Sep 27
Approaching the Rooms of Mystery
THE SIGHT
The visual nature of the Tabernacle is pretty impressive, especially if you stop to think that it is found in the Wilderness. The white linen curtains that surround the entire Tabernacle are five cubits high (7.5 ft.). So, from some 300 feet away, when you first see the Rooms of Mystery you may wonder why would anyone want to go in there? It seems to be a normal tent except as you get closer you notice that it has very tall walls (10 cubits or 15 ft.). Yet, even at that, it does not look as aesthetically beautiful or as splendid as one would have thought.
The dark badger skins that cover it are not particularly impressive. In fact, if it were not for the height of the walls, you might think it a home for the impoverished. The size of the two rooms together is only 10 cubits x 30 cubits, about one fifth the size of the entire Tabernacle.
HIDDEN GLORY
However, as you walk toward those rooms, there is a glint that grabs your attention. Drawing closer you see a stunning curtain and five golden pillars glinting in the Sun. Instantly your breath is lost and you receive the first hint that this place is not for those who love the mundane, it is very, very special. Had you not heard that there were two rooms under the four layers of coverings, you might suspect there was only one. Herein is understanding, the single way in which you will find the difference between the two is by entering the Sanctuary and discovering the Rooms of Mystery. Hope springs up - there is something more, something deeper, something I’ve yet to experience that will make what I’ve gone through worth it and I’ll find it in there.
Somewhere deep within you hear the faint whisper, “Wait until you see the inside - you must go inside.” In that moment you have a wisp of understanding that, like Jesus, it is not supposed to have any form or comeliness that would cause mankind to notice what it really is. You also suspect that every facet of life from this point forward begins on the inside, for indeed it does.
DESIGNED FOR YOUR GOOD
However, before you go in, it is very important to remember, each piece of furniture you encounter is there for your good. Each one is a means of aiding you, preparing you, and transforming you into a spiritual being. The closer you come to the Holy of Holies, the closer you come to being truly, purely, spiritual. Do not get discouraged The coming wine is great.
In the Outer Court one learns of the Priestly functions – for we are all priests that are to minister before Him. But in the Rooms of Mystery, you will be taken through a process where you learn and yearn to minister to Him. In the Glory of His presence you will find little thought of you.
THE TRANSITIONS TOWARD SPIRITUALITY
In the Outer Court of the Tabernacle you learned the value of sacrifice. In the first Room of Mystery, The Holy Place, you will learn obedience; in the second Room, the Holy of Holies, you will learn submission. The fruit of the three will become the wine of praise, worship and True, Pure, Spirituality. In the moment of His Presence you forget any thought of your own wellbeing and learn to exist in Him who gives you your next breath.
I’ll write more on the Rooms of Mystery in a few of days, sooner than the last few posts. If you had not guessed, I am going to try to make the posts shorter and more often.
Blessings,
John Paul Jackson
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I woke up this afternoon, rolled out of bed, and I was pondering mystery. I thought “How much better mystery is than religion.” And the thoughts were moving in and out of me. It was sort of like this joy that in God, the mystery is far better than the earthly religious knowledge so many want to attain. Walking with God is so perfect and pure, and yet it is absolutely mysterious characteristics. even so, those who are born of the spirit..you don’t know where the come from, and you don’t know where they are going. Mystery– personified!
I broke out in laughter in one of my classes at parabolic language one of the professors was using without knowing they were using it. The class commented to me ‘what will, are you becoming delusional?” nope. I am becoming more intoxicated with divine mystery.
So, i strolled on over here, and wow…you were talking about mystery today. Its one of my favorite things in the whole universe.
Thanks for speaking on it.
I don’t know if it’s the transition or the process of transformation that is more painful? Whichever one it is I can feel hope arising that a great work is being done in my heart.
So, I’ve been meeting with a Christian counselor for the last number of weeks and he shared with me that I have unresolved issues of abandonment and rejection. I have been reading JP’s book “Breaking free of rejection” and I found some things that resonated within my heart, that I could see for the first time. Patterns and habits; a script that I had been following subconsciously, where I would end up sabotaging my life, repeating the same cycle over and over and over again and again. Yes, I have no doubt now that I have unresolved issues of rejection that I’m sure will slow my pace as I attempt to move forward. I’m beginning to get this feeling that I will be spending lots of time at the brazen laver?
Lyle
woooooooooooooooooooooooooo
I’ve been following you well up until recently. I know what you are saying but I don’t feel I have any ‘understanding.’ I really long to be very close to God and have asked Him to draw me closer often. I long to ‘understand’ and ‘experience’ Him rather than just know things about Him. I can identify with the wilderness experiences you write about because I ‘know’ them and have experienced them. Now, this is moving out into that area I don’t quite get.
