Lord, Open My Eyes That I May See

Lord, open my eyes that I may see

Learning from Jesus about the Ministry of the Holy Angels in the Bible

Words received from Jesus:

If you desire to better understand the spiritual world of angels, I would like to guide you on this important path. They have assisted me during my whole ministry. You can read in the Bible all the texts mentioning angels and I will teach you.

You need to learn to walk by faith. I want to use these messages to help you focus on the spiritual world and on the love of God. You will grow in grace as you focus on the kingdom of heaven. Let me teach you about the angels who serve God day and night. Listen and learn, rejoice and walk with me in every moment of your days.

Messages noted by a fool for the Messiah,

Stéphane Tibi

Lord, Open My Eyes That I May See

Copyright © 2014 by Stéphane Tibi

All rights reserved.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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Introduction

Is God able to speak to us?

Are we able to hear Him speak to us?

This is a central question for everyone who believes in God.

It seems to be what many experience in the stories of the Bible, yet it seems rather rare among Christians today. This book is an attempt to show you by example that yes, God is still desiring to speak and to teach each of us who takes the time to pray and trust in Him.

As I grew up in France, near Paris, I began my life as a atheist and a scientist. I did not believe that God exists, much less that a person can actually know God personally. After becoming a Christian, I left my work as a scientist and studied theology in Switzerland and then in the US. Seven years ago, with my wife Sandra, we became missionaries in Africa. In the middle of this service, I am learning to listen to God and also to teach others to listen. This book shows one possible way of listening to God’s voice through Scriptures. I have chosen to present here how it worked for me.

May this text encourage you to meditate Scriptures and to listen to Jesus’ voice daily, to enjoy His presence so much that it will change your life as it has changed mine. May the Lord Jesus bless you as you seek to hear Him (the Living Word), as He explains to you the Bible (the written Word), and leads you to the heavenly Father.

Learning to Pray

As a Christian and a missionary,¹ I realized a little more than a year ago that although I did study seriously the Bible and did my best to apply the biblical principles in my life and my ministry, my prayer life was very limited - mostly a few minutes the morning and evening.

I asked God to forgive me for this, as a Christian minister, and asked that He would wake me up earlier the morning so that I would commit this morning time to prayer. Since then, I have been waking up earlier than usual almost every morning, and I have begun to learn to spend hours in prayer every day. This has transformed my life and ministry for the better.

Learning to Listen to God

A few months ago, I was struck by the fact that I was not able to hear the voice of God, something that seemed natural for Jesus’ disciples, as mentioned for instance in the text of John 10:27, My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. ²

A promise given through the prophet Jeremiah was also troubling me: Jeremiah 31:33-34, For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more. This text stressed that God would teach His people directly, not only through the Biblical text, but also through His Holy Spirit. This is something I was not clearly experiencing, although I had spent years of my life in theological studies and learned many useful things concerning the Bible, theology and ministry.

A third text, which was mentioned by the Apostle Peter at Pentecost, was striking to me: Joel 2:28, And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions. As I understand it, prophecy is first and foremost hearing God speak to us messages that we can then share to others. This implies that we are able to hear the voice of God. In this text, it seems that every child of God will be able to hear God and dialogue with Him.

A last text was even more forceful to me, because it was touching the very heart of my ministry: Matthew 28:18-20, And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.’ As I was trying to make christlike disciples, I was reminded in this text of Jesus’ promise to be with us for ever. If he was indeed with me, should I not expect to be able to hear His voice speaking to me?

The more I meditated about prayer, the more I realized that speaking to God my needs and then trusting Him was a good approach. Yet, I lacked a key element: I needed to have God direct me more than just for every major decision of my life. If I did all the talking during prayer times and expected God to do what I asked, was I really a servant of God, or was I expecting God to be my servant? In my practical experience, the one who speaks the most is generally the master.

