Living for Eternity with John Bevere

Summary

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Podcast Summary: “Living for Eternity with John Bevere”

Podcast: Stay True with Madison Prewett Troutt
Air Date: September 15, 2025
Host: Madison Prewett Troutt
Guest: John Bevere (author, speaker, founder of Messenger International)

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Overview

In this deeply engaging episode, Madison Prewett Troutt sits down with John Bevere for a heartfelt discussion centering on living with an eternal perspective, the significance of eternal rewards, and the awe-inspiring fear of God. They explore why thinking beyond this life changes how we live now, challenge listeners to examine the authenticity of their walk with Christ, and passionately address why “finishing the race” of faithfulness is so vital for Christians today. John’s personal stories, biblical insights, and unforgettable analogies make this episode a stirring wake-up call for a faith that endures.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Eternal Perspective: Why It Changes Everything

• The Call to “Finish Well”
  • Madison shares her heart’s desire to finish the Christian race well, referencing Acts 20:24, and underscores the tragic reality that many start but few finish strong (03:16–04:48).
• When Perspective Shifts “Zero”
  • John illustrates (using simple math) how our earthly years are negligible compared to eternity:

  “Any finite number divided by infinity is equal to zero. If you live to be 80 years, and you divide 80 by eternity, you get zero.”
  — John Bevere (15:35)

• Why Eternity Matters
  • John recounts how a revival in Brazil (13:05–14:48) was fueled not by programs but by a church-wide focus on Christ’s return and eternal judgment, highlighting how purpose gets real when we anchor our hope in eternity.
  • Quote:

    “The person who does the most in this world is the person whose mind is on the next world.” (Quoting C.S. Lewis)

2. Judgment, Rewards, and the Job Interview Analogy

• Salvation vs. Eternal Rewards
  • John distinguishes:

    “Our salvation is a free gift… but what we do for eternity is not a free gift.” (19:52)

• The Two Judgment Seats
  • John explains the biblical teaching that Christians will stand before the “Bema” seat (the believer’s judgment):

    “We’re not only going to give an account of what we did, but what we said, what we thought, and the intentions behind what we do.” (17:13)

• Heaven is Not Boring!
  • Dispelled is the myth of heaven as an endless, dull worship service. John describes heaven as vibrantly real, with callings, activities, and fulfillment beyond what we can imagine (26:17–29:00).

3. The Fear of the Lord—A Key to Intimacy with God

• What is the Fear of God?
  • John clarifies that the biblical fear of God is not terror but awe and a passionate desire not to be distant from Him:

    “The fear of the Lord is more about being terrified of being away from God.” (43:15, 46:35)

  • He warns against a Christianity that sees Jesus only as Savior but not as King or Lord.
• Conviction vs. Condemnation
  • Madison and John discuss how the fear of God draws us closer and fuels true obedience—not out of religiosity, but love (39:29–42:23).
• Intimacy is the Greatest Reward
  • John cites:

    “Friendship with the Lord is reserved for those who fear him. With them, he shares his secrets.” (Psalm 25:14, 51:46)

  • Obedience is highlighted as God’s “love language” (52:55).

4. Personal Stories & Vulnerable Moments

• John’s Humble Beginnings as an Author
  • Before authoring 25+ books, John failed English and creative writing; he credits God’s grace entirely (05:56–07:33).
  • Memorable Quote:

    “My name’s on that book because I was the first guy to get to read it!” (07:12)

• Madison’s Confession
  • Madison humorously confesses to stealing (not borrowing) John’s book God, Where Are You? in a difficult season, attesting to its profound effect on her life (03:35–05:56).

5. The Responsibility and Danger of Spiritual Complacency

• Why Many Fall Away
  • John references research:

    “In the previous 20 years, over 30 million Americans walked away from the faith... Why did they do it? Because they didn't have the fear of the Lord.” (55:04)

• The Peril of Making God in Our Own Image
  • John warns against Western Christianity’s tendency to “make a Jesus who gives me what I want… That’s a form of idolatry” (44:55).
• The Searing Analogy of Spiritual Adultery
  • In a striking analogy, John likens half-hearted devotion to a bride wanting to spend most nights with her husband, but reserving some for old boyfriends:

    “Do you think Jesus is coming back for a church that says, let me sleep with the world... just a couple nights a year?” (62:21)

6. Practical Advice and Encouragement

• It’s All About Lordship
  • John stresses, “You cannot receive Jesus as Savior and Him not be Lord. You receive him as Lord, and then he becomes your Savior.” (42:08)
  • He challenges listeners to submit the throne of their heart entirely to Christ (59:25).
  • Quote:

    “There's only one way, and that is to completely lose your life. Give your life totally to him.” (59:58–62:21)

• A Prayer of Surrender
  • John leads listeners in a prayer of full surrender to Christ as Lord and King (64:56).

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Notable Quotes & Moments (with Timestamps)

• On Living with Perspective:

  “If you live 120, and you divide it by eternity, you still get zero.”
  — John Bevere (15:48)

• On Heaven’s Reality:

  “Heaven is what created this world... The activity is so intriguing, there’s no words that can describe it.”
  — John Bevere (26:18)

• On Being Set Apart:

  “The fear of the Lord is terrified of being away from God.”
  — John Bevere (46:35)

• On Lordship:

  “You receive him as Lord and then he becomes your Savior.”
  — John Bevere (42:23)

• On Preparation for Eternity:

  “We’re kind of in a job interview and our resume is being written… Jesus is going to look at that.”
  — John Bevere (19:51)

• On the Shocking Analogy of Spiritual Adultery:

  “We think Jesus is coming back for a church that says, let me sleep with the world… He’s not your Lord, he’s not your husband. You’re using him.”
  — John Bevere (62:21)

• On Generational Destiny:

  “There’s such a destiny of God on this generation…If you miss it, God will go to the next generation.”
  — John Bevere (59:57)

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Key Timestamps for Important Segments

• [03:35] Madison’s testimony about John’s book, God, Where Are You?
• [13:05] John recounts Brazil revival and what fueled it (eternal perspective)
• [15:35] John’s “mathematics of eternity” and the Bema seat teaching
• [17:13] Explaining the believer’s judgment (Bema seat)
• [26:17] Dispelling myths of heaven and the “activity” of eternity
• [39:29] Defining the true fear of God: not being scared, but changed
• [43:15/46:35] Fear of the Lord as the terror of being separated from God, not a servile fear
• [51:46] Fear of God leads to true intimacy: “Friendship with the Lord is reserved for those who fear Him.”
• [55:04] Barna poll on mass Christian exodus and its root cause
• [62:21] Spiritual adultery analogy—devotion and Lordship
• [64:56] John leads a prayer of full surrender

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Episode Tone & Takeaways

This conversation is direct, convicting, and deeply pastoral, yet filled with hope and encouragement. John’s teaching pierces common Christian complacency, urging a wholehearted, eternity-focused devotion. Madison’s questions and testimonies ground the episode in relatability and practical challenge.

Key spiritual calls to action:

• Embrace Christ as Lord, not just Savior.
• Live each day with eternity in mind.
• Cultivate the fear of the Lord—awe that draws you closer, not terror that drives you away.
• Let the reality of eternal rewards—and potential loss—inform how you steward your gifts, moments, and choices now.

