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BACKGROUND
No Background on Fairy Tales!
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Online links to scriptures (New International Version [NIV] unless otherwise stated) are shown in blue
| UP THE MOUNTAIN
Part 3 |
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| INTERPRETATION |
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To make understanding easier and quicker, a brief summary interpretation is given here. Please takse the time to consider the many detailed spiritual meanings and messages contained within each section. The story was given by the Lord first, the interpretation after the ‘fairy tale’ was completed!
PART 1
The Dream: The witness of others into our life.
The Journey: Making the decision for Christ.
PART 2
‘Tweet Tweet’: Fulfilment of the Feast of Passover, as reflected in the Traditional/Evangelical Church
‘Coo Coo’: Fulfilment of the Feast of Pentecost, as reflected in the Pentecostal/Charismatic Church
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 PART 3
‘Soar Soar’: Individuals throughout history, living their lives in full submission to the Father’s will.
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 Trumpet Call: Symbolising the Feast of Trumpets, now in progress.
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| ‘SOAR SOAR’ |
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 “You are at last starting to understand the mountain,” his Friend Inside exclaimed encouragingly. “The real, eternal world, is not back down there on the plains in the cities you came from, but here, living as a bird of the Spirit, on the mountain of God. As a sparrow, you were limited to the foothills, small, one amongst millions, yet even there, you were known by name. You wanted to fly higher. This I made possible by transforming you into a beautiful dove, with the ability to soar further up the mountain. But I know your heart’s desire is to fly higher still. That was proven today, when by overcoming the vultures of sin, you earned the right to move up into the very mountaintops of God. Do you want to go?”
John took just two tweetseconds to come up with his answer. “Yes, Friend Inside, you know I do. My favourite Grandma stories were those about soaring over the mountaintops, overseeing everything happening on the mountain, while fellowshipping with the Lord of the Mountain himself. But I know that I can’t go any higher as a dove, for the rarefied air will not support my weight. I place myself completely in your hands, or wings, as the case may be!”
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 At that very tweetsecond John underwent a further miraculous transformation. His wings grew and grew and grew until he had to squint to see his wingtips! Not only had his wingspan wonderfully widened but his plumage too, glistened, the purest white reflection of the sun’s supernatural glory. The doves standing nearby appeared positively dowdy by comparison! Now too, he was able to peek over that annoying rock that had previously blocked the sea views from his favourite preening perch! “A new perspective on life,” he thought airily, before glancing down to find out why. Seeing his now massive masculine legs, John exclaimed, “Better than I could ever have hoped for, stonelifting in the gym!” Then the ‘piece de resistance’, for he was a bilingual bird. His designer claws! Sensational! So beautifully, yet powerfully sculptured for maximum grip and clutching power. Their razor sharp tips would tear a vulture to shreds in an instant. Yes, John was now a fantastic, fully-fledged, flying eagle machine! He knew that at last, he was going to be able to soar to the mountaintop to experience for himself, his childhood dreams.
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 “Thankyou, Friend Inside, for making my dreams come true,” John glowed in ecstasy. “I am eternally in your debt. Whatever your desire is for me to do, I will do.” “I know,” said his now, Best Friend Inside, “for obedience was the single condition necessary for your transformation. You could only call the vultures bluff by trusting me to get you through. As an eagle, you shall now soar to the very mountaintop, just as your Grandma did those many years ago, there to dwell with the Lord of the Mountain.
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 The light now radiating from him dazzled John’s dovecostal mates. Some asked how they too could become eagles. “Obey your friend inside and overcome the vultures” John stated in his newly acquired, deep and authoritative eagle voice. Some flew away eager to earn their ‘eagle wings’. The not so silent majority however, were as we have come to expect by now, content to carry on in their own comfortable, established ways. Being strictly honest, they didn’t really believe, in their deepest of dovehearts, that they could put the vultures to flight anyway, in spite of all their boisterous bravebeak bravado. Besides, they would quite miss them if they weren’t there! Saddened by once again having to leave birdmates through their lack of desire to seek the mountaintop, but wanting more than ever, to fulfil his dreams, John majestically flapped a fond farewell, before flying off to discover the magnificence of the mountaintop.
