And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it. (Genesis 28:12)
We live in a fallen world. This dark world does not supply the power and glory necessary to live a godly life. Everything that is good in this world is a product of a higher world. Miracles do not pertain to this world. Happiness does not pertain to this world. Citizens of this earth are subjects to its king, the devil. If left to only what this world provides, all men would be miserable, broken, suffering creatures.
Heaven, in contrast to this world, is a place of miracles, goodness, happiness, and light. Citizens of heaven are subjects to its king, God. Those who do God’s work on this earth must draw from the power of heaven. By doing so, they can serve as a conduit through which God manifests his goodness and power here on earth.
There are many Biblical accounts of the Lord leaving his disciples and spending the very early morning or late evening in prayer. He spent a considerable time in prayer. Why did the Lord Jesus pray so often? The Lord’s mission was to bring light into this dark world. He had to pull the light from heaven. As a mortal, he was a conduit for transmitting that light from heaven to earth.
The Lord was like a battery for light. His righteousness gave him capacity, and his interaction with heaven filled that capacity. His daily work depleted his stores of light. As he went about daily doing the works of his Father, virtue went out of him (see Luke 8:46). As he was bombarded by unbelief, false accusations, and persecution, his light was attenuated. The Lord’s light was finite while housed in a mortal body. It constantly decayed in the darkness of this fallen world. He had to charge his spiritual batteries frequently. As he routinely connected to heaven in prayer, he was recharged and able to continue providing a heavenly example that transcended anything any man had done previously (see John 15:24). If he had not connected with heaven as often and intensely as he had, he would not have been able to do the miracles that he did.
Like the Savior, we can charge our capacity to radiate God’s goodness through frequent, intense interaction with him. The Lord Jesus came to earth as the Son of Man in order to show us that it was possible as a son of man to do all the things he did. He instructed his followers to do all the things he did (see John 14:12). When men become vessels of the glory of God and transmit God’s goodness to others, it depletes them. To do God’s works here on earth, we must establish and maintain a connection to heaven.
Moses showed this pattern. He spent much time in the Holy of Holies in the temple, and on several occasions went into a high mountain to connect to heaven. Returning from these occasions, he brought back a little of heaven with him in the form of communications from heaven, power from heaven, and even the physical manifestation of God’s glory upon him. Because of his private sacrifice, he was able to publicly bless the children of Israel with far more of God’s glory than they would have enjoyed in his absence.
The Lord and Moses were special people with special missions, but do we have any reason to believe that God will use anyone miraculously no matter their particular circumstances? The mission of the Lord and Moses were singular, but the means they used to accomplish these missions were not special. We have the same means available, and if we are willing to use them, God will use us in great power to do his work just as he did with others.
Your mission in life relies just as much on obtaining a connection with God as Moses’ mission did. The way Moses approached God is open for anyone who will obey God’s commandments, and anyone who approaches God in the same way as Moses will work just as great miracles as Moses did. Moses’ greatness was not the cause of his great works—God’s greatness was. Anyone who connects to the God of Moses will work mighty miracles—whether they be public or private.
Why isn’t this connection a common experience? There is a barrier between us and heaven created by the fall of Adam. This barrier is two-fold, created both by our individual sin, and existing generally due to the fallen state of this world. In the garden of Eden, neither of these conditions were existent, and God visited this world freely. Adam had constant access to him. In our fallen world our default access to God consists only of the ministry of the Holy Ghost, which is available to all who surrender themselves to God. However, because of the Lord Jesus Christ, who conquered sin and death, the barrier between the two worlds can be broken.
If the barrier is penetrable, why have so few broken through to enjoy constant interaction with God? Because the way to break it is not generally known. Though described plainly in the scriptures, the false traditions of faithless men have warped our ability to read God’s word literally to the point where we need help to peel the scales of unbelief from our eyes and see the path God has described to us from the beginning. Truly, he stands at the door and knocks. In other words, the Lord Jesus has already worked out the path for us to connect with heaven and come up to a constant, full interaction with him. Our body, mind, and soul reside here, in a lower estate than God and many of his angels. It is as if he has created a ladder and lowered it into our pit, and is calling us to climb it.
This analogy is quite fitting, as it reminds us of Jacob’s ladder. Jacob once saw the ascent and descent of heavenly beings to and from earth:
And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it. (Genesis 28:12)
Jacob’s ladder and the Lord’s door (see Revelation 3:20) are actually not ladders or doors, but different names for the same portal. This is the portal that connects you to heaven. Whether seen or unseen, a connection to heaven is like an electrical circuit. It is an open pathway for light to flow from heaven to you.
You can come up to the point where this conduit is no longer temporary. You can come to the point where you can instantly be in heaven or see the Lord before you at any time and in any place—a habitation with God. Most Christians have, at some point in their lives, received a sudden burst of light from God. Like an electrical arc from a ground to a battery, you can receive bursts of contact with God whenever you momentarily get close enough to God. A habitation with God, on the other hand, is like a permanent connection to the battery that you can switch on at any time. In a sense, you can become a conduit from heaven to earth. This is what it means for God to abide in you, and you in him. This happens when your spirit increases in glory, becoming capable of constant interaction with the glory of God.
When you keep all of God’s commandments, the portal opens, and you gain access to the heavens. That succinct description of the way may tempt you to think it is easy. The way is certainly simple. Yet, there is nothing more difficult in this world. There are several significant barriers to encountering God.
Our traditions keep us from encountering God. The traditions of men pull us away from the path that leads to encountering God. This should come as no surprise, given that encountering God is always a minority experience, and traditions are formed by the majority. In the smokescreen of tradition, the only way to find the truth is to feel one’s way through patiently and steadfastly seeking, obtaining, and trying the purported word of God. This process is described later in this book.
The world keeps us from encountering God. Though the process of coming to God is simple, it requires consummate desire and attention. Seeking God cannot be a part-time profession. The world demands our daily, constant focus. Those who successfully encounter God must consciously choose to subject every day to him, even while shouldering the temporal burdens of mortal life. Instead of seeing the gospel as a subset of life, life is seen as a subset of the gospel. This doesn’t mean that one must live in a cave to meet God. Surrender doesn’t always mean walking away. Many times it means to walk with a different purpose. Seeking God consists primarily of one’s inward purpose. Though outer behavior will change, it is not always perceptible to the outside world, even when it makes a mighty change in the spiritual realm that surrounds us.
Throughout this book, the keys of establishing and growing a conduit from you to God are discussed. You will learn how to worship God and how to wait upon God. You will learn how to pray and what to pray for. You will learn how to develop compassion by interceding for others. If you apply these keys, you will come to the point where you have a habitation with God. You will pray and receive answers to your prayers. Your spiritual eyes will open. You will come to see the effects of the spiritual realm on your everyday life, and learn to effect change by working through prayer. You will have constant access to the Lord Jesus and you will be taken to meet the Father.