At the Crossroads of Wisdom and Faith

A friend on Facebook recently asked a question in the Immortality Initiative–a group I created to discuss, explore, and pursue immortality per Jesus’s many statements and promises on the subject. As regular followers know, I am pretty outspoken about this subject and post on it regularly. One topic I have considered many times, but haven’t ever written about, is the question my friend posted–about whether to keep a life insurance policy or to cash it out.

As a firm believer in both resurrection (raising the dead) and immortality (never dying), I am conflicted on this matter. Part of me says to operate in radical faith and do away with any sort of death-planning. After all, planning for death is the same as extending faith toward death, right? To some extent I believe this–that our decisions demonstrate what we actually believe, and our actions are part of how we extend our faith in any given situation. As a result, we need to make decisions that are in line with our expectations, and not divide our thinking. Having a backup plan is, on some level, the same as sowing doubt with an increased likelihood of reaping failure.

On the other hand, failure to plan is also planning to fail. If we don’t take into account the fact that even in Hebrews 11, the big Faith chapter, that many men and women believed in faith but didn’t see the promises come to pass (v39), then we are fools. Occasionally we need to use our heads and look with eyes wide open at potential outcomes and decide whether we need to take steps to mitigate risk, whether toward ourselves or others.

Let’s put these ideas into a scenario. If I didn’t have others to consider, I wouldn’t bother with any kind of insurance or “death-planning.” I strongly believe in resurrection and immortality, and whether it sounds prideful or not I find it highly unlikely that I, of all people, would fail in that endeavor. I tend toward engaging in faith-behaviors such as not having insurance as a faith-action toward my end goal. On the other hand, I am married and have a stepdaughter and grandkids, and we all live together. I am currently the only wage-earner between my wife and myself, as she is between jobs, and my stepdaughter is just returning to work after having been injured and recovering for the better part of a year. My wife is also a number of years older than I am and I will likely continue working long after she is retired. In other words, I have people that depend on me. If something were to happen to me right now, my wife would be in big financial trouble, and raising the grandkids would be much more of a struggle. She would most likely lose the house within a year or so unless she could sell, and would have a host of other problems, all piled on top of the fact that this is in the event that I am also dead. Do I have life insurance? You had better believe I do. Under this set of circumstances I think anything less is highly irresponsible–not to me, but to my family.

This tension between wisdom and faith is a difficult path to tread, and at various points in life those two ideals no longer travel parallel, but intersect at a crossroads, where you can only choose one or the other. Sometimes the faith-route is the best way, escaping certain peril, but at other times it is the path of wisdom leads to higher heights and beautiful scenery and faith leads into a dead-end desert canyon. There is no easy answer to this question, and it will likely vary from person to person and situation to situation, but I want to challenge you: What do you think? How does this apply to your life? What do you think is best for you . . . and WHY is it best?

Life and Death

Today we feature a guest blogger by the name of Christopher Gaston, a Facebook friend of mine who has also been delving into the scriptures behind immortality and abundant life. Enjoy!

“If the scripture tells us that whoever believes in Jesus will not perish but have everlasting life, then why do Christians still die?

The reason death exists is because we believe in death. We believe in death more than we believe in life. We expect for people to die. When we go to a funeral, we expect to see the dead buried. We do not expect to see them raised from the dead. We believe in death more than we believe in scripture. See, we don’t really believe in eternal life. We really believe in eternal afterlife or more correctly eternal afterdeath. We say that this life does not really end and that heaven is a continuation of this life, but in order for someone to get into that life, they have to die to get there.

The idea of not dying is so contrary to everything we have been taught, most people reject the thought of it outright. Yet, the scripture is full of references which testify to eternal life and we reject them and push them off to a later time and a later place after the return of Christ or of some time after a person dies. We make excuses and justifications of why they are not for today. Christians are notorious for defining what scripture means according to their experiences. And because we all have experienced death, we define the scripture related to eternal life to not actually mean living forever.

We are essentially saying, “The scripture promises eternal life, but you won’t actually get to experience it in this life. You will have to wait for eternal life until after you die or until after Jesus returns whichever happens first.” Proverbs tells us God’s people perish because of a lack of knowledge and because they reject knowledge. Through unbelief, we have rejected the knowledge of God regarding life and death.

