We Have Dual Citizenship
But we are a colony of heaven on earth as we cling tightly to
our life-giver, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our
humble bodies and transfigure us into the identical likeness of
his glorified body. And using his matchless power, he continually
subdues everything to himself.
God is talking to His church in this moment of human history not only to realize who we are in Christ, but to understand where we are in Christ. We are dual citizens of both earth and heaven. As you begin to pray from a throne room perspective, ask Him how He wants you to pray in this time of epic change. As you survey the earth from His perspective, it will forever change how you pray bringing heaven's perspective to your prayers. Have you ever wondered why the devil hates intercessors? Simply stated, it's because you are a threat to his dark kingdom! Intercessors come under unusual attack from demonic powers because they are the ones doing some of the greatest damage to his strategies, schemes, and web of deceit. As an enthroned intercessor, you make the devil jealous.
12 “How you are fallen from heaven,
O Lucifer, son of the morning!
How you are cut down to the ground,
You who weakened the nations!
13 For you have said in your heart:
I will ascend into heaven,
I will exalt my throne above the stars of God;
I will also sit on the mount of the congregation
On the farthest sides of the north;
14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds,
I will be like the Most High.’
15 Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol,
To the lowest depths of the Pit.
16 “Those who see you will gaze at you,
And consider you, saying:
‘Is this the man who made the earth tremble,
Who shook kingdoms,
17 Who made the world as a wilderness
And destroyed its cities,
Who did not open the house of his prisoners?’
This has an account of one called the "morning star or son of the dawn." He had been cast down to the earth for his pride and rebellion. Scholars conclude this is a clear reference to Lucifer, the devil. Listen to what caused his fall:
You said in your heart, "I will ascend into heaven and set my throne above the stars of God. I will rule on the mountain of the congregation, on the highest place of the sacred mountain. I will rise past the tops of the clouds and rival the Most High God!"
. He boasted that he would ascend, but you have already been seated on high!
. He boasted that his throne would be above the stars of God-you are invited to sit on Jesus' throne!
. He boasted that he would be on the sacred mountain-you are seated on Mt. Zion!
. He boasted that he would rise past the clouds-you are seated in the glory cloud!
. He boasted that he would rival the Most High-you are destined to be like Christ!
This is why the devil hates you-you have fulfilled his dreams! You've been freely given the place he's sought after. It cost you nothing, for it was grace that has lifted you on high. He's been cast down, but you've been freely and fully anointed with the Spirit of God and raised to sit with Christ in the high places. Since he can't touch God, he will come after you with jealous fury. Does that explain why sometimes it's such a struggle for you to break through in prayer? But remember that you're covered in the blood of the Lamb. Hidden in the high places, the devil can't even find you
1 If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. 2 Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. 3 For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.
THE JESUS STAIRWAY AND HIS ASCENDING ANGELS
There are at least two clear references to the Stairway in the Bible. The first is found in Genesis 28. Jacob was running away from his angry brother Esau. After having walked for two or three days, he was weary and exhausted when night fell. At twilight, he set up camp at Bethel. Some believe this was the ancient place where his grandfather, Abraham, erected an altar to Yahweh years before (Genesis 12:8). In his helpless, lonely condition, Jacob would be given a new revelation. With stones for a pillow, heaven as a canopy above, and the cold ground beneath, Jacob falls asleep and dreams. In his dream he has a vision of the Almighty, and he hears the words of God. Then Jacob sees a stairway, a ladder reaching up to heaven. Upon this ladder, he sees angels ascending and descending. God Himself was at the top of this angel-filled stairway speaking to him. What a mysterious sight this must have been to the frightened Jacob! The second place we find a clear reference to this stairway to heaven is in the New Testament in John 1. Jesus Christ is clearly the ladder that reaches from earth (His human nature) to heaven (His heavenly nature). Jesus spoke to Nathaniel using the same terminology, saying,
"I prophesy to you eternal truth: From now on you will see an open heaven and gaze upon the Son of Man like a stairway reaching into the sky with the messengers of God climbing up and down upon Him!"
Jacob received the glorious revelation that Jesus is the stairway to heaven!