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Final Prayer (64:56)

John Bevere leads a prayer inviting listeners to surrender heart, soul, and life to Jesus as Lord and King, affirming forgiveness and new life for all who come to Him.

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For more from John Bevere, check out his books mentioned in the episode:

• Driven by Eternity
• The Awe of God
• God, Where Are You?
  …and stay connected with Madison for further conversations and encouragement in walking out your faith with conviction and truth.

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“As always, be sure to stay you and stay true.” — Madison Prewett Troutt

Transcript

[Madison Pruitt]

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[Madison Pruitt]

Can you first just start off by explaining what is the fear of God?

[John Bevere]

You receive him as Lord and then he becomes your Savior. And the Holy Spirit said, is he really your Lord?

[Madison Pruitt]

Can you dive into a little bit more about eternal rewards?

[John Bevere]

Judas healed the sick in my name. Judas cast out devils in my name. Judas preached repentance in my name. Where is Judas?

[Madison Pruitt]

What would you say to the person that's like, why talk about eternity? Why think about eternity? Why write about eternity? And why does eternity really matter?

[John Bevere]

Lucifer saw God right in his glory, led worship and he didn't fear God. He didn't endure in heaven forever. A lot of Christians are actually kind of scared about eternity. It's not like you're all of a sudden going to go to a nonstop worship and be yawning. No, it is so much more complete in life than what we're living in right now.

[Madison Pruitt]

I saw the book God, where are you? And I was like, I'm just gonna, you know, I'm gonna borrow this for a second. Well, I didn't borrow it. I kept it. I'll confess. I'll confess on my podcast. I stole it. I stole God. Where are you? It changed my life. What's up, guys? Welcome back to another episode of Stay True podcast. I'm your host, Madison Pruitt. Tr I am here with the one and only someone that I have been waiting to be on this podcast for a long time and someone who has personally impacted my life so much and is also practically family, John Bevere. Welcome to the Stay True podcast.

[John Bevere]

Maddie. I'm so honored to be on this podcast. With you. And I love the name you've come up with. Stay True. I, I, I think one of my personal goals in ministry is that when I leave this earth, I want to be more in love with Jesus than when I started ministry because I've seen too many people enter into ministry and they end up in a cynical place or a jaded place and your heart just breaks. You know, they really did love God when they started, but now all of a sudden it's lost, it's fire.

[Madison Pruitt]

Yeah, well, I've been, not to jump in so heavily heavy handed at the beginning, but honestly, I mean, I've been like studying in the book of Revelation, which we're going to be talking a lot about in today's episode on eternity, which you have written a book called Driven by Eternity. And this book has impacted me. You guys have to go listen to this book or read this. I've been listening to it actually, which has been so cool because you kind of paint this like, or not kind of. You do, you paint this like, how would you describe it? A fictional narrative based on like scripture.

[John Bevere]

It's an allegory. Yeah.

[Madison Pruitt]

Yes, an allegory. And it's, it's just so well done. And I, I feel like I'm, I'm watching a movie, but I also feel like I'm there and it's, it's really, really cool. And so you guys, we're going to be talking about that a little bit on today's episode, as well as the Awe of God, another book you've written that has changed my life. But I have been talking with my husband Grant a lot about this because, you know, we've been talking about how a lot of everyone can start the same, right? You, you have this encounter with God. You have this radical moment, you feel the, you have the goosebumps, you have the, you know, you're excited, you're pumped up. I want to follow Jesus. And then, you know, life and what happens is so many people fall away and fall off. And Grant and I talk about it all the time is like, we want to make it to the end. We want to make it to the end. We want to finish the race. You know, my life versus Acts 20:24, for I consider my life worth nothing to me. My only aim is to finish the race and complete the task. The task of testifying to the good news of God's grace. And that should be all of our, you know, our posture of our heart, our goal. And we're going to be talking a lot about that on today's episode. So I'm really excited to dive in. But also, another book that you've written, I got to have you come back on, because I was just talking with one of my friends about this. I was like, you and I said this to you right before we pressed record. But your books have impacted my life truly more than I would dare to say anybody else's. And it's because you write with such conviction. And I can just tell that each book is written in the presence of the Lord, because when I read it, I feel the presence of the Lord. And everyone listening can testify that I've had on a lot of people, and I've not said that. And so I just am so grateful for your obedience and the way that the Holy Spirit speaks, speaks to you. But one of your books called God, where are you? That I was in one of the lowest seasons of my life. I remember I came to visit. So my cousin Christian married his son, Arden Bevere. Christian's been on the podcast before. We love Christian and Arden so much. And I went to visit them in Colorado when you guys were all living out there, and I was in a really low season. And I just remember looking through a bookshelf that they had there, and I saw the book, God, where are you? And I was like, I'm just gonna. You know, I'm gonna borrow this for. Well, I didn't borrow it. I kept it. I'll confess. I'll confess on my podcast. I stole it. I stole God, where are you? It changed my life. It was so good. I had I tears on every page. I was highlighting every page. But I was talking with someone before this and said, you know, every single one of your books, I. I want to have you come back on and do, like, the bait of Satan killing Kryptonite. I'm like, you just. All of your books have just such a important.

[John Bevere]

Do you want to hear something amazing? My very worst subject in high school was English and creative writing. And look at God. You know, back in 1990, God spoke to me and he said, 1991, he said, I want you to write. And I said, you got the wrong person. I literally scored 370 on the SAT in English, and I scored 16 on the ACT in English. That's how bad I was at English. Now, I scored very high in math and science, but that's why I didn't want anything to do with. With English, right? And God speaks to me and says, son, I want you to write. I said, you've got so Many kids on the earth, you're getting us confused with one another. Talk to my English teachers. You don't want me writing. And I remember 10 months later, two women coming up to me, and they said, if you don't write what God's giving you to write, he'll give the message to somebody else, and you'll be judged one day for it. Well, the fear of God hit me, and I literally wrote a contract with God. I got a Sharpie, Maddie. And I tore out a notebook, piece of paper. This is 91, okay. And I said, God, I think you're making a mistake, but I need grace. And now I look at how God has used these books, and what I love about it, Maddie, is I can't take credit. I wasn't a writer. I was a terrible writer. And I know that for God to be able to use these books to impact people's lives, there's only one way it can happen, and that's if it's him.

[Madison Pruitt]

Yeah.

[John Bevere]

And I know that I always like to say my name's on that book, because I was the first guy to get to read it. I'm so well aware. And you know how many times I've been in hotel rooms and I've jumped up and go, oh, my gosh, that's so amaz. And you think that is so arrogant. No, it's not. It's like, I'm, like, really getting ministered to by the Holy Spirit at that moment. So thank you for saying that means a lot.

[Madison Pruitt]

No, I. And I mean every word. We are right now on the podcast in the middle of the Dare to Be True series. I have a book coming out in the fall called Dare to be True. And what we do in the series is we play a little truth or dare at the beginning of every podcast.

[John Bevere]

Okay.

[Madison Pruitt]

So I have a fun little truth or dare game for you, and I've seen how competitive you are.

