Two Ladders
Hi Friends,
Today I am writing about two visions that speak of our calling and our purpose in life. God orchestrates our circumstances and events, as he directing us towards the goal he has for us.
We are unique with different gifts and talents, which he placed in us so that we can fulfill his purpose. And though we are unique, we are all made in the image of God and are all filled with the same Holy Spirit. He has designed us to fit neatly into the body of Christ, each one functioning as he chooses.
“‘I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’” Jeremiah 29:11
The Visions
First I saw an Apple I-phone charger and its cable. The cable was inserted into the small white cubical transformer that was sitting on a surface. It was not connected to a power source. The cable was wound loosely to form a ring. Its end came over the top of the ring and was tucked in neatly.
Then, just a minute later, I had another vision. This time I saw myself sitting upon a small shelf or ledge about 300 feet in the air. Just in front of me were two ladders, one to my left and one to my right, separated by a mere two feet. The ladders touched the ground far below me and continued far above me. There was a sharp contrast between the bright sunshine outside and the shade where I was seated. Something above and behind me was casting its shadow.
As I was looking at the two ladders and the ground below, I saw a man climbing the ladder to my left. Because the ladders were in front of me, the man was climbing up with his body facing me. As he came up to my level, I saw him make an effortless switch from the ladder on my left to the ladder on my right. Even though the ladders were two feet apart he didn’t stumble or trip. Without even a pause, he continued upward past my view. He did not see me or speak to me.
What I believe the visions mean:
The Apple I-Phone Charger
Years ago, God had shown me an electrical outlet adapter that would convert a single outlet into four outlets. The adapter was on the ground spinning.
God used this vision to show me that I was like the adapter, spinning on the ground. He could not use me unless I was plugged into him. God is the supernatural power that is needed for miracles, signs, and wonders. If we stay plugged into him, others would be able to connect and receive the power of God. He wants us to display his power for his name to be glorified. To access his power we must be united with him and keep our hearts focused on him.
“Apart from me you can do nothing.” John 15:5
“If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.” John 15:7-8
The white I-phone charger is similar to an adapter. The charger only allows one device to receive power where the adapter allows for four devices to plug in. The charger converts a standard wall outlet into a USB port, providing an I-phone with power.
In the vision, there was no cell phone, only the cable and the charger. I believe that God is showing us that his power is available, but we need to be plugged in, for the power to flow. God wants us to be available for his use. If we are plugged in, ready to go, when a need arises, when something or someone needs the Lord’s supernatural power, we will be ready.
So when we make God the focus of our hearts and minds, and stay connected to him each day, he will answer our prayers. And he will receive praise and honor, for the miracles, signs, wonders that come as a result.
God is good--He is faithful. We are to simply accept his word as truth and live in continual fellowship with him. Our understanding of God’s word and the transformation it brings to our hearts and minds, produces faith--a faith that moves mountains!
“For in him, we live and move and have our being.” Acts 17:28
God’s ways are perfect!
The Two Ladders
In the vision, the ladders are very long, reaching 300 feet below me and who knows how far above me. I believe that the two ladders represent the way to heaven. They both begin on the earth, and continue upwards. The ladders are parallel, both have their beginnings on earth, and both are heaven bound. Yet they are separate. Why did the man start on one ladder and switch to the other ladder if they are both going in the same direction and have the same destination?
Who is the man? Does he represent man, mankind, or is he an angel?
There is a Biblical story with which you may be familiar. It is the story of Jacob’s Ladder. Jacob, the son of Issac, (Abraham’s son), left his home in Beersheba, to go to his uncle’s house in Paddan, Aram to find a wife for himself. Both his parents did not want him to marry a Canaanite like his brother Essau had, but to choose a wife from his mother’s family.
Jacob’s Ladder
“Jacob left Beersheba and set out for Harran. When he reached a certain place, he stopped for the night because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones there, he put it under his head and lay down to sleep. He had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. There above it stood the Lord, and he said: “I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying. Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring. I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”
When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I was not aware of it.” He was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven.”
Early the next morning Jacob took the stone he had placed under his head and set it up as a pillar and poured oil on top of it. He called that place Bethel,* though the city used to be called Luz.
Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me and will watch over me on this journey I am taking, and will give me food to eat and clothes to wear, so that I return safely to my father’s household, then the Lord will be my God and this stone that I have set up as a pillar will be God’s house, and of all that you give me I will give you a tenth.” Genesis 28:10-22
*Bethel means “House of God.”
In Jacob’s dream, he saw angels ascending and descending upon the ladder that went from the earth to heaven. Angels are celestial beings that minister to us here on earth. They bring messages from the Lord, and they fight the Lord’s battles. They come to our assistance when we cry out to God in prayer.
I believe that the man in my vision is an angel who is showing me the way to go. As the angel climbs the ladder it is just in front of me 300 feet in the air, where he switches ladders. I believe that the Lord is showing me that I am at a place in my life where God is calling me to make a change. Perhaps it is a change that we all must make.
As I think of my position, I see that I am not on the ground where there is limited view, but high enough to see in the distance. The distance generally speaks of the future, or what is to come. The higher that we go, the more we can see.
