Stairway Opened, People Called Home
Heaven is open in Jesus, and the road ahead begins with access already given.
Devotional Credit: Open Windows, T. Austin-Sparks
Photo Credit: Unsplash
The passage lifts our eyes to Jesus as the living stairway between heaven and earth. In John 1:51, He tells Nathanael that heaven is open and the angels move on the Son of Man. T. Austin-Sparks reminds us that God’s purpose for Israel never died, it was gathered up and fulfilled in Jesus, then shared with those who belong to Him. The story of Jacob at Bethel becomes a larger story in Jesus, the true Israel, who carries every promise to completion and brings us into it.
What Israel could not complete by effort or resolve, Jesus completes by His life and obedience. He is the meeting place of God and humanity, the ladder and the gate, the temple and the King. In Him, the Father’s thoughts do not fade, they become yes and amen. Sparks’ insight is a gift here, pointing us away from trying to perform for God and toward belonging in Jesus where God’s purposes are already alive.
This is not a private spirituality, it is a people reality. In Jesus, the Father gathers a new people, companions of the heavenly calling, who share in the life of the Son. We are not trying to climb into favor, we are placed in the Son who is already at the Father’s right hand. From that union, life flows down into ordinary days, into commutes and kitchen tables, into quiet work and noisy households.
So we rest our weight on the ladder who is a Person. We keep company with Jesus, receiving the Father’s welcome, and from that place we walk. I am grateful for Sparks’ steady hand here. He keeps pointing us to Jesus Himself, not to a system. The door is open, and in the Son the Father’s old promises are new again.
Journal Entry – Voice of the Holy Spirit Through Scripture
I draw your heart to the Son of Man where heaven is open. In Him you stand under a sky that does not close. I give you access to the Father through Jesus, the living way. He is Jacob’s ladder fulfilled, the place where I meet you and the place from which I send you.
I joined you to Jesus in His death and in His rising. You were buried with Him and raised to walk in newness of life. Your old mastery has no claim, your new life is in My Son. I dwell in you that His life may be expressed through your body, your words, your work, your rest.
You are not alone. I set you among a people, companions of the heavenly calling, a royal priesthood, a holy nation. In Jesus, the true Israel, I gather My purpose and share it with those who belong to Him. You are part of His Body, and His fullness supplies what you need.
Come to the Father through the Son with confidence. I witness within you that you are His. When you look at your day and wonder how to bridge the gap between heaven and the task before you, remember, the bridge is a Person and you are in Him. I lead you to abide, to trust, to yield, and to act as those who live from union, not striving toward acceptance. I am faithful to form Jesus in you.
Real-Life Analogy
Think of a key card that opens a hotel room. The door does not budge for your effort, your shoulder, or your best guess. It opens because you carry the card that is already authorized. Union with Jesus is like that. The door between heaven and your ordinary Tuesday does not open by pushing harder. It opens because you carry the life of the Son. Access is given, then you walk in and live from what is inside.
A simple way to practice this today. When you face a hard conversation or a stack of tasks, pause at the threshold and say, Lord, I entrust this moment to You living in me, express Your patience and truth through me as I step in. Then walk through the door you already have access to, trusting the Holy Spirit to express the life of Jesus in your tone, your timing, and your choices.
Prayer of Confidence
Father, thank You that in Jesus heaven stands open and I stand welcomed. Thank You that Your settled purpose does not fail and that, in Your Son, I share in all You intended. Thank You for placing me among Your people and for placing Your Spirit within me. I receive the day as one who has access in Jesus. I rest in the finished work of the cross, I rejoice in the power of the resurrection, and I walk in the companionship of the Holy Spirit. Your thoughts over me stand, and in Your Son they are yes and amen.
Scripture References for the Voice of the Holy Spirit Through Scripture Section
John 1:51. Genesis 28:12. Ephesians 2:18. Hebrews 3:1. 1 Peter 2:9. Galatians 2:20. Romans 6:4-11. Colossians 1:27. John 14:6. Ephesians 1:9-10. 2 Corinthians 1:20. Ephesians 2:4-7. Romans 8:9-11. 1 Corinthians 12:12-13. Hebrews 10:19-22.