In the Old Testament, the nation of Israel was on the edge of entering into the promise of what God had for them. They had been in a season of encountering God. God had done many great and miraculous things among them. His presence was visibly manifested in their presence. Twelve men were sent to spy out the promised land. Ten of those men can back with an evil report. The nation, rather than believing God, believed the 10 spies. They rejected knowledge and perished because of it. The entire nation failed to receive and walk in the promise of God because of unbelief. For a season, even Joshua and Caleb who had no unbelief were unable to receive God’s promise.

The church as a whole is in this place. We are on the edge of entering into the promise of eternal life where death is swallowed up in victory. We have experienced a season of healings and miracles. God has done many great things in the church. He has fought battles and won victories. His presence is tangible and at work in the church. Yet because of corporate unbelief, not one generation of the church has taken hold of the promise to live forever. Like Joshua and Caleb, even those who have no unbelief have been unable to take hold of life.

Paul saw this in his own life. He had a vision and understanding of life without end on earth. We see in II Corinthians 5 where his outward man was perishing. He called his body an earthly house or a garment. If it was destroyed, he knew he would get a new garment, a new spiritual body. His desire was not to take off the garment of his earthly body and be unclothed, which was to die, but to rather put on an additional garment, the garment of life, where mortality is swallowed up in life. He longed to be further clothed in a new heavenly garment, his new heavenly body which would never die. Sadly, however, he was not able to take hold of this in his lifetime due to worldwide corporate unbelief.

There will come a time and a generation of the church which learns to cast off unbelief and take hold of life and die no more. How can we become that generation? How can we ever truly understand and take on eternal life if we do not expect people to live forever? Why should the church continue to believe the lie that death must be tolerated? Death is an idea, a bad idea at that. Death exists because we agree with the idea of death and our agreement supports death to exist. We are familiar with death. We are comfortable with it. We tolerate it. We are taught from a young age even in church to believe in death more than to believe in life. Every part of us from birth is saturated by the idea of death. And because death still happens, the idea of death reinforces itself as truth every time someone dies.

However, whose voice will we believe? Will we be like the nation of Israel and in unbelief listen to the voice of death? Or will we be like Joshua and Caleb and believe the voice of God? For a generation to take hold of life and not die, it cannot be done by human intellect or human ability. We can only take hold of life by faith. Faith comes by hearing and hearing God’s voice. How can the world hear if there is no one to tell them? Where are the Joshuas and Calebs of this generation who will be the voice piece for the living God and proclaim we are to live and not die? Who will possess life? Who will take hold of it?

There has to be a renewing of the mind, a shedding of the old ideas and taking on of the mind of Christ. To agree with death is to think according to human thinking apart from God. It takes no faith to agree with death. What is not of faith is sin and cannot please God. This death agreement actually puts us at war with God. The very nature of Christ is life and to agree with death is to be anti-Christ. This death mindset must be renewed by the mind of Christ. The church has to have an entire paradigm shift to where transformation comes to our corporate perspectives, perceptions, mindsets, attitudes, and behaviors. We have to fully reject death and take on the nature of life.

In part, this renewing the mind begins when we come to realize who we are in Christ and of the complete work of Christ on the cross. Romans tells us Jesus died once to sin. He was raised back to life and dies no more. After the resurrection, Jesus is no longer under the dominion of death but rather now has dominion over death. We have been crucified with Christ. The old body of sin was destroyed. However, as we are in Christ and He in us, we have also been raised to life with Him. As He dies no more, we die no more. As He has dominion over death, so we also have dominion over death.

The body was sown in corruption. In Christ’s resurrection it was raised incorruptible. It was sown in dishonor. It was raised in glory. It was sown in weakness and raised in power. It was sown a natural body, but raised a spiritual body as a new creation in Christ Jesus having a new nature. In Adam everyone dies. In Christ everyone is made alive. In Adam came death. In Jesus came the resurrection from the dead.

Scripture says every man is appointed once to die. We have already died in Christ. We have already been raised again to new life. If we have already died once, and as Christ dies no more and we are in Him and He in us, then we also die no more. To live is to commune with Christ, He in us, and we in Him. It is done. In Christ, death is defeated. If the church can grab hold of the understanding that we have in Christ already died and already been resurrected from the dead, it will radically change how we see death. By faith we take hold of life.

