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As Christians one day we will spend eternity with God. We will experience fully everything our hearts hunger for… everything we have been created for. Joy will fill our hearts and never depart from us again. When we are with God, we are in heaven for heaven is where ever God is.

Heaven is God’s kingdom. It is where His rules, principles, and ways are observed. This happens in God’s presence. Therefore when God invades earth, heaven comes with Him.

As we read the Gospels, we see the Son of God restoring heaven to earth. He disarms the power of sin, removes its sentence of death, restores people to God, and offers new life to all.

As Christians we have the potential to live Emmanuel lives – God with us. We are taught to pray for God’s kingdom come and His will be done on earth as it is in heaven (Matthew 6:10). We are to be continually filled with God’s Spirit (Ephesians 5:18). We are to be temples of the living God (1 Corinthians 6:19). As we bring the presence of God to our world, we bring heaven with Him. Where heaven is, the benefits of heaven reside. Let’s bring the life-giving benefits that only God can give to the people around us.

I found this video that was recently broadcast by the 700 Club and was great for me to see. I enjoyed it because it showed people I know and have had over to my home. Bob and Gloria Bruce have walked with the Lord and have been given a wealth of wisdom and character. I loved that the video showed him eating ice cream, as he says he eats it all the time now. The video also showed many other friends from Reynolda where my wife and I attended while living in Winston Salem.

If you would like to know more of Bob and Gloria’s story, they have written a book, Does God Really Care?. In it you will hear more detail of their experiences and what God taught them through it all. As painful as the cancer was and not being able to taste food, that was just part of the trials that came at them.

In the end, God does care. In the process, God does care. We may not enjoy what God is doing, but it is all useful to the promotion and position God is calling us to. God loves you too much to only have you sit on the bench.

I heard a traveling preacher once pose this question: “Would you rather have ten women who loved you when they felt like it, or one woman who loved you with her whole heart?”

While no self-respecting Christian male would dare to publicly answer this question wrong, it does highlight the desire of God. While He may still love His bride who is fickle, He showers His affection on the one whose heart is completely His. God is looking for the one. “For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him” (2 Chronicles 16:9). Jesus instructs us not to throw our pearls before swine who will take our treasures and muddy them (Matthew 7:6). Will He not withhold some of His treasures and only give them to those whose delight is in Him? He gives some things to those who want it. God loves our hunger for Him. He responds to it.

I know we all believe that God loves us. But, the secret fact of Scripture is that God loves some of us more. Think about it: Abraham, Jacob, Moses, David, Mary, John. The Bible calls John the disciple Jesus loved (John 20:2). Did Jesus love the others too? Of course, but there was something about John. John loved to be close to Jesus. He was the one who reclines against Jesus at the last supper. Lazarus’ sister, Mary, was the same. If you draw near to God, He will draw near to you. You can’t out-love God.

This motivates my current fast. Not that I’m twisting His arm into action, but I know He responds with joy and loving-kindness to my acts of love to Him.

“Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.” – James 5:16

I have been thinking lately on accountability. I remember in college being convicted of the above verse knowing God wanted me to confess sins to some trusted friends. After some time wrestling with God, I followed through and made my confession, officially entering into the realm of accountability. Now someone else besides me and God knew my deepest darkest.

The problem I had with this experience was that it did not end my fallings or sin. I still struggled and I still fell. Beyond that, I did not start moving to get better. Why do I need to bear my pain and shame to someone else if I do not get the healing promised here?

I continued in my Christian walk with the commitment to accountability desiring freedom from sin and a closer walk with God. We would come up with great questions to ask each other to help cultivate openness and exposure of sin. Always ending with the penetrating question, “Did you just lie to me?”

Unfortunately, these times together were just a recap of how well we were or were not doing. Knowing we will be held accountable by someone else had some merit, but in the end the fruit was not healing.

As I have been rethinking accountability recently, a blatant truth just hit me about what I was not experiencing in these accountability groups. What does James 5:16 say? We are not only to confess our sins, but the requirement is also to pray for each other. It is the prayer of a righteous man that is powerful and effective; not the confession. How much more quickly would I have found the healing if I realized this sooner?

This is an extremely tough post to write not only because I do not want to come across as prideful, but this is also a very personal topic for me as I would attribute the most significant factor of personal growth in the last ten years is to this one discipline.

Ten years ago I was on staff of Campus Crusade for Christ at the University of Florida. The campus director at that time was Aaron Read. He became a legend at that time because he did a 40-day fast for the campus ministry. Seriously, just about every staff in the Southeast region would tell us this when they found out that we were reporting to this campus. When we reported to UF, the rumors were proved true, and we could see the blessings that came from Aaron’s fast.

A little personal note about me… I have this desire to not let anyone love Jesus more than me, but forty days… yikes!

After my first semester on the campus, all of the Crusade staff gathered for the bi-annual staff conference. While there Dr. Bill Bright spoke about his commitment to 40-day fasts for revival and the staff celebrated others who had done them. Also at the conference I talked with a staff couple that joined with my wife and me who had also done a 40-day fast.

God used all of these experiences to push me over the edge and commit to one.

To be perfectly honest, this fast was really a discipline of perseverance. Every day I was amazed I made it that far without eating. Previously my longest fast was 2 days; now I was trying for 40. The hunger pains were strongest on day 3 and 7, but after that it was more that I wanted the taste of food than I was extremely hungry. My body got weaker, but I was able to continue playing sports in the hot Gainesville sun; I just needed water close by at all times.

Come, Lord Jesus.
- Revelation 22:20b

William Gedney Photographs and Writings
Duke University Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections Library
http://library.duke.edu/digitalcollections/gedney.KY0472/

As Christians we all desire revival. At least we profess to this desire. But, what do you think a true revival from God will look like? For some people a revival will look like the above image. For others it will come with mass conversions to Christ. And still some others it is when a guest preacher is in town.

Let me start by saying something pretty controversial: we do not all want revival to come. How can I say this? There is one thing I do know about revival, and it is when revival comes Jesus is in charge.  And if Jesus will is in charge, that means that you and I are not. Therefore, since I know there are many Christians not willing to give up control of their lives, then they do not really want revival.

So how do we get ourselves to want Jesus to be in complete charge? I believe we need to come to the place that what Jesus wants is what is truly best for us.

• Does He want you to talk to your boss about Christ?
• Does He want you to downsize your house so that you have more money to give to the poor?
• Does He want your to tell your spouse about the dark sin in your past?

I am not saying He will ask any of that of you, but if He does, will you believe that He is only asking something that will be for your good? When the rich young ruler approached Jesus about what he must do to get eternal life. Jesus told him to sell all he had. The man walked away because he did not want to make that kind of commitment (Matthew: 19:16-29).