Heavenly Mansions
Jesus promised us rewards in heaven that are so real, he said we should pursue them instead of rewards on Earth. He was not clear on how the rewards work, what they look like or what qualifies for a reward, it was very open ended. I like to think this is because the subject is extremely vast and there is not just one "type of deed" that can gain us a reward in heaven.
In various circles of seers, many are having visions and visitations to the heavenly realm, where they see mansions, visit houses and see rewards that are prepared for us ahead of our arrival there. This part of our faith has remained a mystery for a long period of time and has the potential to lead us into legalistic and religious "deeds" for the sake of our rewards in heaven.
It is good to be eternally focussed, but if we look into the scriptures and what they say about rewards, we may see a reality that perhaps helps bring liberty and freedom to the mystery.
Firstly, if we are going to receive rewards, we are going to need a place to put them, right? No good getting rewards and having no where for them to go, which leads us nicely into the subject of our mansions.
Mansions
To understand our mansions, we need to look at various scriptures that describe the heavenly realm and what resides there, keeping them in tension with several truths about God.
We know God is creative, creator and delights in us. The Earthly realm, including the universe, is a shadow of heavenly realities. The structure, construct and principles of the spirit realm are similar to those of the physical realm because they were both created by the same master engineer, artist, poet, philosopher and so on - our Father in Heaven.
Consider the universe, it is constantly expanding. This means even if we set out at the fastest speed achievable, we would never reach the edge of the universe (if there is an edge!). This speaks of a deeper truth - God is constantly creating and expanding creation, creation being both the physical and spiritual realms.
How do we know God is doing it? It says by his words everything holds together. It is not original sin that caused the universe to expand and disperse beyond our current reach, it is God! (There are theories that govern space-time travel, which may make it possible to reach the currently unreachable parts of the universe).
God is creator and heaven and Earth are expanding, more space is being created in these realms.
As time passes by, more and more people exist on Earth, so either heaven originally contained enough mansions for everyone who will be there, or God is creating mansions as time moves on. If we look at something Jesus said concerning heaven, we can get a glimpse into a reality that may help us understand this mystery.
In John 14:3, Jesus said he will go away (to heaven) to prepare a place for us, and then return to bring us to that place. So while Jesus remains in heaven, he is preparing a place for us, until he brings us to that place, which means God is constantly preparing and making our place ready for us.
This means God is constantly preparing your mansion for you, right now, but what do the mansions look like, what's inside them and how do they work?
Tour the Mansions
Several people have had the privilege of being taken in spirit, vision or dream, to the mansions, and the stories they relay all speak the same story, whether in full or in part. So we can trace between the dots and paint a picture of what the mansions are.
I have drawn together a few snippets from what I myself have seen and verified by sharing the revelation with those for whom the mansions were being prepared, but also from what others have seen and experienced.
Personal Testimony
Details in this vision were seen and confirmed by others who were part of the same visitation.
During a group visitation to the heavenly realms, I was taken by the Holy Spirit into my mansion. The outside looked purple and was also like a precious jewel in shape. It was also very tall and could change shape, expanding and contracting as and when it needed to depending on how many I entertained within the structure.
My personal angel was in the kitchen, preparing some silver biscuits for our visitors, the biscuits each had a unique flavour, including cinnamon, cardamon, lavender and rose.
Many angels came in to celebrate with us and gathered in a room that was full of armoury. Silver horses that looked like crystal (which speak of strong spirits) gathered outside the house and more angels wanted to come in. So the house changed shape and the armoury room expanded for us all to witness, until all could fit it. The room suddenly had a long table appear, around which everyone gathered and were chattering and having a good time.
One of the cloud of witnesses appeared with a smile on his face, in the kitchen area, with an object in his hand. I asked what the object was and he explained as he walked toward a cabinet made from crystal with gold lining. As I looked into the cabinet, I saw many objects made from gold and precious stones. The person explained as a group, we had just done something that impacted the spirit realm and physical realm for the good of the Kingdom, and so a reward was created as a memorial for our act.
The reward was placed into the cabinet and then we enjoyed the gathering of friends.
Family and Friends
What I share in this section is purely from experience through visitations and visions, after which I shared with the people concerned, for clarification. The details I saw were confirmed as accurate and has happened on several occasions, so I am fairly confident I can share this, although feel free to discard anything that does not sit right with you.
I have learned that family and friends, who have gone on into paradise before us, are also involved in preparing our mansion for us. They seem to gather around, tend to the mansion and the surrounding areas and there is great joy among them. Personal angels are also involved in creating the mansion.
Unborn children, those taken early and family pets are also gathered to the place where our families reside, within the mansions and they wait for us to be with them.
Constructing the Mansion
Our mansions seem to be constructed using spiritual substance. That is, for every good deed we do here on Earth, every prayer, every gift we give etc, transforms into a spiritual substance that is used in the construction of our mansion. (I plan to cover the scriptural basis of how things done while on Earth, both good and bad, have effect in the heavens, in a later blog post.)
My personal mansion started off all rickety and made from wooden beams, without any decoration. At the time I first saw it, I did not realise what it was but assumed it was my heart, for I was raw, hurting and in a lot of emotional and spiritual pain. I asked Holy Spirit to heal my heart and work with me to make my house (what I saw in the vision) a nice house to live in.
Over half a decade I returned to this house in visions, and it slowly began to transform, with paint appearing, the garden outside was cultivated and a swing seat was placed on a porch. Several years later I return to the house in a vision and the sun is shining through a window. I notice the walls are all painted and the floor boards are clean but the house was empty and Jesus stood with me.
I sensed Jesus ask "Lee, what do you want us to place in this house, how do you want it to look?"
I thought about that for a while and I expressed a desire to have it as a welcoming place, full of life where friends could come and visit and enjoy the presence of God. I thought I was talking about my heart!
Months later, I return in a vision, taken by the Holy Spirit, to the house but as I walk outside, I notice it looks different. It suddenly has a purple colour on the outside, the door is silver and there is what looks like a picket fence around it. Upstairs there is a window that shines with the colour yellow and the house if teeming with an energy that is so attractive, I wanted to go in.
Later in the vision described previously, a group of friends visit my house during a group Holy Spirit visitation to the heavenly realms.
We take part in constructing our mansion through various things we do here in the body. Every time we push forward with acts, motives and deeds according to the Kingdom of God, it helps transform our mansion into something spectacular according to our personality and godly desires. That means every prayer, every good deed, good thought, gift of charity and goodwill, every time we do what is right, whether in secret or in public, we partake in the building of our mansion and contribute to our rewards in heaven.
Treasure Is Where The Heart Is
You may recall the scripture to the effect that our treasure is where out heart is (Matthew 6:21). There is a link between the condition of our heart and the treasures in heaven. So as we take care of the spiritual state of our heart, conforming to the spirit of God, choosing to walk in his ways and aligning with the Kingdom of God, we propel the addition to our mansion.
This is our eternal perspective - everything we do here on Earth has an everlasting effect that will cause ripples throughout time and space and be witnessed upon through our rewards in heaven.
In revelation 14:13 we are told good deeds will follow those who die in the Lord, which speaks of how doing good and living according to the spirit of God, effects us when we go to heaven. They turn into spiritual substance and follow us into our mansion, creating a reward for us to enjoy.