About Stephen Nielsen

I'm an author, a self publisher, and a painting contractor. I live in beautiful Minnesota, USA . Welcome to my blog site.

Reigning with Christ

Posted on January 31, 2025 by Stephen Nielsen

Our reigning with God and with the Lord Jesus will be in heaven during the Tribulation, then during the Millennial Kingdom, and then on and on for eternity. There are four Scriptures that we will highlight.

From our first passage in Matthew 19:27-28, it happened that Jesus was traveling with His disciples to Jerusalem. And after Jesus had confronted a young man, telling him that he must sell his possessions and give that money to the poor in order to obtain eternal life, he went away grieving; for he was a rich man. Peter then came to Jesus and said to Him,

“Behold, we have left everything and followed You; what then will there be for us?” 28 And Jesus said to them, “Truly I say to you, that you who have followed Me, in the regeneration when the Son of Man will sit on His glorious throne, you also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

Here in verse 28, the words “in the regeneration” refer to the regeneration of the earth in the Millennial Kingdom. Clearly, he was saying to Peter and all the disciples that they would sit next to Jesus, each on his own throne, reigning with Him. And their reigning seems to be specifically toward governing the twelve tribes of Israel. Hence, we have to conclude by this that the Jews will be the primary group of people during the Millennial Kingdom.

Luke 22:29-30

And just as My Father has granted Me a kingdom, I grant you 30 that you may eat and drink at My table in My kingdom, and you will sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

In this setting, the disciples were partaking of the Lord’s Supper (the last one); and they began arguing among themselves as to which one of them would be the greatest in the coming kingdom. And it was during this clash that Jesus granted them to eat with Him in His kingdom, and also to rule with Him. How gracious Jesus was to forgive them of their selfishness and to speak to them of how they would reign with Him. Jesus must have thought it was pretty important to tell them what they would do. I think He was excited about it, and He wanted them to be excited and ready for it—instead of arguing among themselves.

Revelation 3:21

He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.

This is the third time Jesus brought up the subject of reigning. But here it is not just His twelve disciple who will reign. It is he who overcomes,” which refers to all true believers. And it seems clear that at any time we are in heaven we will sit down with Him on His throne to reign. What a privilege that will be.

In the first two passages Jesus was addressing only His disciples which would rules over the twelve tribes of Israel during the Millennial Kingdom. But in this passage (Rev. 3:21) Jesus is addressing all resurrected believers—you and me. Hence, the disciples will have a special mission to rule over all Israel. But all others (who are resurrected believers) will have other duties. We don’t know what they will be; whatever Jesus assigns to us to do we will gladly do it. In general terms (as Revelation 3:21 indicates), we will reign from His throne—with Him. But more specifically, I think we will probably be assigned some region to rule over, or to do something else.

Revelation 22:5

And there will no longer be any night; and they will not have need of the light of a lamp nor the light of the sun, because the Lord God will illumine them; and they will reign forever and ever.

This passage (vv. 1-5) is clearly describing the eternal state of every believer. We are His bond-servants (v 4); there will no longer be any night, because the Lord God will illumine us; and we will reign forever and ever [with Christ]. So, we are more than servants, we are rulers over the earth and the universe. We are heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ.

Now before we leave this topic, I want to include a few other verses. This subject is too important to leave anything out.

Genesis 1:26-28

Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27 God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. 28 God blessed them; and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

Just before God created man, He commissioned him to rule over all the earth.” At this point man’s rule did not include other people, but in the end—in heaven—it would, as we will see. But clearly, from the beginning, God made us with the capacity, and a purpose to rule.

Matthew 5:5

“Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth.

The gentle can also be translated as humble or meek. They are true believers, followers of God. And I would say that the closer a person is to God, the more he will inherit from God.

Matthew 25:22-23

“Also the one who had received the two talents came up and said, ‘Master, you entrusted two talents to me. See, I have gained two more talents.’ 23 “His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.’

These verses are from Jesus’ parable of the talents (Matt. 25:14-30). We must be careful not to read too much into this teaching; but here we may definitely see that our faithfulness now will determine how much God will entrust us with regarding our leadership in heaven.

