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Spirit Travel
As I shared with you a few
days ago, last month Pastor Shelley preached a series of messages on
the subject, "Spirit
Travel." Because of his own experiences with
traveling in the spiritual
realm and those of other prophetic leaders, he felt
that it was important to lay the Scriptural
foundations for it so that the Bride will be more prepared
to experience it.
Spirit travel can result in
being physically transported or spiritually
transported. There are many instances of this in the
Scriptures as well as in our modern times.
In this update, I have
presented the "New Testament" Biblical
references that Pastor Shelley preached about as well as
some quotes from the sermons. I have also
included a few modern experiences that he
shared.
I believe that
these messages will soon be available
for download on Pastor Shelley's website, www.revival.org.
Yeshua - In
Nazareth, Passes Through a Crowd That Wants To Kill
Him
(Luk 4:28) And all they
in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with
wrath,
(Luk 4:29) And rose up,
and thrust him out of the city, and led him unto the brow of the
hill whereon their city was built, that they might cast him
down headlong.
(Luk 4:30) But he
passing through the midst of them went his
way,
(Luk 4:31) And came down
to Capernaum, a city of Galilee, and taught them on the sabbath
days.
(Luk 4:32) And they were
astonished at his doctrine: for his word was with
power.
We think "headlong" means "head first," but
in Greek it means "backward." As a crowd, they are pushing Him
farther and farther back toward the edge of the hill. But in
verse 30, they get Him to the place where they could
push Him off and something happens.
The same thing happened to Elijah and Ezekiel
– spiritual travel – being able to move by the Spirit to
another place.
He brought a demonstration of power and
authority – one way was the reputation of what happened on
the cliff in Nazareth.
"Passing" means "travel." "Through"
means "like a channel." Some have thought the crowd parted and
He walked through the midst. But the laws of the
spirit supercede the laws of the
natural.
Yeshua - Carried
into the Wilderness To Be Tempted
(Luk 4:1) And Jesus being full of the
Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit
into the wilderness,
(Luk 4:2) Being forty
days tempted of the devil. And in those days he did eat
nothing: and when they were ended, he afterward
hungered.
He went forty days without eating and was not
hungry – that’s supernatural. He was fine because He
was walking in the Spirit.
When we think "led by the Spirit," we think
it means like a carrot in front of a donkey, but in the original
language it says, "He was led by the Spirit – brought,
driven, or carried - into the wilderness."
It does not mean He was inspired by the
Spirit. He was either brought to the wilderness, driven (like
a foot in your back), or carried. I have a feeling He
was translated from wherever He was to where God wanted
Him. It was more than just an impression that He
should go.
Yeshua - Walks on
Water, Gets in Ship Which Immediately
Lands
(Joh 6:19) So when they
had rowed about five and twenty or thirty furlongs, they see
Jesus walking on the sea, and drawing nigh unto the ship:
and they were afraid.
(Joh 6:20) But he saith
unto them, It is I; be not afraid.
(Joh 6:21) Then they
willingly received him into the ship: and immediately the
ship was at the land whither they went.
He is walking on the
water. There had to be a change in His molecules to
enable Him to do it. Something happened in His
physical body by the supernatural. It is happening right now
in the earth.
They said, "Come on in."
It’s a blessing that they did because immediately the boat was
on the shore – twenty or thirty furlongs away. The
boat and the disciples who were with Him were transplanted to the
shore. As soon as they received Him in, immediately
they were on the shore. He spared them the horror of the
storm.
(Joh 6:22) The day following, when
the people which stood on the other side of the sea saw that there
was none other boat there, save that one whereinto his disciples
were entered, and that Jesus went not with his disciples into the
boat, but that his disciples were gone away alone;
(Joh 6:23) (Howbeit there
came other boats from Tiberias nigh unto the place where they did
eat bread, after that the Lord had given thanks:)
(Joh 6:24) When the
people therefore saw that Jesus was not there, neither his
disciples, they also took shipping, and came to Capernaum, seeking
for Jesus.
(Joh 6:25) And
when they had found him on the other side of the
sea, they said unto him, Rabbi, when camest thou
hither?
They did not know that He had walked
on the water nor that the boat had supernaturally got them to the
land.
What was it that inspired them to ask this
question? It was knowing that something supernatural
had taken place. "We saw your disciples leave in the
boat and You were not with them. Something is going on.