[John Bevere]

Yes.

[Madison Pruitt]

Thankfully, none of these is gonna require us to compete against each other, but I am really excited to see what you choose. Truth or dare? So, John, truth or dare?

[John Bevere]

I'll go Truth.

[Madison Pruitt]

Okay. I was actually really looking forward to how you would have handled the dare, but I'll make you do that one off camera. Okay.

[John Bevere]

Okay.

[Madison Pruitt]

Truth. We're gonna jump right into it. If you knew the exact day you would be face to face with Jesus, how would that change how you live today?

[John Bevere]

I would say 20 years ago, it would have changed. I would say today there is such an awareness that we are. His return is so imminent. I plan like he's not coming back for 200 years. But in my heart of hearts, I believe we're so close to his return. I don't want anybody to stop planning to stop working because we are commanded to occupy until he comes. But I have to say, I don't think there'd be too much. Maybe I might play a little less pickleball. Maybe I might play a little. But to be honest with you, I feel his pleasure because we are supposed to rest. We are supposed to. Recreation means recreation. It's when we make an idol out of it. So I try to live a very balanced life. I want to be a very good family man. I want to be an excellent husband. I want to be an excellent dad and grandfather. But I also want to be an effective minister of Jesus Christ.

[Madison Pruitt]

Yeah.

[John Bevere]

And so every minute of a day is all laid out for me. I, I don't believe in wasting time.

[Madison Pruitt]

And you're very disciplined. I feel like I've seen that from afar and even just in seeing how Christian and Arden operate. And I'm just like, you guys live, you make every moment matter, which is so important because what you're saying, like there's. We were talking about this right before the podcast, but there's weight. There is a weight.

[John Bevere]

And, but I wish I could speak to my 25 year old self and I would say to my 25 year old self, there are so many frivolous things that don't matter. I used to get so upset, you know, people, relationships, maybe they misunderstood me or this. And all of a sudden you realize, okay, either God corrects it or we just move on and one day I'll get, It'll get straightened out.

[Madison Pruitt]

So true.

[John Bevere]

And I think that we give too much time in our thought life to things that eventually get worked out or instead of addressing it in the spirit and then leaving it with God. And I really do believe that anxiety and distractions are the two big things that I would say to my 25 year old self. Be very careful of.

[Madison Pruitt]

That's so good and so true. I write about, in my book, I have a whole chapter on eternity and I want to specifically talk about that and how in thinking about eternity, how that impacts our today. Because I think if we're honest, a lot of us don't live like eternity. Our reality, like we don't live like it's coming. We don't live like it matters. And so what, what would you say to the person that's like, why, why talk about eternity? Why think about eternity? Why write about eternity and why does eternity really matter?

[John Bevere]

How many hours do we have?

[Madison Pruitt]

I know, right? Not enough time, John.

[John Bevere]

So let me. Let me take you back on a little bit of a journey. Can I do that?

[Madison Pruitt]

Yeah.

[John Bevere]

So the year is 2005 and I'm out praying. I always have a place. I like to pray early in the morning. I'm usually up at 5. And now it's my tennis courts down the street. And it used to be the golf course in the backyard. I was on the golf course, it was dark. And God spoke to me and said, I want you to write a book on the judgment seats. And I'm like, I've never preached 20 minutes on the judgment seat. How. How can I even write a paragraph or a chapter, let alone a book? And he said nothing. So I went back home and I got every scripture from eight different translations in the Bible that had to do with eternity, rewards, judgment, heaven, hell. And I had a book, a three ring binder that thick of 12 point scriptures. And I went, oh my gosh, God's got a lot to say. So what I did is I just sat and meditated on these for a month and all of a sudden God started opening my eyes and I am seeing, wow, this is a massive subject. And this is something that the enemy hates when somebody gets a hold of. If you look at C.S. lewis, he said, the person who does the most in this world is the person whose mind is on the next world. That's what C.S. lewis wrote. And I realized that life is all about perspective.

[Madison Pruitt]

Yeah.

[John Bevere]

So I'm going to fast forward and then I'll reverse again. 2016, I go down and I speak to 12,000 pastors in Goyania, Brazil. The next day they were blowing the roof off the ceiling. I mean, I thought, these are pastors and leaders, yet they're so fired up, it's crazy. So the next day I'm having lunch with the eight top pastors. And I said, okay, guys, how many people are in your churches? They said, oh, well over 300,000 people. Wow, that's amazing, right? And I said, so when did this organization start? Now I'm thinking they're going to say 120 years ago. The guy went to heaven in the 1930s. You know, I'm expecting this, right? They go, oh, we started 16 years ago with one man. His name is Pastor Aluigio. You met him last night, but he couldn't be at lunch today. I dropped my fork, I said, whoa, whoa, wait a minute, whoa, hold on. Are you telling me you you have won and seen over 300,000 people come into this church in 16 years. How do you do that in a first world nation? And I thought I knew the answer to my question. I thought they were going to say, it's our small groups. And the pastor who spoke the best English, he was sitting across the table from me, he goes, it's because we teach our people on the second coming, the millennial reign of Christ and eternal rewards and judgment.

[Madison Pruitt]

Wow.

[John Bevere]

And I said, what? Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, what? And he said, john, he said, look, I speak good English, so I get invited to speak a lot in America at your conferences. I said, okay. He said, I have discovered you Americans have a 70 or 80 year perspective. He said, our people have an eternal perspective. Now let me, let me, let me frame it this way. We've all gone to Sunday brunches, okay? And I've been, actually, because I minister all over the world, I've been taking some really nice Sunday brunches, okay? And I'm thinking about the one in Hawaii right now the pastor brought me to. And it was like, you can't even believe the number of foods and desserts they have. And I remember walking over that table and there were so many amazing looking desserts, right? I walk up to that table, if I have a one day perspective, what am I going to do, Maddie? I'm going to eat every one of those desserts on that table, right? If I have a one year perspective, what am I going to do? I'm going to eat one or zero. Why? Because I don't want an upset stomach tomorrow. I don't want 10 pounds of fat on my body next week and I don't want compromised long term health.

[Madison Pruitt]

Surprise. I have really exciting news. Stay True Podcast is going live. Mark your calendars for Saturday, November 8th at Rocket Town, Nashville, Tennessee. It is going to be an incredible night filled with worship, special guests, and yes, a live recording of the Stay True podcast right in the room with you. I have been wanting to do this for so long and I'm truly so excited to see how the Lord is going to move. This is more than just a podcast event. It is a night to gather, talk about God's truth, worship, be a part of something bigger than yourself, and dive deep into conversations that matter. I cannot wait to see so many of your faces, meet you in person, and experience this night together. So grab your friends, get your tickets with link in my bio, and join me in Nashville on November 8th for Stay True Podcast Live. I'll see you guys There.

[John Bevere]

When you live life with an eternal perspective, you make decisions differently. You endure things you wouldn't necessarily endure. When you look at this life, James says it's a vapor.

[Madison Pruitt]

Yeah.

