by Shae Cooke

As believers, we inhabit two worlds, the earthly realm and the heavenly tangible realm. Both of these are revealed realms, (what we've been shown). The earthly realm comprises tangible material and physical realities, those things that the Lord God Himself first placed here on the earth, and those things that He has since provided for us, such as our family, our friends, our possessions, our daily routines, our past and our present, and our own hopes and dreams for the future. The heavenly tangible realm includes the spiritual realities that we can understand and believe by faith; spiritual realities in essence that are immediately accessible to us, such as God's word (the Holy Bible),  the Holy Spirit living in and through us, the reality of the supernatural world, the tangible presence of the Lord, the work of faith in Jesus' ability to heal, save, and deliver, the reality of heaven and hell, the strengthening power of God,  the fruit of the Spirit, the promises of God, the moves of God, and most important, the reality of Jesus dying for our sin, and rising up to defeat death.

A Place for Getting a "Plan A"

But do you know that there is also an unrevealed (though accessible) realm available to believers? Every believer should go there for his or her "Plan A" because there would never be a reason to default to a "Plan B"! This place sharpens spiritual vision. It's where we can obtain heavenly strategy, divine blueprints, and divine revelation that could win cities and transform entire nations for God! It's a place to get divine strength, power, and might! It's a place of trembling and awesome reverent fear. It's the place of the Spirit of the Lord upon, it's a place of revelation of God's word for fruitful ground, for the softest soil, for open spiritual climates, for Israel, for battles with religious spirits, for changing the hearts of government leaders, for strategy to abolish abortion, to get God back in schools, governments, and public institutions, for turning hearts to the one and only Way, for revelation of God's word for any type of ground you have to walk in for glory of the kingdom. This realm is a deep revelatory place that will wreck you, wreck your world, and rip open the heavens over your life, in your family, the marketplace, in your city, your church, your government, and the nations! This place raises up bold prophets for the nations. It's a place where God can take whole cities in a day, whole families in an instant, and transform them.

Boldness to Roar in Dark Places

This place is one of revelatory knowledge that will set people on fire to bring down strongholds, to loose chains, to speak to the principalities of darkness, to loose cities from the enemy's grip, and to bring freedom to the multitudes. It's a place where once visited, you don't have to worry about what you should say or speak, but a place where you will find the boldness to roar in the dark places and proclaim the Gospel to free the nations. It's a place that causes you to SHOUT and BOLDLY PROCLAIM AND CLAIM the Nations for Him; it's a place of SEEK AND YE SHALL FIND, where we KNOCK AND HE WILL ANSWER, ASK AND HE WILL GIVE. This is the place that when accessed, tears a hole in your heart that resembles the very heart of God for the lost, the spiritually dying, and for His children. It's in this place that you receive a mighty injection of faith to move forward, strength to persevere, fire in your bones, and the will to believe God for the impossible.

This is a realm of the unrevealed heaven,  a realm that the Lord desires to reveal to His people, realm just as real as what we call "tangible," here on earth, a realm that should be a tangible living realm to us, a realm that will rend the heavens open to possibility and tear down impossibility!

The Realm of Deep Communion with God the Creator

This place is the presence of God! His face is what every worshiper of God should seek first in a time of need to wait on Him to receive directives for the right course of action to take. His presence is the threshold where we wait upon Him to seek His powerful intervention as we cry out to Him for wisdom and revelation of who He is. Revelation that we need to transform the world for God comes only from that place of nearness to the Lord. However, our motive for being in this place should be for the revelation of Him, because it's only in the revelation of Him that we can ever move forward purposefully and wholeheartedly with whatever additional revelation He gives us. When we grow in the revelation and knowledge of His personality and character, our lives won't dare remain unchanged by the fact of this revelation, and it should make all the difference in the world . . . literally!

See the Future from Heaven's Perspective

Consider the apostle John and the amazing revelation of the future from heaven's perspective that God gave him. Scripture infers very clearly how close his relationship was with Jesus (without giving his name,) "the disciple whom Jesus loved." John sought Jesus everywhere and we see in Scripture, that he seemed to be everywhere that Jesus was, even to the final moments of death. 

Note that John had a prominent position in the apostolic body. Known as one of the "pillar" apostles (Galatians 2:9), he was also referred to as "John the Evangelist." The seven churches of Asia were the objects of his special care (Rev. 1:11). He was a witness of the raising of Jairus' daughter, the healing of the lame man, of the Transfiguration, and of the Agony in Gethsemane. He (with Peter) was sent into the city to prepare for the Last Supper. At the Supper, John's place was next to Christ on "whose breast he leaned." Theologians are of the mindset that John was also that "other disciple" who followed Christ after the arrest in the palace of the high priest. John remained near Jesus at the foot of the Cross on Calvary with Christ's mother Mary, even taking her into his care. After the Resurrection, John was one of the first of the disciples to rush to the grave, and he was the first to believe that Christ had truly risen! He was the first of the seven disciples present who recognized Jesus standing on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. After Jesus ascended and the Holy Spirit descended, John took a prominent part in the founding and in the guidance of the Church. God would never have entrusted so much to one person, had there not been that close and loving relationship.

