In October of 1971 I was being fed the Word and received the Holy Spirit at a Christian coffee house by the name of “The Open Door”. I knew hardly anything of the Spiritual nature back then but a whole new life opened before me. I received the baptism of the Holy Spirit that particular month in the “upper room”. Yes, they literally had an little upper room accessible by a set of wooden stairs inside the building. This is when I met my wife-to-be as well. It was quite a month! At this point in time, I became Heavenly minded.
This was the time when the Door was opened for me to go through in order to hear and see the Spiritual. Heaven and its attributes became alive to me and our Lord Jesus Christ became personal rather than a distant Lord. I experienced the Holy Spirit as an immature “child” in the WORD. Spiritually speaking, the Door was opened to me at that time. I now had eyes to see and ears to hear. Little did I realize that 43 years later I would experiencing such greater aspects of HIS Kingdom.
A door is a portal separating two realms: the inside from the outside. The outside environment encompasses our house and our front door acts as the entrance into the house. The house itself is contained in the environment. While inside the house, I am restricted from the greater expanse of the outside environment. The door allows me access to this greater expanse. A closed door is designed to limit access, normally for our protection and especially for immature children.
Jesus Christ is the Door into the Heavenlies:
John 10:9 I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. 10 The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. NKJV
HIS Door is the portal to abundant life. This life is not in some distant far away country. It is here and now surrounding us but in a higher realm. Just as radio waves are all around us and we cannot see them does not negate the fact that they are there. We simply need a receiver to experience and enjoy their existence. Those waves seem to defy distance. Cell phones operate under the same set of laws and we have no problem in accepting those laws we cannot see.
Now is the time for us to be “Heavenly minded” rather than “earthly minded”. The solutions to the problems of mankind are found in a higher state than the world’s thinking. Focusing on worldly things will not produce a solution. The solution is found only at a higher level of understanding and knowledge. Accessing the Wisdom from Above will lead us through the portal. The world is searching for answers in the external but the answers are found in the internal. Our spiritual eyes and ears must be fully opened to see the abundant life all around us.
The types and shadows in Scripture point to the reality of this higher realm. Would you prefer to act out the types and shadows as the Levitical priesthood did in the Old Testament or fully experience HIS Presence in the here and now? People continue to run to and fro looking for a formula to bring forth HIS Glory when in fact you only need to go into your prayer closet and seek, find, and open the Door.
Hebrews 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. NKJV
Martin Paulat had this particular vision concerning me in the late 1990’s: I was in a jail cell that had two adjoining walls of brick and the other two walls were bars. There was no apparent door. I was pacing back and forth trying to figure out how to get out of the jail cell but could not find a door. Suddenly, the door appeared among the bars and I was able to open it and left the confinement of the cell. (End of vision)
Now is the time of the fulfillment of this vision! Rejoice, this vision was not for me only but all who have been apprehended by HIM.
(As a side note, my wife-to-be’s phone number in 1971 had the assigned suffix of 3168. This number happens to be the gematria (numerical value) of “Lord Jesus Christ” (800 + 888 + 1480 = 3168) and is the foundational prime number of the universe according to Bonnie Gaunt. I had no recollection of her number and its coincidental relevance until yesterday.)