[John Bevere]

If James is alive today, he's going to write it different. He's going to say, this life is zero. Why do I know that? Because we know something through simple mathematics James didn't know and understand. And that is this. Any finite number divided by infinity is equal to zero. So if you live to be 80 years, and you divide 80 years by eternity, you compare it to eternity, you get zero. If you live 120, and we don't know many too many people that do that, and you divide it by eternity, you still get zero. Now, here's what really impacted me. I started realizing that Paul writes to us believers and says, we're all going to stand before the judgment seat of Christ. Now, the reason a lot of people don't take heed to that is because they think there's one judgment. That's when God says to the sinners, you didn't receive Jesus, you're gone. You received Jesus, you're in heaven. That's not true. There's two judgment seats. There is the believer's judgment, which is called the Bema seat of Christ, where Paul said that to be absent from the bodies, to be present for the Lord. He said, therefore, we make it our goal while we're here in the physical body, to be well pleasing, because we're all going to stand before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, whether good or bad. And I remember seeing the word bad. And I went, wait a minute. This is believers. Because the unbelievers, when they're absent from the body, they're not in the presence of the Lord, they're in hell.

[Madison Pruitt]

Yeah.

[John Bevere]

And I realized Paul is talking only to believers here. And we're gonna even count of bad or good. All of a sudden I realized the word bad actually means a better translation is worthless. So all of a sudden I'm looking at this and I'm realizing, and I'm studying through Scripture. And this is when I've got my notebook full of scriptures. We're not only going to give an account of what we did, but what we said, what we thought, and the intentions behind what we do. Now somebody says, wait a minute, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. If you go to First Corinthians 4, verse 5, Paul says, we don't judge anyone before the time when Jesus is going to judge us. He said, because he's going to bring our darkest secrets and our private motives to light, and then we will receive praise from God. No sinner is going to get praise from God. Paul can't be talking about the sinner's judgment. He has to be talking about the believer's judgment. So I'm like, he's going to look at my motives, my darkest secrets. Here's Jesus. He's going to look at our entire life and he's going to make judgment over it. Now here's our problem. We have so many disconnects, all right? When somebody hears the word judgment, their mind goes to condemnation.

[Madison Pruitt]

Yeah.

[John Bevere]

The word judgment in the New Testament, 90, over 90% of the time is the Greek word krima k r I m a, which means simply a decision. That's all it means. A decision, to get a little bit more specific, resulting from an investigation. So Jesus is going to do this investigation. He's going to make decisions. The Bible says that one of the foundational truths of our faith in Hebrews chapter 6 is eternal rewards and judgment. So replace the word judgment with decision. So one of the foundations, how we build our Christian life is to understand that we are going to one day be examined and decisions are going to be made. And they're called eternal judgments. So that means they're eternal decisions. So that means the decisions he makes over us are going to stand forever. So that means what I do in this zero times, this blip is going to determine my position. Because basically, right now, we're kind of in a job interview and our resume is being written, and Jesus is going to look at that and he's going to say, I want you to rule a continent. I want you to be a gardener. I want you to be on my vision board. And we're going to plan galaxies.

[Madison Pruitt]

Wow.

[John Bevere]

Okay. I'm like, oh, my goodness. So I look at people like you and your, you know, your age, and you're so wise. Because the wise ones in your age go, I'm going to do and educate myself on what I believe I'm supposed to do in life. Okay? If I'm supposed to be a tech person, I'm educating myself on how to be savvy with tech and understand the inner workings of it and all of that. And if I prepare well, I end up getting a really good position and I advance quickly. It's the same way spiritually. Jesus is looking for those who are going to say, I'm going to prepare myself now so that he can choose me to be able to rule. So our salvation is a free gift. You can never earn it, but what we do for eternity is not a free gift. And so it's it riveted. I've written 25 books. No book impacted me personally. Like I wish I could live my life, all my life, my Christian life. Like what happened to me when I wrote that book. Let's map out this week's amazing destinations and travel tips.

[Madison Pruitt]

Honestly Will, I didn't plan any trips, but I did switch to T Mobile.

[John Bevere]

With their new Family Freedom offer.

[Madison Pruitt]

That's not the itinerary we're following. Well, I'm departing from AT T and embarking on a new journey with T Mobile. They paid off my family's four phones up to $3200 and gave us four.

[John Bevere]

New phones on the house. Bon voyage.

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[John Bevere]

T Mobile falls here and for me that means comfort meals, cozy nights and tailgating weekends. And Omaha Steaks makes it all easy. I love having their premium steaks and juicy burgers ready in my freezer. I recently grilled their filet mignon. So tender, flavorful and better than anything I've had elsewhere. Right now. During their Red Hot sale you get 50% off site wide plus get an extra $35 off with code Flavor at checkout. Get fired up for fall grilling with omaha steaks. Visit OmahaSteaks.com for 50% off site wide during their Red Hot Sale event and for an extra $35 off, use promo code FLAVOR at checkout. That's 50% off at Omaha Steaks.com and an extra $35 off with promo code Flavor at checkout. See sign for details. I wrote that book and the fear of God came on my life in a good way and it's never left since.

[Madison Pruitt]

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[John Bevere]

Boy, there's so much that can be said on that question. First of all, Grant means so much to you because I'm sure I can already tell you this just by what I've heard about Grant. He didn't just say, okay, I'm marrying Maddie and do nothing to prepare. I mean, he wooed you, he sent you flowers, he took you to beautiful places for dinner. He did special little things because he wanted to get closer and closer with you, right?

[Madison Pruitt]

Yeah.

[John Bevere]

There are people, it's all about proximity. You want to be close with people that want to be close with you. Jesus wants to be close for eternity with people that really want to be close to him. But let's address eternity, okay? Because do you know what I've discovered? A lot of Christians are actually kind of scared about eternity.

[Madison Pruitt]

Yeah.

[John Bevere]

They're like concerned it's going to be one long worship, boring worship service. We're going to be ethereal beings. We're going to, you know, be on clouds and you know, are you kidding? Heaven is what created this world. Okay. So this world. I've been actually reading a book about a pastor who did a study on over a thousand people have near death experiences. And every one of them have the same response. They don't want to come back. They said they feel like they wake up from a dream when they leave this earth and come into reality when they come there. And they said, the beauty of this place is so magnificent and the activity is so intriguing. There's no words that can describe it. Here's the way one person put it, and I love it. Imagine yourself living in a two dimensional picture frame and it's a black and white and you're hanging on this beautiful. This is a beautiful mansion. And you're one of the pictures and you're, you're one of the little figures in the two, in the two dimensional black and white picture on, right. Like Lisa and I have got these three horses that are black and white in a frame in our house, right? You're in that and then all of a sudden somebody brings you out of that into this and you go, oh my gosh, look at the colors. Look at, there's three dimensions and you start experiencing, right? And you go back into that picture and you try to describe to the other people in that black and white picture what this is like. Okay. That's a pale comparison of how people have tried to explain what it's like to be in heaven and the throne. There's activity. There are things that God has put in us that we love doing, that we're going to be doing forever because he gifted us the gifts and callings are without repentance, which means you have all these people out there. They just find themselves. I just love to do this. I love to hit balls. I love to work with my hands. I love to build things. That's something that you're going to have forever and ever and ever. It's not like you're all of a sudden going to go to a nonstop worship service and be yawning and thinking, isn't there more to this? No, it is so much filled with so much more complete in life than what we're living in right now. This world's under a curse. All of creation came under a curse. Can you imagine? I mean, you go down to Patagonia, you go. You go over and you look at some of the wonders of the world, and you sit there and go, my gosh, this is amazing. I look up at night, and I was a big astronomy buff when I was in high school, and I just look at the Milky Way, and I just be in awe.