His Presence Reveals Mysteries

Is it any wonder, therefore, that the invitation to "come up here," to John was made by Christ Jesus Himself, and Christ Himself showed John the future. How appropriate, since Jesus is the First and the Last (1:17), the Beginning and the End (22:13). Only He can know the future with certainty! John saw God on His throne at the very center of heaven and the sea of glass like crystal that surrounded it. What happened in the presence of God? His beloved Christ risen appeared to him (1:10), he saw the woman sitting on the beast and he saw the New Jerusalem! John saw the future from heaven's perspective while in the presence of Almighty God, a God in control of His creation and our very destiny.

His Presence Gives Answers

Paul also went to the third heaven, where he saw the seven spirits of God (seven lamps blazing). He asked God what the lamps were, and received revelation about them. (In the Old Testament tabernacle, the table in the holy place, with the bread of the Presence on it, was illuminated by a seven-lamp lampstand.). The lamps used oil, and the oil symbolized the Holy Spirit. There's another picture of the lamps and lampstand in Zechariah 4:2. This lampstand also had seven channels that fed the lights. On either side of it, two olive trees continuously supplied the oil for the lights.) In response to Paul's question about what they were, the Lord answered "Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit."

Isaiah describes the Spirit of Christ in 11:1-4, and Proverbs 20:27 reveals that the lamp of the Lord searches the spirit of a man, and searches out his inmost being. The Holy Spirit illuminates the things of God to us (symbolized by the articles on the table in Exodus 31:8), and He makes those things real to us, "The Spirit will take from what is Mine and make it known to you" (John 16:15).

Favor to those true of heart

The Holy Spirit illuminated what man could not see, to Mary of Bethany. She was the only woman in the Bible whom God allowed to anoint Jesus' body with perfume. Recall the Gospel accounts of the first witnesses to Christ's resurrection. The two women went to the tomb with spices and perfumes to add to what Joseph of Arimathea had already brought to the cave. However, they didn't have a chance to anoint Jesus with the fragrances because He'd already risen from the grave. Mary had been given revelation of His death two weeks earlier, where Christ said that Mary had saved this perfume for His burial.

Do you know that reference to the face in the Bible symbolizes favor? When God turns His face toward you, it indicates His favor. (Conversely, when God turns His face away, it indicates disfavor). (See Matthew 18:10; 1 Peter 3:12). When we behold His face, we have favor with God because He favors those who are true of heart. Mary positioned herself to behold His face. She had a true heart and desire to behold the Savior. More than the expensive perfume, the love she lavished on Him I believe was the underlying reason why Jesus defended her to the group. Nothing distracted her from her quest to saturate Jesus with her love, not even that there were people in the room that plotted to kill her own brother. In fact, at that moment, everyone in the room was seated in a heavenly place, including the plotting chief priests. Dear, recently resurrected Lazarus; he just drank it all in; the aroma of worship in the presence of the Lord, without ever asking for a single thing from Him.

His Feet and His Words worth Clinging To

But look here how this time spent with Jesus can be time spent in revelation. Mary was not idle at Jesus feet, she didn't just hear His word, she listened. Every time Jesus visited that home, you could find Mary there occupying her time with Jesus, it was as natural to her as her instinct, she did exactly as Jesus desired her to:  "Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls" (Matt. 11:29).Mary didn't casually hear Jesus; she completely opened herself to Him that she might GAIN wisdom, GAIN knowledge, and rest. Every time He visited her, she knew that He would have MORE to give, and that each lesson had the eternal life that she needed. Mary's love for Jesus caused her not only to cling to His feet, but also she clung to His words. Clinging to the feet of Jesus, and clinging to His words go hand-in-hand.

In the Jewish world, anointing with oil was a symbolic action that announced that the person anointed was especially favored by God. Mary drenched the Lord with her perfumed oil and spices. Did it pool at His feet where she knelt? Did she get some on her clothes, on her hair? I believe that as soon as she anointed Him, that He anointed her with that same oil of favor that day, for He said that her act would always be remembered, that wherever the Gospel is preached, what she had done would be told in memory of her. All eyes turned that day to see Christ's expression after she poured out the oil. How wonderful if we could maintain Mary's kind of focus so that the world would see the expression of love in Christ's eyes, through us. Mary "saw" things that day that only God knew and it was through the revelation of this knowledge that she sacrificed the costly oil. I'd love to know how the rest of her life unfolded! Doubtless, she won many to Christ.