But there is a definite obstacle to going higher. It is the gap between the end of the ledge and the rung of the ladder. I have always been afraid of heights, so this is a big obstacle. A few years ago, I volunteered to help paint the walls of a church with very high ceilings. Every moment I was on the ladder and had to reach out I would be praying that God would protect me. Even though I have fear of heights, I was one of the only ones who was willing to do it.
“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Philippians 4:13
In the vision, in order to leave the ledge and go higher, I would need to reach beyond the ledge, for the rung of the ladder was a few feet away from the edge. My grip would have to be secure to be able to hold all my weight while I found placement for my feet. Then, if you can imagine, the platform is on the underside of the ladder. So now, I would have to move from the underside of the ladder, to the topside of the ladder. That’s quite a dangerous thing to do 300 feet in the air, and with no harness.
But with God all things are possible. And since this is a vision, to go higher with the Lord, there is not an actual ladder to climb, but there may be something that I may find equally challenging. Change is never easy. But thank the Lord that he will help us in our weaknesses.
”I will never leave you nor forsake you.” Hebrews 13:5
Just now as I was looking up the above scripture, and saw what preceded it: “Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” Hebrews 13:5
This scripture brings to mind the sharp contrast between the natural man and the spiritual man. A natural man is interested in himself, and his pursuit of self glorification, social status, and wealth. The focus of his pursuit is based on climbing the corporate ladder, or climbing the ladder of success.
The spiritual man on the other hand lives to please God. Knowing the Lord and helping others find the Lord are his goals. The ladder of success is not what motivates the spiritual man. Spiritual success cannot be measured monetarily. Spiritual success is measured by character, faithfulness and intimacy with God.
Does the Lord know you as a friend? Do you have a relationship with him? Are you a lover of pleasure and a lover of money? Or do you turn away from those things that the world offers and choose instead to follow the Lord? The ladder in the vision leads to God, the ladder of success leads to its own reward-- a place far from him.
“Do not love the world or anything in the world. He who loves the world, the love for the Father is not in him.” 1 John 2:15
I believe that God is calling us to step out. If we stay where we are, we become complacent, our faith can become stagnant. God always challenges our faith to go higher, or deeper. Just like Peter, we have to get out of the boat to walk on the water.
In that story, Peter saw the Lord walking on the lake. And asked, ”Lord, if it’s you, tell me to come to you on the water.” Jesus said, “Come.” And initially he was able to overcome his fear and step out. He did in fact walk on the water, until he became distracted with the wind and the waves, and suddenly the fearful thoughts in his head, caused him to begin sinking.
He cried out “Lord, save me!” “Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,’ he said, ‘why did you doubt?’” When we take our eyes off Jesus, we see only the natural circumstances. As a result, doubt and fear overtake our faith. (full story: Matthew 14:22-33)
Why were there two ladders? Isn’t there only one way to heaven? “Jesus said, I am the way the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6
Yes, of course! But, why did the angel change from one ladder to the other when they both were heaven bound? I believe that the Lord gives us challenges along the way to test us and to move us out of our comfort zones. Are we willing to make changes? Are we willing to give up our creature comforts to follow him?
Jesus told the rich young ruler, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” Matthew 19:21
In this example there are two ladders. The rich young ruler had kept the law of Moses, so he was already on that first ladder. (That is only due to the fact that the Old Testament law was still in effect, because the Lord’s atoning death and resurrection had not yet occurred) But Jesus was offering him a challenge, to make a great change, a much greater commitment, to switch ladders to go higher. And if he did, Jesus promised that his treasure would be in heaven.
I don’t believe that we can really appreciate the treasure we have in heaven, until we are able to separate ourselves from the things and people that hold our hearts captive.
There was yet another person who wanted to follow the Lord, but Jesus could see what was holding him back, so he said to him, “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” Matthew 8:20
The Lord asked me years ago to give up my interior design business, so I did. Then He asked me to give up finishing my masters degree, so I did. After that, He asked me to give up “pop,” which for me was diet cola, so I did. Then he asked me to give up sugar, so I did that too. Now just three and a half months ago, the Lord asked me to not cut my hair. So I have agreed to do this. Not cutting my hair indefinitely may seem like an unusual request. But I believe that God wanted me to make an even greater commitment to him. I wrote about this in a fairly recent post entitled: “Spiritual Power.”
Whatever keeps us in the world and away from God, he will ask us to give up. “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.” John 15:1-2.
Our trials and afflictions are part of the pruning process. Jesus told his disciples, “In this world, you will have tribulation. But take heart, I have overcome the world.” John 16:33
In the vision, changing from one ladder to another can also represent the change that may be coming to the American church. We are seeing that persecution of Christians is becoming more apparent even in our nation where we have had religious freedom guaranteed by our Constitution. The Governor of California and other governmental leaders have determined for themselves that the Church is a non-essential group activity, so they have closed the doors. Even as they later “opened,” churches, they declared that it was against the law to sing! One state limited prayer inside the church to “ONE” person! Unbelievable! And despite church size, they limited church gatherings to ten people. It is opening up more now, but NY has just gone on another lock-down. I want to include an important video of a Rabbi who is asking President Trump to help resolve the problem with the over reach of the governor and the mayor of NY. I hope you will watch this YouTube video, it is very worthwhile for a number of reasons.
