if you faced death right now

hmmhmm Oct 4, 2008

this has been posted before, but its worthy of re reading-

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When I was first married, I was preaching in Cape Town, South Africa. I was in the church, soaking my self in prayer and the Word of God, preparing to preach. I looked out and saw what a lovely day it was. I felt I should go for a walk along the beach to get my mind clear and to get some fresh air. It was just a short distance from the church. I went down to the beach. I began to pray as I walked along. I went away from the crowds. I walked and walked until I was out of sight of everyone.
Suddenly, two men came swiftly over the dunes. I realized these men were evil as I looked in their faces. Screaming like animals, they pulled out these long blades. I could do nothing. I just looked at the blades. One pulled me down. The other got on top of me.
One said, "Kill him! Kill him!" Suddenly I saw blood all over. I didn’t feel any fear, but I knew that I was being badly hurt. The long blades were cutting me.
I looked into their eyes and saw hatred. I thought to myself, "How could someone who knows nothing about me, hate me so much?"
He shouted at me, "We hate you people! I’m going to kill you!" And suddenly, my mind began to realize what was actually going on. The most amazing thing happened right at that moment. I thought to myself, "My time is gone. I am going home right now, never to be hurt by the devil again. I’ll never face any more temptation or hurt from Satan again. I’m going home to Jesus right now. My time is finished."
In my heart came welling up a joy and a peace that passeth all understanding. Like a wave, divine love flowed through me. The thought that I was going to be with Jesus for all eternity, safe in His arms, caused this joy to well up so much that I began to worship God aloud.
Suddenly, this man standing over me began to weep. He shouted at me, "How can you say such things when you know you’re going to die? How can any man die like this? How can you say such things? How can you have no fear of death like this?"
I looked at him, and I said, "It’s because I’m a Christian. I have prepared to meet with God. I’ve been washed in the blood of Jesus. There is no judgment facing me of any sin. It has all been washed in the blood through Christ. The Bible says, ‘Fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul; rather fear him that is able to destroy both the soul and body in hell.’"
The man got up, and he cried loudly. The other man got up from behind me, and he began to hit this man and swear at him, "What are you crying for? We hate these people. Kill him, man!"
This man said, "No. No. What I have done to you today, sir, is a terrible mistake. I am sorry for what I have done to you. I have made a terrible mistake."
I began to speak to them about God. The other man started crying, "Let’s just get away from him." They began to run. As they ran, they turned around. The one was weeping so loudly he was literally sobbing.
I cried out to them, "Oh, I want to see you in heaven! I want to know you’ve been saved, that I didn’t go through this for nothing. Seek God to save you." They just kept running, weeping.
I got up somehow and made my way back. When they found me they took me to a hospital, and contacted my wife. There I sat while they were stitching me. I began to think and reason, "Oh God, why would Thou allow such a thing to happen to me? I wasn’t out there in sin. I wasn’t out there in folly that I needed to be rebuked and chastened. I was out there in prayer. I was going through a sermon to preach for Thee. How could You allow such a thing to happen to me?"
Suddenly God spoke to me in my heart. His voice echoed in my heart, "I allowed this to happen to you to show you how man can die with a peace that passeth all understanding, no matter what the circumstances of his death are."
Oh, if you faced death right now, would you face it having prepared to meet with God? Would you face it having God’s peace? There’s no understanding how God can give you this peace at such a moment—but He does give it! Death has lost its sting. The grave has lost its victory. If you faced death right now, would you face it with men’s blood on your hands? Will you answer that question to God, every one of you, right now?

from a sermon called if you faced death right now by Keith Daniel

HeartSong Oct 4, 2008

I was in a car accident - my vehicle went end over end the length of a football field. When I knew my car was going out of control, I cursed. When I was sliding upside down and backwards in terror I prayed. After that I flipped two more times, landing on my wheels, facing the way I came. When I opened my eyes my wrist was right in front of my face, bent at a very strange angle (the day before I had used this hand in a most ungodly manner) - there was no pain.