As he soared John made an amazing birdynamic discovery! No longer did he have to flap his wings harder to fly higher, for now he could just soar, gliding free on the gentle eddies and currents the mountain wind provided. So effortless, yet so much more effective! Flying was now so much fun! “Thankyou Best friend Inside” he yelled victoriously, “I have eaglely awaited these wings for such a long time! Now I can be a soldier in the Taberneagle Army!”
Higher and higher he soared, enjoying the amazing freedom he now had, to go wherever he, or rather his Best Friend Inside, pleased. For John knew that without his friend’s help and ongoing guidance, he could not possibly be flying high today. John cast his ‘eagle eyes’ round as he flew.
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 Then, as the recipient of a severe shock, he momentarily folded his wings in disbelief! But free falling like a stone towards a squelchy end rapidly revived our eager eagle! Wingly equilibrium was urgently re-established. “Phew, that was too close for comfort! I can’t believe my eyes! My inherited short-sightedness has disappeared! I can now see everything! I can even recognise my old sparrow friend Jill right down there in the foothills. Brings back some memories, that does! Still down there playing with her friends, just as I left her. Oh Jill, you are missing out on so much!”
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 “Your ‘eagle eyes’ are for a purpose,” reminded his Best friend Inside. “For you are to protect all my birds on the mountain from the vultures, my friend.” Now not particularly being a ‘culture vulture’, John was delighted with this new responsibility, for he felt so protective towards his old friends, wanting to encourage them to climb and experience the freedom of the mountain top, as well. So vigilantly victimising, villainous vultures, would be his pleasure! For John could now clearly see the insidious control the vultures had over the bird life of the mountain.
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 Needing a bit of a break, John alighted in one of the many trees that graced the upper mountain slopes. Immediately he could see that these trees were covered with the most delicious looking, mouth watering, ready to eat fruit that he had ever seen in his life. Taking his first bite, John discovered ‘eagle heaven’, for he had always liked his food. This fruit was just so much better than the barley and wheat he had lived on at lower levels. “My old friends just don’t know what they are missing out on!”
“That’s right,” confirmed his Best Friend Inside, “for this is my fruit, the fruit of the nature of the Spirit you see, available to all who commit themselves fully to me. Eating of this fruit will satisfy not just your bodily needs but your whole being. For there was a time many, many years ago when the whole earth was full of trees such as these and this fruit was available to all mankind. But man was not content to merely live in paradise. He wanted to control it, to be the master of his own destiny. As if you could improve upon perfection! The Lord of the Mountain gave him his wish and you lived the results before coming to the mountain, successfully managing to turn gardens into deserts. As you remember from your days on the plains, mankind has had to fight weeds, bugs and disease and sometimes, other people, in order to eat. So the Lord of the Mountain removed himself from this mess, requiring mankind to seek him by coming to the mountain, entering over the bridge of the Guide. To be set apart from the world, by being transformed into a bird. As you have experienced John, in your progression from the foothills to the mountain peaks, two further major transformations are required to adapt to the new conditions experienced as you fly higher. For the trees of the fruit of the Spirit will blossom in the foothills, will pollinate and grow fruit in the middle reaches but will only ripen to full maturity on the mountain tops, under the pure light of the Lord of the Mountain, in the glory of his ‘Son.’
For it saddens me John, to see the blossom of the sparrows, promising so much but failing to pollinate. They accept me in their minds only, but their heart and will are far from me. But I have still provided barley for them to eat. The doves have allowed me to pollinate their fruit by accepting me in their heart as well as their mind, but sadly, their fruit will never ripen. But I have provided them with wheat to eat. For you must understand, it is not until I am given mind, heart and will, as you have done, that the sonshine will ripen your fruit. Sadly, so many sparrows and doves think that if they do good works for me, they will produce ripened fruit. But ripe fruit only comes from the sonshine of submission and obedience.”