In my case, I wanted to not only serve God in general principles, but also to hear His voice so that I could obey Him in very specific ways. Jesus never prayed for healing in the same way, He always used a different approach, once with mud, another time with spit, etc. I guess that it was related to what he said in John 5:19, The Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does,  that the Son does likewise. Well, for me this means that Jesus would see the Father during His days, and would then imitate Him in every situation. This would explain the fact that He never acted two times in the same way.

I was then tempted to think that Jesus was above us and that we could not expect to do similar miracles, but Jesus words are the very opposite in John 14:12, Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father.

Step by step, I was convinced in the depths of my heart that if the message of Jesus was true, I should expect to be able to communicate with Him or the Father on a very frequent basis.

This led me to feel as if I were a fool for two reasons: first for having neglected the importance of prayer for so long, despite the fact that I was a missionary and in full time Christian ministry, and second for having not learned earlier to listen to the voice of God in order to obey Him.

I then began to search for ways to listen to God’s voice, and found in different branches of Christianity the helps I needed on this path.³

I had already studied a little the Jesuit approach of the ‘Spiritual exercises’,⁴ often used to help discern the will of God for an important decision we have to make. I had also learned a little from Leanne Payne, about listening prayer.⁵

Through two friends, Charles Pickens and Steve Mitchell, I was introduced to the simple approach of Rhonda Calhoun on how to encounter Jesus and listen to Him.⁶

I then found teachings by Mark Virkler,⁷ which were very practical for me.

I then began to practice listening to God’s voice, using a combination of these methods, and realized with joy that I could indeed see Jesus and hear Him speak to me.

Learning every morning to listen to God, during a time of prayer, has become the most important part of my day.

Teaching Others to Listen to God

Since then, very recently, I realized that I could teach others how to listen to the voice of Jesus in different countries (in DR Congo, in Kenya, Reunion Island, Madagascar, France and Switzerland). I also realized that it is possible to train many people to listen to Jesus in a single session (more than 100 persons in Madagascar, in a two hour session).

If you are interested in hearing the voice of Jesus speak to you,  the steps I encourage people to follow are:

0. Find a place were you can relax and be safe. If possible, you can have one or two Christian friends you trust who pray with you during this time.

1. Forgive those who have sinned against you,⁸ and ask God to forgive the sins you have committed.

2. Ask for the Holy Spirit to fill you.⁹

3. Ask for the peace of Jesus in your heart.¹⁰

4. Consecrate your imagination to God.¹¹

5. Imagine a place where you feel safe and peaceful, and once you see it (with your eyes closed), invite Jesus to come to meet you there.¹²

6. When Jesus comes, ask Him questions, beginning for instance with: Do you love me? And listen to His answer(s).¹³

7. Write down the discussion you had and the images you saw for further meditation and discernment.

One tool very useful, to discern if a message received comes from God, is called the ‘Wesleyan Quadrilateral.’ This tool is used to help discern truth, with four key elements: Bible, tradition, reason and experience. When you receive a word that you believe comes from God, you can ask these four questions:

1. Bible. Is it biblical? (Here, your biblical knowledge is important, and can be complemented by the advice of a pastor or a mature Christian with good Biblical foundations).

2. Tradition. Is it in agreement with the experience of faithful Christians before me? (Again, your pastor or a Christian you esteem who has the experience of listening to God can help you discern).

3. Reason. Does it make sense, is it coherent?

4. Experience. Did you experience the peace of Jesus in your heart during this time?

If the answer to these four questions is ‘yes,’ this is a good basis to believe that what you received comes from God.

As we learn to discern God’s will, it is of key importance to not let naive pride rule in our hearts, encouraging us to force our will on others with ‘God told me.’ This means that we should pray and ask the Lord who are the mature Christians who can help us in this process, who will accompany us as we learn to discern the direction of God in our lives.

Once you discern that a revelation comes from God, you still need God’s direction on how to interpret it and how to apply it. Often we are tempted to start with God and we continue with our independent interpretation and application, which can lead to painful results, for us and for others. This is why I would like to encourage you to stay humble while you learn to listen to the Lord, and to search for His direction also on how to interpret and how to apply the teachings you receive from Him.