The Lord helped me out of my vehicle, and for the next few hours I told everyone I met how blessed I was. At the hospital, they pulled my wrist straight and set it - still there was no pain except for the shot that they insisted on giving me for the pain that I did not have.

My car was totaled and I lost my cat as well as many other "precious" things for I was moving and had my car filled with all of the things that I did not trust the movers with.

Afterwards, when I reviewed the pictures of my vehicle, I realized that I really should be dead and that it would not have been a bad way to go - for there was no pain.

God has used this accident to teach me so many things - one of the greatest being that it has not been difficult to reckon myself as being dead - that the only reason that I am alive is to serve Him. Oh the blessedness that He allowed me to live that I might die in Him.

bonni Oct 4, 2008

This is the first sermon I ever heard on tape by Keith Daniel 6 years ago. Thank you for the reminder. The sermon profoundly impacted me. I remember praying, "God, I would somehow like to meet this man and hear him speak before I leave this earth if it is your will, and see if he is as real as he seems on this recording."

I am happy to say that God answered my prayer and Keith will be coming this month for he fifth year to preach in our small town in Montana, USA.

I am happy also to say that Keith's life in person had an even more profound impact on my life than his preaching. He life is truly an example of BEING the thing in which we preach.

God has used these meetings to lead many of us into vital reality with God. I do believe it started with the hearing of this sermon, what a blessed memory!

I am praying that God use Keith again this year to speak to our hearts and confirm what God is working in the church.

All who read this, please do pray for Keith and his family.

Blessings, bonni

sermonindex Oct 4, 2008

Hi Guys...Just a couple of years after coming to Christ, I faced the prospect of death. Just six weeks after my youngest son was born with Down Syndrome, I was diagnosed with third stage Pulmanory Fibrosis. What followed was a tremendous journey of dependency which would shape my furure walk with the Lord..............

Fifteen years ago, just six weeks after my son Daniel was born, and just two years after coming to know Jesus, the doctors made a pronouncement to me that many people fear. I was told, after blood tests, x-rays, cat scans and finally a lung biopsy, that I had an incurable disease. One-third of each lung was covered with irreversible fibrosis, a disease known as Pulmonary fibrosis. Many of you will remember that DR Bill Bright of Campus Crusade For Christ died of this disease a couple of years ago.

This disease slowly robs you of your ability to breathe. As the " irreversable," fibrosis spreads, then your lung capacity decreases. I was already at stage three of a four stage disease. I could barely talk on the telephone without my breathing being extremely labored. The pulmanologist explained that the only treatment would be high doses of steroids on a daily basis.

Many Christians know in their heads that the secret to an intimate relationship, a dynamic relationship with the Father is founded upon dependence on Him. No one exemplified this more than the Lord Jesus. At no point in His earthly life did He act or speak without the leading and the guidance of His heavenly Father. This is the key to life for all Christians. We must follow His word, this is His revelation, and we must also know that small still voice that that leads and guides us always.

After just a few weeks of taking the steroids, that small still, beautiful, precious voice spoke into my spirit. “Frank, come away with me, I am your life, I am your stillness, I am your peace when all around you is falling apart, trust in me….trust in me.” I stopped taking the pills. The world rose up against this simple act of obedience and there were many voices, so many voices, so many opinions, yet that small still voice, in the eye of the storm, whispered…………….”Trust in me…….trust in me.”

Several weeks passed, and the many voices seemed to be right. My ability to breathe declined. It is imperative to notice that the small still voice made me no promises, my only command was to “trust.” A well known man of God from the last century said this “Lord, may I be an ox on the altar or an ox in the field.” None of is really know our purpose here in life, what we do know is that we have been called to bring honor to the name of Jesus, regardless of our situation.

