A few years ago, the Lord gave me a vision of two buildings that were one in front of the other. What divided them was the street for people to walk on or drive. They looked like any other building with cars parked, according to the direction of the traffic. However, the building on the right side of my view was five stories tall, while the building on the left side was seven stories tall.
The lower floors of the building on the left reflected the shadow from the building on the right. But the higher floors were exposed to the light of the sun until the top two floors fully reflected the sunlight. Not only that, but from those top two floors the view was more panoramic and I could see what was covered by the building in front. This reminded me of the Word in Isaiah 55:9 which says,
““For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways And My thoughts higher than your thoughts.” AMP
The Lord has brought this vision to my remembrance on several occasions to explain to me when we may be seeing things from a lower perspective that comes from the reflection of the shadows we’re beholding. Said another way, according to the level from where we stand in our spiritual walk, even though we truly love the Lord and want to serve Him, we can only reflect the level of light we’re exposed to.
Our level of exposure to the light of the glory of God can be high or low due to different factors, including whether or not we seek His presence and obey Him no matter what He asks us to do. The Bible says that we all have sinned and fallen short (are in need) of the glory of God (See Romans 3:23). When we’re operating from the low levels or our fallen state, we’re reflecting the darkness that comes from the influence of the spirit of this world. The Lord even told me that the influence many are reflecting comes from the second heaven, a place where the demonic operates from.
If we expose ourselves more to the things of the world than to the presence of God, we will reflect the shadows of the world and not the light of His glory. Some of you may think this doesn’t apply to you because you don’t go to clubs, are not involved in promiscuity, or worship idols. But you may watch more TV than you read the Bible, or are more preoccupied with the opinions and narratives of social Media than you are with what God has to say about your life and your calling, or you may be easily offended and given to slander and gossip.
2 Corinthians 3:8 says that we behold as in a mirror the glory of God. In the same way, if we’re beholding the darkness of the world, that’s what we reflect. It says, “And we all, with unveiled face, continually seeing as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are progressively being transformed into His image from [one degree of] glory to [even more] glory, which comes from the Lord, [who is] the Spirit.” AMP
Prophetic people, especially, must be careful that what we see or hear is not from the narrative that comes from the second heaven. We want to see and hear what comes from the third heaven, where God’s throne is. For this reason, being proactive in our healing from wounds and deliverance from bondage is a must. The enemy seeks vessels to speak through or act out his influence since the spirit world requires human beings to host them and give them permission to fulfill their plans in the earth.
This is true of both the Kingdom of heaven and the kingdom of darkness because God gave man the authority to rule the earth realm. Therefore, whatever we’re beholding or being constantly exposed to is what we’re authorizing to operate on the earth through us because both the Spirit of the Lord and the spirit of this world seek to influence us. We need to choose which kingdom we will give access to manifest on the earth.
Genesis 1:26
“Then God said, “Let Us (Father, Son, Holy Spirit) make man in Our image, according to Our likeness [not physical, but a spiritual personality and moral likeness]; and let them have complete authority over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, the cattle, and over the entire earth, and over everything that creeps and crawls on the earth.”AMP
As shown in the vision the Lord gave me, the building that was seven stories tall was able to reflect the light of the sun, first because it was facing the sun, and second, because it was taller than the other building and the higher floors could reflect its light. The lower floors reflected the shadow from the other building which also blocked the view of the many wonderful things that were behind it, which the people in the lower levels could not see.
Seen from a spiritual perspective, this made the level of faith of the people in the lower levels reflect the only thing they could see: the building in front of them, while the people on the top floors could see more of the light of the sun, the ocean, a beautiful park, a church, a theater, and other buildings. Living a scenario like this in the natural would make it difficult for the people that live on the lower floors to talk about what they see with those who live on the top floors since the scenery is different. The ones on the lower floors cannot argue that what they see is an absolute since the ones on the top floors can easily prove that it isn’t.
An example of this is the prophet Elijah who was at the top of Mt. Carmel not only as a location but also as his seventh floor spiritual height. From this vantage point of the higher ways of God, he could hear that a torrential rain was coming. His servant, on the other hand, had to go through the process of climbing to this height before he could see that a small cloud, the size of a man’s hand was forming. From the lower levels the servant could not see what the Prophet could see and hear with clarity from his higher perspective (See 1 Kings 18:41-44).
Hence, for us to reflect more of the light of the glory of the Son, we’re required to grow to higher levels of spiritual maturity that come from beholding the Son in His radiance through our relationship with Him. Another important factor in rising up to higher levels is when we allow Him to take us through the processes that help us walk in higher levels of His glorious light. We all have at some point in our lives reflected the fallen state of Adam, who forfeited reflecting the glory of God through his disobedience to God’s command to not eat the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. But Jesus came to restore to us what Adam had lost.
