LIVE ETERNALLY NOW – Practice the Presence of God

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There is only one way to live eternally now and that is to endeavour to walk constantly as in His presence. Jesus made it possible for our Heavenly Father to send the third person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit, to indwell our spirit. We need to remind ourselves constantly of His presence and purpose, to be our counsellor, our teacher, our comforter. If you have not read the book “The Practice of the Presence of God” by Brother Lawrence then get it now FREE on Amazon as a Kindle ebook. Let me give you two powerful quotes from the book.

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“When we are faithful to keep ourselves in His Holy Presence, and set Him always before us, this not only hinders our offending Him and doing anything that may displease Him, at least wilfully, but it also begets in us a holy freedom, and, if I may so speak, a familiarity with God, wherewith we ask, successfully, [for] the graces we stand in need of.” (Brother Lawrence, c.1614–1691)

“All things are possible to him who believes…They are less difficult to him who hopes, they are more easy to him who loves, and still more easy to him who perseveres in the practice of these three virtues.” (Brother Lawrence, c.1614–1691)

Moreover, if we did walk in His presence continually, I am sure we would start to see the power return to the church. Perhaps, we would begin again to see the church growing as the early church did, as recorded in the Book of Acts. “Continually, more and more people believed in the Lord and were added to their number – great crowds of both men and women as they met regularly in the temple courts in the area known as Solomon’s Porch… The apostles performed many signs, wonders and miracles among the people and the believers were wonderfully united.“

How difficult it is now, to find a church that believes in an inerrant/infallible Bible, and therefore teaches the truth:

1. God created a perfect world: the pinnacle of His creation was a man and woman made in God’s image to be in relationship with Him.

2. Death and suffering in the world is a direct consequence of their disobedience (SIN).

3. Sadly, just ten generations after Adam, wickedness caused God to judge the world with a world wide flood just 4,000 + years ago. Noah’s Flood is responsible for the billions of fossils found in rock layers all over the world, and the fossil fuels, not billions of years of slow gradual change.

4. Just about 200 years after the flood, God judged wickedness again, by confusing the languages at the Tower of Babel. This act is responsible for the dispersal of people groups and establishment of all the nations.

5. Another 300 + years, God then established a nation, Israel to represent Him. Sadly again, they did not do a good job, but its existence today as prophesied by most of the Old Testament prophets, is proof God exists, and the Bible is God’s Word.

6. Finally, just over two thousand years ago, God the Father sends His Son, Jesus, to divide history into BC and AD. It was also at the prophesied time and place. Jesus has provided the only way back for mankind into a right relationship with our Heavenly Father and the promise of eternal life. The penalty for SIN is death and Jesus the sinless son of God died in our place so we can be made righteous before God in Him.

Will you repent of your SIN, recognise Him as Lord of the Universe and accept His free gift of eternal life?

7. Jesus will return again also as promised and prophesied. Moreover, fulfilled prophesy indicates the time is near. God’s history book gives us the timing of all of these events (not the day or hour: “but you, brethren, are not in darkness so that this day should overtake you as a thief.” 1 Thess. 5:2-4). The world is just 6,000+ years old not billions as Satan would have you believe. God has and is constantly at work in His world. Sadly, much of the traditional church has been deceived and just as Jesus foretold, at His second coming, the majority of people including many church goers (apostasy – a great falling away) will be like the people of Noah’s day who perished when the flood came.

Are you prepared for Jesus second coming. Have you searched the Scriptures and heeded John’s instruction in Revelation: “Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it; for the time is near.” Revelation 1:3

HOPE ETERNAL COMES FROM KNOWING GOD

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“This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast….  Hebrews 6:19

In his book about hope, Dr. Lloyd John Ogilvie wrote, “Hope is not wishful thinking…. Hope is not simply cheery optimism. Hope certainly can produce an optimistic attitude, but an optimistic attitude is no substitute for true hope…. Hope is a gift of God through Christ that produces a confident, unshakeable trust in His faithfulness, and a vibrant expectation of His timely interventions in keeping with His gracious promises to us.”

