Encounter God Personally

 Many years ago a nurse I knew told me of a very old lady dying in hospital. She was very lonely because she couldn’t understand English. She was Hungarian and she also knew German well. 

I wanted to help her, so I got the permission of the Anglican Chaplain to visit her and read the Bible to her in German, a language I know well.

I visited her every day and read the German Bible to her. She listened intently, although she was demented and her eyes and her mind would wander at times.

Finally, one evening I read her the promise of Jesus to give eternal life to all who believed.

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, 
and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?”  John 11:25-26 ESV

Suddenly her eyes stopped wandering and she became clearly focused on the question.

“Yes, I believe!” she answered in a strong clear voice.

I never saw her again because the next day she was dead.

A nurse told me the old lady appeared to be dying six months before but she started reviving. God preserved her life until she could hear the message of life and then He took her to heaven.

There are many people out there ready to believe the message of Jesus but they just need you or me to tell them in a loving way.

This old lady was a Roman Catholic, so she knew about Jesus, heaven and hell and eternal salvation. She just needed to hear a simple clear Bible message.

But there are also people who have heard but are not ready to believe.

Many have been abused or bullied by priests, pastors or religious teachers. Others have seen loved ones torn apart by unhealthy Christian religion.

In recent years bishops, priests, pastors and preachers have been ducking for cover because the scandal has been all over the media. You can tell many people about God, but they will not believe until they encounter God personally. 

God to the Rescue

 As a farmer was walking through his yard, he found a dead chicken. It was badly injured, obviously killed by a bird of prey. When he picked up the chicken, four chicks were still alive. The mother died saving her chicks.

He will cover you with his feathers; you will take refuge under his wings. His faithfulness will be a protective shield. Ps 91:4 CSB

When we look around, we see a world that has fallen apart. Who tore this world apart? God did not do it.

We can blame the devil, but that is only half the truth. We must all admit that we have gone wrong somehow. We need God's forgiveness so that we do not suffer eternal separation from God and His goodness after death.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. Jn 3:16 NIV

There are many Christians who believe this. They hope to be taken to heaven after they die, but their life on earth is only a shadow of the supernatural adventure with God that we see in the Bible.

God wants us to go deeper into his love. 

“Look! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal together as friends. Rev 3:20 NLT

You can experience God's personal love in this way. But how? 

“Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. 

For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. Mt 7:7–8 NLT

When you learn to experience God's loving kindness, you must expect attacks from the enemy of your soul, but those who live in close friendship with Jesus can have his supernatural protection.

He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. 
I will say of the LORD, “He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in Him I will trust.” Ps 91:1–2 NKJV

I know a woman who is familiar with God’s tender love. One evening, as she was driving home, God saved her from certain death. 

It was too late to brake. She couldn't avoid a collision. Then she felt a terrible heat. The vehicle drove through her car without making a sound or causing any damage. It was like something out of a science fiction movie. 

Knowing God. Taste and See

 I love cappuccino coffee. When I go out, I love to try a different café and taste the coffee. I have found there is good coffee, bad coffee and wonderfully delicious coffee. Sometimes I go to the same café on different days and I find delicious coffee on one day and ordinary coffee on a different day.

I talked about it to a café proprietor I know, and she explained it this way. It depends on who serves you. If a person who does not love coffee serves you, the coffee is not likely to be good. 

What is the message here? If you want to bring people to God, you must learn to love the taste of the Holy Spirit. You cannot be a good cook if you don’t enjoy your own food.

Christian service can become an end in itself. You can work hard at being a good Christian but in fact you are trying to conform to human ideas of being a good Christian. 

So often we can copy church leaders or copy one another, or be ruled by rigid ideas of Christian duty and morality.

In the New Testament, Jesus taught something quite different. He called his disciples to follow him personally, to be with him, to know him, to enjoy his company.

I find that I can also fall into this trap. I get consumed with doing good things for God, but I spend less time enjoying His company. I get spiritually and emotionally dry.

Jesus said:

My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.
And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. Jn 10:27–28 NKJV

I can read my bible and feel the touch of God in my heart or I can just read the Bible. I can pray and tell God what I think or need, or I can tell God what I think he wants to hear, or I can ask God what He wants to tell me and expect Him to answer.

