This post isn’t as much an insight as a personal reflection. Just back from another whirlwind tour of Israel, I am only now beginning to have cohesive thoughts and memories of my time there. This trip differed in many ways from my first one, not the least of which was being there with TBN and Joseph Prince, meaning we had three powerful meetings in addition to the tour.
One of the meetings was held on the steps outside the south wall of the Old City of Jerusalem on Sunday night. It is one of many areas that have been excavated far enough to find some of the original stones and steps from Jesus’ time. These steps were there when Jesus was coming and going through the south gate, and they might have been the very places He stood (or sat) to teach. That is where we sat (all 1800 of us!) to worship our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. (Just an aside – stone steps are hard, even though Jesus stood on them!)
One of the songs talked about an open heaven, and I was lost for a time to a place those words took me. Somehow, it was more than just being outside with clear skies overhead. It was more like the heavens were open to us who had gathered there that evening. Here I was, so blessed and loved by my Abba, Daddy that He let me be part of a wide sampling of His living, breathing body of Christ, right there in His chosen land of Israel, and in the physical place where my freedom began – Jerusalem – worshipping Him!
As if that weren’t enough, He reminded me of the first time I experienced the open heaven. It was in January 2006, with 350,000 Indians (and a few Americans) in Hyderabad, India, as we worshipped the Lord Jesus Christ together at a Joyce Meyer Ministries conference. Just as in Jerusalem, so in India it was more than just being outside. Here, it was with India. In Israel, it was with the whole world! But there was more He wanted me to grasp.
Still in that open heaven atmosphere, I found my heart yearning for the day I could be in China with a large gathering of Chinese believers, worshipping Jesus Christ under an open heaven in a place the government has tried so hard to squelch Christianity. My natural mind says, “No way!” But my spirit man says, “With God all things are possible!” Even as I type these thoughts, excitement bubbles in my spirit as I consider what Daddy will do in His church in China. I don’t know how and I don’t know when, but that doesn’t mean it’s only a maybe.
Amazing, this journey I took in only a few moments on the steps where Jesus walked. I can’t help but wonder what journeys others took in those same few moments, and what other nations were pointed out. What an adventure to walk in Christ – under an open heaven!
To Make Christ Known 