Listening to Jesus and Reading the Bible

During my morning times with the Lord, as I learned to speak with Jesus, I received this message from Him on September 30, 2014, You will not be able to learn to move in the spiritual world simply with books. You need me to guide you. The Father, the Holy Spirit and I will lead you in these spiritual spheres where angels serve and where the spiritual battles take place. Learn to speak with me, Jesus, and to listen, let me guide you in this fundamental path for you. I am the Son of God, I am Yeshoua, I am the Gate for the sheep, they hear my voice and follow me. Follow me, walk with me. … Communicating with us is so simple. It is like a child letting his heart listen to our little voice in him; it requires humility and simplicity. You desire to know better the world of angels; I would like to guide you on this important path. They have assisted me during all my ministry. You can read in the Bible all the texts mentioning angels, and let me teach you.

How This Book Was Written

Each morning, I first noted messages from Jesus relating to my personal situation, then the Lord was leading me to continue to note what He spoke to me concerning angels. For the two months of October and November 2014, I noted almost every morning the messages I received from Jesus, after reading each text of the Bible on angels. I noted these messages in the middle of quite a few travels related to my service for God.¹⁴ I was first amazed at the fact that angels are mentioned almost 300 times in the Bible. In my morning prayer times, I simply read each of these texts of Scripture and asked God to explain them to me.

When I finished noting these messages from the Biblical texts on angels, I heard the Lord telling me to publish them, which is the reason for this book. I had the impression that these messages were not for me only; but could encourage others as well.

In noting the messages of Jesus, I realize that He uses my knowledge, either concerning science or the Bible for instance. Yet the resulting texts are very different from my past writing style. I am a very analytical person, used to clearly structured writing. In these messages, you will see some repetitions. You will also see a way of speaking that is as if words were colors painted on a canvas with a brush, the global picture emerging progressively from the reading.

Are these messages perfect? I would simply say No, because I am not perfect and I am still learning to pray and to listen clearly to the voice of God.

Will these messages be useful to you, to know Jesus better and to know the heavenly Father’s heart? I pray that you will find these teachings useful and that you will be encouraged in your journey on earth, to grow closer to God, closer to Jesus.

After noting the messages, I reviewed them for orthography and grammar, with the help of a some friends, and also added titles that, I hope, will help you navigate between these messages. You can either read this as a normal book, or look at the table of contents and read the messages received on specific subjects or specific texts of the Bible about angels.

The title of this book, "Lord, open my eyes that I may see, comes from the story of Elisha and his servant in 2Kings 6:15-18. Elisha prayed for his servant, that the Lord may open his eyes and see that there is a spiritual protection that far outmatched the army that threatened them. In this book, I hope and pray that the Lord Jesus will lead you to open your eyes and teach you concerning the spiritual world. It is there that we win the most important battles. The physical world is then impacted by the victories won in the spiritual world. As Paul said in Ephesians 6:12, We do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places."

My hope and prayer is that you will find encouragement to walk closer to Jesus, and to read and meditate more the Bible. May you be motivated to grow in love and in fellowship with other believers, and learn to listen to Jesus and follow Him faithfully every day of your life.

May the Lord God Almighty guide you, so that you may reap from this reading good fruits of grace and peace, of love and holiness.

Your brother in the Living Messiah,

A fool for God

Stéphane Tibi

Réunion Island, Christmas 2014.

GENESIS:

DISCOVERING THE MINISTRY OF ANGELS

Guardians of the Way to Eternal Life (Gen 3:24)

He drove out the man, and at the east of the Garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life.