It is not enough to merely eat from the tree of knowledge and have understanding of being alive in Christ in our minds. We must feed from the tree of life which is to commune with Christ. The life of Christ has to take hold of us to become fully alive within every part of our being. Every facet of how we see, think about, and respond to death has to be taken over by life. We should be repulsed by death, so repulsed by death that it makes us sick. We should have such a fierce hatred of death that any encounter with death would cause the furious, righteous anger of God to rise up within us to say, “No more. I will not tolerate death any longer. It will not happen on my watch.”

That righteous fury of God should rise up in us to say, “It is not right for a widow to have lost her only son.” And being in such a state, we release the resurrection power of God and restore to life the only son of a poor widow. That is what Jesus did. He was repulsed by death and moved by compassion. It released newness of life. I long for the days when every encounter with death carries with it the expectation of seeing the dead raised and resurrection to new life.

There will come a generation which empties entire cemeteries. Hospitals and funeral homes will go out of business. Thousands and hundreds of thousands will be raised to new life. This generation will see the glory of God for raising the dead which has not yet been seen in the age of the church. Christ in us is the hope of this glory. The resurrection from the dead and the putting on of life so that one no longer dies are one and the same. Both are means of overcoming death. They go hand in hand.

Death is the last enemy and it will be put under the feet of Jesus. It will be done so by the work of the Holy Spirit through the working of the church in a generation who casts off unbelief, who communes fully with Christ, and who by faith takes hold of life being further clothed where mortality puts on immortality and where death is swallowed up in victory. Let it be now, and let begin with me. AMEN.”

Living an Eternal Life – Podcast on Touched By Prayer

Hello Friends of Eden,

Come join us on Touched By Prayer as Lisa Palieri Perna and I discuss Immortality. Is it for today? Is it even scriptural? Do we have to die? Who wants to live forever? To answer these questions and more, listen in!

Click here to hear the broadcast.

She Had a Good Life

“She had a good life.” This is what I recently heard a coworker say about an actress who had purportedly passed away recently at age 93. When I heard this I couldn’t help but think that this woman’s life couldn’t have been that good, in that her life was so short. Short? She was 93 and lived longer than most, but I’ve stopped using the same standard as most people when I measure lifespan. Consider Isaiah 65:20-22:

“Never again will there be in it an infant who lives but a few days, or an old man who does not live out his years; the one who dies at a hundred will be thought a mere child; the one who fails to reach a hundred will be considered accursed. They will build houses and dwell in them; they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit. No longer will they build houses and others live in them, or plant and others eat. For as the days of a tree, so will be the days of my people; my chosen ones will long enjoy the work of their hands.” (NIV)

God actually has a much different picture of long life than we do, and one-hundred years of age is akin to what we consider a child–someone not usually more than ten years old. In other words, if you want to get a picture of how God views how long we should be living, add a zero to each year of life. Scripturally speaking, God expects us to live at least ten times what we consider a normal lifespan! Why, then, are we dying so young?

I suggest a significant part of our problem is consciousness. We believe we are designed to die. It is ingrained in our understanding of how the world works. In fact, the thing I hear the most frequently when I say we are not designed to die is the question “How many people do you know who are over 200 years old?” People who as me this are not only completely missing the point, but they demonstrate part of the root problem–unbelief.

I don’t think there are many people, if any, who will live hundreds or thousands of years that do not believe it is possible. There is a much-needed shift that is taking place in the Body of Christ where a few are starting to realize Jesus purchased much more for us than we were previously taught. Jesus didn’t just die to fix sin so we could go to heaven when we died. No, he died on our behalf once for all so that in him we could die in baptism and be raised with Him in newness of life, never to die again! We are designed for immortality!

If we want to live forever as God designed we have to make some not-so-subtle shifts in how we think. First, we have to rid ourselves of such silly notions as there being a “time to die.” Yes, I am familiar with the verse in Ecclesiastes. No, I do not think Solomon had a clear revelation of Jesus’ finished work on the cross. Moving on. We need to rid ourselves of language that says “when I get old I am . . .” I cannot tell you how many nurses I have worked with who have already decided what kind of dementia patient they will be like when they grow old. I fail to understand why they are planning to get dementia in the first place, but they take it a step further. Not only are they expecting to get it, but they actively decree over their lives that they will grow senile as they age. Speaking death over ourselves will never help, but speaking life can!