This revelation of who Jesus was came from being in His presence. The most important truth that the Holy Spirit reveals is Jesus and who He is to us; the real bread that comes from heaven (John 6:41, 48).

Communion Opens the Sea

Penetrating the Sea

The sea of glass like crystal referred to in Revelation, I believe is a prophetic snapshot of the sea of revelation available to us. The sea of glass surrounds the Throne, and it is through these crystal waters I believe that God sees and knows everything instantly?nothing is hidden from Him. This sea also separates us from Him. However, as children, washed as white as snow by the sacrificial blood of the Lamb, we have access to the foot of the Throne, to the very presence of God, where in light of that Presence; we too can see through the heavenly sea of glass a prophetic blueprint to overcome and to strategize to win the world for Jesus. It is through this symbolic heavenly eternal looking glass, that we are to look at the temporal with spiritual eyes wide open, because we're in a spiritual battle. We must see what is happening here on earth as a wrestling and spiritual conflict against the forces of darkness. 

Few believers ever venture to this heavenly place of deep communion and therefore, cannot see the earthly realm through heavenly spiritual eyes of faith. This place is as far away to them as the East is from the West, as far as the farthest galaxy is from the earth. Is it any wonder that we're experiencing more defeat in our lives than victory? How can we walk boldly or with confidence if we don't know our commander-in-chief whom we serve? Likewise, how can we be victorious when we cannot see the spiritual battle, when we don't have a divine plan or blueprint, when we don't even know or accept who God says we are?

Prophetic Revelation

Paul tells us that there are certain things that mortal man has never seen or heard. We cannot perceive them by our five senses. He says that these things haven't entered the heart of man; in other words, we cannot fathom, rationalize, or even ponder them without divine revelation. These are truths in the spiritual realm, truths that are the blessings God has promised to His people. The only way we can know about them is if God reveals them through the Spirit, "For the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God" (1 Cor. 2:10). God has, God can, and God will reveal to us things that could not otherwise, be known. This is divine revelation. Of all of the creatures in God's creation, only man did He create with a God-consciousness. Have you ever seen a horse pray? A cat doesn't ask God to bless the Fancy Feast it's about to eat, nor does a chicken make intercession for mercy toward God on behalf of its flock. Only we are designed to receive and understand revelation from God. Revelation is an unveiling of unchanging truth that was once hidden. The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and our sons forever, that we may observe all the words of this law. (Deuteronomy 29:29).

Get Some Blood on You!

What's keeping you from receiving prophetic revelation? The true prophetic word breaks things down, builds things up, plucks up the old, and plants the new. It gets us ready for the move of God and releases the power to accomplish it. Few believers actually venture to this place of deep unto deep communion with Jesus. Why? Why aren't we at the foot of the cross, and clinging to it? We need to get some of Christ's blood on us, because His shed blood is a sea of revelatory knowledge of His great love for us; an invitation to know Him, and a clear and transparent way to Him. It is through the sea of blood that Christ shed, that the knowledge and the glory of the Lord will come by the revelation of the Holy Spirit. It is through this sea of blood that we are able to access the throne and see as things as God sees them through the clear crystal sea. The blood penetrated the sea of glass; the barrier that separated us from Him, so that we could sit at the foot of the throne and commune with Him, just as Mary sat at His feet. She didn't kneel--she didn't crouch--she sat! To sit indicates one plans to tarry a while. We need to plunk ourselves down, tarry at the cross, and get some of His blood on us so that we can daily be washed and cleansed, made pure and holy without barriers to the Father. So that we can glimpse through the sea of glass like crystal with spiritual eyes alive and open, and ask for anything in His name that would glorify Him, and see and know that it will happen.

It is there that we see the eternal, that we toss the temporal in light of what God sees (2 Cor. 4:18). "While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen, for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal."

"If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God . . . set your affections on things above and not on the earth" (Col. 3:1, 2).

It's important, therefore, that we know that because of the shed blood of Christ, that we have the authority and the right to penetrate the sea of glass and access heaven so that in turn we can view God's created world through spiritual eyes of faith, as His blood-bought rightful heirs.

The Power of One-on-ONE Relationship

And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the LORD caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided"
(Exodus 14:21).

Never underestimate how powerful your own relationship with God is as it relates to winning the world for Christ. The faithfulness of one man walking with God saved 600,000 people, and who knows how many generations afterward turned their hearts to the Lord because of this relationship that one man, Moses, had with His Creator.

