“In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.” John 1:4

“The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light.” Revelation 21:23

Just as the sages have written, the Veil does not fully open. So you have decided to take the step past the Veil that has stopped just over half way up your body, far from the top of the Four Golden Posts. Yet, your hunger for more of God’s presence, in spite of the major case of nerves you are experiencing, nudges you forward.

Still bowing, your face toward the ground, the light that once seemed to seep from under the Veil, has become blinding and you have yet to look up to see any form there may be of the presence of God. There is an unearthly nature concerning the radiance of this light. It is so different than the light of the Lampstand and the Sunlight you felt in the Outercourt. The light seems to radiate from every direction, and that light encompasses everything. You now understand why there is no need for the Sun in Heaven.

SOOTHING LIGHT

Slowly taking the second and third steps your face is still toward the ground. You are deathly afraid to look up. But, there is something about the light that strengthens you. You actually feel it’s soothing presence on your skin, and it far surpasses the peaceful warmth you remember of the sun touching your skin on a cold, early spring day. This light is giving you life, and your entire body deeply feels it.

SOOTHING LIGHT

Divine elements are happening with lightening speed. Within moments you feel more than the light touching your skin, you feel it entering your body. Its very presence enters you with each breath. You can feel it flowing through you - it is so different than the air you breathe outside this room. This light is alive, it is actually living, and as it enters you and courses through you, you are being regenerated at a cellular level. You now know, at a profoundly different level, the reality that His light is the Life of the world.

DIVINE AWARENESS

You are becoming aware of your created composition at a sub-cellular level and you are having Divine understanding enter your thought processes. You understand without knowing how you understand. The Creator, your Creator, is letting you know how completely He knows you. He is allowing you to track your creation, and in so doing God is allowing to you to have simultaneous awareness or a sliver of His Omniscience. You are learning how He totally and completely keeps track of all created matter, visible and invisible, above the Earth, on the earth, and beneath the Earth - there is nothing He is not aware of. He is never caught by surprise.

It is so easy for you to know all that is going on inside of you. You have perfect awareness of every cell that is dividing, each sub cellular particle that moves, and every disease, or malady is instantly known. Anything that is not functioning according to His Laws of Creation stands out like florescent orange on a hunter’s hat. You sense the Divine synchronization inherent in God’s Creation.

SPEECHLESS

You are in Awe and that word is trite compared to all you are living through right now. You begin to comprehend that the High Priest entered here to present himself and the people to God and the trade would be that He saw the presence of God. But, this was far from an even trade. What one experiences and comes away with from this experience changes every perception, every fragment of spiritual understanding; it changes everything - literally everything. You are cognoscente of the Divine order, the Divine Nature of all that comes from Him, and all that exists comes from and through Him.

Yes, life on the other side, outside this Room of Mystery, will never be the same. You can’t help but think; “I thought this journey was about preparing me to stand before God, when it was actually preparing me to be a witness of His existence and the reality of His intricate, interactive, moment by moment, involvement in my life and the lives of all who will follow Him.”

You still have not been able to look up, but you are becoming stronger, as His presence, life, and light infuse you. You hear strange noises and you are compelled to look to see what is making all this sound. As you slowly stand upright, you are struck with an even deeper sense of majesty and Awe, it is ………… .

Blessings,

John Paul

For thus says the High and Lofty One

Who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy:

“I dwell in the high and holy place,

With him who has a contrite and humble spirit,

To revive the spirit of the humble,

And to revive the heart of the contrite ones.

Isaiah 57:15

Trembling, eyes wide open, and struck with Awe you watch as the Veil rises. The Cherubim seem to take flight and the four colors woven in the tapestry before you astonishingly becomes a beautiful swirl portraying Heavenly Royalty.

The smoke rising from the Censor hanging by your side almost seems unnoticeable. Prayer for others seems a little out of reach right now. Yet, prayer for yourself is easily grasped, after all if your sins aren’t covered then this is the last sight you will see on Earth. Waiting is hard, years go by, but in reality only seconds have lapsed.

THE VEIL STOPS

Before the veil fully opens it stops about halfway up the height of the Four Golden Posts. You wonder what to do, do you help lift it? Do you see if there is a snag? Or do you turn and walk away believing God changed His mind and no longer wants to meet with you? Do none of the aforementioned - just wait. You’ll do a lot of this with God. That is why it is written that those who wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength.

Before long you will understand, the Veil will not lift higher - you must humble yourself, and bow to enter this next Room of Mystery.

STANDING TALL

You entered the Outer Court yard standing and full of confidence. You entered the Holy Place, the first Room of Mystery, standing, charged with energy, and eager to fulfill God’s plan for your life. But, to enter this last Room of Mystery you will have to bow.

Before you leave this room you will have added contrition of heart to the humility of spirit you soon will exhibit.

You must now take the next step toward God - He has already taken the first step by lifting the Veil.

THE EXPECTATION OF MORE PAIN

Not quite knowing what to expect, some are scared of experiencing more pain in this room. And you, yourself know you cannot take that. You have a paradox of feelings - you want to run away, yet you want to run to Him. You are flooded with memories. In the Outer Court you remember the physical pain as the evil one tried to discourage you by afflicting you and those you love. In the Holy Place there was emotional, and intellectual pain as the evil one used verbal, and emotional tirades from others to dissuade you. Now you wonder what kind of pain will be experienced in this room? You really don’t know if you can take anymore.