Hope sustains us as we wait on the Lord. In fact, in the Bible it’s sometimes hard to tell the difference between the words wait and hope. Isaiah 40:31 in the New King James Version says, “But those who wait on the LORD shall renew their strength….” But in the New International Version, the same verse says, “…but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength.”

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Hope is simply waiting expectantly and eagerly for the day God will perfectly fulfill every promise and do exceedingly abundantly above all we can ask or imagine.

Hope is a deep-seated confidence in God that anchors our souls, even in rough seas. Make very sure your anchor holds and grips the Solid Rock.

Authentic hope is always a by-product of a personal relationship with God. It comes from knowing God.
Lloyd John Ogilvie

INVEST IN THE THINGS OF GOD – HE WILL REWARD YOU

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An old saying has it that, “You can’t take it with you.” Yeshua (Jesus) contradicted that adage by citing the common Jewish belief that resources given to the needy will be repaid and rewarded in the Messianic Era and the World to Come.

“Treasures in heaven” does not refer to literal treasure stored up someplace beyond the sky; instead, it means “treasure with God.” That is to say, “Invest in the things of God, and He will reward you.”

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A person who accrues wealth for himself risks losing that wealth. Life is temporary and uncertain. Thieves might steal. Time destroys. Wealth depreciates. James, the brother of the Master, expounds upon Yeshua’s teaching as follows:

“Come now, you rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you. Your riches are corrupted and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver are corroded, and their corrosion will be a witness against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have stored up treasures for the last days” James 5:1-3

How does one store up treasure with God? Yeshua says, “Sell your possessions and give alms. Provide yourselves purses that do not grow old, an unfailing treasure in the heavens, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” Luke 12:33-34

A man’s heart (that is, his mind, thoughts and intentions) will be focused on the accumulation of his wealth. If he has accumulated wealth on earth, his mind will be focused on earthly matters, but if he has invested in the things of God, his mind will be focused on matters of godliness.

In the Apostolic Era, the famous convert to Judaism, King Izates of Adiabene, sent an enormous sum of money to Jerusalem for famine relief. His brothers and countrymen criticized him for squandering the family inheritance. His reply, recorded in the Talmud, reveals influence from the teaching of Yeshua:

“My fathers stored up below and I am storing above … My fathers stored in a place which can be tampered with, but I have stored in a place which cannot be tampered with … My fathers stored something which produces no fruits, but I have stored something which does produce fruits … My fathers gathered for this world, but I have gathered for the future world” (Talmud Tractate Bava Batra 11a).

Daniel Thomas Lancaster is a writer, teacher and the Director of Education at the Messianic ministry of First Fruits of Zion (www.ffoz.org),

THE MAN BEHIND MR. ETERNITY!

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The Australian evangelist John G. Ridley was a purpose-driven communicator and a painter of word-pictures whose pen was mighty, because of the sword of the spirit. He was not one to shy away from confronting his hearers with the truth of their eternal life and challenging their hearts to trust his everlasting Lord. He sowed faithfulness to the message of salvation here on earth and reaped fruitfulness in the ministry and service for time and eternity.

And speaking of eternity, God used his preaching to influence Arthur Stace (Mr. Eternity) to go out and write the word Eternity on the streets of Sydney and beyond.

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Here is a little of what happened. It was a Sunday night November 14th at the Burton Street Baptist Tabernacle, Darlinghurst, Sydney, where John was preaching his now famous message  “The Echoes of Eternity”. 

The veteran evangelist stood with the power of scripture in his hand and the love of Christ in his heart and stressed the word Eternity. He pointed out how the Echoes of Eternity are heard not only in Creation and the Christian but also in The Cross .
Then suddenly, laying his prepared notes aside and seemingly in an impromptu fashion, the highly disciplined soldier-like preacher, raised his loud voice and cried: “Eternity, Eternity, I wish that I could sound or shout that word to everyone in the streets of Sydney. You’ve got to meet it, where will you spend Eternity.” 

