It was at a time when I was just learning about the ways of heaven and how God had been showing me many things of his goodness and nature. I became aware of the fact that upon going to heaven I only saw the Father, Son or Holy Spirit. I requested to the Father could I please meet David next time I was on heaven. I did not know what the outcome would be. The very next time I stepped into heaven, this is what unfolded before me.
I turned the attention of my heart and I stepped into heaven to engage the Father, as I was growing accustomed to doing. When I looked up, David was standing directly in front of me. My heart melted with gratitude towards the Father for allowing me this pleasure and honour.
David spoke to me. He told me that I was being given the authority that had been resting on him while he was on the earth. He reached around and took off his royal robe, which he then placed on my shoulders. The he said to me, "You have been called and chosen to walk in the mantle that I walked in when I was on the earth. You will also need this to go with it." As he spoke, he took the crown off his head and placed it on mine. Then he stepped aside.
His manner was so honouring of me. And there was a distinct gentleness about him. I felt way out of my depth and I did not know if I would be able to go on any more, such was the weight of what was being released to me. I did not expect or understand what was happening.
As I was able to, I looked up again. Esther stepped forward to talk with me. My heart was overcome with the royalty of her presence. I held my focus enough to listen to what Esther shared with me.
Esther stepped forward and spoke to me in a similar manner as David had. She took her royal robe off and placed it over my shoulders. I was completely undone. She looked at me and spoke in a clear and direct manner. "This is for you," she said. Then taking off her crown and placing it in my hands she continued, "And you will need this too. This is the authority to carry out the calling of the mantle." Then she also bowed in acknowledgement and stepped aside.
I looked down to process what was happening, as I tried to regain my composure. I felt as though I might burst from what was happening. I had not anticipated this happening when I asked the Father if I could see David. It was almost more beautifully overwhelming than my heart could bear.
I tried to compose myself and looked up again. This time I saw Ruth. As she stepped forward, it was as though I knew what to expect next. Yet at the same moment, I felt caught up in a divine mystery, struggling to comprehend what was happening. Struggling to not pull back from the weight of what this might mean, I found myself reeling from what was taking place before me.
I stepped back, looked up and saw there was a long line of Saints waiting to talk to me which stretched beyond what I could see. It was as though the entire cloud of witnesses was waiting in heaven to speak with me. ME, little Louise. And it was as though they had been waiting for this moment for a long time, anticipating a time when I would come into understanding of their presence. They were honouring me for what I carried in the spirit and they wanted to talk with me to impart what they knew, all of their experience and encounters.
All of a sudden, it was too much for my mind to understand. I could not compute what this could all mean for my life and my future. I pulled myself out of the encounter and worshipped the Lord in my room. Over the next few days I asked Jesus what this encounter was about. Why were there so many who wanted to talk to me? Why me? What was the meaning and the significance of this encounter? I was impacted so much by this encounter, it took me weeks to gather enough courage to engage the mysteries of heaven again.
As I was meditating on this, the Lord whispered to my heart. "The saints in heaven long to impart what they carried on the earth. And there is much joy to see their mantles released to and carried by another generation. They are cheering you on. They want you to do your best in your generation." I understood that the Father showed me the urgency in this generation which is unprecedented in the previous generations. Heaven is waiting for us to engage. They have been watching us and waiting for us to step into the heavenly realms and learn from them.
In Hebrews chapter 11 there are grand accounts of faith and endurance from many saints, but my attention has been draw to the summary further down the chapter.
The world didn’t deserve them. Hebrews 11:38 CEB
How clear of a statement is that?! They lived in such a way that the world was not found deserving of them. And even though the world did not deserve them, they gained divine approval.
And all of these, though they won divine approval by [means of] their faith, did not receive the fulfillment of what was promised,
Because God had us in mind and had something better and greater in view for us, so that they [these heroes and heroines of faith] should not come to perfection apart from us [before we could join them]. Hebrews 11:39-40 AMPC
Yet in spite of winning divine approval, they did not and cannot see the fulfilment of their promises without us. This shows why they have such a keen interest in what the saints on the earth are doing. We are in God's view, and now we are in their view also. God did not want them to step into their perfection without us, so why do we think we will step into our perfection with out them?
This was because God had something better in store for us. And he did not want them to reach the goal of their faith without us. Hebrews 11:40 CEV
God has a better plan, something better in store for all of us. He wants us to be connected with them as part of the family in heaven and on earth.
From whom every family in heaven and on earth is named. Ephesians 3:15 ESV
He wants us to learn from them, and to share the journey together. We are to run our race, knowing that we are surrounded by this cloud of witnesses as it were.
Therefore then, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses [who have borne testimony to the Truth], let us strip off and throw aside every encumbrance (unnecessary weight) and that sin which so readily (deftly and cleverly) clings to and entangles us, and let us run with patient endurance and steady and active persistence the appointed course of the race that is set before us, Hebrews 12:1 AMPC
What an honour, what a joy, and what an incredible adventure awaits us in the saints in heaven. This encounter took place in 2010 and my life is forever changed.