Revelation 4-5, Proverbs 29

At once I was in the Spirit, and there before me was a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it. (Revelation 4:2)

John has written the phrase, "I was in the Spirit," before:

I, John, your brother and companion in the suffering and kingdom and patient endurance that are ours in Jesus, was on the island of Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. On the Lord’s Day I was in the Spirit, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet... (Revelation 1:9-10)

When John is in the Spirit he sees what God wants him to see. He hears what God wants him to hear. He follows the instructions he is given while he is in the Spirit. While in the Spirit what he sees is colorful. The one sitting on a throne has the appearance of jasper and ruby. A rainbow shining like an emerald encircles the throne. While in the Spirit what he hears is majestic. "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come!" Thousands and thousands, ten thousands and ten thousands speak with one loud voice, "Worthy is the lamb..."

At times, I feel I, too, see what God wants me to see. I hear what God wants me to hear. I act with God-given conviction. I take such occasions to be my "in the Spirit" times. Often what I see is not very colorful. What I hear is not so majestic. But the sense of what God desires compels me anyway.

What qualifies as "in the Spirit" for you, reader?