Arthur Stace converted  to Christ at the  St Barnabas Church, Broadway in Sydney a few years before, was one of many in the large congregation that God-ordained night. “Eternity went ringing through my brain” was Stace’s statement” and suddenly I began crying and felt a powerful call from the Lord to write Eternity. I had a piece of chalk in my pocket and outside the church, I bent down right there and wrote it…. The funny thing is that before I wrote it, I could hardly write my own name. I had no schooling, and I couldn’t have spelt  for a hundred quid. But it came out smoothly, in a beautiful copperplate script. I couldn’t understand it, and I still can’t.”

Arthur knew this was God’s task for him and rain or shine he faithfully went out six nights a week to write Eternity on the streets of Sydney until  the very night God took Arthur home. God powerfully used Arthur’s faithfulness to impact the lives of many for Jesus Christ.

 

WHERE WILL YOU SPEND ETERNITY?

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JESUS TELLS US WHAT IT WILL BE LIKE ON THE NEW EARTH

In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.
John 14:2

The largest private home in the world is Istana Nurul Iman Palace, the official residence of the Sultan of Brunei, Hassanal Bolkiah. The home consists of more than 2 million square feet of space, 1,788 rooms, 257 bathrooms, 5 swimming pools, a 110-car garage, air-conditioned stables for 200 polo ponies, a banquet hall, and a mosque large enough for 1,500 worshippers. It cost around $1.4 billion to build in the mid-1980s.

Grand as it is, that mansion pales in significance to what Jesus is preparing for His followers. The home He is preparing is called the New Jerusalem in the book of Revelation 21:2—and it is large.

John sees it descending from the new heaven to the new earth. Shaped like a cube, it measures 1,500 miles in each of its three dimensions—length, width, and height (Revelation 21:16). It is built of precious stones and minerals, and its worth, in human dollars, would be incalculable. But more important than its worth in dollars is its worth in security and joy for all who dwell there for eternity.

When comparing man’s greatest with God’s greatest, there is no comparison. Make sure you have secured your reservation in the mansion Jesus is preparing.

The nearer to heaven in hopes, the farther from earth in desires. William Gurnall, from The Christian in Complete Armor

Powerful Testimonies – JESUS MOMENTS

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These testimonies by forty indigenous Australians are having a powerful witness to all Australians. Only a restored relationship with our Heavenly Father, that Jesus alone can provide, will bring life – eternal life.

What is more important than life? ETERNAL LIFE

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God defends the eternal life of all who, in true faith, stand for Him. This raises the question: If God defends them, why do they die? Which begs an answer to this question: What does it mean to be defended by God?

The story of Stephen in Acts 7 gives insight. When Stephen stood firm for Christ in the face of Jewish persecution in Jerusalem, he was stoned. But just before the stones began to fly, Stephen had a vision of Jesus in heaven standing at the right hand of God, waiting to receive Stephen’s spirit. Normally, Jesus is pictured seated at the right hand of God (Ephesians 1:20; Hebrews 8:1). But Jesus stood in honour of Stephen’s courage and commitment. It also says, “Then he (Stephen) knelt down and cried out with a loud voice, “Lord do not charge them with this sin.” And when he had said this he fell asleep. Acts 7:60

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There is something more important than life, and that is eternal life. God defends the eternal life of all who, in true faith, stand for Him.

BUILD UP TREASURE IN HEAVEN – IT LASTS FOREVER

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My ebook Living Eternal Now – Empowered by the Holy Spirit will be available on Amazon as a FREE download from June 1st to 5th, 2016.

If you don’t believe God exists, the Bible is God’s Word, that God loves you and that He has provided a way for you to restore the lost relationship with Him, then you need to read my ebook “Living Eternal Now – Empowered by the Holy Spirit”.

