Many say the things of this world are valuable and tremendously important, but I have come to know the fleetingness of all that we see and hold. Thieves rob, death kills, sickness overtakes, and in a moment, our lives can be turned upside down with what seems as no hope in sight. Through the years, I have learned there is one truth that can be clung to which never will be uprooted, destroyed or defeated. That unwavering truth: Jesus Christ is Lord and He alone has the victory!

Regardless of any situation here on earth, which will pass away sooner or later, Jesus walks beside and never leaves those who follow Him in spirit and in truth. This treasure is something that cannot be stolen, cannot be killed (although they did try at one time, but Jesus stepped from the tomb), cannot be destroyed and is worthy of all my effort and time to fight for. This treasure wraps my life in all the promises of Jesus Christ and gives me the surety that I shall live with Him for all eternity.

Regardless of what this world brings to me or what any human can do to me, they can only affect me in this temporal and physical world which will someday pass away.

Even if I had the capacity of great wealth and possessions, nothing would compare to the knowledge and experience of the greatest love and joy that comes from the Creator Himself!

The most powerful testimony of this is from the men and women imprisoned or tortured, now and in times past, while singing from hearts filled with joy to their God who was right there with them.

I marvel at our God who understands firsthand what each one of us is experiencing. All our experiences in the flesh are only for a fleeting moment, but the rewards, the treasures and the joy of this great God last forever! What kind of God is this who still has the victory regardless of what life throws at us? No other god or belief offers the same comfort, hope, joy, love, rewards, personal relationship or eternal salvation than Jesus Christ of Nazareth does who came in the flesh to reconcile all who believe in Him to God the Father, Creator of all that is seen and unseen.

God’s Patient Work in My Life
My journey with the Lord began long before I decided to follow Him. As a young girl growing up in a broken home, I struggled in many ways. I
remember during a traumatic time at a young age hearing a comforting voice. The voice gently said He loved me as His own child and would always be there for me. I felt as if a gentle and wonderful father was trying to comfort me. I remember saying, “God, is that you?” He answered, “Yes, child, I am here.” I was surrounded for a moment with a sense of acceptance, peace, love and joy. As I opened my eyes, I suddenly realized that I was talking to someone I could not see. I quickly dismissed the experience as just wishful thinking coupled with a vivid imagination. Life went back to normal until over a decade later when Jesus revealed Himself again to me in a powerful vision during another painful experience. It was at that moment I decided to follow Jesus because I desperately longed for the peace and love that I experienced with His presence. Thus began my amazing walk with the Lord.

As I grew as a Christian, my relationship with God grew as well as my understanding of His Word, the Bible. There is a long list of wonderful brothers and sisters in Christ who have mentored and discipled me along the way to whom I am greatly indebted. As I sought after God more diligently, He would continue to reveal Himself while reading the Bible, through the encouragement and words of other Christians, through the leading of His Spirit by impressions of peace within, and then, to my surprise, in more direct ways.

I began to experience visions, dreams, and God speaking directly to me through my thoughts as well as audibly. This part of the journey was a tough one for me because many Christian leaders and pastors teach that God no longer communicates to His children directly. And yet, these teachings conflict with what Scriptures declare…

“And it shall come to pass afterward,
that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh;
your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
your old men shall dream dreams,
and your young men shall see visions.
Even on the male and female servants
in those days I will pour out my Spirit.”

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (Joe 2:28–29). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.

“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.
I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. 
My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.
I and the Father are one.”

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (Jn 10:27–30). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.

“But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name,
he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.”

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (Jn 14:26). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.

“For who knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him?
So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.
Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God,
that we might understand the things freely given us by God.
And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit,
interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual.
The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God,
for they are folly to him,
and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.”

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (1 Co 2:11–14). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.

“Worship God. For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.”

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (Re 19:10b). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.

“And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, ‘This is the way, walk in it,’
when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left.
Then you will defile your carved idols overlaid with silver and your gold-plated metal images.
You will scatter them as unclean things. You will say to them, ‘Be gone!'”

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (Is 30:21–22). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.

“But the anointing that you received from him abides in you,
and you have no need that anyone should teach you.
But as his anointing teaches you about everything, and is true,
and is no lie—just as it has taught you, abide in him.”

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (1 Jn 2:27). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.

From Genesis to Revelation, God has revealed Himself to not only His people, but also to nonbelievers such as Darius, Nebuchadnezzar and Saul, who later became Paul. Verses from the Old Testament to the New Testament describe how God speaks to, teaches, guides, encourages and edifies His people. God is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow (see Hebrews 13:8) which means His nature never changes, although His instructions may.

There is not one reference in the Bible that says God will withdraw communicating to His people after the Bible is completed. In contrast, Scripture does warn us we can grieve and quench the Spirit as well as deny His work in our lives.

Seek God with your whole heart and you will find Him. Everything must reconcile with the full counsel of the Bible, that is how you must check what you are hearing. The enemy, Satan and his demons, also try to speak into us, but his message will always skew what God teaches in the Bible, create doubt or confusion or be filled with hatred.

Blessings on your journey with Jesus, the author and finisher of your faith!