It often amazes me that there are some out there who experience spiritual things so often. Then there are others, like myself, who have struggled to grasp the ’spiritual’ things because we don’t understand the ‘feeling,’ ‘knowing,’ and ‘experiencing’ aspect of being with God. It seems no matter what you say or pray for some people, ‘experiencing’ an awareness of the spiritual is like asking them to describe an apple in the fifth dimension. They just don’t have a grid for it.
So, I look at people who naturally have many spiritual experiences and I ask God why it is so hard for me to ‘hear,’ ‘feel,’ and ‘know’ what is going on. I want to enter into the rooms of mystery. I ask God for so much more than I have. Yet, I never feel satisfied. It feels like a double edged sword to hear the quote “you’re as close to God right now as you want to be.” For years I’ve asked myself and God what I’m doing wrong.
Yes, I’ve heard it also said that spiritual experiences do not equate to maturity. I would just like to ‘know’ God more and experience Him.
Do you have any insight into why some seem to naturally have more experiences with God and others don’t? With the ever increasing talk of people having visitations, angelic appearances, radical life changing experiences with God, visions, dreams, and all sorts of things I’m beginning to feel like I missed the train somewhere. I’m not talking about experiences for the sake of experiences but for growing in God. Is it lifestyle and relationship with God from which these grow? Or, does God move on whom He choses when He choses regardless of our relationship with Him?
I learning to see myself as a ’steward’ and not an ‘owner’ because this is the truth the early church walked in, today we think we own our money, talents, bodies, souls, spirits, days etc… Its a wrong belief…that is going to bear bad fruit. If i am a steward, i can stand aside & see myself take responsiblity for the things the Lord entrusted to me. It will prompt my obedience and bring me closer to the truth of God.
I really enjoy reading what you are writing JP.
Much of what has been written I’ve really had to think about. I’m sure one day I will come to a deeper understanding. I know that there is a depth I have yet to know and experience.
Dear ‘one of these’
I would like to make suggestions that may help you. I was one of what they termed during the renewal of the 90s as a HTR or spelled out “hard-to-receive’
I, overtime realized that it wasn’t that I wasn’t experiencing God supernaturally, it was that I hadn’t the eyes to see him and his acts.
to get these eyes there is a major major thing you must do.
1- You must stop saying “why it is so hard for me to ‘hear,’ ‘feel,’ and ‘know’ what is going on.”
2- start saying “I am connected to God continually, and I am becoming more aware to his loving mercy every day in every moment”
3- Only speak out that which acknowledges your spiritual connection to God, by doing so, you will be creating the atmosphere around you as ripe for recieving.
4- Beleive that you are worthy (as a joint heir to the promise of salvation) to receive. This one is tough as many people don’t ‘receive’ from God because they have rejection, and self-hatred or self-abuse in their mind. THey feel that they don’t measure up, they feel they aren’t good enough to have an experience with God, that there is some how some sort of ruler and they fall slightly short. No one would see God if this were true. Its grace through Jesus that makes it possible
5- Continue to beleive you are experiencing God even when You don’t see it. By BEING a reciever of the miraculous before you try to become it, you suddenly will begin walking in ways you never thought possible. Allow your spirit to be connected to the divine source of all things, and let your spirit speak forth to your soul and flesh according to God, it will happen, and you will look back and say “WOW! God was moving supernaturally all this time, I just didn’t know it!”
I would like to end in saying that I have known many people who had miraculous encounters with God, but did not have a love relationship with him, but I have never known someone who had a love relationship with God that did not see miracles and visions etc.
If you base your Love relationship first, the signs wonders and gifts will come in more powerful ways then you ever imagine. Too many people care about gifts and miracles and not about their love times with God. I can tell you this, as the scriptures say “when love comes…all things are fulfilled”
when you let love enter your being, the miraculous flows so naturally, you become naturally supernatural, and it is un-miraculous living that becomes the oddity.
bless you on your journey
“Dont get discouraged” has been a big thing that has happened alot. I see things that feel wrong and I just go and hide and wait for the storm to blow over, not talk to the pastor because I’ve heard from others he doesn’t give you a warm response and if he does nothing changes. John Paul I’m sorry but I see some garbage on leaders in my church and it seems I go into a paralysis from moving forward. The definition for paralysis means (a loss of the power to move or feel in any part of the body, as because of injury to the brain) I think my brain gets more in the way than my spirit is allowed. I’ve decided now to just pray in the opposite spirit for them as I see stuff, meaning when I see a wall of division between leadership and the congregation I ask God to break the walls down of division and bring a spirit of unity. I want to trust leadership again.