[Madison Pruitt]

Yeah, right.

[John Bevere]

And you think heaven created all of this. What is heaven like? And so, yes, I am not a citizen of this world. I have a job to do. There's only one thing that's keeping me here, and that is loving my wife and my family. That is doing the work that God's called me to do, getting to be on, you know, Stay True podcast. That's. That. That's an assignment, and I'm here doing that. But my heart, I have found myself. When I'm deep in prayer, crying out, saying, God, your heart is my home. I will never. You know, that's what David cried out when he wrote the Psalms. Even a bird has a nest. Even. Even. In other words, that's the bird's home. I don't. Here's David living in a palace, writing this. And he goes, my, you, throne room. Let me be a doorkeeper there, because your throne is my home. That's where I long for. And I think it's okay, because I think what it does is it causes us to be more passionate and more purposeful in how we live. Yeah, because Paul said, we're not comfortable in these bodies. Okay. We yearn to be further clothed, not to be naked, but to be further clothed so that we can behold him. People that have seen him said that just his eyes alone you could stare at for eternity. How do you understand that in this world? Literally. I've read More than one person that said there was a blind girl and she. She had a near death experience. So think about it. That girl's never seen a thing, and she was born blind. And she said, I could have stared at his eyes throughout all eternity. She said, all of a sudden, the answers to how the universe was created and held together, I saw them all in his eyes. Why are these angels at the throne room crying out holy? And why aren't they saying God, I'm bored. I've been doing this for 14 trillion years. Can you get a replacement? They don't want to be anywhere else because there's absolutely nothing more intriguing, magnificent, full of awe, wonder in all of creation than. Than him himself, than Jesus himself, than the Lord God himself. So I sit there and I go, okay, you created all this, and this declares how magnificent you are. The complexity, the intricacy of all of this. And you're the only being in the entire universe that's never been created. And you chose to be my dad. Right, okay, like, so. You know that psalm? You know that song? Am I okay doing this? I. I'm just. Okay.

[Madison Pruitt]

I'm fired up over here. This is, you know.

[John Bevere]

You know that Psalm, Psalm 8, where it says, when I consider the heavens, the works of your hands and your fingers, what is man that you're mindful of him? I have asked myself, who wrote that? Okay, so I have a theory. Can I tell you my theory?

[Madison Pruitt]

Please tell me the theory.

[John Bevere]

So there's these four massive angels. You know, John calls them four living creatures. Isaiah calls them seraphim. They're massive. They have six wings, you know, and they're right by the throne of God. Well, Ezekiel tells us that wherever God goes, these four angels go with him. Okay? And these, these creatures are like, magnificent. And I just see God creating this magnificent universe. And those four creatures come to this earth and he forms this guy from the. From the elements of the earth, and he breathes into him the breath of life. And I can just see one of those creatures going, what is that? That you. All of the focus of your attention is on that. So now God loses it. And then you think about Jesus coming. So God taking on human God actually entrusting himself to a young virgin girl to take care of him. Somebody had to change his soiled diapers. Somebody had to feed him.

[Madison Pruitt]

Right, right.

[John Bevere]

So he puts himself into his hands of his creation to feed him. Then he goes through brutality like none of us could ever imagine. I mean, a lot of people don't realize he was moved five different times to four different places that night. And beaten in all four of those places. And by skilled warriors who exhausted themselves beating him. The Bible says that he didn't even look like a human being. Isaiah wrote it. He didn't even have the appearance of a human being by the time they got done with him. By the time he hung on the cross, he didn't even look like a human being anymore. His beard's been ripped out. He's so disfigured, so beaten in the face, he doesn't even have the appearance of a man anymore. He knows that now. Can I really blow your mind?

[Madison Pruitt]

Please.

[John Bevere]

I've just written a new book that's coming out March 3rd called the King is Coming.

[Madison Pruitt]

Oh, I'm so excited.

[John Bevere]

And it's about the Second Coming. And I'm sitting there, and the Holy Spirit leads me, and I start doing some research, and I found out that they've discovered something in psychology called. And they put a name on it. It's called trauma bonding. And you know what Trauma bonding states? People that have suffered together actually develop a closer relationship. So, all right, let me give you an example. If you have Navy SEALs, they have a bond that is just, like, crazy amazing, because they have. They have suffered together.

[Madison Pruitt]

Yeah.

[John Bevere]

If you look at a mother, the greatest pain and discomfort she'll ever go through is having her baby. You would think she would resent her baby. Actually, the bond between a mother and a child is closer than even a father and a child. There's no bond closer. Okay. So these psychologists, especially in Australia, put a name on it and called it trauma bonding. So I sat there and I asked the question when I was writing this book, God, you planned this whole thing out from the foundation of the earth. Couldn't you have made this a little more simple than being beaten so bad that you didn't even look like a human being? And you're God and you did nothing wrong. And you actually created the whole universe. And you chose to get into this body and take that kind of pain and punishment. Why couldn't have you made this easier? And all of a sudden, I realized Jesus wants to be so close to his bride that he said, I'm willing to suffer that kind of suffering. This is why Paul said that I might know him and the fellowship of his sufferings. He's like, I want that closeness. When we suffer for Jesus, when we choose to obey him in a fallen world who's very adverse against us, we are saying, I want to be close now. That closeness is going to last. Forever.

[Madison Pruitt]

Yeah.

[John Bevere]

That's why the apostles praise God that they were counted, worthy to suffer when they were beaten for the gospel.

[Madison Pruitt]

Yeah. Amen.

[John Bevere]

These are the guys that were hiding before they understood. And so I look at this and I go, you choose to be our dad? That's mind blowing to me. What manner of love the Father's bestowed upon us that we should be actually called the sons and daughters of God. I mean, that right there. I rehearsed that every morning when I'm out in the tennis court praying, oh, my God, you're God. You created all this. Like your glory can't even be comprehended by my human mind. And yet you chose to be my dad. He chose to be your dad, Maddie. That's mind blowing. So I'm in awe.