Romans 5:17
“For the sin of this one man, Adam, caused death to rule over many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and his gift of righteousness, for all who receive it will live in triumph over sin and death through this one man, Jesus Christ.” NLT
As mentioned, we’re called to grow to higher levels of faith and of glory, but how do we do that? Many people call for the glory of God to come down and God does come down and shows us His goodness (See Exodus 33:18-23). But for us to be constant reflectors and glory carriers, we must rise to new levels of faith and of the light of the glory of God in our lives which helps us see more of the higher thoughts and ways of God.
Isaiah 60:1
“‘Arise, Jerusalem! Let your light shine for all to see. For the glory of the Lord rises to shine on you.” NLT
As we can see, the Word calls us to rise up and let our light, which comes from the glory of God, shine for all to see. This means that as mature sons and daughters of God, we see His higher thoughts and ways in our circumstances, and can take a stand with authority against the enemy. In fact, the word “arise,” which is a plural verb that works as a call to the body of Christ, in its Hebrew meaning denotes that we stand up against our enemy.
There is no passivity or complacency in taking a stand against the enemy. The Word says that we’re to resist him, but not without submitting to God first and His authority over our lives. Then we can watch him flee when we obey our God (James 4:7). Ephesians 4:13 also gives us the example of Jesus’ spiritual height that is an absolute necessity for us to reach as His body. It says,
“until we all reach oneness in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God, [growing spiritually] to become a mature believer, reaching to the measure of the fullness of Christ [manifesting His spiritual completeness and exercising our spiritual gifts in unity].” AMP
For Jesus, even though He was fully God, in His human form, as a demonstration to us, was required to grow in wisdom, stature, and favor with God and man. Thus, besides His times of fellowship with the Father, growing in these four aspects, helped in His spiritual maturity and reflection of the light of the glory of God. Luke 2:52 says, “And Jesus kept increasing in wisdom and in stature, and in favor with God and men.” AMP
Explained further, Jesus demonstrated these four aspects of our spiritual growth:
- In wisdom—mental maturity, by the renewing of our mind.
Romans 12:1-2,
“Therefore I urge you, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies [dedicating all of yourselves, set apart] as a living sacrifice, holy and well-pleasing to God, which is your rational (logical, intelligent) act of worship. And do not be conformed to this world [any longer with its superficial values and customs], but be transformed and progressively changed [as you mature spiritually] by the renewing of your mind [focusing on godly values and ethical attitudes], so that you may prove [for yourselves] what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect [in His plan and purpose for you].” AMP
- In stature—physical maturity, by the nourishment and strengthening of our bodies and by living holy lives because we’re temples of the Holy Spirit.
2 Corinthians 6:19-20,
“Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is within you, whom you have [received as a gift] from God, and that you are not your own [property]? You were bought with a price [you were actually purchased with the precious blood of Jesus and made His own]. So then, honor and glorify God with your body.” AMP
- In favor with God—spiritual maturity, as we keep a strong relationship and fellowship with Him by reading the Bible, praying, fasting, declaring and obeying His Word, and by concerning ourselves with every aspect of our calling and destiny in Him, and by following the leading and guidance of the Holy Spirit.
John 17:3-4,
“Now this is eternal life: that they may know You, the only true [supreme and sovereign] God, and [in the same manner know] Jesus [as the] Christ whom You have sent. I have glorified You [down here] on the earth by completing the work that You gave Me to do.” AMP
- In favor with people—relational maturity, by caring for and protecting our process of maturity in all areas of our lives as we receive from others who have reached higher levels of maturity than us. In turn, we can help others reach higher levels of maturity, for the Bible says this contributes to our oneness and unity as a body.
Galatians 6:1-4
“Brothers, if anyone is caught in any sin, you who are spiritual [that is, you who are responsive to the guidance of the Spirit] are to restore such a person in a spirit of gentleness [not with a sense of superiority or self-righteousness], keeping a watchful eye on yourself, so that you are not tempted as well. Carry one another’s burdens and in this way you will fulfill the requirements of the law of Christ [that is, the law of Christian love]. For if anyone thinks he is something [special] when [in fact] he is nothing [special except in his own eyes], he deceives himself. But each one must carefully scrutinize his own work [examining his actions, attitudes, and behavior], and then he can have the personal satisfaction and inner joy of doing something commendable without comparing himself to another.” AMP
Therefore, let’s not live out of the reflection of the shadows of the spirit of the world which block the reflection of the light of the glory of the Son of God in our lives, so that what we see and hear comes from the light of His glory and not the things of darkness. Let’s also give to God in obedience every yes to His will and to His way He’s asking of us. For decreasing that He may increase in us is not a loss but a marvelous gain of more of Him and of the ways of His Kingdom in us and through our lives.
To God alone be all the glory. *
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