Ascending a Ladder to Heaven

Which comes first — spiritual blessings or the fiery furnace?  About ten years ago, I read that John Pontius said we should expect a run-in with adversity after receiving an outpouring of spiritual blessings. He likens the blessing to a gift on Christmas morning, and shortly after you open it, and enjoy it, someone tries to wrestle it away from you (which is the opposition or adversity).

We should not look upon people who are in the midst of great trials, as having done something wrong. In reality, they are doing something right. We fluctuate between ascents and descents during the course of our life.

There must be opposition in all things and this includes our spiritual leveling up. When trials come, we should not get discouraged, but believe that the Lord is by our side, and we will make it through. Becoming angry or giving up will actually thwart our progress.

I was kind of discouraged though when I read this. I thought, “Wait a minute, I’ve been in the fiery furnace for a while now, awaiting a spiritual gift. Did I miss something?” Then I remembered Avraham Gileadi’s teachings in Isaiah Decoded.

Gileadi explains that there is always a descent into the depths of trials and humiliation, before your ascent (or blessing.) And this process continues through each level of ascending to God. According to Gileadi, you descend into trials before each ascent to levels of greater spiritual gifts. The greater the level of spiritual ascent, the greater the trial or descent preceding it.

It’s the ladder to heaven so-to-speak, but you have descents before you go up higher.

So, if you are in the midst of a trial, you are in the descent phase of your spiritual progression or leveling up. Hang on, don’t give up, remember that this is the only way to become like Christ. He is our example. And think of it this way — if everything is going perfect in your life, and you have no trials — beware — they are on their way. Because that’s why we are here in this mortal world.

This process will take you from believing in a God to your baptism of water to your baptism of fire and the Holy Ghost and having your sins forgiven to the next level where you are cleansed from the iniquities of past generations and onward to become a  son or daughter (servant) of God to the level of Seraphim or Angelic Emissaries (translated beings fit in here.)

Isaiah’s Ladder to Heaven has been described in the book,  Isaiah Decoded as follows:

7 — The God of Israel — King of Zion

6 — Seraphim — Angelic Emissaries

5 — Sons and Daughters — Servants of God

4 — Zion/Jerusalem — God’s Covenant People

3 — Jacob/Israel — Believers in a Creator-God

2 — Babylon — the Wicked of the World

1 — The King of Assyria/Babylon — Perdition

(IsaiahInstitute.com)

While reflecting on my life, I have thought that the whole descent-ascent example is not that precise. What I mean is that every descent does not quickly result in an ascent. From my experiences, I have slogged through years and years of what I would term descent. Sure, the Lord gave me little blessings along the way, but I did not receive the baptism of fire for a long long time of these descents. I am more inclined to believe that you hold steady to the course, the extreme trials add up, and after a period of time, the Lord decides to bless you with the ascent of significance — for example the baptism of fire. I’m not sure the trials get harder going up the ladder, or you just have to keep enduring the climb. Much like hiking a mountain. The mountain is not steeper at the top, but you are definitely more tired of the trek. Physically and emotionally, you feel exhausted. For example, Job had many descents and seemingly no blessings before his final ascent.

 

Even the earth goes through this process  — from the Fall to greater chaos before the ascent to Zion and the Millennium.

Jacob’s Ladder: