Revelation Bulletin 9 - Our Great Cloud of Witnesses
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In This Issue
Our Great Cloud of Witnesses Include Our Contemporaries
Recent Examples of Deaths and Visions of Heaven
We are Starting to Win Against our Accusers
Summary
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Our Great Cloud of Witnesses

  Personal Encounters of the Heavenly Kind
Greetings!

Introduction
 
If you are paying attention to what is transpiring in many circles there is a clear sign of the increase in 1) People dying and going to be with the Lord, 2) More people experiencing out of body experiences or visits to heaven through temporary death or visions, and 3) More people having dreams about heaven. 
 
The exciting part of this increase is that there appears to be more and more excitement about heaven, and less fear of death. This also shows that a spiritual maturity is occurring as people are eagerly focused on the things above the earth; rather than just our temporal life (Colossians 3:1-2). 
 
The reason Pam and I are so excited is that we have seen personal visions, heard from others, and read in scripture that we not only have a cloud of witnesses that include the great people of the Bible; but our great cloud of witnesses include our contemporaries. They include our family, friends, relatives, and great ministers who we know are in heaven being 'witnesses on our behalf.'    Hebrews 12:1-2 states
"Seeing we are encompassed about with such a great cloud of witnesses let us set aside every weight and sin that so easily besets us and run with patience the race that is set before us." 
This spiritual bulletin is intended to give you great hope as we all start seeing the increase of people getting glimpses of their heavenly promise; whether through death, out of body experiences, or dreams and visions. The Bulletin is broken into the following sections:
  1. Our Great Cloud of Witnesses Includes Our Contemporaries. 
  2. Recent Examples of Visions and Deaths that are Impacting the Earth.
  3. We are Starting to Win Against the our Accusers
 

Our Great Cloud of Witnesses Include Our Contemporaries 

Hebrews 12:1-2 describes the great cloud of witnesses that encompass us. The word 'great' in this context means 'multitudes or many. '  I can assume it goes beyond the few hundreds of Old and New Testament saints to include every one that is with Jesus and the Father in heaven. It includes my grandparents and friends who saw my potential and are now interceding, laughing, and cheering me on from heaven. In fact, Pam and I often think of two dear friends who went to heaven in the last few years. Their names are Gene Rolland and Clayton McClary. These two friends where dedicated soul winners for the Kingdom, and viewed Pam and I as partners in soul winning. Since they have died and are now part of our great and personal cloud of witnesses we have noticed an increase in our love and God-given ability to heal and win souls into the Kingdom. On numerous occasions we have laughed as we said 'We can see Clayton laughing at us from the Throne room; as we heal another person or see another person saved.' In fact Clayton was the personal friend and witness of mine on earth who as a seventy year old elder said "Mike, one day, all your dreams and desires for the Kingdom will come to pass."  In the last few years as we have seen our dreams being fulfilled, we are reminded and encouraged by this very personal witness in our great cloud of witnesses which now encompass us. We start to envision and believe that he is witnessing for us before the throne room. We see him personally asking God to use two ordinary people like us; we see him cheering us on because he personally knows our struggles and challenges on earth. In dedication of this personal witness on our great cloud of witnesses, we re-published the testimony that Clayton and I wrote eight years ago.  His testimony is entitled 'A Redemptive Journey; Exchanging God's Anger for Love.'  Clayton had a tremendous redemption encounter and together we sent out over 1,000 booklets of his redemptive journey.  

If you desire a copy of Clay's Redemptive Journey please visit our website on Focusonheaven.com and download a free copy. As Pam and I recently re-wrote the Forward to His Redemptive Journey; we once again saw Clay cheering us on.

I should mention the word 'Encompassed' used in Hebrews 12:1-2 means to surround and represents a form of completeness. In other words, the great cloud of witness surrounds us to provide a sense of completeness in our calling.

Recent Examples of Deaths and Visions of Heaven

 

About six months ago I visited with a wise and godly business man from Minnesota. He had informed me that (now) at the age of 47-48 he has been led by dreams, visions, and prayers since he was 13 years of age. He immediately got my attention; as I was sitting with a successful business man who had learned to practice the invisible aspects of the Fullness of Christ (Col. 1:15-16).  This was very refreshing, as I normally have to persuade people to believe in God's dreams and visions. During our conversation he started sharing a vision he, his wife, and seven others witnessed in the evening sky over their home during 2009.  The vision included an elderly woman, a child and angels apparently rejoicing.   The elderly woman appeared to be a resemblance of one of their parents, and the child a possible resemblance of a child of theirs that went home to be with the Lord.  The elderly lady picked up the boy and twirled the child in a joyful manner.  As he was describing the vision that he and others witnessed; God began to speak to my Spirit to the reason and purpose of the vision.  He continued to share that during the vision his wife went into the house to get a CD player and played music, as the vision was transpiring over a few hour period. After a period of time they realized that the angels and elderly lady were all dancing to the very tunes of the music they were playing on their CD player.  I could barely hold back what I was witnessing in my spirit and blurted out what I believed to be the interpretation of the vision.  The personal vision was given to them to show that they had their own personal cloud of witnesses; and their cloud of witnesses were their contemporaries, very personal, and literally in-tune with what they are doing on earth.  The business man and I laughed and rejoiced over the simple yet broadening understanding of our Great Cloud of Witnesses that surrounds us.