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 It was amazing how so many of the things that John had often wondered about were being clarified. It was as if he was getting closer and closer to the origin of the voice. The more he listened and obeyed, the higher he soared. He was rapidly becoming ‘in tune’ with his surroundings. This both thrilled and puzzled him for something was definitely different up here. “What is it?” John asked his Best Friend Inside. “You are becoming as one with us,” he replied. “With us?” John questioned. “ Yes, with us. For we are three. The Guide who made the pathway for you to enter the mountain kingdom and who has been keeping his eye on you all the time you have been here, myself, your Best Friend Inside, and the Lord of the Mountain, to whose plan we operate. The higher you soar, the closer to us you get, the more like us you become.”
Somehow now, it all made sense to John, for he had experienced it. He now knew though, that it was impossible to understand, before coming to the mountain. Even as a sparrow and a dove, this ‘mystery’ was only partially understood. But as he became more in tune with his Guide, Friend and Lord, so the unity and purpose of the intimate relationship they shared, gelled in his birdbrain. And, even more amazingly, it was a unity of purpose into which he also was now absorbed. As if they were all one! Incredible!
John, now comfortably settled high up on a rocky crag, designer claws anchored to the rock, suddenly realised that he had not seen many other eagles up there with him. In fact, if it had not been for his Best Friend Inside, he would have felt positively lonely! There had been a few off flying in the distance, but it did seem rather a solitary lifestyle he was living. Still, it was far more satisfying than his sparrow and dove days. For he now knew what his Grandma had meant when she told him how she had felt to be at one with the mountain.
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 The views were magnificent and flying a dream with the latest developments in advanced birdynamic eagle wing engineering. John had been able to make many ‘kills’ in birdfights with the black vulture squadrons whose weaponry was no match for the superb fighting machine he now was. His telescopic eyesight, speed, manoeuvrability and designer claw armaments spelt instant destruction to the opposing vultureforce. He remembered how he had found them to be all bluff and bravado in his dove days, no match even then, for a unified, dovetailed doveforce. But getting the doveforce to fly in formation under a single dovemander was the problem! With the Taberneagles however, it was as if the vultures knew that defeat was inevitable. After an initial short show of bravado they would quickly ‘turn tail’, trying unsuccessfully to escape their inevitable fate. “But there are so many of them,” John thought to himself, “far more than us few eagles can annihilate by ourselves.” As he mused, the sun set. Now tired, John in good eagle fashion, rested his head comfortably on his left wing, ready to take his 140 nightly eaglewinks. The end of another fulfilling day. He slept soundly, for vanquishing vultures is a tiring business.
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| ‘TRUMPET CALL’ |
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 At 132½ winks John was not so rudely awakened by the blast of trumpets coming from the highest reaches of the mountain. The sound was a 100-decibel blast to him, for he was near its source. Further down the mountain in Doveland, it still registered 60 decibels, sufficient to wake all but the heaviest sleepers amongst the doves. In Sparrowland too, a more gentle 30 decibels reverberated, bringing to life many but by no means all, the residents.
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 “What is that sound!” John exclaimed, as he awoke. He listened more intently. The trumpet calls resounded, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of the Mountain. Prepare yourselves for the return of the Lord.” “Wow!” thought John, “the day of promise is about to come, the greatest of all days when we will be able to fly to the very top of the mountain!” An air of excitement and anticipation descended upon all the eagles, many of the doves and some of the sparrows. The remaining doves and sparrows got quite angry, for all they heard was a loud noise that startled them out of their very pleasant birdreams, a mite earlier than they desired.
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 Amongst all those who heard the voice in the trumpet, there was an urgency to fly higher and higher, into the very presence of the Lord of the Mountain himself. John stretched out his eagle wings and took off to soar to the mountaintop. As he did so, he found the other eagles he had previously only seen from a distance, joining him. It was great to be in the company of other eagles. They immediately bonded as one.
