TREVOR MADDISON

Some prophecies are life defining and apply to many people. This is such a prophecy.

I saw an eagle flying just below a dark blanket of cloud cover. The cloud cover was only a few feet thick, but was very dark and it put the whole of the ground below in dark shadow. Equally the eagle looked no more than a dark shadow, with its brown feathers, as it flew in the shadow of the cloud. I then saw the eagle respond to a call and begin to rise higher and fly up through the cloud cover and up into glorious warm sunshine above. Above the clouds the eagle became weightless, as if it no longer even needed to make an effort to fly. As it flew it rolled over and over, basking in the sunshine, soaking up the warmth. As it did so its feathers slowly changed from dark brown to golden, and began to glow shiny bright gold until the whole eagle was lit up like the sun – a true Golden Eagle. Then, at just the right moment it flew back down through the cloud cover and as it came once again below the dark clouds the glow of its feathers lit up the ground below. I sensed the joy of the eagle as the illumination and glory of its bright feathers lit up the ground below and brought the glory of the sunshine above to the inhabitants on the ground below.

The eagle is the mature Christian who is flying as high as they are able in their spiritual life within the realm of this world. The call and urge to rise higher is a call from above and as they do so they find themselves moving through a period of darkness. Without the call in their hearts to rise they would normally have dropped down again to regain visibility and vision, as they have done sometimes before. But this time the call they hear from above is strong enough to carry them through the dark experience and they continue to rise, very quickly coming through out of this brief darkness into God’s glory. The glory of the sunshine is an experience of pure waves of Love. In this place they become weightless and experience awesome rest. The sun, which is God, shines on them and through them and they are filled with Love and begin to glow with his love. This is the ‘Shekinah’ glory of God that Moses’s face shone with when he came down the mountain having come face to face with God . I believe God is saying he is drawing those that are already flying high with him in this world into a heavenly experience that will even transform their very demeanour. He will then send them back to the people of the world below to bring the glory from above down to the earth below and show them something of what is above. I believe for the mature Christian there will be an irreversible change in their lives. They will no longer have any desire for this world other than to bring God’s glory to those below. They will always be filled with a yearning and desire to return to the glory above and God will draw them back frequently to be filled again and again for all of their remaining time on the earth. I believe that in this experience they have reached the place that Peter spoke of when the morning star (the sun) rises in their hearts and they come out from all inner darkness into glorious Light.

I feel I should add a word of explanation about the layer of darkness represented by the cloud cover. This represents the oppressive resistance and opposition that the enemies of our souls continually puts up towards those who seek to transcend it into the full light and presence of God above because they know the magnitude of the impact and the damage to their cause that will come from those that have had such an encounter. The darkness is designed to keep the saint away from a full revelation and appreciation of the magnitude of this experience. The move to rise above the dark clouds can only therefore be sustained by faith in the value of the ascent received by those that hear the call to it, or see a revelation of the glory above. When the saint seeks to make this ascent the enemy exploits all remaining areas of weakness, including pockets of emotional damage and areas of deception or wrong thinking, together with his entire diabolical arsenal of: temptations, lies, half-truths, flattery, distractions, deflections, obstructions, counterfeits, falsehoods, evil suggestions, harassments, oppressions, slander, and accusations. These weapons of darkness are used to discourage the saints and force them to abandon the ascent, dropping back to the lesser and more shadowy place beneath the darkness with its worldly emphasis. Most have to attempt the ascent more than once, and on each occasion that they experience the attack and temporary setback, they are purified further through it until they ultimately overcome and break through . The saint should be encouraged that this resistance may be dark and fierce but it is surprisingly and deceptively thin. Few realise before the breakthrough how close they really are to this heavenly experience, and how desperately the opposition is working to conceal it.