There was only one boat and You didn’t take it. How did You
get here?"
Yeshua - Suddenly
Appears in Closed Room after His
Resurrection
(Joh 20:19) Then the same day at
evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors
were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of
the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and
saith unto them, Peace be unto you.
He came through either the walls or
the doors that were closed.
Peter -
Supernatural Escape from Prison
(Act 12:6) And when Herod
would have brought him forth, the same night Peter was sleeping
between two soldiers, bound with two chains: and the keepers before
the door kept the prison.
(Act 12:7) And, behold,
the angel of the Lord came upon him, and a light
shined in the prison: and he smote Peter on the side, and raised him
up, saying, Arise up quickly. And his chains fell off from
his hands.
It doesn’t matter what
happens, it is a good day when the angel of the Lord comes in.
His chains fell off from his hands. Something
happened. We don’t see anything in the Greek that they burst
or a key was provided. There was some sort of
supernatural change – molecules changed or
something.
(Act 12:8) And the angel
said unto him, Gird thyself, and bind on thy sandals. And so he did.
And he saith unto him, Cast thy garment about thee, and follow
me.
(Act 12:9) And he went
out, and followed him; and wist not that it was true which was done
by the angel; but thought he saw a
vision.
This whole event was so
supernatural that he thought it was a vision. There was a
speeding up of this process. When it was over, he
didn’t think it happened in the natural.
(Act 12:10) When they
were past the first and the second ward, they came unto the iron
gate that leadeth unto the city; which opened to them of his
own accord: and they went out, and passed on through one
street; and forthwith the angel departed from him.
This whole escape was
supernatural from start to finish. The miracle
happened in another realm. In the realm of the
spirit, the Lord delivered him from his adversary. It appears
that the metal of the shackles just passed through his
body.
God spoke to a door made
of iron to open up, and the door obeyed Him.
The choosing of the words in Greek assigned personality to the door
as though it had a personality – "opened to them of his own
accord."
The whole thing is
supernatural. If you look at it this way, you really
have nothing to fear.
(Act 12:11) And when
Peter was come to himself, he said, Now I know of a surety, that
the Lord hath sent his angel, and hath delivered me
out of the hand of Herod, and from all the expectation of the people
of the Jews.
What happened to these
prison guards? Peter was traveling in the spirit
realm. Their eyes could have been wide open and not see
him. God has a way of doing what He needs to
do.
(Act 12:18) Now as soon
as it was day, there was no small stir among the soldiers, what was
become of Peter.
They didn’t see him
leave, which means he stepped into another
realm. There were guards on either side of him, and
they didn’t see him leave, nor did they hear the chains as they
mysteriously passed through his body. He had a
molecular change in his body.
Philip - Caught
Away by the Spirit After Baptizing the Ethiopian
Eunuch
(Act 8:39) And when they
were come up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught
away Philip, that the eunuch saw him no more: and he went
on his way rejoicing.
(Act 8:40) But
Philip was found at Azotus: and passing through he preached
in all the cities, till he came to Caesarea.
It sounds like the Ethiopian expected him to
disappear.
"Spirit" is "pneuma," which means "breath of
air." "Caught away" means "seize, pluck up, take by force" – spirit
travel. That’s a great Scriptural proof of spirit
travel.
John - Immediately
Was in the Spirit and Taken to Heaven
(Rev 1:10) I was
in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and heard behind me a
great voice, as of a trumpet,
"In the Spirit" means "I was
positioned and resting in the breath of God and I heard the
Voice of God." It sounds like soaking to me.
(Rev 4:1) After this I
looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven:
and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet
talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I
will show thee things which must be hereafter.
"Come up" means "ascend, arise,
climb."
(Rev 4:2) And
immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was
set in heaven, and one sat on the throne.
"Immediately" means "directly, at once, in an
instant." He was in the spirit and saw the Throne.
It took less than a moment of time.
I have got to say this. The key
to all of this is positioning. John would have missed
this opportunity if he hadn’t have been sensitive to the
Spirit.
Modern Testimonies
of Spirit Travel
Now we are having
modern testimonies. I believe it is something
that needs to be released and leaned into. I don’t believe it is something we are praying
for, but as we begin to empty ourselves like Enoch
did, we can begin to walk in
this real place of walking with the
Lord.