We must learn to speak life to our bodies. We have to discover new ways of looking at things, even to the point of overcoming long-held and deeply ingrained beliefs. We have to catch ourselves when we speak and stop saying things like “This is what a sixty-year old body feels like” even if we find our joints aching. No, we need to start decreeing that rivers of living water flow through our veins out of the temple of our heart, straight from the heart of Jesus. That even as His temple is set up inside our hearts and the river flows from that temple, that Jesus’ life-blood from heaven transforms our blood into a river of life that courses through our body and constantly feeds each cell with glory-light from heaven. We need to start decreeing that we will live and not die, that long life is ours and that God will show us his salvation. That we who eat his flesh and drink his blood will have life within us and whoever lives and believes in him will never die.

Unlike common past-belief, I do not believe the Isaiah passage above is a far-off reality that will exist in a future someday-kingdom that Jesus will come and set up in person on the earth. Maybe he will come someday and do that, but the Bible actually says that Jesus will return when all things have been placed in submission to him, and it also says the last enemy to be destroyed is death. In order for this to occur, we must take authority over death and stop dying! Want to see Jesus return? Get a revelation of immortality. Discover what it means that God loved the world so much that he sent his son so that we would not die, but have everlasting life. Don’t sit and wait for death to come knocking on your door–hunt it down! Put it on the defensive and take you rightful place as an heir of the Father–one of the many who He promised he would raise up in the last days, those who will walk in everlasting life and who will never die.

To Live is Christ

“For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.” (Philippians 1:21 NIV)

I have always found the above verse to be confusing, because I always felt Paul mixed up the order of importance–namely that to live should be gain and to die be Christ, as the goal in the end is heaven when we die, isn’t it? Well, over the past year or two I have come to a deeper understanding of many things, including what this verse is actually saying: that it is Jesus’ will for us to be alive, but that even IF we die that there are benefits to be had as well. Yes, I said “if” we die, because to live is Christ. In other words, it is Jesus’ will, purchased by the breaking of his body on the cross and the shedding of his blood, and through his death then resurrection, that we can live in a new life that is no longer bound to the law of sin and death, making it so we can now live forever, on earth, in human bodies that will be transformed, without ever dying and going to heaven for that to occur.

I think Paul actually knew a bit more than he let on about this subject, as he said something else to the Philippians that is a real head-scratcher if we look at it a little deeper. Philippians 3:10-14 says “I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”

Paul freely acknowledges that he wants to be like Jesus — who died and then rose again three days later to live in a newer, better, everlasting body and was walking around here on the earth! Paul says that he does not believe he has already obtained everlasting life here-and-now-on-earth, but that he is pressing on toward the goal to win that prize. Paul knew what the goal was and he knew what the prize was — living forever. Jesus said it to his disciples in John 6 and a bunch of them stopped following him after that. Is it really that hard to believe that God doesn’t want us to die? In 2 Timothy 1:9b-11 Paul states “This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. And of this gospel I was appointed a herald and an apostle and a teacher.” What? Has brought life and immortality to light? Paul flat-out states in this passage that God made him an apostle and teacher of the gospel of life and immortality.

Friends, I want to encourage you that the Good News of the gospel of Jesus Christ is a whole lot better than we have been taught. You don’t have to die anymore! Death has been defeated, which is why death no longer has any sting–it is powerless! If this has tagged your interest, I encourage you to read through the gospel of John and see how many times and how many places Jesus told his disciples that they would never die and would live forever if they believed in him. It’s there–go see for yourself!

Court Case: Alignments with Death

As many followers of this blog know, I believe the Gospel of Jesus Christ includes physical immortality, as evidenced by many scriptures that speak toward that end as well as things Jesus himself directly stated to his disciples. With that said, I am not discussing immortality in this post so much as I am sharing a heavenly experience I had earlier this month that I engaged specifically to deal with matters of life and death in the spirit realm. It is my hope that this post encourages you in your own pursuit of all things spiritual and godly.

