This is how I ended my night, I pray it blesses you and clears up any confusion you might have.
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The Judgment Seat of Christ: Loving Jesus with All Our Heart
I. A life changing experience
A. In Oct. 1978, I had a supernatural encounter in which I was on my knees before Jesus. He said to me, “You are saved but your life was wasted”. I protested, “You have the wrong person.” The thought rose up strongly in me that it is impossible to manipulate the Man Christ Jesus. I cried, “Can I have another chance?” The next thought which came to me in a very powerful way was that it is appointed unto man to die once then comes the judgment (Heb. 9:27). I wept with a profound sense of loss and regret. Suddenly I was awake on my knees by my bed.
B. What matters most about our life is what Jesus thinks when our eyes meet. I fear “regret” more than anything else in my life. I pray, “Lord, shock me now, do not wait until then”.
II. Judgment Seat of Christ: the place of reward and intimacy
A. Each believer will stand before Jesus to give an account for what we did with what God gave us.
10 For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ…12 Then each of us shall
give account of himself to God. (Rom.
give account of himself to God. (
1. Judgment seat: This was a place to receive rewards or trophies not penalties. This was a familiar term that described the raised platform where a judge sat to evaluate a legal case or an athletic contest as in the Olympic Games (Mt. 27:19; Jn. 19:13; Acts 18:12).
2. Give account: God gave each one a specific assignment based on the capacities that He gave them physically, mentally, emotionally, financially, and on their life circumstances. We are not accountable for what we do not have. God keeps detailed records of all that happens in His books (Dan. 7:10; Ps. 139:16; 87:6; Ex. 32:32; Dan. 12:1; Lk. 10:20).
B. We are saved by faith in Jesus’ work on the cross, but are evaluated according to our deeds.
10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad. (2 Cor. 5:10)
1. Things done in the body: We are rewarded according to the deeds we did in our bodies.
2. Good or bad: We will not answer for anything that we repent of and put under the blood of Jesus. The deeds we have “confidence to not repent of” will be the ones we answer for.
C. There will be a vast range of degrees of reward among the redeemed in the age to come. Our varying rewards include a differing measure of God’s glory in various areas of our life such as in our resurrected bodies, clothing, dwelling place, position of authority, and relationship with God.
41 There is one glory of the sun…and another glory of the stars; for one star differs from another star in glory. 42 So also is the resurrection of the dead. (1 Cor. 15:41-42)
III. Receiving a reward
11 No other foundation can anyone lay than…Jesus Christ. 12 If anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, 13 each one's work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one's work, of what sort it is. 14 If anyone's work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. 15 If anyone's work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire. (1 Cor. 3:11-15)
A. Jesus Christ our foundation: The foundation of our life in God is established on receiving the free gift of Jesus’ righteousness (2 Cor. 5:17-21). We build on this foundation by the deeds done in our body. On this foundation, we can use the wrong building materials. In this life, we can do that which Jesus esteems and remembers. This defines our greatness.
B. Gold: The building materials are gold, silver, and precious stones. These are usually found in small quantities, but are of great value. They are not diminished by fire but purified. Wood, hay and straw are found in large quantities, but are of very little value. They are easily, quickly, and totally destroyed by fire. They are dead works done in the flesh without the Spirit’s approval.
C. Revealed by fire: Jesus’ all knowing eyes of fire will test our works. His fire will reveal the truth of our works and will remove the impurities that cannot enter God’s holy presence.
18 The Son of God…has eyes like a flame of fire… (Rev. 2:18)
D. Suffer loss: It is possible to suffer the loss of some of our potential reward in the Millennium.
8 Watch out that you do not lose what you have worked for, but that you may be rewarded fully. (2 Jn. 8; NIV)
E. Saved as through fire: Some believers are saved as through fire. This speaks of being like one who is “pulled out” of the fire just in the nick of time. They escape running through the flames losing all that they had with them (Amos 4:11; Zech. 3:2; Jude 23). The believer is not burned up, but rather their works are. The once cherished ministry of some will burn like wood.
F. We are not left guessing as to what God considers greatest. Loving God is the first emphasis of the Spirit in our lives. The greatest calling is to move God’s heart and to be moved by His heart. The greatest grace we can receive is the anointing to feel God’s love and to express it. It is our greatest possession and our greatest ministry calling because the fruit lasts forever.
37 Jesus said to him, “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. 38 This is the first and great commandment.” (Mt. 22:37-38)
G. The success and power of our life is found in walking in the anointing to love God. We readjust the primary dream of our heart by choosing a radical shift in the way we picture our life and future and how we define success. We intentionally choose the primary dream of our life as walking in the anointing to live out the first commandment. We change the picture of our life.
18 I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you m
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