Communion caused a strong wind to blow!
Communion opened a sea of revelation!
Communion blazed a clear, dry, path!
Communion swallowed up the enemy!
Communion brought everything back into alignment!!

God set a precedent for knowing mysteries when He parted the Red Sea for the Israelites 3500 years ago. He in essence, revealed to them something they'd never seen before. Can you guess what that was? It was the ocean floor. Previously, it was submerged, inaccessible, never before seen, and mysterious, but He manifested it for the first time ever, to the children of Israel through the parting of the waters.

In fact, not only did He manifest it, but also He even made it dry enough for the Israelites to walk on. He caused a strong wind to blow and created dry terrain for the crossing. Truly, it was a double miracle--the parting of the sea and dry land to walk across! God could have just split the sea and had the Israelites flee the Egyptians by trudging through the mud and silt that would naturally be there on the bottom of the sea. But God chose to perform that extra miracle, and made their path as dry and firm as land never saturated before! Never again was the sea to be impenetrable! Never again could it be thought "impossible," to see the ocean floor. Never again could those who tread through the sea (friend or foe) or those who lived to witness it, deny God's power! The Lord blazed an amazing path that day, for all believers to know the mysteries that lie beneath even the darkest sea of our lives.

"And Moses said unto the people, fear not, stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which He will show you today, for the Egyptians whom you have seen today, you shall see them no more again forever...and the LORD caused the sea to go back by strong east wind all that night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided. And the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea upon the dry ground: and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left." (Exodus 14:13, 21, 22).

A Way in the Sea and a Path in the Mighty Waters (Is. 43:16, 17).

Also miraculous was the closing up of the waters upon Pharaoh and his army. Imagine their reactions: They are full of hostility toward you. They want to kill you and tear you apart, but then the waters begin to close and their anger toward you turn to fear of the collapsing waters. Soon the waters return and the sea is still again, and the enemy is no more.

God brings us to a point where only He can deliver us. We cannot turn around and retrace our steps, because if we do we may be swallowed up with the enemy. We must move forward with God along the path that He blazes for us. 

The waters resumed their natural course. The sea didn't veer off into another direction. He restored the sea back the way He intended it to be. God intends the earth to be His! It is His heart to restore the children unto Himself the way He'd originally planned on that day that He fashioned us from the dust of the earth and breathed life into us by His very breath. 

The mystery of the sea was once shrouded, but because of the heart of one man to know His Master intimately, God blazed a revelatory path through it and saved a nation. So too, the heavenly sea of glass like crystal around the throne parts for His children. Your heart to know your Creator will cause a wind to blow to blaze a firm and dry path that will lead straight into the heart of the nations, for the glory of the Lord, and end-time harvest. Drench Him with the oil of your love, and He will drench you with the oil of His favor. He in His mercy will lead forth the people whom He has redeemed, and He will guide them in His strength to His holy habitation. Sing to the Lord, for He has triumphed gloriously!

THE SONG OF THE SEA
(Exodus 15:1-18)

"I will sing to the LORD, For He has triumphed gloriously! The horse and its rider He has thrown into the sea! The LORD is my strength and song, and He has become my salvation; He is my God, and I will praise Him; My father's God, and I will exalt Him. The LORD is a man of war; the LORD is His name. Pharaoh's chariots and his army He has cast into the sea; His chosen captains also are drowned in the Red Sea. The depths have covered them; they sank to the bottom like a stone. "Your right hand, O LORD, has become glorious in power; Your right hand, O LORD, has dashed the enemy in pieces. And in the greatness of Your excellence You have overthrown those who rose against You; You sent forth Your wrath; It consumed them like stubble. And with the blast of Your nostrils the waters were gathered together; The floods stood upright like a heap; The depths congealed in the heart of the sea. The enemy said, "I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil; My desire shall be satisfied on them. I will draw my sword, My hand shall destroy them.' You blew with Your wind, The sea covered them; They sank like lead in the mighty waters. "Who is like You, O LORD, among the gods? Who is like You, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders? You stretched out Your right hand; the earth swallowed them.
You in Your mercy have led forth the people whom You have redeemed; You have guided them in Your strength To Your holy habitation. The people will hear and be afraid; Sorrow will take hold of the inhabitants of Philistia. Then the chiefs of Edom will be dismayed; the mighty men of Moab, trembling will take hold of them; all the inhabitants of Canaan will melt away. Fear and dread will fall on them; by the greatness of Your arm They will be as still as a stone, till Your people pass over, O LORD, till the people pass over Whom You have purchased. You will bring them in and plant them in the mountain of Your inheritance, in the place, O LORD, which You have made for Your own dwelling, the sanctuary, O LORD, which Your hands have established. "The LORD shall reign forever and ever."