[Madison Pruitt]

All right, guys, I have to tell you about a company that has been a total game changer for the longest time. I felt like I had to compromise when it came to skincare to get high quality products. It felt like I had to support companies that promot a culture that goes against everything I stand for. The beauty industry can be overwhelming, full of questionable ingredients and companies that just don't share our values. And that's why finding Neeme Skincare was such a breath of fresh air. They've taken all the guesswork out of it. Beyond just being effective, the products seem incredibly luxurious. My friend uses Neemi Skincare every day and she said her skin just drinks them in, leaving it feeling so soft and hydrated. She's noticed such a difference in how her skin looks and feels. It's brighter, smoother, and has a healthy glow it hasn't had in years. But here's the real reason I'm proud to tell you about them. Neeme is proudly American Christian owned and built on the timeless values of faith, family, and freedom. It feels so good to finally find a company that is unapologetic about what they believe in. This is skincare without compromise. Right now, Nimi is giving my listeners an exclusive offer. Go to neemi skincare.com and use my code MADDIE10 at checkout to get 10% off your first order. That's Nimi skincare.com and use code MADDIE10. You're not just getting incredible glowing skin. You're partnering with a company you can truly feel good about supporting. Unreal. It's. And it, it should. It should create that level of mind blowingness of like, you love me that much and you want a relationship with me. Because we, we as humans can be so selfish. Like God was made for Us and he's meant to serve, serve us. And you know, because this is what I, I want to get into that I think is going to transition into kind of talking about the fear of the Lord. In your book, all of God, I think we oftentimes we see Jesus as savior. Lord, you saved me. You saved me. You saved me. But we don't see him as king, we don't see him as judge, we don't see him as master. We don't allow him to be lord of our life. So it's more like, thank you for saving me. I'm gonna go live however I wanna live. I'm gonna build my little kingdoms and I'm not gonna really think about your kingdom, but I want you to come along and bless my kingdoms. And, and because of that, we're going to be face to face one day and we're going to have that man. Why didn't I, why, why, why wasn't it taught more? Why didn't I have that encounter? Why didn't I have that understanding? And it's talked about so much in scripture. It's why you said you literally just found all the scriptures, you and judgment and reward and all that. And it was enough for an entire book because it is talked about so much. I just don't think we meditate on it. We don't want to hear it and then we don't want to live it because we like to live selfish a lot. And so I think one of the greatest ingredients to being able to live with an eternal perspective and to make the most of our life, to live a life worthy of the calling that we've been given is to have the fear of the Lord. And you talk about that in your book, the awe of God and you know, in thinking about, in light of eternity, how that impacts our day to day, I think that's, that's a really important thing to talk about. And so can you first just start off by explaining what is the fear of God?

[John Bevere]

Absolutely. It's not to be scared of God because how, how can we be intimate with somebody we're afraid of? So you can be technically saved, but you're missing the beauty of salvation.

[Madison Pruitt]

Yeah.

[John Bevere]

And that is proximity and closeness to Jesus. So you look at the fear of the Lord and it's God's treasure, Isaiah 33, 6. It's Jesus delight, Isaiah 12, 3. It's what matures our salvation. So wait a minute, it's going to mature my relationship with Jesus. It does. So first of all, the fear of the Lord is not to be scared of God. How can we be intimate with somebody we're afraid of? When Moses brings Israel out of Egypt, he wants to bring them right to the mountain that he met God. If I look at Moses and Israel, I see a real, real perplexing situation. Israel is abused by Egypt. They have stripes on their backs. They've spent all their life building somebody else's inheritance. Their children are put to death by Egypt. They come out of Egypt and they constantly say, we want to go back. It was better for us in Egypt. Look at Moses. He lives in the nicest home in the world. His dad, his grandfather, is the richest man on the planet. He can have anything he wants. He leaves Egypt. He never once says, never. Will you find Moses saying anywhere in the first five books of the Bible, I want to go back to Egypt. It was better for me. It really was better for him than that desert. Why didn't Moses ever say it? Because he had one encounter with God at that bush, and he was like, everything else pales in comparison. So I would say people that have are building their own little kingdoms. They've really never encountered the presence of Jesus. I'm going to go back. I was excited about being saved. I knew I was called a ministry. I didn't really want to go in ministries. It took God a year and a half before I. To deal with me, before I said yes. So I said, yes. I know you're telling me to do this. I left my engineering job. I was making a lot of money, and I went to work for my church for $18,000 a year. Worked there for four years. Worked 70 hours a week. Loved it. Okay. But the last year, I was asked to go to the Philippines with another minister. And today that church is the largest church in the Philippines. They have, like, a couple hundred thousand people in it. But I'm in the church when it's only like 500, and I'm sitting in the front row, and the guy I'm going with is preaching, and he's preaching on the lordship of Jesus. And he said, the word savior is found 36 times in the Bible. The word Lord is over 7,000 times. Where does God put the emphasis?

[Madison Pruitt]

Wow.

[John Bevere]

He said the word Lord means owner. It means supreme in authority. Now, Mattie, I'm sitting there listening to him, and I remember him saying the statement so well. He said, you cannot receive Jesus as savior and him not be Lord.

[Madison Pruitt]

Wow.

[John Bevere]

You receive him as Lord and then he becomes your savior. And I remember I'm sitting there listening to this. And I'm the visiting minister, right? I'm supposed to be preaching next, right? And the Holy Spirit said, is he really your Lord? I'm like, I'm on the front row and I'm having this, this discussion. And I'm like, hold on a minute. I left engineering. I took a several thousand dollar a year pay cut. I've been working 70 hours a week for my church. I make $18,000 a year for four years. My heart speaks back and says, Judas left everything he had to follow me.

[Madison Pruitt]

Wow.

[John Bevere]

Judas healed the sick in my name. Judas cast out devils in my name. Judas preached repentance in my name. Where is Judas.

[Madison Pruitt]

Now?

[John Bevere]

You talk about the fear of God. So the fear of the Lord is more about being terrified of being away from God. Because here Moses brings these people to the mountain. He wants to introduce them to the one he met at that bush, right? Because the bush is at the mountain. The bush where he saw God is at Sinai. He brings them there and God says, God says to him privately, he says, moses, tell Those people, all 3 million of them, the whole reason I brought you out of Egypt was to bring you to me. He said, moses, tell him I'm going to come down, introduce myself to my kids in three days, get them ready. God comes down the mountain. All the people scream, run away. And Moses is perplexed and he goes in Exodus 20:20, everybody, look it up. Do not fear because God's come to test you, to see if his fears in you so that you may not sin. Wait a minute. Do not fear because God's come to see if his fear is in you. Moses is differentiating between being scared of God and the fear of God. The person who's scared of God is something to hide. What does Adam do when he sins against God? He hides from the presence of the Lord. Anyone who has something to hide from God, they'll start hiding from his presence because his presence light exposes everything. So people that don't want their motives exposed, they don't want their gossip exposed. They don't want their, you know, lustful, lustful lifestyle exposed. They'll hide from the presence of God. They'll be fine with Bible teaching, inspiration. They'll be fine with going to church because all my buddies are there. Just like all the people were comfortable playing church at the bottom of the mountain because God's presence was up at the top of the mountain with Moses. Joshua says, I want as close as I can get. So he goes up and you know, God invited Aaron to come up There. And Aaron didn't end up there. He. He found more comfort in the presence of people. And then they said, make us a God who will give us what we want.

[Madison Pruitt]

Yeah.