This poor man cried out, and the LORD heard him, And saved him out of all his troubles.
The angel of the LORD encamps all around those who fear Him, And delivers them.
Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good; Blessed is the man who trusts in Him! Ps 34:6–8 NKJV

Taste and see ….

Finding your Direction in Life

 Where is your life going?

Are you choosing your direction, or are you reacting to life as it comes? Are you navigating towards your promised land, or are you serving as a crew member on a ship going somewhere else? 

Do you know what your destination is, or who is directing your course? Is your life being pushed and pulled by your employer, your family or your church?

God designed you to be a unique agent of change, to impact this world for Him. God made you in His own image, not to be a second rate copy of your parents, your teachers or a preacher or leader. If you live to please other people, you have missed your reason for living.

Does that mean you should forget other people and just please yourself? Of course not. When you live only to please yourself and fulfil your own dreams, you make yourself the God of your own life. Any sensible person should realise that this is crazy, yet it is a popular idea today. And look what a mess people have made by playing God!

God gives us families, friends, jobs, churches and leaders. They are all important but they must not be God to you.

God created you in His love, and He loves you. He has a wonderful plan for your life. He wants you to find Him and to work with Him to live out his plan. He won’t do it for you, and He won’t do it to you. He wants to live with you and for you to live with him.

For I know the plans I have for you," says the Lord. "They are plans for good and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Jeremiah 29:11 (TLB)

God wants to speak to You

 What is God saying to you now?

There is nothing wrong with seeking wise counsel and teaching but this must not be a substitute for growing up in faith yourself. A Christian who is spiritually healthy is able to receive direct personal communication from God Himself.

“My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; Jn 10:27 NASB95

Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.”
But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’ ” Mt 4:3–4 NKJV

Here Jesus shows His faith in the Written Word of God but also in the spoken word of God. God speaks today and He speaks every day.

The Spirit of God brings the written word of God alive, so you know when God is speaking to you personally through a particular Bible text. But the Holy Spirit also speaks to your spirit in many different ways and He does it much more than most of us realise.

Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me. Rev 3:20 NKJV

In the New Testament, every believer is invited to hear the voice of God and to share with others what he hears.   

‘And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, That I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your young men shall see visions, Your old men shall dream dreams.
And on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days; And they shall prophesy. Acts 2:17–18 NKJV

Of course God also speaks to his children privately. Many of the things you hear from the Holy Spirit are for to keep to yourself.

 

You Can Know God Personally

 You only need to browse the internet to see that we are going wrong. Whether you take the mainstream media or conspiracy theorists seriously, you see a sick world around you.

What does religion have to say?

If you are an obedient religious Muslim, your virtue will outweigh your sin. Then hopefully you will escape the flames of hell after you die.

But the poor Muslims have no peace because they never know if their virtue is enough to escape hell.

What do the Hindus and Buddhists say? If you live virtuously, you will be reborn in the same ruined world after death, but you will have a better quality of life.

A Christian woman was a faithful missionary in Burma. The Buddhist women admired her Christian character very much. They said she was such a good woman that she would surely be a man in her next life.

And what does the Christian religion say? You hear different ideas. Many Christians try to regulate their lives with strict rules and fit into some church or denomination.

But Jesus was different. He came into this world as the Son of God, who had been in heaven with the Heavenly Father since eternity.

Jesus did not come just to found a new world religion. He came to undo the devastating damage we have done through sin.

There is a devil who has led us astray and ruined our lives. Jesus came to restore us.

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly. Jn 10:10 NRSV

Who is the source of abundant life? Only God, the source of all life.

Should we therefore expect, as some Christians preach, to always enjoy prosperity, health and success, without problems, without disappointments, and without persecution?

Jesus is our role model. He was persecuted and misunderstood from an early age, but his life had a purpose and a goal. He was in close fellowship with Father God throughout his life.

He experienced many disappointments, but he also experienced marvellous success.

He gained the trust of disciples who often failed, but after the resurrection and ascension of the Lord, they were transformed by the Holy Spirit of God.

If you trust Jesus, you can also live in intimate communion with God.

And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. Jn 17:3 NRSV

Knowing God is quite different from knowing about God. God loves you and me better than the best mother or father, but we often doubt his love.