There will be a time, or times, in every Christians life, when He will “Make you lie down in green pastures.” You may think to yourself, what is so “Green Pastures,” about a diagnosis of incurability or possible death. Let me tell you something brothers and sisters in Christ, when we have complete dependence upon God, even although we did not chose it(He makes you lie down) you will be in a place that is almost beyond description. The windows of heaven will open, you will hear heavenly choirs of angels, you will feel the sun on your face and it will feel so good, you will mount up with wings as eagles and soar high above the things of earth. From down through the centuries the martyr’s will call out to you and the same Spirit that comforted them in their greatest trials and allowed them to sing psalms of glory, even as the flames began to consume their temporal bodies, that same Spirit will burn like a mighty furnace in your chest, and if men could look into your situation, they would say “there is one like the son of man with Him,” and they would be right.

Ten weeks after coming off the pills, I heard the phone ring at 5.30 on a Monday morning. How many of us know that when the phone rings at late hours or the “wee small hours of the morning,” that it is usually significant, much like a loud knock on the door in the middle of the night. This phone call would be perhaps the most significant phone call of my life. It was my mother calling from five thousand miles away. She apologized for calling so early, but she had been compelled by the Holy Spirit. She very simply stated “The Lord told me that He was going to heal you.” “The Lord has instructed me to attend a certain prayer meeting this week and to pray for you and He is going to heal you.” I find it significant that my mom was instructed to call and tell me beforehand. This was an act of faith, trust, obedience, this was a “stepping out,”

As she spoke, I was overwhelmed by the Holy Spirit, I fell to my knees and in my spirit I knew that I was to be healed, I had no doubt whatsoever. I went for an x-ray two days later. The Doctor called me into his office, he seemed subdued. I had shared with him all those weeks before that I was putting my life in the hands of the Lord. He flicked the light of the x-ray board on and pointed to my lungs, they were completely clear. Apparently the Lord does not know the meaning of the word ,”irreversible.” That was fifteen years ago, and, as many of my friend could testify, my lungs are in good shape
The Lord is so good, no matter what your situation is today, if you will trust Him, not even so much for healing, just trust Him, then you will fly where the eagles fly and you will venture into the realm of the miraculous, into the land of the dynamic, for trust is the gateway to the kingdom of God. This kingdom is here and it is now, since we have to walk through this life, let us walk together in the kingdom that was, and is, and is to come and the night will shine like the day.

I wrote this poem in an effort to describe the place of utter dependence upon Him, even for breathe, and yet, when I read it, I know my words are woefully short. There are no earthly words to describe the presence of God, one may as well try to catch gossamer butterflies.
HIS REST

I HAVE BEEN TO A GLORIOUS LAND
THAT IS FAR BEYOND WHAT I HAD PLANNED
BEYOND THIS WORLD AND ALL ITS DREAMS
THAT LIES IN THE SHADOW OF HIS HOLY WINGS

I FOLLOWED HIM AND WE TOOK FLIGHT
AND HE CARRIED ME ON BEYOND THE NIGHT
THROUGH A VALE OF DARKNESS, PAIN AND FEAR
MY SWEET JESUS WAS OH SO NEAR

MAJESTY, GLORY, PRAISE TO OUR KING
THERE ARE NO WORDS THAT I CAN SING
THAT WOULD FULLY EXPRESS WHAT HE IS TO ME
AS HE CARRIED ME ACROSS A MAJESTIC SEA

MOUNTAINOUS WAVES ROSE UP TO FIGHT
YET IN HIS HAND I WAS HELD SO TIGHT
FARTHER, FARTHER, FARTHER ALONG
IN AN OCEAN OF PRAISE , AND ON THE WINGS OF A SONG

HE TOOK ME TO THE PROMISED LAND
AND I LAY DOWN IN THE PALM OF HIS HAND
AT THE TOP OF THE MOUNTAIN, AT THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA
IN THE DARKEST DUNGEON, NO MATTER, FOR I AM FREE

http://scottishwarriors.wordpress.com/2008/02/13/anatomy-of-a-miracle/ ....brother Frank