Experiencing God's Presence #119

I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying.

John 11:25

“I am the unquenchable life. I cannot die. When I come to live within you, you can’t die either. You can feel lifeless, and you may fear death, but you will never know the worst of its sting. Those who believe in Me will live in Me.

“Think of how this frees you to live. Many of My earliest followers chose to care for and comfort people who were dying of plagues and had been isolated from their families. They could demonstrate My love because they didn’t fear death. Their compassion changed the world. Martyrs have remained true to Me because they were not afraid of those who could kill the body. Their testimony rises up before My throne and lives forever. I have responded to their sacrifice with My power, and again the world is changed. You live in an age and a culture in which people obsessively pursue long, happy, fulfilling lives. Meanwhile, they obsessively fear death. That never allows room for fulfillment. It only enslaves.

“In My Presence in heaven, you will wonder why it took so long to get here and wish you had been here sooner. You will never want to go back into a dark world and fallen existence again. You will wish you could tell everyone in that dark world and fallen existence to stop worrying and live freely because their trials and sufferings are brief. So are the passing pleasures they seek. You will regret not living with a heavenly perspective during your physical life.

“Choose that perspective now. Let go. Live freely. Fear nothing. I am the resurrection and the life. Nothing—not even death—can quench the life that is in you.”

Jesus, fill me with the awareness of unquenchable life. Help me know the power of the resurrection that is mine by Your Presence within me. Let me live fearlessly.

From the book