I went up into the spirit back into the Courts of Heaven where I had been led previously by an angel to disavow attachments I had made to Death and to put myself in the custody of the Spirit of Life, Holy Spirit. The court case began with someone presiding over the case, although I did not quite understand who. I was clear, however, that this was a human, not an angel or other being presiding over the court.

I took my seat on the right side, and Death was located at a table to my left. There was no jury, as this was essentially a custody hearing and I was seeking to change custodians. I was invited to speak and explain why I was seeking this court hearing. I explained that I did not understand when I was younger that I did not have to die, and so I made many statements and held beliefs and engaged in actions that aligned myself with death and I placed myself in its care. I went on to say that I now understand that I do not have to die and I want to be released from Death’s custody.

Death then stood up and had a chance to speak. When I looked at Death I saw this thin, spectre-like being that was a sort of smoky black with ill-defined features. It stood up before the judge in a hissing voice and began to accuse me, stating that I had chosen it and that I was its rightful property. After it gave a short speech, it sat back down.

Next, I saw a man holding a scroll approach the judge’s bench–it was Jesus. He unfurled this scroll before the judge and they had a short conversation which I could not hear. I couldn’t read the scroll but I understood that it was basically a writ stating that I had been fully bought and covered by Jesus’ blood, and that as a result Death had no rightful hold over me. This was all the evidence that was needed, and after the judge saw that, he called me up to the witness stand to testify. This was my opportunity to declare and decree in the heavens what my intentions were for the future.

I got up to the stand and I stated that I now believe that I am not destined to die, but to live forever. I acknowledged that while I once believed I had to die when I was younger, I have since learned the truth and have come to accept that reality. I stated that I no longer consider myself under custody to death and place myself in custody of the Spirit of Life, and I broke agreement with every belief, mindset, and understanding that I had previously held that said I would get sick or had to die. I renounced every statement I had made or that anyone else has made that has cursed me to be sick or die in any way, or that I have agreed with about the hold that death has over me and others. I stated that I am no longer allowed to die, but if for any reason I ever were to die, that I would resurrect immediately unless the Lord wanted to show me something in the heavens first, but that any time I were to ever die that I would always, always come back to life. Having completed my decree, the judge banged the gavel once and basically declared that my custody had changed hands.

Before the case was dismissed, the being who was serving as my counsel, who I could not clearly see but believe was Holy Spirit, petitioned the judge for a transfer of property from Death to me. The counsel basically explained that Death had stolen from me and as a result that I was entitled to seven-fold the amount stolen from me. The judge instantly granted this, and assigned a bailiff of the court to go carry out this decree, then ended the case.

With the court case over, Death stalked out of the room, but he was actually hobbling now, as though life force had been taken from him and he was now weaker. A man who was glowing in golden light approached me, and introduced himself as Isaac. I understood that he was Abraham’s son. As I could not see him clearly, he dimmed the light emanating from him, and while I could not see him clearly I could see that his hair was brown, that his face was somewhat rounded in shape, and that he was shorter than me. He explained that he had a few things to share with me. First, he told me that while I was not at that point yet, as I continued down this path of immortality that at a certain point my cells themselves would literally undergo a transformation. I had a vision of what he was saying as he was speaking, and it showed me where my cells literally transformed from normal cells into vibrant, golden-glowing cells that emanated life-energy and had no speck of sickness or disease in them.

He then escorted me to a garden, which he said was my garden in heaven. It was spacious and beautiful, with much lush greenery that was landscaped quite beautifully, with a gazebo in the part of the garden that I saw. We turned, and Isaac showed me a young tree, approximately five to six feet tall, that had two or three pieces of oblong, pear-like fruit on them. “This is a tree of life. Take a bite of the fruit.” He said. I picked one and took a bite. It was juicy, and as I ate it I could feel a message being sent to my cells to dump toxins and other garbage they had been holding, and I could feel my intestines beginning to church slightly. At his instruction I took two more big bites, then he told me to plant the core in the ground, which I did a short distance from the other one in an empty space. I understood that a new tree was going to grow from it, and that because life in heaven is so abundant that even the fruit wasn’t going to decay but rather would remain intact underground yet still have the tree grow out of it. From there, Isaac took me to a mountain which he said was my mountain–my property. Stored inside were a great many things, but he took me to a room that was filled with scrolls and other writings.

