The Ladder
At The Wilderness Place we have foundational truths we are building our Kingdom Culture on and one of those is the Ladder. The Holy Spirit is always teaching us deeper meanings as we walk with Him.
Where did the concept of this ladder come from? In Genesis 28, it says “He (Jacob) encountered a certain place (Bethel, a holy place) at sunset and camped there for the night. He took a stone from there, made it his pillow, and lay down to sleep. He had a dream of a stairway securely fixed on the earth and reaching into heaven. And there were messengers of God ascending and descending on the stairway.”
Let’s first talk about the stone. Why would anyone use a stone as a pillow? The stone is believed to be one of the altar stones that Abraham used when he built the memorial at the place of Bethel. Abraham was Jacob’s grandfather. We know Jesus is the Cornerstone. It is He who we build our lives on. Could it be that Jacob lying his head on this stone represents us resting our head on Jesus. Our head represents our thoughts and dreams. When we rest on Jesus, He opens heaven to reveal fresh revelation and His vision for our lives. By Jacon using this stone as a pillow it opened him up to Yahweh’s plan for him.
In this dream the ladder represents Jesus. He is the only way we have access to the Spiritual realm. We have the absolute honor as beloved sons and beloved daughters to have access to the heavenlies by way of Jesus. On our ladder of Jesus, we see three very important aspects. Intimacy, Honor and Order. In order for the ladder to work properly you need all three aspects. If either side is missing or the rungs are missing the ladder is useless. I love the explanation in the Passion Translation. “Each step is a progressive revelation of Yahweh’s purpose for our lives found in Jesus.”
What is intimacy with Jesus? It goes beyond just knowing about Him. Intimacy involves being vulnerable. In order to be vulnerable, you must have trust in the person. Trust can be really hard if we have been hurt or rejected in the past. It is ok to be honest with Jesus. Honesty opens us up for healing of the wounds we’ve experienced. If you have a hard time trusting Him because of past hurts, you can tell Him. He doesn’t get angry with us when we expose our hearts and thoughts to Him. Intimacy is surrender. We must surrender to His love and allow Him to heal our brokenness by way of His kisses. Intimacy happens when we are constantly talking to Him throughout the day. This past week in Kingdom Academy we were teaching the children that Jesus wants them to know Him as well as He knows them. He knows the intricate parts of who we are. We can know him by communication all day long. Prayer isn’t a few minutes in the morning while you read a devotional or your prayer closet. It is an ongoing conversation with Jesus all day.
Honor: This is a tough one because we have so many opinions about EVERYTHING! Pastor Tim shared with us Sunday about how the Lord asked him to surrender his entitlement to respond. Meaning he doesn’t have to have an opinion about everything. I’ve told my children for years you cannot learn if you’re not listening. We don’t listen if we’re always talking. We can cut ourselves off from what Jesus wants to do in our lives by dishonor. In Mark 6, Jesus tells us He could not do any miracles in His hometown because of dishonor. We have to be mindful of our words when speaking to people or about people. All people. This doesn’t mean we agree with everything but our maturity in Christ will lead us to His feet to share our thoughts with Him. We must bring everything that springs up in our hearts to Him. None of us want to dishonor intentionally but our walk with Jesus is not based on intentions. We answer for every word. So, let’s use our words to honor Jesus and others.
Order in our lives begins to take place when we are intimate with Jesus and walk in honor in every area. What does order look like? The order of our lives can be displayed by how we respond. When we allow Him to order our lives it can look like the wives submitting to their husbands. This is not a popular opinion in the world, but we are going to redeem this word. Submission and order in the home is a foundational truth that must be recovered. If you are a wife whose husband doesn’t serve the Lord, you still submit and honor to their leading. The scripture tells us wives as we honor and submit to our husbands they will be won to the Lord. It is all done from a place of love not duty. If you are a mother raising your children, you submit to Jesus as you husband. Ladies let your children see you in humble surrender. It teaches them from the beginning to trust Jesus. What they see and feel in the home is peace, rest and order. Husbands have a great responsibility to lead their families. As they learn to honor the Lord and others order takes place. We must remember as a family this is about the future generations.
Order is also displayed by how we give. You can always know where a person’s heart is by where they spend their money. Intimacy and honor open your heart to the leading of Jesus in how to manage your finances and where He wants you to give. You cannot out give the Lord. Obedience to His ordering of things opens us up to a multitude of goodness. As we are walking in intimacy, honor and order we are like full glasses of water spilling out His love and goodness wherever we go. This is the reward of Jesus’ suffering, His beloved ones displaying His nature to those around them.