As each year is passing by, more people have witnessed an out of body experience as well as dreams or visions of heaven. In almost all cases the people who have had the out of body experience of heaven; make statements such as 'now that I have seen heaven, there is nothing that interests me but heaven."   Assuming these encounters of the heavenly kinds are true; we could say that these people have also become a witness to what is happening in heaven; thus part of the 'great' cloud of witnesses that is surrounding us.  I guess this may be what God mentions in 2 Corinthians 2:9 when He says 'Eye hath not seen nor ear heard the great things that God has prepared for those who love him.'     

The most recent story of two people dying in the same time-period is that of Oral Roberts and one of his spiritual sons; Pastor Billy Joe Daugherty. These two men were from different generations but collectively witnessed millions of souls saved and healed on earth. Upon their recent deaths, (one expectant and the other unexpected) was the realization that these two men will become part of the great cloud of witnesses in heaven, and have the potential influence to shake the heavens and the earth with wisdom, love, and compassion from a heavenly view point. I sense that God has begun orchestrating the grand finale and he is bringing home those who will impact heaven in a reverse manner. We have all heard of terms such as (upside down) or reverse mortgages, reverse engineering, reverse education, etc.  What if we could imagine that God is far more advanced than humanity and has created a reverse salvation plan that now allows the great men, women, and children of earth to work side-by-side with the Master of redemption.  One of my personal hero's, Reggie White died at the early age of 43, but the week before he died he had a dream of two Hebrew words translated into "Jehovah redeems". Prior to that dream Reggie had prayed that his life would be a living sacrifice, even unto death. I would not be surprised that God has pulled Reggie into the greatest reversed salvation plan of all time; directly from the throne room down toward earth.  This would explain what Isaiah saw when he said that Salvation will spring forth from the ground after heaven rains down. "You heavens above, rain down righteousness; let the clouds shower it down. Let the earth open wide, let salvation spring up, let righteousness grow with it; I, the LORD, have created it." Isaiah 45:8

 

We are Starting to Win Against our Accusers

During the past year as God has been revealing freshness about the great cloud of witnesses, He allowed me to understand and see a visual 'tug-of-war.' In the tug of war were two sides pulling against each other, on one side of the rope were all my accusers through the years who found fault, accused, doubted, and verbally assaulted my actions, character, and intents.  This is the side of people who satan uses as the accuser of the brethren to say 'Lord don't you see what these people are saying about Mike?  On the other side of the rope that was suddenly winning the tug-of-war, God showed me family members, friends, relatives, and co-ministers who recently died and have now become greater in number than my accusers. This side stands before His throne room and wins the battle against my accusers. These witnesses of mine are suddenly winning the battle. They are cheering me on, laughing, and making statements that may sound something like 'Lord forgive Mike mistakes, and view his intent as we now do, and use him to a greater degree.'  In God's court of law or court of this tug-of-war, the Great Judge is hearing the truth about people like you and I. We are starting to feel more confident, assured, and aware that our contemporaries who are a part of our and great cloud of witnesses are working for us. This great cloud of witnesses continues to grows, surround us, and we now realize that we could easily set aside the weights and sins of the accusers who have distracted us for years.   It is truly a fresh and revealing look at Hebrews 12:1-2. 

Summary
  

Are you ready, willing, and able to see the spiritual insight into your cloud of witnesses which include your contemporaries who know your challenges, your purest motives, and desires? If you will open your spiritual eyes, the light of life will reflect truth and revelation off the retina of your spiritual eyes, and you may begin to see your fullest and surest calling.  This is what is revealed in Ephesians 1:18.  "I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints.

It's time we all open our spiritual eyes to see, hear, and appreciate the great cloud of witnesses that God has prepared for us. Rejoice as your loved ones go home to be with the Lord, and enter your side of the tug-of-war. Rejoice when some of the greatest ministers go home to be with the Lord and can now see salvation from a reversed aspect.

 Download Clayton McClary's Journey Booklet.

In Christ's Love,  
 

Mike and Pam Mathews, along with our personal witness; Clayton McClary!

    [email protected]
 
http://www.focusonheaven.com
 My heart is overflowing with a good theme; I recite my composition concerning the King; My tongue is the pen of a ready writer.  Psalm 45:1 (NKJV)

For the time will come when all the earth will be filled, as the waters fill the sea, with an awareness of the glory of the LORD. Habakkuk 2:14