A question I get a lot is why does God take so long? Why doesn’t God just do things immediately. That is a very valid point, and God has a great answer for us. 2 Peter 3:8. But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. God is trying to give a sense in this verse about how the time in our life compares with eternity. We can now use math to see something amazing.
The premise is 1000 years is one day with the Lord. First how many days are in 1000 years.
365 days times 1000 = 365,000 days. But there would also be 250 leaps years so the total number of days in 1000 years is 365,250 days. One day in forever with Jesus equals 365,250 days on earth.
Now we need to see how many days in our life to compare apples to apples. The average life expectancy is 78. Yes, this does change slightly from year to year, but it seems to be close to accurate.
78 years equals 28,470 days and we will assume 20 leap years so 28,490 days in a lifetime.
Now we can see how 78 years from God’s perspective looks like.
28490 all the days of an earthly lifetime times what a day to the Lord is like, 365,250 so a 78-year life in God’s time would equal 10,405,972,500 days.
Now that we have both lifetimes converted to days, we can compare by dividing our earthly life versus the same life in God’s time.
28,490/10,405,972,500 = .00000274
When we have been in heaven for about the same time as our life on earth. Our life will have taken up .00000274th of a day. So, what does that equal too in our time.
There are 86400 seconds in a day.
.00000274 times 86400 = .236736 seconds
When you have been dead and in heaven or hell forever, and you look back on your life. Your life only took up .236736 seconds or less than a quarter of a second of time to complete.
Life is really, really short. How short is a quarter of a second. About the amount of time to snap your fingers. That short! Jesus says in James 4:14 whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. Wow, Jesus is really accurate with this verse after you see the math.
I use this verse at every funeral I have ever done in my 32 years as a Pastor. It is a great comfort to know that if your loved one is in heaven with Jesus. When you get to heaven it will be as if you never missed them.
So how does this answer our original question about why does God take so long to do things. If life is only ¼ of a second long, then basically everything happens at the same time. Yes, we think waiting in line for a couple of hours is long, it isn’t. Someone who goes through life with an ailment is really not going through it for a long time. Forever is so much longer than we think or can imagine. When God makes a promise, He keeps it. Remember Abraham and Sarah waiting 24 years for a baby. 24 years was not a long time. In our human eyes yes, but in terms of forever, it was no time at all.
Matthew 18:19-20 “Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.” When you agree about anything it will be done, and when we get to heaven and look back, we will see that it was done in less than a ¼ second of real time. Which is basically immediately. We don’t get it, because we can’t yet see time as God sees it, but one day we will and go oh my. Be patient and fully trust that God is doing something right now!
When you know Jesus, no matter what happens in this life, no matter how bad it gets, it is only a blip in your existence. Therefore, we can go through anything because we know forever with Jesus in heaven is so much longer and so worth it, and all that happens in this life really is inconsequential when you think about it. And you can use it all to bring someone to Jesus.
Why can people who are tormented for Jesus, still love on those who treat them badly. They have come to the realization that heaven is soooooo much longer, and thus nothing really matters on this earth but coming to know Jesus. Imagine if we all had that perspective.
Keep the focus on Jesus and the reward in heaven in will FAR outweigh anything that happens in this life. You will look back and go, yeah all of that was no big deal. What you do with that knowledge to bring people to Jesus is what counts. Then when you are in heaven God can show you your life and say see you wanted that done, and I did, and we will go OH OK I get it now.
Forever is a long time, and we just don’t get it because our minds just can’t imagine forever. God gave us this amazing verse to see things from His viewpoint. So, we can see there is hope, things will get better, and they will get better soon. In about a ¼ of a second.
Now the flip side to the coin, we don’t really have a lot of time to tell people about Jesus. We need to be always on that job because life is short and a lot shorter than we think.
Remember Jesus loves you; I love you, and you are you are awesome!