The room was jam-packed, but everything was in disorder. Random scrolls and rolls of paper were piled on things and papers were spilling out of filing cabinets, as well as various piles on the table and other surfaces. He explained that there was a lot of revelation present in me, but that because everything was so cluttered that there was revelation I had received that I haven’t even realized because it is hidden under the piles of disorganization. He instructed me to work on “cleaning up” so that everything would become more organized. I had a vision of a small, half-sheet-sized piece of glowing golden paper that was sitting on the floor somewhere, and that while I could see this paper in the vision, that it was hidden under other things and that as I cleaned, I would find it. I took this to mean that I needed to clean up how I have my computer files of all the prophetic words, dreams, and other revelation that God has given me so that it is more accessible. From there the experience ended.

I hope this gives you not only a glimpse of some of the things that are possible in the spirit realm, but a picture of what a case in the Courts of Heaven might look like. There are many courts and the cases do look different depending on the subject matter, but I encourage you to test the waters and try it out for yourself!

Vampirism Vs Immortality

Vampires have received a burst of popularity in the past number of few years, from the True Blood TV series to the recent Dracula movie and even with the deep philosophical question: Team Edward or Team Jacob? Vampire legends have existed for hundreds of years, and some of them are based on such gruesome and horrific historical figures such as Vlad the Impaler and Elizabeth Bathory who bathed in human blood. There are many other stories and legends of vampires who are equally steeped in darkness, none of which I will expound on further.

While I find vampires in general to be repulsive, I have noticed that the truths behind the vampire tales of old have minimal comparison whatsoever to the watered-down movie and book images that current-day writers give. Unlike in books, there is no goodness in vampires. They are beings of evil who sustain their own lives at the expense of others. They are users who leave literal dead bodies in their wake. And while it is a subject of debate among some as to whether real physical vampires exist, it strikes me that the concept of vampires are a perversion of a reality that God has designed for humans, the reality of Immortality.

It is often said that the enemy perverts any reality that God creates; this case is no different. God created humans to live literally forever. Our cells rejuvenate themselves and have limitless potential for healing, and that’s just in our mortal bodies alone. Our minds are able to rewire themselves based off new thought patterns and new ideas. We are amazing masterpieces made in God’s image and likeness and as God is immortal so we are designed to be. Our very bodies are designed to transform according to the life of Christ within us.

Think of how this works — Jesus instructed his disciples that if they ate his flesh and drank his blood they would have life within them. He later demonstrated Holy Communion — a ritual that doesn’t just symbolize the consumption of flesh and blood but in the ritual one partakes of mystical, spiritual elements designed to rejuvenate body, soul, and spirit alike. For even as the Old Testament says “the life is in the blood” so too is our immortal life in the blood of Jesus. For even as we partake of communion, we are able to have our bodies healed, signs of aging reversed such as wrinkles and spots, and even our internal organs, heart, liver, brain, kidneys, etc. are to be restored to fullness through His life in us.

Vampires, then, are a cheap imitation who steal the life-blood of others in order to prolong their dark existence. Not able to partake of the lifeblood of Christ who said “but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life” they have to continually supplement with the blood of the dying. If you look at it another way, Vampires are a representation of the Old Testament Law, as Romans 8 explains that Law brings death but the Spirit of God brings life. You see, the Old Testament Law required the constant provision of new and fresh blood in order to keep everyone alive — and that only barely as it didn’t permanently deal with the death problem, much like with vampires constantly hunting for fresh victims to drain. In Jesus Christ the problem of death has been solved once for all with the shedding of his blood so that we all may partake freely of that life without harm to others.

The rise in Vampire-associated media is the attempt of the enemy to pervert and even discredit the good news of Jesus Christ, turning the spiritually hungry toward works of darkness due to a lack of revelation and understanding. In spite of this, God is revealing the mysteries of revelation toward eternal, immortal life in the body on the earth and this revelation of Immortality is only increasing. According to 1 Corinthians 15:26, “the last enemy to be destroyed is death” and how better to destroy the works of death than by living forever? I cannot think of a single topic that is possibly MORE relevant to life today than Immortality, and this is a scriptural promise available to us in Jesus’ death and resurrection. May we walk steadily forward to apprehend the promises that God has for us in Him.