But Zion said, “The LORD has forsaken me, the Lord has forgotten me.”
“Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you! Is 49:14–15 NIV

What does Jesus say to you and me today?

“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Mt 11:28 NASB95

Knowing About God or Knowing God

 Nothing is as dead as knowledge without life experience.

What kind of teacher would you rather have? In some countries, there are English teachers with excellent knowledge of English grammar and vocabulary, but they speak English very poorly.

There are many Japanese who learnt English at school, but they can hardly speak English.

There are also some theologians who do not believe in God, and others who believe in God theoretically but they have no meaningful experience in prayer.

The Apostle Paul was one of the most prominent Bible experts among the Jews of his time. He was very religious, but he did not know God until he met Jesus in person.

As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him.
He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”
“Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked. “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied. Acts 9:3–5 NIV

There are some Christians who believe in Christian doctrines but they have no personal connection to God.

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. Mt 7:21 NRSV

How did the first Christians do the will of the Father?

There are many today who believe that the Christian religion can save them if they live a reasonably virtuous and Christian life, Jesus taught otherwise.

In the New Testament, Jesus demanded trust and personal devotion, and he never changed.

Many of the first believers after Jesus' ascension did not see Jesus, but they did see the apostles and other disciples being endowed with spiritual gifts and shining with God's glory at the first Pentecost.

In the New Testament, it was normal to experience God's presence.

In this you rejoice, even if now for a little while you have had to suffer various trials, 1 Pet 1:6 NRSV

Although you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy, 1 Pet 1:8 NRSV

The priest cannot save you. The pope cannot save you. Your pastor cannot save you.

The Ten Commandments cannot save you. Your virtue cannot save you.

If you agree with all the doctrines of your free church, Protestant church or Catholic Church, your agreement with correct theology cannot save you.

If you zealously crusade for biblical truth and morality, that will not save you. Progressive activism will not save you. Conservative culture war will not save you.

Do you know Jesus personally? What role does Jesus play in your daily life?

How often do you experience God's presence? His tangible love?

Do you experience the Holy Spirit as your companion and personal guide?

The apostle John described the Christian life as fellowship with God and other Christians.

We declare to you what we have seen and heard so that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. 1 Jn 1:3 NRSV

Jesus did not allow himself to be tortured for hours on the cross just to found a religion.

Listen! I am standing at the door, knocking; if you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to you and eat with you, and you with me. Rev 3:20 NRSV

God's Supernatural Love and Protection

 Just as a bird spreads its wings over its young, he will always protect you and be close to you. His faithfulness surrounds you like a strong shield. Psalm 91:4 (Translated from German Hoffnung für Alle)

As a farmer was walking through his yard, he found a dead chicken. It was badly injured, obviously killed by a bird of prey. When he picked up the chicken, four chicks were still alive. The mother died saving her chicks.

When we look around us, we see a world that has come apart at the seams. Who tore this world apart? God didn't do it.

We can blame the devil, but that is only half-truth. We all need to confess that we have somehow gone wrong. We need God's forgiveness so that we don't suffer eternally separated from God and his goodness after we die.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. Jn 3:16 NIV

There are many Christians who believe this. They hope to be taken up to heaven after they die, but their life on earth is only a shadow of the supernatural adventure with God that we see in the Bible.

God wants us to go deeper into His love.

Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.

You can experience God's personal love in this way. But how?

“Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you.

For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. Mt 7:7–8 NLT

If you learn to experience God's deep love, you must expect attacks from the enemy of your soul, but those who live in close friendship with Jesus can have his supernatural protection.

He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
I will say of the LORD, “He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in Him I will trust.” Ps 91:1–2 NKJV

I know a woman who is familiar with God's faithful love. As she was driving home one evening, God saved her from certain death.

It was too late to brake. She could not avoid a collision. Then she felt a terrible heat. The vehicle drove through her car without making any noise, without causing any damage. It was like something out of a fantasy film.

Experiencing the Holy Spirit

 In Mt Mk Lk and John we see again and again how people were entangled in impossible problems. It was only when Jesus came on the scene that they got out of their troubles. They needed a miracle. This was impossible for people, but no problem for the Son of God.