[John Bevere]

And he actually used the name Yahweh to identify that calf. He changed the image of God and made God into. Into one that would give them what they wanted. See, I believe what's happened in the Western church is we've created a Jesus who will give me what I want. That's a form of idolatry. Yeah, we still say. Because they still said, God delivered us from Egypt. God healed us. God provided for us. God was the pillar of fire, but they made him into a Yahweh that would give them what they wanted, which was their sex party and all their drinking and all that stuff they had. When Moses comes down, it gets exposed. See, Maddie, I believe that God spoke to me 30 years ago, and he said, I've got a young generation of men and women that are going to be like John the Baptist. They're going to go in the spirit and power of Elijah to turn the hearts of the people back to me. And he said, son, you're going to get to meet a few of them. He said, and I'm going to use you to inspire them. See, I believe God has allowed me to meet them. I believe you're walking in that you have a message for your generation that is not comfortable for your generation. It's different. It's not what your generation's been preaching. But there's going to be a bunch of you, a bunch of people like Arden and Christian that God is going to raise up. It's going to be an army. He showed me what John the Baptist was one man. With this one, it's sons and daughters and then menservants and maidservants. And they're going to come in the spirit and power of Elijah, and they're going to call the people's hearts back to God.

[Madison Pruitt]

Yeah.

[John Bevere]

And that's what you're doing. The fear of the Lord is terrified of being away from God. It's when we stand in awe of him. We esteem him above anything or anyone else. It's when we take on his heart. And what is important to him is important to me. What's not so important to him is not so important to me. It's when I love what he loves and I hate what he hates. See, somebody. Here's the problem. We have too many people in the church today that dislike evil. I remember when I started ministry, Maddie, I'm in ministry. And God finally released me to preach. It's 1990. Messenger International starts. Hardly anybody's asking me to come preach. I'm preaching at little churches of 80 people, 100 people, and it's very far and few between. And I'm praying two hours every morning. I'm reading my Bible. And when I go preach, my. My words are void, they're empty, they're hollow. Hollow is a good way of saying it just seemed like I'd preach, but my words are hollow. And so one morning, I was so frustrated. I was in prayer and I said, God, I didn't even want to go into ministry, and yet I go preach and my words are hollow. I said, why isn't there a stronger anointing on my life? And I yelled it out, right? And the Holy Spirit said, because you tolerate sin.

[Madison Pruitt]

Wow.

[John Bevere]

What? He said, you tolerate sin not only in your own life, but in the lives of others. He said, read Hebrews 1. So I go over to Hebrews 1. I have no idea what I'm going to read, but I realize, okay, this is the chapter where God inaugurates Jesus as king of the universe after he's been raised from the dead. And I got to verse 9. I read something very interesting. The Father says to Jesus, because you have loved righteousness. And the Holy Spirit said to me, stop, stop. You love righteousness and so do all Christians. He said, but that's not all. I said, let's map out this week's amazing destinations and travel tips.

[Madison Pruitt]

Honestly, Will, I didn't plan any trips, but I did switch to T Mobile.

[John Bevere]

With their new family freedom offer.

[Madison Pruitt]

That's not the itinerary we're following. Well, I'm departing from AT T and embarking on a new journey with T Mobile. They paid off my family's four phones up to 3, $200 and gave us.

[John Bevere]

Four new phones on the bon voyage.

[Podcast Advertiser]

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[John Bevere]

You love righteousness and hated sin. Lawlessness is the word used sin. Therefore God Even your God has anointed you beyond your companions. And the Holy Spirit spoke to my heart and he said, you learn to hate sin the way I hate sin. You'll see the anointing increase upon your life. Now, I want to make this really clear. The legalist is the one that says, I hate those or I fear God. That's why I hate those sinners. No, you don't fear God at all. You don't even have an ounce of the fear of God because you hate who he loves. God loves those sinners so much, he sent Jesus to die for them. That's not the fear of God. You see the difference? What God hates is the sin that unmakes the object of his love. It's the sin he hates, not the person he hates. He loves the person.

[Madison Pruitt]

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[John Bevere]

You know, in crying out to know the fear of the Lord, for 31 years, God has shown me over 40 benefits that he gives his people to walk in the holy fear of God. And the greatest one of those 40, and I cover it in that book. But the greatest one is intimacy with God. Because Psalm 25, verse 14 actually says, friendship with the Lord is reserved for those who fear Him. With them, he shares his secrets. You share secrets with Grant that you would never share with any of us, any of your listeners, any of us sitting here. Because you and Grant are so intimate and tight. Right. And you should be right. I share things with Lisa that I don't share with anybody else. Right. And she does the same with me. God shares the secrets with those who fear him because they're his intimate, close friends. Friendship is reserved. Jesus looked at his disciples and said, you are my friends. If. There's a big if there. If you do whatever I command you, in other words, if you fear me and you tremble at my word, and you care about obeying me more than anything else, your comfort, persecution, whatever it is, you, then you're my intimate, close friends. And I can't think of anything more fulfilling and rewarding in the universe than a friendship relationship with God Almighty.

[Madison Pruitt]

Amen. Amen. And it's so true. It's obedient. It talks about in. I think it's, first, John, if you love me, obey my commands. You will obey my commands. And, and that being God's love language, is. Is obedience. And so I think that that is so powerful and, and I'm so grateful for this conversation and honestly could talk for hours about this and would love for you to. To pray over those who are listening and watching this, this podcast. And I think one of the most important things that we're talking about in all of this for people to hear is, is I think about in Matthew chapter 7, How Jesus is saying many, many uses that word. And that's been, like, stirring in my heart. Many will come to me saying, lord, Lord, many, many, many people. These are. He's. He's like talking about people who think they know him and have a relationship with him. Many will come before me, Lord. Lord, did we not prophesy in your name? Did we not do all these things? And it's exactly what you were just saying when the fear of God struck you while you were in. Was it Brazil? You said Philippines. Philippines, yeah. And it's. It, I pray that this, this speaks to every single person listening and watching this. Because it's, it's not about just doing for God or running after whatever you want to do and then stamping God's name on it. There's got to be a letting him be Lord of your life and letting him be master. There's got to be a submission to him and an obedience to his word and to his will. And I. That is why I love books like this, because it's exactly what you were just encouraging me in. But this, this is an unpopular, anti cultural mess of submitting to the Holy Spirit, of being obedient to the commands of God, of fearing God, because everyone wants to say God is not giving you a spirit of fear. Do not fear. Do not fear. Do not fear. That is true. And that's talking about a totally different fear. This is a message that this generation needs to hear and, and needs to know that we are called. And it's what you just said, that the fear of God, it leads to all these benefits. We want, we want wisdom. We want all these things. And it's like, oh, scripture is clear. The fear of the Lord is what leads to wisdom. The fear of the Lord leads to having that intimacy with God, those things that you're craving. It starts with that fear of God.

