God is Near: The Message Of Heaven Come ConferenceSample

God is Near: A New Knowing

We have probably all sung or prayed words like these before, “Oh Lord, rend the heavens!”, “Let your presence come!”, “Pour out your Spirit!”, etc. While these are beautiful cries of hunger for God, the reality is that these prayers have already been answered. 

This realization brings about a paradigm shift in the thinking of any believer. If we allow it to, this mindset shift changes how we pray, how we stir expectation, how we operate in our faith, and how we respond to crisis and impossibilities that come before us. We begin to live from a place of knowing all that we have received, and less from a place of simply waiting for Him to act alone. 

Our annual Bethel Music conference is called “Heaven Come”. We don’t consider this phrase just a prayer, but a statement of agreement, we agree that heaven has come and that we are in the midst of experiencing it. It is from this place that we expect greater expressions of heaven touching earth in every area yet to be healed, beautified, reconciled, or made new. 

God’s pursuit of humanity continues today. We are his redeemed children, ambassadors and change agents on the earth. Bill Johnson puts it this way, “God is jealous for our agendas, affections, and that we don’t live in reaction to darkness, but in response to truth.” Yes, there is still darkness and light on the same planet, but we are full of the light, it is upon us and in us (Isaiah 60:1-3). Jesus identifies multiple times in Scripture that, “the kingdom is at hand.” (Matthew 3:2, Matthew 4:17, Mark 1:15), and the earth is in the process of experiencing the full expression of this truth. 

When we are aware of the open heaven we live under, God’s intentions can be accomplished through us on the greatest level. The Lord longs that we would live with the same confidence and awareness of what is available in the kingdom as Jesus did. And He made it possible for us through the gift of His Spirit not just to believe this, but to act on it. Holy Spirit fills us with the authority that Jesus purchased (Philippians 2:8-10), and gives us grace to exercise it. His grace divinely enables us to live a supernatural life. 

When Jesus says in Matthew 28, “Go and make disciples of all nations...” he was not commissioning us with an impossible task. When he instructs us to pray “on earth as it is in heaven…” (Matthew 6:10) He was not setting us up for failure. This undertaking is possible because of what He has already done, and from what we already have been offered. 

We are qualified. We are the gates of heaven, living from a place of total connection to His presence and his kingdom reality. We have been empowered and enabled to live a life of risk that is pleasing God. The more we become aware of the open heaven over us and exercise our faith in humble obedience, the more His kingdom can be expressed through us beyond our imagining. Ephesians 2:6 tells us that “He raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus.” We have been given the right and the access to see from heaven’s perspective. 

We are representatives of another realm. This realm has no end and no restriction, and one that the Lord intends every believer to live from. We are privileged to re-present the love, power, and nature of Jesus as we live aware of the open heaven we carry. 

Indeed, God is near, in His fullness. We have found a home in Him and He has made a home in us. And this is not just for ourselves, but for all people, in all places, until the kingdoms of this world become the kingdoms of our Lord (Acts 2:17, Revelation 11:15). 

Pray & Reflect: 

• Describe what it means to be a house of God, a gate of heaven.
• Are there any areas where you have not felt qualified to be used by God in a supernatural way? Take a moment to ask yourself and share with the Lord. Ask Him what He says about you in these areas, ask Him to show you what the truth is.
• How has your understanding of God’s intention for partnering with you to see His kingdom come grown during this devotional series? 

Scripture Reading:

John 14:12-14, Psalm 145:4, Acts 2:17, Isaiah 60, Ephesians 2:6, Matthew 28:18-20, Philippians 2:8-10, Revelation 11:15

Learn more about our annual Bethel Music conference  is called “Heaven Come”.