“I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day, and I heard behind me a loud voice, as of a trumpet, Then I turned to see the voice that spoke with me. And having turned I saw seven golden lampstands,”
‭‭Revelation‬ ‭1‬:‭10‬, ‭12‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Discipleship Teaching Notes

Main reading: Rev 1:1-19,

The bible is a patently wonderful book because it will be leading you in one direction, at the same time dropping great nuggets of treasure (pertaining to another matter) along the way.
In this weeks learning, we are able to pick up on wonderful tips on how to improve our communion with Jesus from Apostle John’s changing posture in relation to the revelation of Jesus Christ.

‘how can I hear Jesus for myself’? and “how can i grow beyond the realm of dreams into a fuller range of communing with the Lord?” are two of the most recurrent questions we get asked in our discipleship outreaches.

This is quite understandable because the greatest battle facing this generation is DISTRACTION. Between the hustle of busyness and the dulling embrace of constant entertainment, there is a constant overstimulation of our senses which has deadened our spiritual sensitivity as a body.

In teaching your new wards, John’s changing posture in Rev 1 offers valuable keys.

John’s pathway to fuller revelation of Jesus

1- Getting Isolated : Stillness in the midst of chaos.

“I, John, both your brother and companion in the tribulation and kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was on the island that is called Patmos for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ.”
‭‭Revelation‬ ‭1‬:‭9‬ ‭NKJV‬‬
  • Mother Theresa said: “GOD is a friend of Silence-Solitude-Stillness“.
  • Many people today are not fortunate enough to have an easy commute or work schedule that affords them blocks of time. The next best thing is for such a person to make his heart an island in the midst of the chaos!
  • Isolating the external noise is hard. Yet experience shows that Isolating from the inner noise is much harder to overcome. Still it is doable to a mind that is hungry for righteousness. Matt 7:7
  • The best cheat is NOT to try to silence the noise (the mind always needs something to feed on!), but rather give your mind spirit and life (by way of audio bible, audio messages, worship songs), to feed on as you move through your day.
  • Many times we over-extend ourselves across too many people/actions/issues. Our minds are constantly distracted and our hearts overfull. We have to learn to ‘gather our souls‘ and actively cultivate peace.
  • Actively cultivating your peace can involve putting down/off your phone/tv in your free time and just sitting quietly alone with yourself for some time without any input. Psalm 46:10
  • You will hear many complain – “it’s too difficult!” Yes, and ‘the kingdom of God suffereth violence and the violent taketh it by force‘. Truthfully if your truly desire Him you will find a way that works for you!
  • We often encounter those who cannot read and write, over the years we have developed successful recommendations on steps to take to arrive at the same destination.
    *some evangelists on our team started like this also

2- Turning from what you are beholding: making Jesus your ultimate priority.

“Then I turned to see the voice that spoke with me. And having turned I saw seven golden lampstands,”
‭‭Revelation‬ ‭1‬:‭12‬ ‭NKJV‬‬
  • The majority of us are often found running the life race chasing after one major focus to another even as we try to drag Jesus to follow us! It is a major reason why we appear to be hearing his voice as ‘a loud voice from behind me‘ Rev 1:10 (a) He has to be loud to get our attention (b) we have our backs turned to Him.
  • Your ‘reception’ will not improve until you turn!!
  • If Jesus is your greatest treasure, you will consider it nothing to turn from your other preoccupations to give Him the priority attention He deserves. You need to ask yourself truthfully “Is Jesus worth it or not?”
  • Your desire to hear clearer must be followed up with definite action! (A higher price than you are already paying)
  • The first recommended action is being more diligent reading the word of God daily!
  • Without the written word you have no vocabulary to communicate for Jesus does not speak Yoruba, Cantonese or Portuguese. He speaks the word.
  • Remember reading daily to mark your righteousness quota will not open the door. It is reading from a place of true hunger and desire that opens the door of revelation easily. So check your motive.
  • Too much of Christianity now is about praying – praying – praying. 4 of every 5 we dialogue with in the way like to pray, but rarely ever give time for dedicated study.
    This is a fool’s errand, for even prayer cannot be relevant when we have no inkling of His will! 1 John 5:14
  • Encourage them to ‘pray less’ and ‘study more’. Balance things out a bit..

3. Opening Eyes to Hear : Moving Pictures and Words.

“Then I turned to see the voice that spoke with me. And having turned I saw seven golden lampstands,”
‭‭Revelation‬ ‭1‬:‭12‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

  • In the Kingdom of God you can use your eyes to hear 🙂
  • One common thing we notice in our engagements are that some are actually receiving from the Lord but are unaccustomed to the modality of communication by images in the mind, waiting purely for the spoken voice.
  • It would profit their understanding immensely to know that talking with Jesus is not ONLY about speech, but communication through pictures Into our minds is often a far more regular medium in communing with Him
  • A picture speaks more than 1000 words and it works like this in the realm of the Spirit. So prepare to see!
  • Many already receive images in the course of their day or after prayer but too easily dismiss it as just their imagination!
  • Teach them about the values of consecrating their eye gates to make clearer lane to receive dedicated signals from heaven. Remember Gal 6:8 from the context of our discourse “For the one sowing to his own flesh (constant entertainment), from the flesh will reap decay (decay of spiritual senses). But the one sowing to the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life” (heightened sense of consciousness/awareness) . …

4. The Art of Journaling: Encourage the Habit of Writing. 

“To the angel of the church of Ephesus write, ‘These things says He who holds the seven stars in His right hand, who walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands:”
‭‭Revelation‬ ‭2‬:‭1‬ ‭NKJV‬‬
  • Help them understand that Jesus actually has a lot to say to each of us and show us.
  • Journaling indirectly helps to train our focus when He is speaking to us, the question becomes one of style:- Do we write after He has spoken to us? OR Do we write along as He is speaking to us?
  • Also worth noting that His discussions with you at a later point will expand to include others. He wants to make contact with others through you and you are a viable vessel to achieve this…ref Isa 50:4-5
  • Another common question people usually ask…”what does His voice sound like?“.
    His voice sounds like your voice. As though your thinking back to yourself!! Your soul translates it in your voice …but be careful to watch for changes in His tone.

5. Be Patient with yourself: His revelation is progressive.

14 His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire;
15 And his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters. 16 And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp two-edged sword: and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength. 17 And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last:
Rev 1:14-17
  • The revelation of Jesus is often a progressive thing
  • Like a baby learning to sit – crawl – stand – walk, it is a stage by stage process.
  • Many abandon the process because they become impatient with the speed of manifestation
  • Patiently sow like a farmer, in little time you will begin reaping the fruit.

Summation

Encourage them not to relegate themselves to the realm of dreams alone. Dreams are good but there’s a much more richer experience of Him available to those who will tap into it.

We must make hearing Jesus clearer more frequently for yourself the most important priority in our lives today! It is worth relegating everything else to pursue after this goal. A generation may depend on it

Peace and Grace to all..

p.s
As you are led in the Spirit, you can call on personal examples where hearing by sight and speech has been profitable to you and others. Here is an example below.