13 describes the first 2 phases: For this reason I endure all things for the sake of those who are chosen, so that they also may obtain the [Phase 1.] salvation which is in Christ Jesus and with it [Phase 2.] eternal glory. 11 It is a trustworthy statement: For if we died with Him, we will also live with Him; If we endure, we will also reign with Him; If we deny Him, He also will deny us; 13If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself.

Janet Weaver Smith ©9-4-2015 gardenministries.org

Not only are encounters with the Cloud of Witnesses possible, they can be so inspiring that we are moved to throw off everything that may be slowing us down. Hebrews 12:1-3 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

The word “surrounded” in Greek is: perikeimai (pronounced per-ik’-i-mahee) and its expanded meaning is: “I am encompassed, surrounded, or clothed with, am in submission to.” Hebrews 12:1-3 tells us that we are actually “wearing the testimony” of those who have gone before us like clothes. Thus, the Ephesians 5:21 mutual submission of the body of Christ extends to and includes these from heaven, as well as those in the body of Christ who we are in relationship with on earth. We are all working together—literally!

Hebrews 11:40 since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they [the Cloud of Witnesses] be made perfect. In these last days, together with the Cloud of Witnesses, we will be made perfect (Greek: teleios completed). Our process of finishing well is combined into and with their well-run race. Together, by faith, we will be interacting on heavenly ground as it invades our earthly existence. That means that like Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration, we too can expect to encounter those who are in the Cloud of Witnesses.

But what might be the purpose of these encounters? We need to acclimate toward a more heavenly-minded lifestyle and to know our supernatural God who promises that “no human mind has conceived the things God has prepared for those who love Him.” (2 Cor. 2:9) In Hebrews 12:22, Paul teaches us to expect to “come to” heavenly ground and have supernatural experiences with God with joyful expectation. He contrasted the Old Mountain of Fear to the New Mountain of Joy and described all of the heavenly encounters we can expect to “come to.”

Hebrews 12:22 But you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, 23 to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the Judge of all, to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, 24 to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.

In these last days, God is sharing with us His testimony of faithfulness in and through His saints of old as our encouragement and joy. God is the God of the living, not the dead. These saints are alive. And some never actually died. And whether they died or never died, like Moses and Elijah appeared with Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration, both “types” can appear in person for our encouragement. They can wear cloaks of invisibility and appear exclusively to one person and not others or they can appear to groups. It depends on the assignment.

No encounter surpasses those with Jesus Himself, however, I cannot deny the good fruit that has come from my encounters with the Cloud of Witnesses. For example, to my surprise, I encountered the Apostle John in person at a Contemplative Prayer Conference in Kansas City, MO. At the time, I did not realize that such a thing was even possible and I kept it mostly to myself. More recently, I encountered a relatively unknown missionary to China named Anna Ziese in a grocery store parking lot. I had seen her years earlier in a dream where Jesus showed me the transition between her generation and mine. I did not actually talk to either of these two but their presence provoked me to ask God why they appeared to me and I learned His message in that creative way.

Then I encountered and talked with the Apostle Paul in a deeply reverent “live-chat” as he tangibly ministered to me in a dream-vision-trance on Mother’s Day, 2015. I also saw in a dream, my own Mom come out of heaven and down to speak to a church group that she had been a part of most of her life. As she spoke, the white smoke of God’s glory came out of her mouth. She warned us of a demonic entity that was releasing a “demonic anointing” on young women and was channeling through the pop performer named Beyoncé.

And not only do the Cloud of Witnesses enjoy interactions with us and have divine purpose in doing so, the angelic realm will become more and more visible and interactive with us as well. Our angels enjoy meeting up with each other and with us. They look forward to our times of koinonia fellowship as much as we do!

The purpose of these encounters is to receive impartations, wisdom and revelation, understanding, and encouragement from what these saints learned and developed in their love relationship with Jesus when they walked the earth. Hebrews 2:12 tells us that Jesus Himself declares their name to His brothers and sister [in heaven and on earth] and in the assembly [on earth and in heaven] He even sings their praises.

Ask the Lord Jesus yourself whether these encounters are real and if you are to receive them. Let Him bear witness to your heart about the matter and then let Him take it from there. It is not something we can make happen, but we can open our heart by faith to its possibility and thus, enter into it as He leads and chooses by His Spirit.

Janet Weaver Smith and George Smith ©9-4-2015 gardenministries.org

The road toward complete dependence on God and trust in Him may include any or all of the harsh conditions Paul described in 1 Corinthians 4:11-12. For those of us who must have Christ fully formed within and who are relentlessly pressing toward the goal of winning the prize of our heavenward call, God is dealing with the last vestiges of unbelief and fear. Ironically, it is hardship that “tells on us.” When hardship hits, our response reveals how much we trust and hope in God and His goodness, or don’t.

When the storms of hardship begin to whip up around us, we cannot let them distract us from our fervent goal of completeness and union with Christ. All the more, hardship is the time to press in and fix our eyes on the Author of our faith—Christ Jesus—and let Him perfect us as we continue to believe Him. We can actually use these very hardships and shocking events to our advantage by letting them drive us deeper into Jesus.

When shocking events began to unfold, like Job, our first reaction should be to bow before the Lord in worship and thanksgiving, declaring that God is good, not because we are acting all fake and religious, but because we have learned along the way that when hardships occur, we actually want to turn to God and dive into His deep, not detach and turn away from Him in offense. In our season of preparation, God has changed our hearts to be like Jesus who always entrusted Himself to Father.

Thus, that which we “speak” about God’s word, we have come to intimately know as truth and so it will holds us when the storms blow. That is why God often speaks His word to us before the storm comes and then gives us time to believe it so that it works within us an intimate, knowing belief in who He is. When hardships come, this “knowing” place with God instantly activates and empowers us to take refuge in Him because we have learned to love and trust Him in all circumstances. And this is how we have come to know Him; we know, believe, and obey His living and active word.

Ephesians 6:13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.

Hebrews 10:23 Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.

True love and devotion for Jesus is and will be the only thing that holds us when we are opposed. No human compassion or love can hold us in what is coming in the earth. The revelation that we are about to begin seeing is how much God personally and intimately loves each one of us.

Jesus is going to begin to reveal to each individual the true Bridegroom heart—His intimate passionate longing for me as an individual… and who I am in what He has assigned me to be within His body. When we begin to get that revelation—the empowered knowing of how much Jesus loves individually us—we will be, by the Holy Spirit, empowered to respond back to Him with an equal love. But it will never be human love; it can only be divine love. God loves God. Jesus came and made the way for God to literally be put in us so that Father could love us and show it and have a relationship with us that reveals the truth of our Father’s love.

It is a great mystery in the Throne Room of Father; how it is all about Him, beginning to end, yet He has chosen to take it “being all about Him” and make it all about us. But in making it all about us, we are freed by the Spirit to give it back and make it all about Him. That’s intimacy. That is a truly interactive, intimate relationship. Because as much as I sit and long for Jesus, it’s such a pale shadow of His longing—His waiting for me to want Him the same way He wants me. We do not have the capacity in our own human physiology to generate that kind of love so He put His love in us by the Holy Spirit so that we can love God with the Love of God so that we can partake of God’s love for God in us.