@Chopper Wonderful friend! a hardened Fundamental Independent Baptist
(KJV)
It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.
There's a site I go to where I read about financial matters, and its motto is "On a long enough timeline the survival rate for everyone drops to zero." I thought that was quite witty for guys who live by charts and graphs and are not Christians. This is a solid truth in their experiences. As Christians, if Jesus' prayer were to be answered, we'd die the moment we got saved. We are promised 70 years and by strength 80 years, . (HA! 90-10= 80!) But I don't believe that's what Jesus was praying for. I believe He was praying that while physically in the body, we are with Him in the Spirit. What I'm going to say is not something I'm going to defend, but I am going to give you some events I've experienced within the last couple of months, because I lived them.
I had a very lucid vivid event about a dear friend of mine. It's rather long and one day it'll be for her, so I won't say what it was about, but I will say this: I was in the spirit when I experienced it, a vision while my body slept. I mean, the events didn't happen within my head but within the spiritual realm. It was choked full of imagery and symbols both for her and for me. The Lord explained it all to me and I have peace in my spirit that I have the information I need. I'm in Europe and she's in Texas and I was able to visit her spiritual house and experience it from God's eyes. When I wrote it down the details became even more amazing as I remembered them, linking (telling, explaining, syncing - I don't know what to call it) the experience to my physical body from my spiritual body. I told my wife about it and she told me about her vision of this same person back in 1993, confirming my summation of the event.
Another event occurred one night after my wife told me the week before about a trip, yes a trip, she took to heaven while her body slept. I told her and asked the Lord to allow me to as well. That night I found myself with an older man, a country farmer. It was very vivid. I saw him from the side from just behind him. He had on coveralls and a worn out red baseball hat. I saw four angels put a white robe on him and his hat and his old clothes vanished. They tied a golden rope around him. It was like looking through a ship's portal. I could only see what was right in front of me. I woke up physically. My wife asked me if I saw anything. It was 2am and surprised she was awake too. I asked her if I woke her and she said no, she was waiting for me. I asked her what she meant and she told me she saw me with the old childrens Sunday-school teacher who had just died and had gone to be with the Lord! She told me what I saw! Then she shocked me more: she said she saw me return to my body and I gasped and then woke up! My step-mother said when my father died, she saw his spirit leave. She's a hardened Fundamental Independent Baptist and they just don't talk about those "things". I used to be the same way until I experienced the Kingdom for myself!
When our bodies rest, our spirit is free to do and learn things. Why don't we die? Because the Holy Spirit is within us! This is confirmed in what Paul said in about us already being seated in the heavenly places. This is what Job meant about God speaking to us twice, once awake and another asleep because we don't listen for Him when awake, . This is so that NOW today, we are given the mysteries of God so we can tell them to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places, ! What a very odd statement! Don't these principalities and power not know this already? Yes, but we're to tell these mysteries so as to show them WE KNOW THEM TOO and more because they don't know everything!! Knowing the mysteries of God and declaring them to our enemy is to show them we have authority and power through Jesus! This is warfare 101! This is precisely what Jesus meant in His prayer, Chopper, that while we are alive we have spiritual fellowship with Him in the physical. See the wonderful gift of Jesus isn't a future event after death, but right now and here is what Paul said:
(KJV)
Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.
As Jesus is, so are we NOW, today, in THIS world! Glory to God! Is Jesus sick? Is He feeble? Then why are we!? We are to declare to those principalities and powers that hold us back in oppression - WE have authority because of Jesus, not them! When two marry they become one, right!? Well, we are the BRIDE of Christ! We are ONE with Him! As HE is SO are WE! Hallelujah!!!! Now that'll set your faith on fire! In my thread
Unanswered Prayers, I shared a wonderful sermon on this issue which helped me immensely! Two things stop prayers, sin and doubt - which is lack of faith. That's it! All the promises of God are
YES!
(KJV)
For all the promises of God in him [are] yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us.
Examine this verse: First: promises (how many promises? ALL!!) of God are, second,
YES in Jesus. Third: "Amen" in Hebrew is "Yes, I believe!", "I agree!", "I proclaim!" Faith comes by hearing the word of God from our own mouths!!! Four: it's for the glory of God
BY us!!! This is how the world knows we are His, !
Finally, if all this still isn't enough, here's what Jesus told His disciples when they couldn't overcome these principalities:
(KJV)
Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.
What is "this" - the principalities and powers! We get too caught up in the flesh sometimes and forget it keeps us a prisoner when it gets too powerful. Prayer and fasting is the last thing the flesh wants. The devil is right there egging us on, making our flesh cry out, so we must crucify the flesh, . Jesus had the power. He didn't go and fast and pray and then come back later. Jesus didn't say "Hold that thought!" He had it stored up for when He needed it!! He did it all as a man to show us that's exactly what we can do too! So let's look at this passage.
(KJV)
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.
So you see we have the fruits of the Spirit listed. These are from the Holy Spirit by His nudging to do this or not do that. The more obedient the more fruit because we GROW in Him. As we grow, notice what happens: AGAINST SUCH THERE IS NO LAW! If there's no law, then the physical laws don't apply either! Jesus walked on water as a man. Jesus raised the dead as a man. Jesus healed the sick as a man. Smith Wigglesworth raised his own wife from the dead! (He paid dearly for that later by his Mrs.!
) Now if the greatest law to mortals is death, and death can be circumvented, everything else can too. There's a law we all know well, "What goes up must come down." Is it 100% true? Nope, Enoch, Elijah and Jesus only went up...
When things don't work out, it's a copout to say "It must be God's will." God's will is to give whatsoever we ask in the Name of Jesus, , ! We must only first seek the Kingdom of God
and His righteousness, . So when things don't work, we need to examine ourselves. Seek the Kingdom first, seek His righteousness, find hidden sin, find disbelief, defeat the flesh, and have faith, then
ALL these things will be added - a promise! Faith is the currency of heaven. We are the problem, not God. We dance around our flesh to protect it, invent theology to shield our failures and blame God as it being His will. At least the apostles went to Jesus to find out why they couldn't overcome something. The word of God says it is His will that we should ask
anything in His Name it shall be done - a promise! , . If we ask and still nothing, then why are we asking? We also must examine our motives, . If God is not the problem, what is? Us and following His protocol.
I hope this helps you dear brother, I know it has me!
Thanks guys. The Lord was teaching me as I wrote it. I saved it to my hard drive to study! HA! How great is our Lord!!! 
