Heaven is Listening

Reading this chapter today, as I often do, I paused to reflect and meditate.

I was immediately engulfed with a considerable amount of imagery.  It was like I had just sat down in a movie theater to watch a full-length motion picture.

I have quite an imagination and I am very pictorial as well.

I love to think on a subject, stare into oblivion and within what often seems like seconds be translated into the very thick of the panorama. I love to seize the feelings, sensations, aromas, frequencies and the whole enchilada.

My thoughts directed me to Cornelius when suddenly, as though transported, I stood there, in the distance watching a day in His life. A man who was labeled devout and God fearing.

My guess is that these qualities were only the tip of the iceberg employed to describing his nature. I observed him pacing back and forth, and if I were eavesdropping from a neighboring room, I might attest that there was another person with him as he dialogued with God.

This was indicative to me of a man who had a very close, intimate relationship with God, undoubtedly not void of absolute honor and reverence. As I listened to his selfless prayers, my heart was instantly filled with a deep longing for this kind of friendship with God. It was apparent to me that Cornelius would be a first-round draft choice if I were God. Yet I know that God is no respecter of person, although my opinion is that he does have favorites. For now,  that’s neither here nor there.

Needless to say, his lifestyle caught the attention of Heaven. It’s not to say that our prayers and supplications are deficient in ascending to Heaven, but let’s be real, when was the last time that you had an angel show up in a vision and say to you, "Your prayers and alms have ascended as a memorial before God”.

I am certainly not here to quash the possibility that you may have experienced a similar encounter.   I however neither want to advocate that by your deepest devotional prayer life you will also summon an angel in this manner. I am not attempting to prescribe a formula. I am very much aware that He alone is the architect that initiates these scenarios, to fulfill His plans and purposes.

It is He that elects His servants to carry out his plans congruently resulting in His desired outcome.

I cannot help however excuse myself from being a son who stands with arms wailing, shouting “pick me pick me Lord”. It’s because “in my heart there’s a deep, deep yearning to be with You so much more”. This is one of my favorite lines in a song written by Terry Butler/ Vineyard Music.

I don’t know if this was the case with Cornelius? I did not witness him exercising that particular verbiage, but it was patent in his deep this immense desire to be with God. It appeared like a vapor rising from the marrow of His bone. Every gram of his being cried out for the living God.

As you enter your secret place with only one genuine, sincere agenda to seek the face and hand of God, don’t be surprised if in a vision you encounter an angel of the Lord calling your name.  

 ⁹ For the eyes of the Lord move to and fro throughout the earth that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely His. 

2 Chronicles 16:9 

I arrive at the conclusion that as God’s eyes looked to and fro, He was pleased that Cornelius’s   heart was completely His.

I too, desire to be a man that is acknowledged in Heaven as one who is after Gods own heart.

It has been my longing since He wrecked my heart for anything else this world has to offer.

I often live in a place of tension between these two worlds but seldom do I allow myself to lose sight of the reality of His great affection, love and care for me.

I would be thrilled, which is really a misnomer. Terrified might be more fitting, to have an encounter with an angel of God but that will supersede what I strive for. Instead, I opt to bow low, kneel and be face down in sheer awe of His majesty.

The “then suddenlies”, are exactly that, “then suddenlies”, and he is the Master at orchestrating them at the precise moment as He deems necessary.

"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Matthew 5:8