[John Bevere]

Do you know that Barna did a poll in 2022 and found out in the previous 20 years, over 30 million Americans walked away from the faith? Maddie, I want you to stop and think about that. That's one out of every ten Americans. Do you think any one of those 30 million people said, one day I'm going to walk away from Jesus? Why did they do it? Because they didn't have the fear of the Lord. The Bible says the fear of the Lord gives us the ability to endure forever. Lucifer saw God right in his glory, led worship, and he didn't fear God. He didn't endure in heaven forever. Adam and Eve walked in the cool of the garden in the presence of his glory. They didn't fear God. They didn't endure forever. The fear of the Lord gives us that. And you just said something that really came to my remembrance. It was early 1990s. I had a vision and I saw A sea of people, a sea of humanity. It was an ocean of people. In the vision behind me was the gates in the city and Jesus. I didn't see them. I knew they were there. What God had my eyes on was the sea of humanity. Do you know that every one of those people called him Lord? And I heard the words come from behind me. I don't know who you are. I have no relationship with you. They called him Lord, but he wasn't Lord. They even did miracles in his name. See, Judas never knew Jesus. Judas left everything he did, all the right actions. People would have looked at Judas and said, man, he's made a lot of sacrifices to follow that guy, but he never submitted his heart to His Lordship. See, that's what I sense with you is I sense a very strong commitment to His Lordship. And that's what I lacked because I thought, see, I'm arguing with my heart. I'm like, I've left everything. I've taken a big pay cut. But when he said that to me about Judas, I went, oh, my gosh, it's. This is a hard issue. You know what I did when I flew back from the Philippines? I got into a room. Room. I put a chair in the center of the room, and I walked around that chair for two hours with an argument going on in prayer. I'm like, you're as crazy as can be. You're crazy. This is ridiculous. My heart's going, no. I kept saying, I can't leave this room until I know your seat on the throne of my heart and nothing or no one else. And I remember it was about the second hour. I refused to leave. I collapsed at that chair and wept and wept for 30 minutes. And I left, and I knew. Now, I'm not saying everybody has to do that. That's watching us right now. I'm just saying I had a battle because I had modeled before me a Christianity where you could live for yourself. A Christianity where we use God to get what we wanted. See, the world's using. What is it called when they confess something positive? They've got a name for it.

[Madison Pruitt]

Prosperity Gospel.

[John Bevere]

No, the world's got this thing called manifestation. I don't know. Anyway, you just say it, you think it, and.

[Madison Pruitt]

Oh, manifesting. Is that what it is?

[John Bevere]

Manifesting?

[Madison Pruitt]

Okay.

[John Bevere]

There's so many Christians. That's their attitude towards Jesus.

[Madison Pruitt]

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[John Bevere]

Instead of saying, I literally have taken up my cross and I'm all yours. That means I don't live Christ, you live in me. I didn't have that because like I said, it was modeled to me that you could be a Christian and still use God for what you really wanted.

[Madison Pruitt]

Yeah.

[John Bevere]

It took that kind of intense prayer time for me to figure it out. And I shouldn't for your listeners. Just happened to happen with me.

[Madison Pruitt]

Yeah.

[John Bevere]

And I just want to encourage every one of you because there's such, there's such a destiny of God on this generation, on your generation. I sense it so strong. So I would say if you were saying, hey, John, I'm going to pinpoint you, the 35 and unders, there's such a divine destiny and I'm going to tell you, if you miss it, God will go to the next generation. But he's going to have a generation that's going to glorify him in a profound way, in such a way that it's going to wake up the older generation. Now, it doesn't mean you're supposed to become arrogant, you're supposed to stay humble. But it's just your lifestyle, your passion, your. Your devotion will bring the people that. My relationship with Jesus is just basically, I'm a good person and I go to church on Sunday. You'll bring them, you'll awaken them. And that's why sons and daughters is listed first and then menservants and maidservants. Because I really believe your generation is going to spark us to going. Wait a minute, let me examine myself. Yeah, so I want you in on this. I know I'm speaking to people that are mostly 35 and under. I want to see you. And there's only one way, and that is to completely lose your life. Give your life totally to him. And you do basically what that bride does. Let's talk bride for a second here. I'm just. Jesus is the groom. We're the bride. When a bride's walking down an aisle of a church, she's actually saying something pretty strong. She's saying Goodbye to about 3.9 billion guys. Can we imagine? Young man's dating a young girl. Let's say Matt and Sarah do two fictitious names. Matt says, gets down on one knee, opens up the ring box. He's been dating her for a couple years. I love you with all my heart. Will you be my bride? She squeals with excitement. She grabs him, almost chokes the breath out of him. Yes, yes, yes. I'll marry you. I'll marry you. They talk about their life together for about 10 minutes. And then she goes, now, I dated Tony in high school, so can I have a couple nights with him a year? And you know, Sean was my college beautiful and can I have a couple nights with him? But you'll be my favorite. I'll have 360 nights a year with you. I just want about five nights with them. There's not one guy in the United States that would go for that.

[Madison Pruitt]

Yeah.

[John Bevere]

And we think Jesus is coming back for a church that says, let me sleep with the world. Let me sleep with. What drove the nails through your hands? Just a couple nights a year. Okay? He's not your Lord, he's not your husband. You're using him. Okay, I'm not saying that to be mean, to be harsh. I'm saying that to awaken you. Look at this relationship that you have available to you that the king of the universe would say, I want to be your groom. I want you to be my bride. I want to be as close to you as anyone else, with the exception of my father. I want us all to be one, one family. I want to. I want to live eternally with you. I want to. I want you to rule as my queen and reign with me forever. Okay. What an invitation. Shoot. Let go of the stupid things you sleep with a couple nights a year. Okay? Do you understand this invitation? So that's what I'm. I'm calling you to right now. Forsake all. Don't sleep, don't flirt, don't give your phone number out. Don't date what drove the nails through his hands anymore. What if I do it? Confess it, say, I'm so sorry, he'll forgive you like that. I'm talking about the people that go, oh, it's okay. No, he's not your Lord, but he can become your Lord right now. I believe this discussion that I've had with this woman of God has awakened your heart. And you don't need to do the two hours that I had to do. I didn't have somebody speaking to me like this. I believe the spirit of God is speaking to you right now. And I believe you are about to encounter Jesus in a way like you've never encountered him before. So just let's pray this prayer together. Say this with me, Father in heaven, forgive me for living my way apart from you today. I repent of this. I give my spirit, my soul and my body, everything I am and everything I have. I give it to you, Jesus. And I purpose from this moment forward with all of my heart to live, to glorify you in everything I do. Thank you for welcoming me in to your chamber, to your household. You are now the Lord and the King of my life forever and ever and ever. Fill me with your spirit. In Jesus mighty name. Amen.

[Madison Pruitt]

Amen. I believe that a lot of you guys just prayed that prayer, and we want to know if you did. So please let us know. Shoot us a message on Instagram or comment on YouTube and let us know how we can continue praying for you. Thank you so much for coming on this podcast. This was a. I felt the Holy Spirit before we started it, and I just feel the Holy Spirit moving right now. And if you just. If you made that decision, this is the greatest decision of your whole entire life. And you're just getting started. And so find other godly friends. Partner up with them. Let them hold you accountable and push you closer to Jesus. Don't try and do it alone. Thank you so much. And I will definitely be including these links because you guys need to go and reach. Read these books. They're really, really powerful. All right, guys, as always, be sure to stay you and stay true. We love you.

[John Bevere]

Marketing is hard, but I'll tell you a little secret. It doesn't have to be Let me point something out. You're listening to a podcast right now, and it's great. You love the host. You seek it out and download it. You listen to it while driving, working.

[Podcast Advertiser]

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[John Bevere]

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[Podcast Advertiser]

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[John Bevere]

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[Podcast Advertiser]

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[John Bevere]

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