Have you ever had a moment where it seems as if time stands still and the penny drops?
This blog is that moment for me.
In fact I experienced the sensation of what seemed like time standing still. Yesterday, July 20, 2024, 15:30, I was standing outside the hair salon and in my spirit I had the bizarre sense of time stopping and then starting again. Restarting, but differently. I know this sounds strange. Today, June 21, 2024, 07:42, pieces of that experience are making spiritual sense.
To clarify, odd as it sounds, I was born with a prophetic gifting which makes me spiritually sensitive sometimes. I know that time didn’t stand still, but I also knew that the spiritual significance of sensing what felt like time stopping and restarting differently meant something was going on.
Work at the salon ends. I rush off to my church connect group. Get home exhausted. And zone out to Netflix, forgetting this weird experience earlier. In connect group we discuss the pastor’s sermon, Rivers Church, Sandton, June 16, 2024, titled ‘Two Fires’. The sermon outlines the importance of staying close to Jesus with a standout statement, “Practice makes permanence.” Interestingly, this sermon coincides with a comment given a week earlier from my Trinity Bible College and Graduate School Professor who stated, “Remember that as you learn ABOUT God to not stop learning FROM God.” Closeness to God requires us to make the effort to open our Bibles, pray, and invite the Holy Spirit to teach us as we intentionally spend time in God’s Presence.
Afterall, Jesus says, Revelation 3:20, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and OPENS the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.” There is an active role in our relationship of closeness to Jesus that we need to take to eat/learn from Him.
As per my normal morning quiet time with God, I carry on reading The Holy Bible alongside the study guide ‘Enduring Word’. It takes a while to focus as I am mentally fatigued as I started my Trinity MA degree six weeks ago. I am not as “ADHD” as I normally am being off the mark with a spark of thoughts. I am in Matthew 2.
David Guzik, author of ‘Enduring Word’ quotes Spurgeon remarking on the birth of Jesus, the visitation of the Magi, and King Herod who wants to kill Jesus ‘The King of the Jews’.
Some time, and two coffees later, the penny suddenly drops, and I begin to grasp why I felt like time stood still and restarted differently.
Notice two things in this note from ‘Enduring Word’:
- In the world of mind.
- A now-born King, and He begins to reign.
Glitching into the aha-moment the Holy Spirit draws my attention towards the curiosity of ‘in the world of mind’. Suddenly, Romans 12:2 begins taking on a deeper meaning.
How could I have missed this? Yes, I have actively been pursuing learning about and from God. Yes, I have been consistently made headway into denying self more and more. Yes, I have let go of many old patterns of thinking by learning new things. Yes, I sincerely want God’s Will even though I kick and scream the whole way. BUT, I MISSED IT….
What is it? Glad you asked.
Notice the Spurgeon says in the study guide, “a now-born King, and He begins to reign.” Jesus reigns. Jesus reigns to prolifically that educated Magi bring Him gifts and a man of authority- Herod- is so threatened He wants to kill a baby to eliminate the One who reigns.
Remember, in Revelation 3:20 Jesus says He will eat with us if we open the door? The sermon spoke about staying close to fire, metaphorically talking about being close to Jesus, and my Prof stated learning from God?
Well, time stood still and restarted differently because God was spiritually preparing me to begin a journey I had NEVER asked Him to take charge of before. Until now.
Considering, that my studies have shown me that the ONLY UNINFLUENCED BEING is God (we each are all born into a world the exerts influence on us which makes us biased). Therefore, THE ONLY TRULY OBJECTIVE perspective of who we are can only come from God. If this is so, then why haven’t I asked Jesus to REIGN OVER MY MIND so that he as the King can renew my mind according to His Will? Up until now I have been doing my part to be renewed through closeness to Jesus, but I haven’t surrendered asking Jesus to take the wheel of the renewal process. I have just been doing what I knew I had to do.
But…..
Because I, or you, are not God, our limited knowledge and understanding must get to a point where time metaphorically stops by acknowledging that we have a limit that needs the all-knowing God to break the ceiling of our understanding.
For time to restart differently, is to say that in the world of our mind, when we ask Jesus to reign we surrender our thought asking God to fill us with His Thoughts. John 14:13 is profound because Jesus’ Name is ‘King of kings.’ To grow beyond our thought-kingdom we need to admit there is thought above our thought that can change the trajectory of our thought-life and move us differently into the renewal of our mind. So is THE KING says “ask in my name,” we are being told to let Him Reign in out thought-kingdom too.
As the penny dropped all I could pray was, “Dear Jesus, please reign over my mind by taking me on the journey of growth in Your Way according to Your Will, on Your Time, and teach me beyond what my mind can know. Amen.”
And just like that time started differently because I have opened the door to eat what Jesus offers rather than me trying to cook for Him.
As I child I was taught that kids are seen and not heard. Until this moment I didn’t realise that in my relationship with Jesus I was bringing myself to Him but under the veil of thinking He wasn’t that interested in me despite EVERYTHING He has done for me and brought me through. There was somehow a pause in my relationship with Jesus. I guess like the moment I sensed between time standing still- pause- time starting differently.
Funnily enough, just a few weeks ago, beginning my MA, the prof said, “Doing a MA program is a safe space where you are allowed to ask questions you wouldn’t otherwise feel safe to ask.”
So what, and why should this blog matter to you?
In Isaiah 1:18 God tells us to come and reason with Him so that He can clean us. As God is taking me into deeper surrender as He prepares me to move from a bridging course for my MA into the full MA program He will need to grow me beyond what I know. To do this God will require me asking new questions that I haven’t known to ask before- starting me differently.
Each of us in our walk with Jesus, as we stay close learning about Him and from Him, God will shatter our ceilings of understanding replacing them with higher thoughts- His Own. We will experience multiple moments where the time of old thoughts stop, the lights go on in the pause, and we see things differently as we time starts us in a new direction.
And all it takes is asking Jesus to lead the way. And that requires being close enough to follow.
So, have you asked?
#Hayibo 