God's 'Thin Places'
Peter, James and John experienced a ‘Thin Place’ with Jesus that changed their lives. Moses thought he’d be undone by the power of it, and Zechariah found his calling and healed his broken heart through it. There have always been ‘Thin Places’ where all of eternal heaven and God break through.
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Dr Rennie Du Plessis
2/25/20264 min read
Imagine that you’re standing next to God at the moment He’s speaking the creation of the universe into existence… Genesis 1 is happening before your very eyes. What would time/space look like from God’s vantage point?
Take a sheet of paper and roll it up. Now stretch out your arm in front of you, holding that rolled-up piece of paper in the middle. Look around the room and imagine that the whole room is eternal heaven and the full Presence of God. Now look at the piece of rolled-up paper in your hand and imagine that it is the time/space tunnel God created. We live in this time/space tunnel, and we move in what seems to be forward in time, although we’re surrounded by the eternal present all around at the same time.
A while ago God revealed that the time tunnel is ‘wearing thin’ because we are coming to the place where God will fulfill the prophecy of Psalm 102:25-27 “Of old You laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of Your hands, They will perish, but You will endure; Yes, all of them will grow old like a garment; Like a cloak You change them, and they will be changed. But You are the same, and Your years will have no end.” This means that there are areas in this time tunnel we can find eternal heaven and the full Presence of God ‘seeping through’. Eternity is beginning to invade time and space in preparation for what is to come. Although there is an increase, this is not new; God has always had thin moments in time and thin places in space.
Thin places change you. We see a prophet going up to the temple and coming face to face with eternal heaven and the full Presence of God. Listen to his own words: Isaiah 6:1-3 “In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train (splendour rays) of His robe filled the temple. Above it stood seraphim; each one had six wings; with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one cried to another and said: ‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory!” This encounter forever changed Isaiah, who afterwards became the Messianic prophet of the bible.
In the Old Testament, God used thin places to take those who had a destiny and were serving Him to new dimensions – and in so doing, change the course of history. Read Moses’ thin moment in time that lasted 40 days and left Him so overwhelmed by God’s Presence and eternal heaven that nothing is written of what happened beyond him seeing the glory of God! Exodus 33:12-23. The elders with Moses had seen the throne of God, and yet the people were afraid of God’s presence, Exodus 20:19-21. So God patterned an earthly sanctuary that would become a thin place in the fabric of time/space that God’s presence and eternal heaven could ‘seep through’ to reach the people on earth who now saw this time tunnel as a separation from God.
This was never God’s intention. The time/space tunnel was to create a finite place where the infinite could function. So He uses the heavenly sanctuary as a contact point and instructs a small copy to be made of it on earth. Exodus 25:8-9 “And let them make Me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them.” This was to be an open gate for eternal heaven and God’s Presence and glory to shine through. But instead of people seeking this thin place as a contact point, they make it a place of ritual. A tangible example is needed to show the way. The Holy Spirit divides time and space, and Jesus enters the tunnel.
Jesus experienced thin places on earth and used them to confirm who He is and change those with Him. Jesus sought the thin places often because, as a Man, He needed the power and Presence of God, and as God, He needed the contact with home. The most wonderful example of His thin place we have recorded is in Matthew 17:2-3, where Jesus: ”…was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light. And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him.”
How can one raptured person and one dead person tangibly appear and discuss the momentous event that is about to happen with Jesus? They stepped through a thin place because this was a point when the course of history was about to be changed.
Thin places herald change, and to be ready for thin places, we need to remember that God created the time/space tunnel where the infinite can function within the finite. It’s where we can come in contact with God’s Presence and eternal heaven in a transforming encounter.
God has these places where we can come into contact with the full Presence and all of eternal heaven. So, how do we find them? How can we position ourselves so that the full presence of God and all of eternal heaven breaks through into our lives? If this is the beginning of the fulfilment of prophecy, it means we must know this and how to operate in these places. We can’t make it happen. However, there are some clear commonalities in the lives of those who experienced thin places:
They were all already faithful to the calling and anointing they had. Moses was leading the people as God commanded, Isaiah was already a prophet, and Jesus was the Perfect Man in the flesh on the mission of redemption.
They all spent time experiencing God often and under all kinds of conditions. Isaiah was mourning and in his loss was worshipping, Moses was with God in the mountain to receive the tablets, and Jesus was preparing to save the whole world.
They all accepted the calling and the anointing God had given them.
They prepared themselves and expected an encounter with God that was extraordinary.
Discover the many examples hidden in plain sight in the bible, what they are, how they work and how to identify them. I share bible stories and modern thin place encounters, and how you too can experience thin places in your life and experience God in this amazing way. My book, 'God's Thin Places is packed with life-changing information that will give you the knowledge to position yourself for an encounter at God's choosing. Click on the button below to start your adventure into thin places...
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