Adam and Eve had done evil. By letting them eat of the tree of life without repenting first, they would have crystallized their self-centeredness and ended up with the fallen angels. I¹⁵, Jesus, wanted better for them, but they needed to learn the consequences of sin and the pain that it inflicts on others - so I decided to teach them instead of casting them away of me forever.¹⁶

The flaming sword was like a rock blocking the entry. In the spiritual world, you will often see light, it is the condensed energy and plays sometimes the role of a door, sometimes the role of a light showing the path, sometimes the role of healing in human bodies. Sometimes light is a weapon that can destroy. Light is condensed power, and it is important for you to recognize spiritual light when it is there. Some people describe this light as fire. Learn to see and recognize my light, and distinguish it from the seductions of the devil. He likes to pretend to be an angel of light, but you will recognize him because he wants to touch the carnal part of your soul - for example through the ‘shining’ eyes of a beautiful woman that can lure many. Beauty is from God, but sometimes beauty is used in a wrongful manner. Many women want to wield power with their beauty instead of serving Me, what a pity. Have the courage and wisdom to recognize the difference between beauty that honors God and beauty that honors self. You can also be seduced by a ‘shining’ plan, or an attitude in which you will want to appear as the ‘light.’ Learn to recognize when light is associated with self-centeredness and evil.

The light guarding the Garden of Eden was to block the path to further power for self-centeredness. I, Jesus, allowed evil, as well as the way to overcome it; and in so doing, you become stronger. Accept that the Creation is bigger than your brain, it has enough coherence and meaning for you to move and learn. Evil is present, but it will not last forever. Love and communion last forever. Evil is temporary, evil is not eternal but will be crushed. Some call it annihilation, others the lake of fire, or hell. What you need to know is that it is real and that separation from me is indeed very painful and foolish, yet many choose this path.

Encourage in Challenging Situations (Gen 16:7–11)

The angel of the Lord found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, the spring on the way to Shur. And he said, Hagar, servant of Sarai, where have you come from and where are you going? She said, I am fleeing from my mistress Sarai. The angel of the Lord said to her, Return to your mistress and submit to her. The angel of the Lord also said to her, I will surely multiply your offspring so that they cannot be numbered for multitude. And the angel of the Lord said to her, "Behold, you are pregnant and shall bear a son. You shall call his name Ishmael, because the Lord has listened to your affliction.

You can notice that the angel spoke to Hagar in my name, as if the Father or I, Jesus, were speaking. It is because angels are messengers; they bring messages from us, the Trinity, to you. The more you serve Me, the less you will be encumbered with your ego. This lesson is very clear in the life of my servant Moses, who spoke in our name to the people of Israel, and also spoke in their name to me. When we spoke to him, we spoke as if we were speaking to Israel directly. Moses understood this.

You also notice that the angel is rebuking, with kindness, Hagar. The task of my messengers, my angels, is not that they be nice; their assignment is to do my will, and in this case I wanted Hagar to return. When I say ‘I’, don’t be surprised, the Father and I are one, the Spirit and I are one.

In this rebuking, what Hagar needed was to know that there was more than only being beaten when she returned to Sarah, she needed hope in order to accept the correction. This is why the Father also mentioned that she would have a numerous offspring, a promise of huge importance in the culture of this time.

Today, people often don’t value children enough; in the generation of Hagar, they were valued almost too much. People were relying on them sometimes more than on me. That is why I needed to teach through temporary barrenness to Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah, Jacob and Rachel that children come from me and cannot replace the security that only I can give them. Children could be idols for them - as for many still today. I will speak more about this when we discuss Genesis 22.

In the promise we gave to Hagar, we did not cheat her with cheap promises, it is true that she would have a numerous offspring, but also that her son would struggle with many and fight against everyone (v. 12). Notice that Hagar was encouraged; she knew that the Lord cared for her. As many, she focused on her immediate need - the need to feel there was a future for her and her offspring. The painful part of this divisive attitude did not hit her as being something negative. She rather enjoyed it - this would bring her anger against Sarai/Sarah to a next level through her children. God the Father did know that, it was part of His plan, and he would work with and through that also.

Don’t be afraid of the forces of darkness that you sense looming in your present times, of the war that is coming between people who pretend to