Luke 19:17

“And he said to him, ‘Well done, good slave, because you have been faithful in a very little thing, you are to be in authority over ten cities.’

This is a similar parable as Matthew 25, but it is a little different. In Matthew 25 the faithful servant was put in charge of “many things.” Here the faithful one is given authority over cities. Hence, we don’t really know what we will be given to do. But I’m sure we will be glad to do it.

Roman 8:16-17

The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him.

I love these verses. We suffer now on this earth as He did. But soon we will be glorified with Him. And we will share all things with Him as fellow heirs with Christ. I like what Randy Alcorn said. “Ruling the universe is a family business.”5 Indeed, we are part of His family and we share all things with Him.

1 Corinthians 6:2-3

Or do you not know that the saints will judge the world? If the world is judged by you, are you not competent to constitute the smallest law courts? 3 Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more matters of this life?

Here the application is to not sue our brethren, but rather to seek the Lord for wisdom in resolving a case ourselves—since we someday will be judges over many and even over the angels.

2 Timothy 2:12

If we endure, we will also reign with Him;

If we deny Him, He also will deny us;

“If we endure” means that we prove that we are true Christians by our life. Then we will also reign with Him. But if we deny Him in this life, He will deny us when we see Him; and we will miss out on the great opportunity to reign with Him.

5 Randy Alcorn, Heaven (Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.: Wheaton, Illinois, 2004). p. 211.

Wrestling with God

Posted on January 30, 2025 by Stephen Nielsen

Wrestling with God is never wrestling against Him (in the proper sense), but always for Him, that is, for His righteousness and justice, etc. When Abraham and Moses wrestled with God they argued and pleaded for His righteousness and justice, and for His reputation (Gen. 18:22-32, Ex. 32:11-13). Thus, our wrestling in prayer must always be against evil and on the side of God (though at times in prayer, when we can’t quite understand His will, we will find ourselves arguing against Him—until He shows us what is right).

When we wrestle with God, we wrestling to take hold of God; or we wrestle with ourselves, to arouse ourselves to take hold of God (Is. 64:7). Our wrestling with God, in a sense, is trying to get God’s ear, or to get His attention. It is a crying out to Him, a pleading with Him. But all the while we must not try to convince Him of anything that is out of His will. Hence, our wrestling must always be in harmony with the Spirit of prayer.

But let us not be content to just wait on Him—waiting for His will to play out. No, we must take hold of God and plead for His will. For that is what He really desires of us. It is what the great men and women of faith did, and what we must do.

Wrestling with the Devil

Posted on January 29, 2025 by Stephen Nielsen

The devil and all his demons are, for the most part, the cause of our spiritual conflict; it is against them that we are called to war (Eph. 6:12). The demons are referred to here as “principalities” (or rulers), as “powers,” as “rulers of the darkness of this world,” and as “spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.” They are organized into a powerful evil force, whose purpose is to corrupt, destroy and to keep people from the saving grace of God (2 Cor. 4:4).

Our battle with the devil is both defensive and offensive. Defensively, we stand firm against the devil—always having on our spiritual armor (Eph. 6:14-18). Offensively, we seek out and destroy demonic strongholds that Satan builds up against us in our mind (2 Cor. 10:4-5). These strongholds are the accumulation of arguments for evil that he tries to bring into our mind—for the purpose of deceiving us into believing his lies as truth. They are the places in our mind where demons are protected and like to go. They are the places of moral darkness. If we categorized them, I suppose we could give names to them, such as: unbelief, failure, fear, and lust.

But we have many weapons at our disposal to break down these strongholds. Here are just a few: the word, faith, obedience, humility, and love; but our greatest weapon is prayer. Without prayer we would have no power at all. Prayer brings us the energy to put on our armor, as well as to pick up our sword. Without prayer we can do nothing at all against the enemy, but with prayer we can always gain the victory. Hence, in all our warfare against the enemy there must be constant, earnest prayer, all kinds of prayer, and prayer that travails.

Heaven Will Be A Life Of Service

Posted on January 28, 2025 by Stephen Nielsen

Our service to God in heaven will be in three different time periods: during the Tribulation, during the Millennial Kingdom, and after the Millennial Kingdom in the New Jerusalem for eternity.We will start our conversation from Revelation 7, which is during the Tribulation period.