Revival is amazing. God shows up and does awesome things for those who wait on Him. Who are diligently searching for Him. But how do we keep it going? How do we make sure it does not end. For revival to continue and go on and on, it cannot just be internal with the believers. The fire must be given the opportunity to spread. Given the opportunity is the key. You can’t change anyone, only the Holy Spirit can. God just wants you to share what is going on in your life and see what happens. If no one comes, that is on them, but God will keep the revival going in your life so you will continue to share your experience with anyone you come into contact with.
To keep fanning revival flames in your life is simple, share Jesus in a meaningful way. The problem is we get that last part wrong. We think it means in a way that means something to the person we are sharing Jesus with. No, it doesn’t. You have no idea what really is meaningful to them. What Jesus wants you to do is to share your story of Jesus and you to others in a way that they see how meaningful Jesus is to you. You are the only one who can portray that to others. When they see that it truly means the world to you one of two things will happen. (1) they will think you are crazy and that is their right or (2) Some will begin to say I wish I had that kind of meaning in my life. Number 2 leads them to ask more questions and when someone asks questions on their own, they actually want to hear the answer.
Now the questions are where we sometimes get messed up. We think what if we don’t know the answer. (1) That is OK. (2) That is why you have a church family to lean on to help find the answers. So, when someone asks you a question about faith in Jesus and you don’t know the answer, here is the answer to give them, “I don’t know, but I can find out”. It is better to do that than to give the wrong answer. Here is another thing that happens when you do that. You are being honest; people trust people they think are honest. It also shows that person you really want to give them the answer they are looking for, it shows them in a real way that you actually do care. And lastly, think about this, you not knowing might be part of the plan in the first place. While you are going to find the answer what is happening? They are waiting for you to get the answer, so what are they doing till you come back? That question is in the front of their mind, and thus they are thinking about Jesus while they wait on you. While they think on the question about Jesus could Jesus not show up in their lives in a real way. ABSOLUTELY He can and often does. So don’t be afraid when sharing your Jesus story and experiences about any questions. Sometimes saying I don’t know can actually make all the difference in the world.
When we get this, and then are unafraid to share our stories of Jesus showing up in our lives. God will allow the flames of revival to continue to flow and burn brighter than ever because you are doing something with what He gave you, and that is all He is asking and then Jesus knows He can trust you with more and better things! Praise the Lord!
Remember Jesus loves you and cares for you, I love and care for you, and you are awesome!
Matthew 17:21 - "However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.”
Mark 9:29 - "So He said to them, “This kind can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting.”
A lot of talk these days surrounds deliverance ministry. I want to say I absolutely believe in seeing people delivered. It is one of our rights as a Chrisitan in Mark 16:17-18. It is very powerful and effective when it is done properly as Jesus instructed. When you read the Bible accounts Jesus never had any difficulty casting out a demon. In the Book of Acts every time a believer comes face to face with someone who is demon possessed all they do is command the demon to come out and it comes out. That is the model we as believers should practice. What happens today is many deliverance sessions take hours to perform. This was never meant to be, there are no Biblical examples of that ever being necessary. Now yes there are some demons that are tougher than others, just like some humans are tougher than others, but Jesus tells us exactly how to deal with them.
First and foremost, the person must want to be delivered. If they don’t want to be it does not matter how long you pray for someone it won’t happen. God gave us a free will and God does not violate that ever. If God does not violate that, the devil can’t either. The person you are praying for must be told they always have the power of choice. The demon will make it seem like they don’t, but you must remind them they have the choice. Once they do, you have the power to cast the demon out in the Name of Jesus. The disciples were amazed how easy this was, Luke 10:17.
Now sometimes that person will not want it gone. The demon will fight to convince that person that can’t be free. That is really what the fight is about. The demon is not fighting you who are praying for the person, but trying so hard to keep that person from realization that they can be free. What happens in some of these long deliverance sessions is we actually do a disservice to the person who is trapped by continuing, because we subconsciously make it seem to the person that there is no hope because it is taking so long.
What are we to do in these cases? That is where Matthew 17:21 and Mark 9:29 come in. In this story the disciples cannot cast the demon out and Jesus says some demons are stronger and can only come out by prayer and fasting. Key word here is and. You must do both. Can you pray in a moment of time, yes you can. But can you fast in a moment of time? No, you cannot. Fasting is deciding to give up eating for a time period for the purpose of communing with God on a deeper level. Showing God how far you want to go to meet with Him. It also shows God how serious you are about an issue.
