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Sitting in the Heavenly Realms with Christ [1]
By Dr. Nancy Moelk
We want to have an experiential and tangible encounter with all the truth of God as portrayed in the Bible. Today’s exercise is meant to lead you to a more real experience of something you have already received in your relationship with Christ. But you may not have ever laid hold of it in an experiential way.
Here is some explanation beforehand to help you with this experience.
· We will be practicing deep breathing. When God created everything, he spoke it all into being with one exception: humans. He formed them with his very hands and breathed into them his own life! Every breath we take is a reminder of our loving Creator who still wants to touch us and breathe with us. As we take deep breaths, hold them for a few seconds and then exhale, we are deliberately directing our attention away from our thinking. We want to become aware of our bodies and particularly our hearts, which is the seat of our affections. First, we will take several deep breaths, nice and slow. Then I will give you some brief phrases to repeat which are about your relationship with God based on what the Word of God says. Try to keep taking slow deep breaths with long exhales during the entire exercise.
· We are going to be using our imaginations. Our imagination is our ability to see something inside with our internal vision. Some people are opposed to the use of the imagination or any kind of “guided imagery” claiming it is somehow a focus on non-reality or a lie. Imagination can be used in destructive ways as can just about anything. But what if we use our imaginations to envision something that is true. Something that is true about God, about us, about Christ, about others, about the Holy Spirit? What if we use our imaginations to help actualize what we have been given in Christ? Jesus spoke highly of little children. They are naturally full of imagination. No surprise, they have an easier time imagining a Jesus who loves them and cares about them. Their imagination is closely connected to the ability to hope. Our imaginations help us to see the things we are hoping for through faith. Imagination helps us wake up to what we have been given, but never fully activated.
· We are going to proceed as if we really have access to heaven now. The Word of God says we are seated in the heavenly places in Christ. What does that look like? Where are we sitting? On what? How? Do you think God the Father would ever want to hold you on his lap? Why not? He is the best father in all creation. Wouldn’t it seem normal for him to be affectionate and attentive to you? The Bible is full of examples of both the majesty, immense power and scariness of God as well as his tender mercy, kindness and willingness to connect to very lowly people. What if we could experience his comfort in a tangible way as we sit on his lap as a small child? "As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you; and you will be comforted...” Isaiah 61:13
As we ascend into heaven, we will open our hearts to the atmosphere of heaven and the light, life and love that permeates it. We are going to relax and receive as much as we are capable of. Your ability to engage in this kind of encounter will grow over time. It is important to know that the more you focus on the lovely things which exist in the kingdom of God, the kingdom which is already in you, the more real they will become to you. We need to awaken out of our worldly slumber to our inheritance in Christ. Doing exercises like this is one way to quicken our souls via the inner spirit man which already has a connection to all of heaven.
If you struggle with being distracted by your thoughts here is a way to dismiss them. Imagine your mind is a “naughty puppy”[2] who wants to get your attention. Kindly say to your thoughts, “not now, puppy.” And return your focus to your breathing. (If you are doing this in a group and someone starts to cry, please honor their private moment with the Father and don’t try to comfort or fix them. It is normal to experience emotion as we connect with the amazing wonder of God’s personality. Allow God to touch his children and you in this moment without anyone else’s help.)
We are ready to sit on God’s lap.
1. Place your feet comfortably on the floor and relax. Begin breathing in and out very slowly, holding your breath for a second or two. That is God’s breath you are breathing.
2. Repeat each of these phrases on an out breath. And then take another breath or two before you say the next phrase.
I am his.
He is mine.
I love him.
He loves me.
I’m in him.
He’s in me.
We are one.
3. See your spirit man rising up towards the brilliant light of heaven. Keep breathing. As you become aware of the light of heaven, open your heart, your inner most being to the warmth, the love and the life of heaven’s atmosphere. Stop and enjoy this for several breaths.
4. Now you will ascend a bit higher. You rise up under the sea of glass until you are standing before the throne of God. It’s just you and the Father. He has cleared the court to welcome you and to spend time just with you in this place. You approach him because he is smiling at you and extending his arms towards you, beckoning you to approach. And he says, “would you like to spend time with me child?” You continue to move towards him, and he makes a gesture to pick you up, if you want, and put you on his lap.
5. Sit on the Father’s lap and as you breathe, feel his breath and energy come into every cell of your being. Relax and allow his comfort and presence to soothe and minister to wherever you need it. As you breath out say this:
I am home.
I am safe here.
I am accepted here.
Home.
6. Stay here as long as you want. But when you leave, recognize that there is a significant part of you which is there always, sitting with Christ in the heavenly. As our minds are renewed, we will live more and more out of the energy emanating from our communion with God. The more aware we become of that reality, the more we will live out of our union with Christ in our daily lives.
[1] This exercise was inspired by two sources. One is a guided ascension exercise by Justin Paul Abraham available as a paid subscriber on the app, Patreon. The other is from Micah Turnbo’s book, The Invitation available on Amazon. [2] I heard Justin Paul Abraham talk about the mind as a “naughty puppy.”