“New York Rabbi Begs For President Trump to Help Jewish Community”
Just recently, in NJ, churches are allowed to have 100 people in attendance, which is far better than it had been at 10. But the numbers were never based on seating capacity or square footage of the building or the sanctuary, it was just an arbitrary fixed number!
Recently we have heard the complaints by the liberal left against the nomination of Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court. The complaints have had nothing to do with her impeccable qualifications. They have attacked her simply because of her faith. They know that she believes that it is her solemn duty—to interpret the law of the land as it was written. She refuses to judge a law by her personal preferences. She judges a law as to whether it conforms or does not conform to the Constitution. She believes the framers of the Constitution intended to keep the separation of powers as a check and balance to the three branches of government. The left on the other hand wants to use the Supreme Court to play an active role in pushing through their socialist agenda, skirting the legislative and executive branches of government. Since they cannot discredit Judge Barrett’s exemplary qualifications they turn to “identity politics,” to slur her name and attack her faith.
We Christians are to expect persecution. The challenges that God may allow the church to experience will be related to persecution, and the distress caused by lock-downs. The lock-downs have closed small businesses—many of which will never come back. The lock-downs have caused despair, loss of jobs, and hardship. Parents find it hard to work and school their children. Hunger is an issue for children who are no longer receiving meals at school. Tremendous increases in child abuse, suicide, drug addiction and depression have taken their toll on the American population.
We as the church need to wake up and hear the call of the watchmen: We need to recognize the enemy of our souls, who has mobilized people to carry out his plans. Jesus said that the devil comes only to kill to steal and to destroy. We have seen the devil’s handiwork:
To Kill: Doctors who have taken the Hippocratic oath to “Do no harm,” have aligned themselves with the devil, to abort/murder 62,000,000 infants.
The NY governor is responsible for the deaths of 6,000 people living in nursing homes. He sent Covid 19 patients to nursing homes rather than to the facilities provided by the President. The NY governor asked for federal help, so the President provided a US Navy hospital, fully equipped and staffed ready to go in the NY harbor. The President also outfitted the NY Javits Center as a Covid facility, staffed and ready to serve. But the governor instead demanded that the nursing homes accept Covid patients. Everyone of the nursing homes pleaded with him to not put their residents at risk. But he would not listen to reason. He threatened to remove their licensing. So the nursing homes complied and people died.
To Steal: The lock-down has destroyed businesses all over the country, and especially in the blue states, where the governors and mayors refused to re-open. Businesses and jobs are gone, the income and the ability to care for oneself is replaced by government welfare costing trillions of dollars.
To Destroy: The organizations of Antifa, and BLM have trained their people in the arts of anarchy and destruction, using socialist and communist doctrine and tactics. They are funded by globalists around the world whose goal is to destroy our country’s identity and sovereignty. Their objective is to divide and conquer, to cause fear, death and destruction in our cities. They are trained to pull down and destroy national monuments, attack churches and religious institutions, and to challenge and overthrow all authority. They try to pit one racial, or economic group against another, attempting to arouse fear, hatred and negative behavior in the population. Creating chaos works to undermine a nation making them vulnerable to a takeover.
Unfortunately, there are leaders in our nation who have “sold themselves to the devil.” They care nothing for their constituents; they care nothing for anyone but themselves.
We as Christians are called to give voice to what is going on. We must vote for the things that God loves: freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom to assemble, freedom to protect ourselves and our families.
These are the laws that we should acknowledge and live by:
We may someday be forced to take our faith underground, but before that day comes, we need to start actively sharing the gospel and making disciples of this next generation. Too many millennials have been indoctrinated with socialistic ideals throughout K-12 and in college. The schools are trying to prepare this next generation and those that follow to conform willingly to the socialist viewpoint which does not support the nuclear family, does not support religious liberty, does not support free enterprise. The idea of self determination is contrary to their belief system, so one day the values we hold and confess will be deemed hate speech. And anything that goes against the liberal narrative will be censored. So let us hold fast to God, the Bible and our Christian values. For someday the gospel will be outlawed, and the Bible will be confiscated. “As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work.” John 9:4
We are entering a new era. There will be change, but let us pray that the hearts and minds of the people of our nation will turn to God. “With God all things are possible,” Matthew 19:26
So we must begin to initiate a cultural change ourselves. We must make a greater commitment to pray, to read the word of God, and to do as the Lord commanded us: “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matthew 28:18-20
God bless you all and please share this message with others. It is our job to build the Lord’s kingdom! Please pray for our president and for our nation. Please pray that our people would choose God-fearing men and women to take their place in all places of local, state and federal governments. And please exercise the right to vote. So many have died to protect those rights. Let us pass on the heritage of liberty to our children.
God bless America! “And when these things begin to take place, stand up, lift up your heads for your salvation draws near! “ Luke 21:28
God bless you and your family!