What is Jesus saying here, if you run into a person not ready to be delivered, don’t waste your time trying to convince them. And definitely don’t waste your time trying to fight the demon, no need to do that. Leave them and go pray and fast. The fact that fasting cannot be done in an instant shows us that we are to stop and do something else. The word AND is key because both must be done to deliver this person. Jesus says go and spend some time with me before you go back to that person.
When you fast and pray here is what happens. You get to first of all recenter your focus. It is so easy to get the focus off of the person and on to the demon. Remember it is not about the demon, it is about freeing the person. Many times, these sessions go on and on for hours, because people have the misguided notion that they are trying to defeat the demon. Your battle is not with the demon. When it is the devil laughs. Sometimes during these sessions, I think the demon allows you to think you are winning at times to keep you from focusing on the person. That is a good trick of the enemy that many fall for. Why? It is in our human nature to fight, and we think we are hitting the demon where it hurts. You are not. If you want to hit the demon where it hurts focus on helping the person realize they can be free in Jesus’ Name! Remember the devil and his demons have already been soundly defeated once and for all by the death and resurrection of Jesus!
But if I stop to go fast, aren’t I saying to the person, I lost? No, because Jesus said this is what you are to do. If anything, the demon inside the person should be more afraid of what is going to happen, because the demons know the word of God and they know the power of fasting. By going to fast you are hitting that demon where it hurts. You are making that demon very, very anxious, and nervous.
As you fast, allow Jesus to show you how to go back and approach that demon possessed person in a way that will get results. Jesus sees all things and knows how to defeat all the forces of the evil one. When you fast and pray focus on the person who needs delivered. Remember that person must want to be delivered in the first place. Ask Jesus how you can get that through to that person so they can be set free. That they can make that choice to be free no matter what the demon says. Then listen and Jesus will give you the answer once you are focusing on the person and not the demon. When He tells you, you can go to the bank that it will work. No struggle is necessary because you have exactly what you need to deliver the person.
What will that look like? I have no idea it will be different for every person and situation. No two situations will be the same. What worked for one person to be set free may not work for the next person. That is also a common mistake in deliverance ministry that there is some kind of formula. There isn’t. What Jesus tells you to do or say may even sound silly or off the wall. That is OK, the question is can you simply use what Jesus gives you. Here is the thing it might not sound to you like something spiritual. Many times, you will go well that can’t be from God, don’t be so sure. Sometimes what is silly or off the wall is exactly what is needed to get through to the person. It comes from out of nowhere and gives that person a moment of clarity. It is what allows the person to see that they can be free. They are so depressed and beat down by the demon that something silly or off the wall is what gets through the walls set up by the demon. What the person needs to see is that there is light, and a way out, a chance to be really free. Once they see that then they can go for it and want to be free. Don’t discount what God says, it does not have to be something that sounds super spiritual to you, because it doesn’t have to mean anything to you. It MUST mean something to the person you are trying to deliver. That is what it is all about. This also is something that the demon won’t see coming, and that is why it is so very effective. Jesus knows where the holes are and how to get into a person. Trust Jesus to help you to help the person.
This is what prayer and fasting do for deliverance ministry. It allows you to step back and re arm and come back and win, to help set that person free. The demons hate prayer and fasting, they know they are about to lose. The thing is so many times we skip this step and do the hour after hour intervention, that Jesus never said we had to do.
Imagine what you could have done with all those hours if we just followed His teaching on deliverance.
Jesus is all for deliverance ministry. Jesus is also undefeated and has no problem with any of the forces of the evil one. He is your leader and your best friend. Trust me Jesus wants you to be successful as He is. It is your right as a true believer. So, you can be there for the person wanting to be set free. Jesus also wants you to see that this works every time, and it is to be quite easy, so you know that the devil and his forces really are not all that scary to begin with when you are with Jesus!
Delivering people from the enemy is not supposed to be hard.
