I had a dream some time ago. In this dream, I was at our local botanical gardens with a few friends from church. It was winter and the grass and plants were the colour of wheat as is typical of winter vegetation in my country. As we wandered through the gardens, I suddenly felt a wave of dizziness and a topsy-turvy sensation – the kind you get when your stomach “drops” on a roller-coaster ride.
As I looked down, I saw clouds beneath my feet, and I felt as though I was standing upside down. It took a second or two before I realized I was standing at the edge of a large pond that was so calm it reflected everything around it like a mirror. I was now in a different garden. Here it was summer, and the vegetation was of a different kind. Everything was lush and green, and though unmaintained, all the grass, plants and trees grew perfectly.
Somehow, I knew this was a garden in heaven.
This dream came to mind in detail time and time again; and when I finally asked the Lord what it meant the word “opposite” came to mind.
In my dream, the garden in heaven was the opposite of the one on earth in every way – the season was different as was the vegetation, and it was lush and green instead of dry and wheat coloured. When I first arrived there, I thought I was standing upside down. Likewise, the principles and institutions of heaven, God’s kingdom, are often opposite to those on earth; and may even seem upside down to those accustomed to the ways and thinking of this world.
As I pondered this concept of “opposite” my Heavenly Father began to bring to memory certain scriptures over the next couple of weeks. I would receive one every couple of days and as I studied them, I began to see an emerging pattern… Every scripture held an underlying principle that contradicted a worldly norm or concept, and I began to see how vastly God’s principles differed from the principles that governed this world. I began to see the opposite – God’s ways verses those of humans…
One of the first scriptures I received was John 5 vs 24: Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.
The worldly ordinance is that we pass from life to death – we are born, we grow into children, then teenagers before reaching adulthood. We then age and eventually pass on. From a Kingdom perspective however, we pass from death to life. We are born “dead” because we are dead in our sins and trespasses; and it is only when we come into salvation through Jesus Christ that we are brought to life.
Next was Colossians 2 vs 15: And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross. Jesus must have looked quite the spectacle when He was crucified before men but in the spirit realm the opposite happened – He disarmed the powers and authorities of Satan.
A couple of days later I received 1 Samuel 16 vs 7: But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.
Society either accepts or rejects us based on our physical appearance. People often form opinions of us based on the clothes we wear, our facial features, hairstyles, physiques, the way we speak, our body language and sometimes even race. God however observes the heart – He looks at our motives and true intentions as opposed to our outward appearance.
In my next post I will share other scriptures that my Heavenly Father has revealed to me concerning Kingdom ways versus earthly ways and conclude this article.