A Heavenly seat

I am writing from my soul’s home…Vanuatu, the friendliest place on earth. My culture is rooted in the Kingdom of God, my gene pool is a strange mix of African and European settler, my stomach is decidedly Asian, but my heart is Island all the way.

A strange thing seems to be happening to me of late.  As I said, my culture is Kingdom culture and I started to read the gospels again, searching out everything Jesus taught about the Kingdom of God.  As a daughter adopted into this Kingdom, I want to know all I can. I want to know more, because Jesus teaches us to pray for the Kingdom to come, on earth, as it is in heaven.  If Kingdom living was only for when we depart this world, surely He would have told us so and if I am to represent and cultivate that Kingdom here, I need to know some things. This quest has taken me on a journey of discovery that seems to frustrate me more often than it delights me. For every answer I find, I seem to uncover more questions.

Back to the strange thing…suddenly I am seeing obscure little verses, phrases or even just a word here and there, tucked away between the awesome stories I am so familiar with. I seemed to have moved from not just reading the lines, or even reading between the lines, but to read way beyond the lines and I find the journey fascinating.  If you have read the entry for May, you might recall me quoting Ephesians 2:6 “and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus”.  Since then I am still meditating on this and  I spend a lot of time imagining what this seat looks like and where it is.  I read accounts from people who had heavenly visitations, I drive my friends crazy talking about it and from time to time I even find myself wondering what I could do to twist Father’s arm to let me have a visitation too. I’d really like to see that seat!

Then this morning, as I am sitting here, listening to the sound of island birds, inhaling the tropical air, I find another one of the little hidden gems.  John 1: 18 read: “No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.” Do you see it? Jesus is in the bosom of the Father.  Is…present tense.  Yesterday, Jesus is in the bosom of the Father, today, He is in the bosom of the Father and forever He is in the bosom of the Father, and I, in Christ, am seated in heavenly places. Can this be true? Can I also be in the bosom of the Father?

I looked up the Greek word for “bosom” and I expected it to translate to “heart”, but what I found astonished me.  It is the Greek word “kolpos” and means “in front of the body, between the arms”.  Now I know Jesus is seated at the right hand of the Father and I have just read He is in the bosom of the Father, just as I know Jesus was in the bosom of the Father, while simultaneously walking the earth  and as I said, every time I think I have an answer, I uncover more questions, but I have to admit, I love the notion of being cradled in Abba’s arms. Could that be where sons and daughters are seated? Could we dare to dream that we are cradled in front of Abba’s body, between His arms? I haven’t seen it yet, but I sure have felt His breath on my head.

Now I know every piece of writing needs an introduction, a middle and an end. I delivered on the intro, you got the middle bit, but as for the end…you will have to watch this space.

God Bless,  Nicky…

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