I love when that happens!
While on the playground at my preschool, my Little Preacher Man started telling me (in Spanish) about a heavenly encounter he had. He started to describe how God had shown him heaven and he had seen Jesus. He described in detail how kind Jesus was and how beautiful heaven appeared.
I asked him, “Is this a real story or pretend?”
He said, “Real”, with this cute little expression that implied, “Duh, teacher.”
Sorry, adults can be slow sometimes.
Now some of you may think that preschoolers can’t have personal encounters with Jesus, but I beg to differ. Children have been known to paint images of heaven and Jesus. Children have had visions and dreams of Jesus and received prophetic messages that align with scripture. I’ve seen a video of a child with autism who had heavenly encounters and visions of angels and Jesus. He was able to type these messages and encounters on his iPad. His writings have been released into a book called Josiah's Fire by Tahni Cullen.
That is why Jesus said to let the little children come to Him because the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. (Matthew 19:14)
Blessed are the pure in heart for they will see God. (Matthew 5:8)
God, our Abba Father, wants us to have childlike faith. The kind of faith that jumps off the edge of pools into our daddy’s arms and allows us to be thrown high in the air knowing that our Abba Father will catch us. I envy, in a good way, that type of childlike faith.
As this Little Preacher Man described the heavenly kingdom, the vocabulary he used was not your typical preschool vocabulary. He used descriptive words that an educated adult would use. By this time, he had my rapt attention. As he stood on the platform of the play structure and I stood at the base of the stairs, I listened in complete awe as if I were listening to Billy Graham give a sermon to a packed arena.
A co-teacher called out to greet me, and I had to give her the “hold-on a minute” gesture because I didn’t want the sermon to end. I was a captive audience to the Little Preacher Man.
As he kept looking up to the sky, and I asked him, “What are you looking at?”
He said, “Jesus.”
I looked up and could only see blue sky and clouds.
I asked, “Why can you see Him and I can’t?”
He said, “Tengo vista de amistad.”
Huh?
The whistle blew and it was time to line up. Dang it!
I wanted to say, “Come back, come back. Tell me what is vista de amistad and how do I get it.”
Later, I asked a Spanish-speaking teacher the meaning of “vista de amistad”. Her reply floored me!
She said, “Vista de amistad means to see something through the eyes of friendship.”
Holy Moly!
That’s the key to see into the gates of heaven. It’s all about personal relationship. It’s like the marriage relationship. The Bible says that when two people get married they become one. It’s not only one in flesh, but also united spiritually and mentally. When you have been married for a while, you get the point when you can almost read what the other person is thinking just by their facial expression. You can finish each other’s sentences. You grow more and more similar in thought, action, and purpose. Jesus calls Himself our Bridegroom and the Church His Bride. When we invite Jesus to come into our hearts as our LORD and Savior, the Holy Spirit seals us with an engagement ring. We are eternally bound to Jesus because of His unfailing love for us. He never leaves us or forsakes us.
That is the type of close personal marriage relationship Jesus wants with us while we are here on earth. That is how we achieve vista de amistad.
Lately, I’ve been watching videos and hearing of people having awesome prophetic dreams and visions. Many are dreaming of the Rapture, that moment when our Bridegroom orders the trumpets to be blown, steps through the clouds, opens up His arms to receive us, and calls His Bride home. I can’t wait!!
God said in Joel 2:28-30 (NKJV)
And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh;
Your sons and daughters shall prophecy,
Your old men shall dream dreams,
Your young men shall see visions.
And also on My menservants and on My maidservants
I will pour out My Spirit in those days.
And I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth…
So, all I want for Christmas this year is for God to pour out more of His Spirit on me. I want dreams and visions of Jesus. Most of all, I want vista de amistad!
However, just like marriage takes time and dedication to stay healthy so does our relationship with Jesus. We foster our vista de amistad by making Jesus the greatest priority in our life. He must be our all and all, even above our spouse and children. It’s not that we neglect our family but God’s Word says, “Seek first the kingdom of God and all other things will be given to you.” (Matthew 6:33)
In order to love our husbands, children, and others like God wants us to love them, we need to be filled with the Holy Spirit. And the closer we walk with Jesus, the more we are in His presence, the more will will begin to reflect Him.
So, just like a great love affair flourishes with great care we must give great care to our relationship with Jesus.
Psalm 116:1, 5-9(NLT)
I love the LORD because
He hears my voice and my prayer for mercy.
Because He bends down to listen,
I will pray as long as I have breath!
How kind the LORD is!
How good He is!
So merciful, this God of ours!
The LORD protects those of CHILDLIKE faith…
I was facing death and He saved me.
He has saved me from death,
my eyes from tears,
and my feet from stumbling.
And so I walk in the LORD’S presence as I live here on earth.
Merry Christmas,
Yolanda