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 Further down the mountain in Doveland, there was a great clamour, for many more doves now desired to scale the heights of the mountain too. The vultures wondered what had hit them, being attacked by clouds of dovetailed doves. The Friend Inside all of them, was kept working flat out as more and more doves were prepared to place themselves fully in his hands. Transformations from dove to eagle now became commonplace sights in Doveland. John’s Best Friend Inside was now busier than he had ever been! He was so happy, well able to cope - no problem. In fact he had been looking forward to this time, right from the very beginning.
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 In Sparrowland too, there was considerable activity, as numbers of sparrows were blasted out of their complacency and sought to fly higher. John’s former friend Jill, was one of the ones galvanised into action by the call of the trumpet. “Interestingly” the Best Friend Inside observed, “many sparrows are now more motivated to soar than lots of the doves. They will not need to spend too long in Doveland before becoming eagles. Will surprise and shock some of the older, more self satisfied doves, I am sure!”
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 With all this upward activity on the mountain, a strange phenomenon gradually started to take place. For as all these birds started to fly upwards, more and more light reflected from their transformed whiter and larger wings. This reflected light began to shine as a giant beacon over the cities of the plains, even reaching those places furthermost from the mountain. The citizens of the plains were either attracted or repulsed by this supernatural light. Large numbers of people flocked to the mountain where they were now more than willing to accept the free toll the Guide offered to enter the mountain, to cross over the cross shaped bridge. No qualms about the ‘life price’ to climb the mountain either. Never in all history, had so many people crossed the bridge in so short a time. Both the Guide and the bridge were well up to coping with the influx. “Although I would have built the bridge for just one person to cross, this influx is the fulfilment of the promise made to me by the Lord of the Mountain before it all started,” the Guide thought thankfully to himself.
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 Amongst those people who remained on the plains, lawlessness and war now broke out. They tried their hardest to stop others seeking the mountain, being possessed by the vultures of the plain, but they were not successful, for those on the journey to the mountain seemed to have a hedge of protection around them.
The trumpeting from the mountaintop continued daily for six days.
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| <i>NEXT WEEK</i>
UP THE MOUNTAIN
Part 4 of 4 |
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 However high we decide to fly in our walk with Jesus there are consequences and rewards for our actions.
In this, the final part of our story, we will find out how our sparrows, doves and eagles fared.
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| A NOTE FROM DAVID |
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 What will be our reaction to the trumpet call? Will we be ready, prepared for the return of the Lord? Let's take some time to meditate on our lives and make the necessary changes before it's too late.
TIBERIAS AREA
Easily visible from Jesus' hometown of Capernaum, Tiberias, the regional capital built by Herod Antipas, stood on the western side of the sea. The city was shunned by religious Jews because it was supposedly built over a cemetery, making it ritually impure. We have no record that Jesus ever visited there.
Tiberias was named after the emperor Tiberius and was built on a hill overlooking the sea. The hot mineral springs in the area were used as a health spa by Herod and the people of the city. Little is known of its inhabitants, assumed to be the Herodions who opposed Jesus' ministry (Matt. 22:15—22; Mark 3:6; 12:13—17). Apparently, they were an aristocratic group who supported the Herod dynasty and the Romans who kept it in power.
The Herodions were used by Rome to keep the peace. They plotted Jesus' execution, probably because the many messianic movements of the time threatened their power. It is ironic that Jesus' ministry took place so close to those who bitterly opposed him.
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So until next week.......
MAY GOD BLESS YOU AND YOU BLESS GOD!
His servant and yours
Learn more about us at...
www.wwj.org.nz/about.php
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A DAVID'S DOODLING
9. The foolish man is satisfied with reading the Word, a wise man follows the Word, but the godly man is as one with the Word.
David Tait
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Check
out the WWJ website for….
More David's Doodlings: www.wwj.org.nz/dd.php
Eagles Fly High!: http://www.wwj.org.nz/eagle.php
Eagles Fly High! (Pastors, Teachers and Students): http://www.wwj.org.nz/eaglepts.php
God Facts (A mine of information): http://www.wwj.org.nz/gfacts.php
Facts for Fun: http://www.wwj.org.nz/facts.php
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