Neville
Johnson had an experience where he went to Mongolia
in the spirit and talked to the Mongolians. He wasn’t
in a vision. He told them someone would come to them to tell
them more. Shortly thereafter, his associate felt by the
Spirit to go to Mongolia.
Bob Jones told me about when
the Pillar of Fire came in his truck. He was
in Tennessee driving along. The next thing he knew, he was in
Macon, Georgia. He said, "I didn’t drive all those
miles."
Bob Jones and Mike Bickle
had an experience getting suddenly to the
airport. Then they left the car keys with angels at
the entrance to the airport and ran in. There is no way they
could have made that flight otherwise.
My own experience was that I
was in intense travail for a couple staying on our campground.
I found myself in my pajamas in my bare feet laying
hands on their mobile home. Then I remember the
acceleration of being lifted up, and I was standing on my porch with
mud between my toes. The door was locked. My
mother came to the door. Mother said, "Steve, what’s going
on? Why are you outside? You’ve got your pajamas
on."
I have tracked mud in the house. I had
to rinse off my feet. An associate and I went there the next
day, and there were the footprints. There
were three prints of each foot where I had backed up.
We knew that God had done something. It was
scary then. It is scary telling it, but it is my
destiny.
Pastor Shelley
Traveled Backwards in Time
In Pastor Shelley's Tuesday night service this
week, he reminded us of how several years ago he traveled
backwards in time to see Bro. William Branham praying the
night before the accident that would cause his death.
God took me
some years ago backward in the spirit. How
does that work? He took me in a vision to a bedroom
and showed me the clock on the night stand. I saw
Bro. Branham, who had died in 1965, kneeling by the
bed. And I heard his prayer. And it has kept me
going a long time now. He had both hands lifted like
this.
He was on the way back from Tucson to
Jeffersonville when the accident happened. This was the night
before the accident. He was praying. The Spirit of God
was communing with him about my day. God was talking
to him by the Spirit about this overcoming Body, this Bridal
company, the full adoption of Sons, and so
forth.
With a real brokenness, he said,
"Oh, Father, let me live to see that
day." I saw the look that came over his face
as he received the knowledge that he would not physically
live to see that day.
And I heard him pray
for me – not by name, but for me, for my
generation. He said, "If
these eyes were not meant to see it, I pray for those who
will."
I will tell you how that made me feel when I
heard Bro. Branham praying for the generation that would live to see
these things. I felt like Peter felt when
Jesus said, "Satan has desired to sift you like wheat, but I have
prayed for you, Peter, that your faith fail not." That
must have been encouraging for Peter to know that Jesus, Messiah,
had prayed for him.
It was pretty encouraging
for me to know that Bro. Branham had prayed for me
as part of a generation that would see these
things.
Prophetic Conference in Alabama - February
6-9
Don't forget! Pastor
Shelley is hosting a prophetic conference at his
church in Smiths Station, Alabama, February 6-9,
with the theme, "Releasing the
Spirit of Prophecy." The
scheduled speakers are Paul Keith Davis,
Randy DeMain and Pastor
Steven Shelley.
  
For conference details and
registration, go to:
If you are able to attend,
register soon, because
there is limited seating!
Pastor
Shelley's Speaking Schedule
Dec. 29 - Jan. 2
Honouring the Fathers of
Revival Conference
Frontline Worship Centre, Red Deer,
Alberta, Canada
Jan. 4
- 21 Sadhu Sundar Selvaraj's
Youth Camp and The Eagle's Cry
tapings
India
Feb. 19 White Dove Ministries' School of the
Spirit
Robertsdale, Alabama
Feb. 28 - Mar. 2
White Dove Ministries
Conference
Cornerstone
Fellowship, Frederick, Maryland
In
Closing
Thanks in advance for
remembering us! Your
financial and prayer support are part of God's strategy for
Jerusalem!
(Heb
13:8) Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today,
and forever.
What God did for the saints of old, He will
do for us - and in greater measure because we inherit the
fullness of His Promises!
It is a season of
great expectation as we wait upon Him!
Blessings, Grace and
Shalom from Jerusalem!
Nancy Bergen
Jerusalem Revival Center
PO Box 1402
Jerusalem 91013, Israel
Tel.
& Fax: 972-2-5825301
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