When Bunnies Die

Two days ago one of my two rabbits gave birth; the baby was stillborn. I prayed over that baby bunny for over 3 hours, and even my 3-, 5-, and 7-year-old granddaughters and stepdaughter joined me at points. Late that evening, God told me to move on from praying for the bunny, and that while I WOULD raise the dead, it wouldn’t be then, the day after, or the day after that. This really struck me because God didn’t just specify that the bunny wouldn’t come back that day or the next, but he specified three days, the usual length of time that I allot for praying for our animals who have died (we have rabbits and chickens), and for any roadkill that I decide to bring home to pray for.

I was pretty upset after God told me this. I had already named the cute little bunny Miracle, and had already envisioned how cool it would be to have the rabbit grow up to be an adult when it had been born dead. I will be honest–I sobbed in my wife’s arms for about 5 minutes. On the one hand it might seem like “just a dead baby rabbit,” but for me death is something personal. As a nurse who works with a geriatric population, I cry almost every time a patient dies, whether I knew them well or not. Death bothers me. It upsets me. I don’t like it, don’t believe in it, and don’t understand when the reality of abundant life Jesus purchased for us doesn’t manifest like it should.

My point in telling you all this isn’t for you to feel sorry for me or pray for the bunny, but to know that it’s totally normal and okay to have real-life struggles as we go through this process of apprehending what God has laid before us. Reversing death is not something most people talk about or even believe is possible. Resurrection isn’t even all that popular in many Holy-Spirit-filled circles. I mean, anyone would be blessed if they were present for a resurrection, but it’s not something most people are going to actually pray for, much less seek out. As such, there is a risk involved in actually even talking about this topic.

Resurrection is not always an easy topic, and praying for the dead is even harder, not because it’s difficult to actually say a prayer over a body, but for other reasons. Emotionally there is the risk of failure. What happens if I get emotionally invested in this resurrection and it doesn’t happen? I assure you I am emotionally invested in every resurrection I seriously attempt. I’m not sure it’s actually possible to seriously pray for resurrection WITHOUT getting emotionally involved. Maybe it is, but for me resurrection has a lot to do with love and compassion, and compassion has a feeling associated with it. Compassion IS by nature emotionally involved, which can make it difficult in those times when the resurrection effort fails. Lets face it, sometimes we get discouraged, or even others around us actively discourage us. Sometimes we get into doubt or fear; fear that we might die too, fear that we might catch a disease from the body, fear of almost anything else. I believe that all of these things are part of the process of overcoming. We experience these doubts, fears, discouragement, and yet in the midst of them we have the opportunity to make a conscious choice in our hearts and minds that say “I am an overcomer because of He who has overcome.”

I want to encourage you and remind you that YOU are a Deadraiser. YOU are a Resurrectionist!! YOU are the bridge between Heaven and Earth, the delivery system of Divine power and presence. YOU are the salt of the earth and the light of the world. Whatever you are facing, whatever sickness or death you are praying over, contending against, dealing with, I exhort you to continue to stand firm in the promises of God. You are strong, you are courageous, you are beautiful. You are steadfast, you are brilliant, and your best moments are even now coming toward you. Greater is He who is in YOU than any life circumstance around you. And remember, it is never “too late.” We serve a God who raises the dead.

Galatians 6 and Immortal Life

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The more I read the scriptures, the more I see God’s provision for our lives that extends beyond healing to an abundant life that is so strong we literally cannot die. Recently I was perusing Galatians 6 when I came across the following verses, ones I have read many times before but saw something very different this time through:

“Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.” Galatians 6:7-8

What I observed this time through is that this passage speaks not just of sowing and reaping, but of how we sow and reap either death or immortality. In fact, it makes a mockery of God to think that if we sow to the spirit we will reap anything other than eternal life, and that if we sow to the flesh that we will reap anything other than corruption and degradation of our bodies instead of the abundant life God has promised for us. If we break it down, this passage shows us we have a choice, whether we want to sow to the flesh and die, or sow to the spirit and live forever.