Revelation 7:13-17

Then one of the elders answered, saying to me, “These who are clothed in the white robes, who are they, and where have they come from?” 14 I said to him, “My lord, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. 15 “For this reason, they are before the throne of God; and they serve Him day and night in His temple; and He who sits on the throne will spread His tabernacle over them. 16 “They will hunger no longer, nor thirst anymore; nor will the sun beat down on them, nor any heat; 17 for the Lamb in the center of the throne will be their shepherd, and will guide them to springs of the water of life; and God will wipe every tear from their eyes.” (bold for emphasis)

This passage (beginning at v. 9) provides us with a glimpse into heaven in which John saw a great multitude in white robes standing around the throne of God and before the Lamb (Christ), worshipping God with all the angels and the elders (the resurrected church). They are the resurrected believers of the Tribulation who were martyred for their faith.

Verse fifteen tells us that they serve Him day and night in His Temple. We don’t know much about this heavenly temple, but we know that it is where the throne of God is and where His presence is. And we can only wonder what they (and we) will do to serve Him day and night. But in their service they will be well cared for. They will not hunger or thirst. They will be out of the heat of the sun. The Lamb will be their shepherd and will guide them, and He will wipe every tear from their eyes.

Our service during the millennial kingdom will also be quite a mystery in that we don’t know many details of it. But we do know that we will always be with God and with Christ. And our home will be in the New Jerusalem, which will probably, at that time, be somewhere hovering over the earth. I am also inclined to believe that while we are serving on the earth we will be invisible (most of the time), as are the angels.

As I have outlined in my book, The Coming Millennial Kingdom, there will be at least five great purposes of the Millennial Kingdom: 1) to restore harmony to His creation, 2) to demonstrate God’s perfect government on the earth, 3) to fulfill God’s eternal covenants with Israel, 4) to display the character and glory of Christ, and 5) to provide a final test for man.4 I’m sure that in some way and form we, with the angels, and also with all the believing mortal leaders, will be serving Christ to fulfill these purposes. It will be an exciting time.

Our service after the Millennial Kingdom will be equally, if not more exciting. Revelation 22:1-4 gives us the setting.

Revelation 22:1-4

Then he showed me a river of the water of life, clear as crystal, coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb, 2 in the middle of its street. On either side of the river was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. 3 There will no longer be any curse; and the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and His bond-servants will serve Him; 4 they will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads.

Here John sees a crystal-clear river flowing from the throne of God. And it flows out into the golden streets of the heavenly city into every neighborhood, where on either side of the river will be the tree of life bearing fruit; and even the leaves of the trees will bring healing (or nourishment). And in this place (heaven) there will no longer be any curse. And the throne of God will be in it. I take this to mean that God will be everywhere showing us His presence.

This next part has to do with our service. It says that we are His bond-servants, that we will see His face, and that His name will be on our foreheads. In some respects, this sounds restrictive. A bond-servant is like a slave; and to have His name on our forehead means that He owns us and He is our master. Yet in other ways, this sounds very comforting and securing. Because we know that He loves us and cares for us, and He will never leave us. And we will never want to leave Him. Being very near Him and looking at His face is what we always desire. And to serve Him night and day will be our greatest joy.

And you think that is great, look at what Luke 12:37 tells us. In this parable Jesus tells us that “he will gird himself to serve, and have them [his slaves] recline at the table, and will come and wait on them.” Here Jesus is telling us that in heaven He will also serve us and wait on us. In so doing, He will demonstrate to us that He too will enjoy serving us. Yes, serving each other will be one of the great joys we will share together.

4 Stephen Nielsen, The Coming Millennial Kingdom (published by Stephen Nielsen, 2017), p.49.

Wrestling with Ourselves

Posted on January 27, 2025 by Stephen Nielsen

From Romans 7:23, we understand that the law of the mind is at war with the law of sin; and the law of sin seeks to make us its prisoner. In verse 25 we read that we serve the law of God with the mind and with the flesh the law of sin. The flesh here refers to that part of us that is unredeemed and still desires to sin. The mind refers to that part of us that has been renewed, which wants to do good. So, there is a constant battle within us, the flesh against our renewed mind, and the law of sin against the law of God. And so, we struggle in our mind and in prayer to resist the pull of sin within us.