Jesus is the only valid entry into the spirit realm. He's the way into the heavenly realms. This ladder was filled with angels ascending and descending. But who are these angels? Note the order. These angels ascended first. It doesn't say they were descending and ascending, which would be true if they were the angels of heaven. If you ascend first, you are leaving earth to go to heaven. Whoever these angels are, they ascend from the earth to heaven and then descend back to the earth. These "angels" are intercessors! There are angels that are the angels of heaven and then there are angels that are human. The Greek word used in the New Testament for angels is merely angelos or "messengers." This can refer to people or to heavenly angels. Paul wrote to the Galatians and told them they had welcomed him in their midst as if he were an angel of God (Galatians 4:14). In Revelation 2-3, John is instructed to write to the seven churches and to the seven angels of those churches. Those angels were messengers or pastors over those churches. In Strong's Concordance, the word there means "pastor." In the Old Testament, even Jesus, in His pre-incarnate form, appeared as the "angel of the Lord."
In Genesis 18:2, three angels come to Abraham and are described as "three men" (compare Genesis 19:1). Angels are also seen as the end-time reapers in Matthew 24:31. God's angels, His messengers, will be sent as fiery flames of revival into all the earth. From the ministry of angels (messengers), the great harvest will be brought in. Beloved, you and I are the angels that ascend and descend upon the Son of Man, ladder! We're the ascending angels. The enthroned intercessors are those who go up through the open door (Revelation 4:1) and come down with authority to execute the will of God on the earth. This revelation given to Jacob was repeated by the Lord to Nathaniel. Nathaniel had his eyes on the earth when he said, "What good thing could ever come from Nazareth?" but Jesus told him his eyes would see an open heaven. Jesus was prophesying of an end time open heaven that would allow access to the messengers of the Lord (intercessors) to go into the throne room by the blood of the Lamb and return with the strategies, wisdom, and glory of heaven. The Lord wants you, His enthroned intercessor, to climb the ladder and release on earth what God has released in heaven!
St. Germanus speaks of "climbing this ladder": The souls of Christians are called to assemble with the prophets, apostles, and hierarchies in order to recline with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob at the mystical banquet of the Kingdom of Christ. Thereby having come into the unity of faith and communion of the Spirit through the dispensation of the One who died for us and is sitting at the right hand of the Father, we are no longer on earth but standing by the royal throne of God in heaven, where Christ is, just as He Himself says: "Righteous Father, sanctify in Your name those whom You have given me, so that where I am, they may be with Me."
In the Odes of Solomon, there are frequent references to ecstatic, visionary trips to paradise. "I rested on the Spirit of the Lord, and the Holy Spirit lifted me up to heaven." End-time intercession must become an act of climbing the ladder. We go up to the heavens with our cries for intervention. Then we descend back to earth with the answer! Intercession is seeing heaven open and the messengers of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man. It's time to go up, holy angels! It is time to let your heart-cry ascend until the promise descends. We all have access because we are united to Him
18 For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father. Ephesians 2:18
His door is open, and the stair- way is available to you and to me. The answers you need are not on the earth, but they are in the throne room. And the throne room is closer than you think. This is the ascending highway spoken of by the prophet Isaiah
“Go and tell Hezekiah, ‘Thus says the LORD, the God of David your father: “I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; surely I will add to your days fifteen years. 6 I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria, and I will defend this city.“‘ 7 And this is the sign to you from the LORD, that the LORD will do this thing which He has spoken: 8 Behold, I will bring the shadow on the sundial, which has gone down with the sun on the sundial of Ahaz, ten degrees backward.” So the sun returned ten degrees on the dial by which it had gone down.9 This is the writing of Hezekiah king of Judah, when he had been sick and had recovered from his sickness:
Climb that ladder and find the fulfillment of your covenant promises, just like Jacob did. Answers to prayer will be found when we ascend with our requests and re- turn in faith with the promise fulfilled. Time to go up the "secret stairway": the hiding place on the mountainside of the Lord
14 “O my dove, in the clefts of the rock,
In the secret places of the cliff,
Let me see your face,
Let me hear your voice;
For your voice is sweet,
And your face is lovely.”
What would God tell Jacob at the top of this ladder? He reveals Himself to Jacob as the One who will never leave or forsake Him. A revelation of grace and a stream of assurances washes over wayward Jacob! And God speaks His affirmation and renews His blessing to all the ascending ones in these last days. Be bold, you angel! Go up the ladder into that place where He has already seated you as an intercessor, a bride at His side! Enthroned intercessors will be those "violent ones" who take the kingdom by force. With the anointing and zeal of John the Baptist, you won't be held back by those who tell you what you can't do. Go up, you mighty champions, you angels of the Lord, until you be- come the "voice of the Lord" to the nations of the earth!