To sum up:
- The person must want the demon to be gone. That is the goal, because only then will they accept Jesus’ help to free them.
- Remember it is about the person, don’t get caught up in fighting the demon. That can be so alluring and romantic in a way. Don’t lose focus on the human.
- Let them know they can be free and then use the Name of Jesus. It may take a couple of times for them to accept that, but once they do the demon will leave. The demon has to James 4:7.
- If after a few times of trying to convince that they can be free, realize you may be fighting a demon who really has this person in a bad place. Jesus said that can happen. Don’t get flustered by that. Don’t let the demon suck you in. And say I need to go fast and pray. You are not leaving the person high and dry. You are telling the person I am still with you; I just need to do this next step so you can be free. By saying this you also put the demon on notice, and they will be very afraid of what happens next.
- Go actually fast and pray for the person, don’t even concentrate on the demon. Ask Jesus what you need to say to the person so they can realize they can be free.
- Listen for the answer. Remember the answer may not be as spiritual as you think it should be and that is OK. You are not the one who needs delivered they are, and Jesus is giving you what they need to be set free.
- Then go back and confidently use what Jesus gave you and see that person who you care about be delivered instantly from that demon.
Rinse and repeat. This is your right in Christ Jesus to help others.
Remember Jesus loves and cares for you, I love and care for you, and you are awesome!
Is the church supposed to be big or small? I think God wants the church to be huge. Acts 2:41-47, Ephesians 5:25-27. What do I mean by the church? The people of God working together to do amazing things. In some places the church can only grow so large, but we can be connected in so many other ways.
The church must grow and become large so it can BE the difference the world is looking for. For example, imagine if there were 1000 people in the church. Say someone had a doctor’s bill or some kind of need of $2000. For a small church, the Pastor may have to hope one or two people with means could come to the rescue. That puts a lot of pressure on that person with the means and it also can leave a bad taste in the mouth of that person who is always asked to help. But if 1000 believers got together in an area, and shared the need, then the pastor could ask everyone to give at least $2. Almost everyone can do that in America. Now the need is met, and guess what everyone got to help meet that need.
That is the essence of Acts 2:44, they had all things in common. They were truly a family.
Wouldn’t that speak to the person who had the need? Wouldn’t that speak to everyone in the church that they all could be part of the solution? Wouldn’t that speak to the world?
We all want to see the power of God move. The number of Spiritual gifts in the Bible are still the same so when more people get together, more of the gifts are automatically present and more power is present in the church. More things can happen and on a regular basis like in the early church. More things can happen to bless the believers that will motivate them to share the Gospel to everyone.
Sometimes life is hard, no most times life is hard, and people need others to help carry the load. Sometimes it is physical, sometimes it is mental, and sometimes it is spiritual. When the church is small there are people to help, but they get burnt out. When there are more people, it does not have to be the same people all the time, so then no one gets burned out. That is key because caring the load of life tires even the best of us out. Then the church can always help someone and not get tired.
There are more ways a large church can do so many things, and I hope you get the point. Can you still attend your church, of course, but what if all the true believers in every area truly got together? The early church has their house churches, but then they also got together for celebration services with the whole church present. What if that actually happened today?
Then revival would not only burn, but it would spread like wildfire. People who do not know Jesus would be amazed and want to be a part of it. They would come searching, and when they come searching, guess what… they want to know the answer. And the answer of course is a real relationship with Jesus.
I belong to Assemblies of God. I love my church, but we do not really have all things in common what if we did. And then what if churches in each local area, who believed in Jesus the way Jesus says (that is a must by the way), got together say once a month, wouldn’t that be exciting, wouldn’t that show the area love wouldn’t that inspire us that we are part of a much larger picture, and then imagine what we could then get done for Jesus. Then Imagine if that happened in every community. You can still have your church, your local flavor, because not every church is everyone’s cup of tea, because we are all different and that is wonderful and how God made us. But if we came together in real unity and had all in common, what could the church do, or better, what could the church of Jesus Christ not do?
Remember Jesus loves and cares for you, I love and care for you, and you are awesome!
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