That sinful flesh within us (our unredeemed humanness) is fed by the things that Satan offers to us out of the evil world. And we lust after those things. That lust (the desire for those things), is conceived within our own heart and gives birth to sin (Ja. 1:14, 15). Our lust is with the flesh (the body), to satisfy our appetite; with the eyes, to satisfy our greed; and with our pride, to satisfy our desire to be wise and important (Gen. 3:6).

But I must note also that even if the evil world weren’t offered to us we would still struggle with sin within us—with our selfishness, our love of ease, and with our lustful desires. Yes, we constantly strive in prayer to resist these things. Henceforth, we continue to wrestle within ourselves against our unwillingness to obey God, and to forgive others, and to pray for them. And we struggle all through our prayers, to be awake and alert to the Spirit of God.

We wrestle in prayer with the goal to find victory over sin through Christ (Rom. 7:25), and to find peace and rest in Christ. We wrestle with the view that we cannot win without Christ, that we are weak without Him. Hence, we wrestle in prayer to find our weakness (that is, our sinfulness) and the strength of Christ. We wrestle to be totally yielded to Him.

Heaven Will Be A Life of Fellowship

Posted on January 24, 2025 by Stephen Nielsen

Fellowship is all about companionship and sharing things in common. In heavenly, Chrisitan fellowship, we first of all, have fellowship with the Father and the Son. And of course, we will share in our love for them and for each other.

Before our glorification believers’ fellowship embraced confession of sins and faults, with prayers. And we often meet together to encourage one another. But, of course, fellowship in heaven will not include these things. All that is over and not needed.

If I could describe heavenly fellowship, I would say it involves just being together, sharing heavenly experiences, and sharing the love we have in Christ. It sounds quite simple, but I’m sure that it will never get old. In fact, the thing that baffles me is that we will be fellowshipping with each and every believer throughout history. That will take a long time; but we have an eternity to do it. I count it a challenge to make my rounds, contacting and greeting each and every believer down through the centuries: “Hi John, remember me?” “Hey Noah? Have you built any arks lately?” Just kidding!

Now, on the question of marriage, as to whether we will maintain the same kind of fellowship in heaven with our present spouse, here are a few remarks:

1. The institution of marriage is a wonderful thing for now, but it is a temporary provision. It is one of those things that will be “passed away” (Rev. 21:1, 4), making room for all things that are new (Rev. 21:5).

2. As Jesus declared to the Sadducees, in the resurrection we will not marry, but will be as the angels (Matt. 22:29-30). This, I think, is mainly because, like the angels, we will not die, and therefore, will have no need to propagate.

3. In heaven the man will no longer require a helper because he will be perfect. Likewise, the woman will no longer need a protector.

4. If you have a good relationship with your spouse, you will no doubt continue to have it in heaven; and you will also have that same perfect relationship with all people forever. Being divorced, I sometimes grieve over not having a good married life. But I look forward to having great relationships with all people in heaven.

Besides the question of marriage relationships, we may also have questions regarding our loved ones who have died, whether we will see them again and recognize them. Well, good news, the bible clears that up quite well. Several times in the Old Testament when someone died it was said that he was “gathered to his people,” indicating that the first ones he would see in heaven would be those of his family that he loved.

Here are five examples of men who were “gathered to his people”: Abraham (Gen. 25:8); Isaac (Gen. 35:29); Jacob (Gen. 49:29); Moses and Aaron (Nu. 20:24); Joshua and all that generation who died (Judg. 2:10).

We also have three other accounts that confirm that we will see our dead loved ones. In 2 Samuel 12, when David’s infant child died, he confidently said, “I shall go to him…” Hence, David was assured by God that he would see his child when he also would die.

Then also, in 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18 Paul tells all believers that we should be comforted knowing that our dead loved ones will be raised up first and then all who remain alive when He comes will also be caught up with Him, so that we would be together with those who died.

A third group is Christ with His disciples. In Luke 22:17-18, Jesus promised them that He would soon meet with them in heaven to share a meal together.