Thank you for your comments One of Those. I too feel as though I’m going to burst from pain if I hear another testimony of how God has given someone else a supernatural encounter that draws them deeper and closer to Him and how they now understand the Father’s love. I long so deeply and cry out in my pain yet at the end of the day all I can see that I have is my pain. In my head I know that this is not true because The Song of Songs tells me how much my “glance” at Him means. But that’s my point, it’s all in my head. How does one get it in their heart and make it a reality without a supernatural experience? Thankfully God has given my husband a glimpse into what I’m going through and the importance of it. Some days it scares me because I have feelings of seriously wanting to give up. Thankfully I’ve been listening to Mike Bickle on the ihop web site on Fri’s and Sat’s and he’s teaching about the coming Kingdom and why we really want to keep on keeping on. I keep on.
My thanks goes out to all who have shared their pain on this blog about your “Dark Night…”. I personally don’t know anyone who has gone through such an intense “Dark Night” and so your comments help me to know that I’m not making this stuff up and that I’m not the only one. Some day we will see exactly what God is doing and I have no doubt that we will be immensely glad that we trusted Him to work in us in this way.
Our Moving, Seeking God: vain repetition as opposite of immediacy.
Repetition as stagnancy
Immediacy as contact
Connection as moving and dynamic.
In the dream I was in a representation, a similitude of the world that represented the motivations for the Pastoral ministry. It looked like a school combined with the everyday world. The everyday world was the accreditation of the school. I was watching Pastor in a church setting. He was preaching, his preaching was old and repetitious, it lacked immediacy. He was not reaching the people; his preaching was self focused which made it repetitious.
Then, in the dream, I was told that immediacy, variety and originality is within the connection with others.
I was then outside, deep in a city, next to what looked like an oil refinery. It was very hot and bright outside. I was there sitting on a hill with wheat growing on it. I saw a black man moving through the city; and he started to walk up the hill where I sat. We started talking. His face then became accentuated to indicate importance. I was told that his face contained the revelation of his character.
He said that he was a Pastor; however, I saw that he was from a new move of the Pastoral.
He was extremely distinguished looking. He said that he was from a highly accredited school, an Ivy League school, like a Harvard. The school and the education that was exhibited in his characteristics were from helping people – connection. He exuded a brilliant immediacy.
This new move of the Pastoral would be connected to high Governmental position, Ivy League schools; it wouldn’t look like the church in the past, but “secular”. It would remove barriers between classical church and the people – it would be a wide movement across all the cities
Although he was only about 40 years old; his face was very lined, but not from wrinkles of old age. I heard that the lines on his face are a sign of his character, that wisdom will be one of the primary indications of this new move of God.
He then continued to move on through the city …
Dream received – June 8, 2008
As I read this, the song, “take me in to the Holy of Holies, take me in by the blood of the Lamb, take me into the Holy of Holies, take the coal, cleanse my lips, here I am” rises within me. Mystery reminds me that I really know nothing, only very minimal fragments of what really IS. Again, Sergeant Schultz spirituality (I know NOTHING!, from Hogan’s Heroes) is my forte.
Linda…who posted above…”leadership” is often not leadership. Too often “boxed” control. Some mean well but often don’t have the depth one needs, some are out for satisfying unresolved ego needs they have which emerge in “serving” and so can’t help you grow, some genuinely love and pray (and that does more to shift things along than any spoken into your ears advice) for you, and one or two have just the right living word. But in the end you are on your own, and rightly so. On your own to discover Christ in you. Don’t get hung up on any so-called “leadership” whether they approve or not of where you are at. Never let them set a ceiling above you of their experience or ways of doing things. Don’t idolize anyone. The Holy Spirit will lead you into all truth and into all the bits of the Tabernacle too! I had a dream of someone paying for my elevator ride…the elevator was a real small one just big enough for one person and no luggage (rather like those small elevators in French “pension” hotels!) and it was taking me up to the top. The small, confined, aspect of the ride could be misinterpreted by many “leaders” and they would have no helpful insight…maybe this is like it is for you as you seek for understanding and meaning? Never mind what others may or may not say…God loves you, will never leave you, wants your best, and is putting you in a place to test your heart. Seek him with all of it and you’ll find Him, and you’ll have peace about your place in Him whatever is happening “out there”. It’s a done deal.