The Coming Renaissance

The end of 2003 provided one of the richest and thoroughly rewarding revelations I have received from the Lord. It was an incredible journey into Heaven’s treasury room. I have written about this encounter in detail in “Books of Destiny.”

The apostle Paul, in his epistle to the Colossians, records an encouragement regarding the great wealth we have as our inheritance in Christ. He hoped, that their hearts may be encouraged, having been knit together in love, and attaining to all the wealth that comes from the full assurance of understanding, resulting in a true knowledge of God’s mystery, that is Christ Himself in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Colossians 2:2-3

This wealth, however, is not the riches of this world but priceless treasures of wisdom and knowledge hidden in Christ. It is our privilege and prerogative to explore the depths of His heart by the spirit of revelation to ascertain the immense value of these riches.

Greater opportunity exists today than any prior generation to access God’s mysteries and secrets hidden in Christ Jesus. The prophet Daniel foresaw this privilege and wrote of it in Daniel 12. He recorded,

Those who have insight will shine brightly like the brightness of the expanse of heaven, and those who lead the many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever. But as for you, Daniel, conceal these words and seal up the book until the end of time; many will go back and forth, and knowledge will increase. Daniel 12:3-4

The end of days will be characterized by great revelation of God’s kingdom and tremendous truth restored to the body of Christ. The time of the end will be a period of revealing and re-instating truth as well as exposing the hidden devices of darkness.

These truths will be cultivated from God’s word and communicated in a variety of ways. The arts and literature will be marked by God’s sons and daughters who live in the revelatory realm of Heaven. Painting and poetry will be taken to greater heights by anointed artists accessing the Creator’s heart. Engineering blueprints will be diagrammed by Christian architects who access the ingenuity of Heaven.

Tremendous advancement is going to be achieved in the sciences. The cellular and molecular structure of creation will be understood in this generation with greater clarity than any before.

Inspired teachers who have encountered the Teacher will bring to the Church revelatory truth that will separate the precious from the profane according to Ezekiel 44. Great mysteries of the Kingdom are reserved in God’s heart to be examined and explored by the end-time Church.

Such is the heritage of God’s people in this crucial juncture of Church history. This generation has broached a “fullness of time” moment in God’s timeline. This is indeed a kairos season.

Most importantly, the goodness and glory of God will be revealed in the earth in tangible ways. Christ in us is our hope of glory. Who can measure the immense value of a life yielded to God or the spiritual wealth ascertained by possessing the nature of Christ?

An Affirmation

When I shared about the Colossians 2 treasury room during a conference in Coeur d’ Alene, Idaho, I received a wonderful affirmation from Gene Niederkleine, Executive Director of Elijah House ministries. After hearing my message he wrote and included a newspaper article highlighting the life of a young 10-year-old girl considered by experts as the world’s only child binary genius in both painting and poetry.

Her name is Akiane and her testimony began at the age of 4 when she was supernaturally taken to heaven to meet the Lord and receive from Him the gift of art. She is quoted in the article saying, “I met God and He took me to heaven.”

Immediately following the experience the young girl began drawing portraits and sketches that greatly transcended natural abilities. She constructed detailed pictures of angels and transcribed incredible poetry to reflect spiritual truth. This was quite a feat for a toddler raised in an atheistic home without any previous exposure to God.

A Token of Those to Come

In reality, Akiane is a token of those who are being invited into Heaven’s treasury room to experience the riches of wisdom and knowledge hidden in Christ. According to her testimony, “God gives me a vision, I just paint it. It comes to me like a dream.”

Very often she receives inspiration for her paintings during prayer, which she does every day. Many of her paintings have allegorical meaning conveying significant truth reflecting the present day spiritual climate.

She reports that God instructed her to paint all the human faces. As a result two of her most striking portraits have been of a young Asian girl and an African brother and sister. Her story and her art are so phenomenal that she has appeared on the Oprah Winfrey program and CNN. Her goal is to “draw people to God through her art and keep their attention to God through her poetry.”

Lou Dobbs of CNN commented on Akiane and her gift saying, “Now what sets Akiane apart from other child prodigies is that her paintings are so realistic and so full of emotion. It is much more common for child prodigies to produce abstract art. Realism of this quality in a child is quite unusual. To see this kind of detail, the flair is just incredible! It is a gift! Amazing gift! What a remarkable young lady!”

A Russian television commentator had this to say of the art, “There are no words to describe how a little 8-year-old girl could portray such wisdom, compassion and love in the eyes she painted. The technical and emotional details along with the visual strength in her paintings are astounding and stupendous! When I have a difficult day, all I need to do is to look at her paintings. In her striking self-portrait the light literally comes forth from her… What a mission on earth she carries! Bravo!”

The quality that Lou Dobbs and others in the world struggle to identify and articulate involving Akiane’s art is the anointing of the Holy Spirit. Sometimes words like “charisma” or “personal magnetism” are utilized to describe the unseen quality that sets certain individuals apart who know the Lord. It is simply the favor of God and His anointing. This quality should characterize God’s awakening army who will revolutionize and reform present understanding of the arts, literature, music, engineering and even finance.

A gallery of her art can be viewed at www.artakiane.com.

Meeting Akiane

I shared the testimony of this young girl throughout the remainder of 2004 in various conferences across the country As a result, someone arranged for Wanda and I and two of our friends to meet this young girl and her mother at an art gallery in Charlotte, NC. It was quite a blessing on multiple levels.

We were amazed at the spiritual maturity of this young 10-year-old girl and her devotion to the Lord. Additionally, the art itself carried significant spiritual impartation.

We observed many people weeping as they stood in front of the portraits she has created of the Lord. Her most recent project reflects the Lord Jesus in His missing years.

The portrait is based upon a vision that she saw of the Lord as a young teenager. It portrays the Lord spending considerable hours in prayer receiving from His Father instruction and insight involving His life. It is quite impacting!

Akiane shared with us how the Lord will give her an open vision of an image which she then prepares on canvas. Her sole objective is to draw people’s attention to the Lord Jesus.

Rejected By the Church

We discovered something amazing in our visit with Akiane and her mother. Surprisingly, most of the Church world has rejected her art and the testimony of her supernatural encounter with the Lord.

They shared with us how they presently receive over 100 e-mails a day from people claiming to be Christians, most of which are critical of her testimony. On the other hand the secular media and commercial art galleries have embraced Akiane although they have no spiritual comprehension of her art. They primarily see a child prodigy and an opportunity for profit.

As a result, we have attempted to make as many people aware of her testimony as possible, hoping that the Church will recognize this incredible gift and cover them through prayer. We cannot afford to allow another tremendous gift of God slip from our grasp into the clutches of the spirit of this world.

What is needed most is a healthy spiritual environment in which she can grow and develop personally as well as her gift. Historically, the church has not effectively stewarded individuals with creative genius. We tend to either ostracize them or overly market the individuals and their gifting.

It is our prayer for Akiane that neither occurs. Instead, we are hoping to mobilize a body of praying saints who will protect her and allow her spiritual maturity to develop in unison with her gift.

We assured Akiane and her mother that there is a receptive audience in the Church who understands her testimony and her gift. We offered as much encouragement as possible.

I told Akiane not to back down but to continue to pursue the revelation of God’s heart and her art. She responded by saying, “I cannot stop… I must paint what the Lord shows me.”