It is quite encouraging to me to come across these “hidden” verses on immortality as I read through the Bible because so much of it is hidden in plain sight. The message of the Good News of Jesus Christ has for so many years been convoluted and sin-focused, but now an upgraded version of the Gospel is appearing — not a NEW gospel, as some might think, but one that is more comprehensive of the fullness of life, blessing, and abundance that Jesus purchased for us on the cross. God’s plan for us is far better than we have imagined, to the point that we almost have to throw out most of what we have learned EVER about Jesus and the cross to start over from the beginning and see it in a brand new light. God’s desire for us is that we should LIVE, and so as John 3:16 says, he sent his son that we might not perish (die), but have everlasting life. Praise be to God for His boundless grace and resurrection life that He extends to us now and always.

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The Progression of Healing

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In my journey to discover healing by the power of God, I have gone through a progression. First I wasn’t sure how often God wanted to heal, and I was one of those “If it be your will” Christians. I loved God, but I wasn’t really sure how much He wanted us to be healed. This is largely due to a very poor understanding of God’s nature and will to heal.

As I learned and grew in God’s love, I discovered that healing is simply a manifestation of that love. I also gained a deeper understanding of what Jesus accomplished on the cross, I realized that it is ALWAYS God’s will to heal in every situation. In fact, not-healing is not even an option God has allowed Himself, as Jesus has already purchased one time for all humanity for all eternity every healing need that would ever come upon us. God can’t say “no” to something he already said “yes” to 2000 years ago. I also began to grow in faith for healing and started stepping out and praying for the sick in public and at church.

I operated at this level for around five years, believing that God wanted to heal and expecting God to do something, but rarely met with results. Eventually I came to a new level of understanding, and began to have people test out their healing at the time I prayed for them. As I did this I started to see more people receive instantaneous healing, where before I only went away hoping that people would eventually get healed. I also became more persistent, praying again if there were no results the first time, and even again after that. What I observed happening was that my PERSISTENCE in prayer in those few minutes with that person began to bear fruit. I gained greater revelation on how the enemy hinders healing and actively prevents the healing God releases from manifesting in peoples’ bodies in those moments of prayer.

As I continued to grow, God began to push me into another level of healing, namely resurrection from the dead. While to date I have yet to resurrect anyone, I began to gain more understanding of God’s desire for life that is SO strong that He even resurrects the dead. As I grew in this revelation of resurrection, I realized something: God is so interested in resurrecting the dead that the Bible says He will resurrect the dead and give them brand new bodies!! When I realized this it made me do a mental double-take. If God is going to resurrect all the dead, why do we have to die?

This took me on a journey over the past few years that showed me that God is far more interested in keeping us alive than He is in waiting until we die and then resurrecting us. After all, death is a work of the enemy, not God. Adam and Eve were immortal until that fateful day that “when you eat of it you will surely die.” They did not die at that moment, and they and their descendants even lived into the nine-hundreds, but they all eventually died. We, nowadays, live under a better covenant yet live only a fraction of the length of time they did. In our minds, someone reaching one-hundred is a big deal. In their day it was like someone reaching adulthood, with their mid-life crisis another four hundred years away.

Now, Jesus has reversed all of the laws and curses against us that cause us to grow sick and die. He has given us the authority and power to resurrect the dead and heal every sickness and disease. The Church is rapidly reaching a greater place of health in regards to healing, but the logical end to all healing is life, not death, and we are very unhealthy as the Body in regards to resurrection and abundant life. When more healing takes place in a body than decay, someone becomes healthy. When death in a body wins over life, sickness and disease and ultimately death manifest. In essence, long life is simply a process by which there is more healing taking place in our bodies over a span of time than decay, and God’s life-giving power is more active than the death in this world. After all, greater is He who is in me than he who is in the world.

I look forward to a day when we step beyond healing, beyond resurrection, and simply step into our birthright, where we can live and not die and enjoy not only the creation, but enjoy stewarding the life of Christ into that creation, releasing it from that same bondage to decay that we have been released from. The Church is slowly waking up. It begins with healing, then resurrection, but when enough people have been healed and resurrected, we will eventually understand what God’s will is: that we can live and not die.

If you want to learn more about God’s desire for us to live in resurrection power and abundant life, check out my book Faith To Raise The Dead:

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