You need to be born again by the Holy Spirit. You then know God is real and you have eternal life. The world becomes a different place, you notice the beauty of God’s creation in a new way, your priorities change. His priorities become your priority. The Holy Spirit living within your spirit (your body becomes a temple of the Holy Spirit) produces the fruit of the spirit in your life: love, joy, peace, faithfulness, goodness, gentleness, kindness, patience and self control. As the Holy Spirit enables, many of the nine gifts of the spirit will become evident in your life. Each one of these gifts are major power gifts, and they are all direct, supernatural, miraculous manifestations direct from the Holy Spirit: 1. Word of Knowledge, 2. Word of Wisdom, 3. Gift of Prophecy, 4. Gift of Faith, 5. Gift of Healing, 6. Working of Miracles, 7. Discerning of Spirits, 8. Speaking in Tongues, 9. Interpretation of Tongues.

Your life is transformed and God will use you to build His Kingdom on earth as it is in heaven. You will truly enter into the joy of the Lord knowing you are a child of God, loved by your heavenly Father.

LIFE’S BIGGEST QUESTION HAS ETERNAL CONSEQUENCES

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In Matthew 16, Jesus is having a conversation about His identity with Simon Peter, and Jesus asked him an all-important question: “Who do you say I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” And he got it right.

Getting this question right is both the quintessence of salvation and the starting point for an eternal journey. You are saved when you come to know and believe in Jesus as your Lord and Saviour, but that is only the beginning of your relationship with Him.

When Simon correctly identified who Jesus was, Jesus identified who Simon was.

He said, “I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church.” From then on, Simon was known as Rock. That’s what petros, or Peter, means in Greek.

“And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” Matthew 16:18 ESV

What changed in that moment wasn’t who Peter was but rather his view of who he was. Jesus said he was a rock. Suddenly Peter could see the man he really was. Mind you, when it looked like his world was about to end, he denied Jesus three times just as Jesus said he would. Our journey will be no different. There will be times we need to repent and ask God for His forgiveness, which He freely grants.

Knowing God is paramount to finding out why He made you and who He means for you to be.

So who do you say Jesus is? It’s life’s biggest question.

God wants to give you a revelation of who you are too. He wants to show you your value now, and He wants to open your eyes to who you can become in Him. Jesus made it possible for our heavenly Father to send the third person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit to dwell within you to be your Counsellor, Comforter and Teacher. You have all you need to be who God meant you to be.

Stop talking about who you are not and what you cannot do, and start listening to what God says about your life. Stop labelling yourself, and start letting God do whatever He wants in, through, and with you. Dead to self, alive to Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit.

I would like to thank Pastor Steven Furtick for providing much of the content for this post. For more information, please visit:   http://www.iamunqualified.com

RELIGION OR JESUS?

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Like the Pharisees and Sadducee’s are we playing church. The Book of Acts (Bible) tells us what the Christian life should look like and what is the church. Back then, the church grew phenomenally (3,000 on day 1) as believers operated with the gifts of the Holy Spirit given at Pentecost . Paul taught that when people repented of their sins, accepted Jesus as their Lord and Saviour and were baptised (demonstrated their dying to the old life and born again), they would be filled with the Holy Spirit. They were dead and now in Christ they are alive, eternally alive. Their body is the temple of the Holy Spirit and they are now the church. He taught the priesthood of all believers. Jesus expects us to make disciples wherever He has placed us, whatever our calling, bearing in mind work is a calling whether it is business by building culture and meeting people’s needs, a teacher, a farmer, a lawyer, a plumber.

The big question, is the church functioning today as presented in the Book of Acts and if not why not?

Torben Sondergaard is doing a great job demonstrating the church as it was in the book of Acts. The following video provides an answer to the question I have just posed. You need to watch Torben’s video, The Last Reformation (YouTube) to see Christians operating in the marketplace as in the book of Acts.