Another question we may have, is whether we will see and recognize some of the great saints of the bible like Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Well, once again, the bible confirms that we will see and recognize them. In Matthew 8:11, Jesus said, “I say to you [people who were following Him] that many will come from east and west, and recline at the table with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.”

I guess we can’t be absolutely sure on this point, but I have a feeling that God will make all of us able to recognize each other.

And if you have any thoughts that you will feel lost and out of place in heaven, well, I don’t think you will. I believe that God wants to make all of us comfortable and at home. I have a feeling that heaven will feel more like home to you than any place on earth. We will love being there. After all, we have been looking forward to heaven for a long time.

The most precious thing about our fellowship will be Jesus’ presence, and also the presence of the Father. What will that be like? Pure joy. I know it. Here are a few verses that may shed some light on what our fellowship with God will be like.

1 John 1:3-4

What we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ. 4 These things we write, so that our joy may be made complete.

It is clear that our fellowship with each other is based on and is nurtured by the fellowship we have with the Father and His Son. And in this fellowship our joy is made complete.

1 Corinthians 13:12

For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known.

Here is a good description of how things will change—with how we will see (or understand) things, including God. We see Him and His will now dimly, but after we are glorified we will see Him clearly (or face to face). God will always be pure spirit, so I’m not sure how we will see Him. Indeed, it will be through our spiritual eyes and in our glorified state; and it is beyond me now. But since I will be sinless, I know I will see Him clearly with glorified eyes—no doubt more clearly than I see anything now.

John 17:24

“Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which You have given Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.

Some day in heaven we will see the full glory of the Son (with the Father, v. 2) and share in it. Yes, it will be wonderful. That glory, it seems, will be all wrapped up in the Father’s love.

John 17:21

That they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us…

Backing up a few verses, Jesus has prayed for us that we (all believers) will be one as the Father is one with the Son; and so, we also together will become one with the Father and the Son. This is great fellowship. We will all, with the Father and the Son, be unified together in love.

John 14:1-3

Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. 2 “In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. 3 “If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.

This is absolute confirmation that we will always be with Jesus in the Father’s house. We will never be alone. We will always be with Jesus and with the Father.

Wrestling with the Evil World

Posted on January 23, 2025 by Stephen Nielsen

Wrestling With the World in Prayer

Prayer Travail: Wrestling with God

Posted on January 22, 2025 by Stephen Nielsen

Prayer Travail: Prayer that Pleads and Wrestles with God

Overcoming Fears

Posted on January 21, 2025 by Stephen Nielsen

In the wake of America’s new administration—a new President with new policies—many people are afraid. Some are afraid of being deported. Some are afraid of being jailed. Many are afraid of the new President’s extremism: on immigration, on his supposed anti-environment beliefs, and his anti-woke beliefs, on all his Bidden reversals, and on what he will do to our country, The outgoing President is so afraid, that he has preemptively pardoned his entire family and many of his loyal supporters, like Mark Milley, Anthony Fauci, and Liz Cheney.

While I was asking myself how anyone can overcome fears, I came across a number of Scripture verses that will give us a clear answer.

Scriptures That Will Help Us Overcome Fear

In the following five verses we will find that the reason we fear is because we lack something; we lack a relationship with God—a relationship that will give us a lasting peace with God, a trust in Him, a saving faith, a loving Heavenly Father, and an enduring love from God. Let’s look at these verses.

John 14:27

Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

We need not be afraid of anything in this world if we have the peace that God gives us.

Psalm 56:11

In God I have put my trust;

I will not be afraid.

What can man do to me?

If you put your trust in God you need not be afraid of anything.

Psalm 27:1

The Lord is my light and my salvation;

Whom shall I fear?

The Lord is the strength of my life;

Of whom shall I be afraid?

If you will give your heart to Him to save you, you need not be afraid of anything. He will be your strength.

Romans 8:14-15

For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. 15 For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.”

If you will give your life to Him, if you will trust Him to save you (if you will ask Him to forgive your sins and cleanse you and give you a new life), you will be His adopted child and will no longer have that spirit of fear in you. He will be your Father in which you can cry out to Him whenever you fear anything or have any needs.