THE JOURNEY OF THE CROSS

What you will find in the next room, the Holy of Holies is far different from anything you have experienced in this journey. You might want to think through this - In the Outer Court you began the journey of the Cross. Your beard was plucked, the Crown of Thorns was jammed down on your head, and your flesh was deeply cut by three hundred and fifty one pieces of steel that hit your back in the thirty-nine stripes you received. In other words, you took up the Cross to follow Jesus. You gave up your life in this world so you might gain life in this world and in the world to come.

In the Mystery of the Holy Place, your garments were gambled for, your friends deserted you, you were taunted and mocked by those around you, and the weight was so heavy you had trouble catching your breath. But, in the Room before you, you will experience pain of a different order. Not the pain caused by others, nor the physical pain of affliction - all that is past. In this room you will learn the pain of your own incapability as you are asked to fulfill a purpose from God, that without His enabling, you will certainly fail - and you will go through it for the sake of others.

TRUSTING GOD

It was in this room that Jesus felt the weight of the sin of the world. It was here He felt forsaken by the Father, it was here that He had to rely on a Father, that He thought had forsaken Him, and who seemed so far away, to resurrect Him from the dead. Jesus was absolutely incapable of resurrecting himself. Without the Spirit of His Father coming to raise Him up, Jesus would have had to stay in the confines of Sheol with all those who died before him and all those who would die after Him.

When Jesus said to the Father, “Into you hands I commit my spirit” He died. The only way He could be raised from the dead was to give up His spirit - only then could the Holy Spirit raise Him up.  Jesus had to give up His life essence - the very breath from God the Father that gives man life. Jesus had to trust the Father with His eternal life. Only then would He have the power to over come the authority of Satan and the stench of death found in Sheol. Only then could He, in His rising from Sheol, take all who believed with Him.

Jesus had to give up everything in order to gain everything. It is now time, time for you to take the next step. Lean forward, bow down, take the step. The purpose for which God created you is waiting.

Blessings,

John Paul

“Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.” Philippians 2:5-8

The Veil is lifting and you are in ‘transition’ and that transition is to result in you being ‘transformed’ in your body, soul and spirit. Transition by definition is a process, and processes are often slow, very slow. Transition is also littered with seeming gaps in our understanding as to why God does what He does as well as why He does it the way He does it.

TINY ROOMS

Your Journey through the spacious Outer court was arduous, but it resulted in the transformation of your flesh. The steps you have taken in the much smaller Holy Place has been more intense and mysterious, resulting in the transformation of your soul. The room you are entering, the second Room of Mystery is even smaller. At ten cubits by ten cubits (15′ X 15″) it is one half the size of the Holy Place. It is the most  mysterious room in the Tabernacle. Here your spirit will be revived and become ‘one’ with God as His Spirit begins to take every space that you will allow Him to have.

SPIRIT RULE

It is here that your spirit begins to rule your soul and your body. As the Veil in front of you lifts the Light of the Glory of God radiates from the Holy of Holies into the room in which you currently stand. You will discover that the importance of the ‘Torn’ Veil is enormous. However, until you understand the fullness of the ‘untorn Veil’ you cannot appreciate God tearing the Veil. I will write more on this ‘tearing’ later.

LEADING, FOLLOWING, AND THE HOLY SPIRIT

You have heard it said that, “The greatest leaders are the greatest followers.” Here, in the Holy of Holies, you will learn the deeper meaning of this saying. You are entering into the most intense training period of your life, the “Dark Night of the Spirit.” You will learn how your spirit is to rule your soul and your body, by learning to follow the Spirit of God. You cannot become ‘one’ with the Spirit of God with out following where He goes and what He does. God’s Spirit will not follow you nor your agenda, so if you if you insist on going your own way, you will do so alone.

THE DARKNESS OF YOUR OWN AGENDAS

God’s Spirit is His Light, so wherever and whenever you go on your own, you will go in darkness. In that darkness are all manner of dark beings that use the darkness as a cloak. They are there to stop you from achieving God’s purpose in creating you. Here, in this tiny room, your purpose will begin to unfold.

Dark spiritual beings thrive on the pride found in your agenda. Here, in this Light is where Pride is the most lethal. After all it was in this very proximity to God’s Light that Satan allowed Pride to enter His heart. Pride can enter through the cracks in your life. Your journey thus far has been designed to get all but the smallest of cracks out of your life. It is in this room that the rest of the cracks will be addressed.

PROXMITY AND PRIDE

Proximity to God is no guard against pride, if it was Satan would not have fallen.

This is why it is imperative that you go into the last Room of Mystery when God’s presence is there. It is very good to see Light coming from under the Veil as it lifts - by it you know God’s presence is there and since there is “no darkness in Him,” nothing in there can hide from His light. In Him you will see and know at levels previously hidden from you. This too can cause Pride.

Perhaps the greatest issues the Priest had to face was not found on the outside of the Veil, but found once he entered this room. Would what he was to experience here cause pride to fill his heart? Perhaps the greater question is not was the High Priest clean before he went into the Holy of Holies, but how did he live his life once he came out?

“HE MADE HIMSELF OF NO REPUTATION”

Perhaps the gaps you face in waiting for God to invite you into this small chamber is more about your life on the other side of this experience than your life on this side of it.

SELAH

Blessings,

John Paul