When evening came, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed; and He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were ill. Mt 8:16 NASB95

I thank God for modern medical science. I have five doctors in my family. But there are so many sick and disabled people who, even with the best care, are just limping through life.

Thanks to modern medicine, many people are living longer, but for many people it is an uphill battle. They survive, but they have to deal with health problems on a daily basis.

Jesus is no longer on earth in the flesh. Even if Jesus were still here in human form, he would only be in one place.

But imagine if Jesus was with you in the flesh every day. You could expect all kinds of miracles. We can read about this in the New Testament. Do you think Jesus would have been any different?

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. Heb 13:8 NASB95

The first apostles before the cross had Jesus as their daily companion. Imagine what that would be like. But at the Last Supper, Jesus said something amazing.

“But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you. Jn 16:7 NASB95

Jesus said it is better to have the Holy Spirit in your life than to be in the bodily presence of Jesus every day! Wow!

Jesus helped people time and time again with numerous miracles that they needed to get out of painful problems and illnesses. With the Holy Spirit, we can expect God's help in the same way. In the Acts of the Apostles, the first Christians experienced the fulfilment of this expectation.

Why don't we experience this today? Because humanism and philosophical unbelief have blinded us like a dark shadow on Europe and other countries in the western world.

We hear testimonies of miraculous healings from Africa, Asia and South America. The dead are raised from the dead. Even when Christians in Europe hear such reports, many react with scepticism. Everything is questioned.

Jesus wants to give you the power, love and fellowship of the Holy Spirit. We can experience the Holy Spirit as a companion and friend, just like the first Christians in the Acts of the Apostles.

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with you all. 2 Cor 13:14 NASB95

This can not only be a beautiful blessing for you, but a daily experience. Jesus wants to give you this kind of fulfilment in your life.

Knowing God or knowing about God

 Knowledge puffs up, but love edifies.
And if anyone thinks that he knows anything, he knows nothing yet as he ought to know.
But if anyone loves God, this one is known by Him. 1 Corinthians 8:1-3 (NKJV)

I have read this passage many times, but it never really impacted me until just now. I just read these words by a pastor’s son.

• “I thought I was close to God because I knew all the answers. I could answer every question small group leaders or youth pastors threw at me about relationship with God. But I had fooled myself into thinking that was the same as relationship with Jesus. I still struggle with this to a degree.” 

John Piper's son tells his story.

Then I started to dig deeper and I found these words in the New Living Translation.

… But while knowledge makes us feel important, it is love that strengthens the church.
Anyone who claims to know all the answers doesn’t really know very much.
But the person who loves God is the one whom God recognises. 1. Cor 8:1-3

I recall a story told by a well known preacher.

    A Christian goes to his pastor with a difficult question. The pastor gives an apparently wise answer and the church member goes away happy.
    Meanwhile, in Heaven the Father turns to Jesus.
“Jesus, did you hear what that pastor just said? That is a new idea to me. Did you tell him that?

Knowledge is good, but head knowledge without deep heart understanding is dangerous in some areas of life.

A child may admire his father’s knowledge, but it will no good if he doesn’t experience his father’s love.

How many Christians believe in the love of God? They learn to know more and more about God, but they have little or no experience of the love of God.

Some even criticise Christians who talk about deep spiritual experiences. They say experiences can be deceptive and feelings are unreliable. The only safe ground to stand on is biblical truth. By this they mean Bible knowledge.

But if we read Bible truth in the Bible itself, we see that the heroes of faith all personally experienced God Himself. God spoke to them and they listened and believed. 

They were filled with the Holy Spirit. This was an experienced reality, not just a doctrine.

The God of much modern conservative evangelicalism only speaks through bible verses and bible knowledge. This is not the God I see in the pages of the Bible itself.

Of course, we need Bible knowledge, but Bible knowledge without experiencing God just makes you more religious. That is very dangerous. This was the sin of the Pharisees. It is still a huge problem today.

KNOWING THE HEART OF GOD

God loves you completely. He wants only the best for you. 

He created you to be a wonderful person, just like himself. Because He loves you, he wants you to be happy and healthy.

• Most of all, he wants you to be just like his son, Jesus Christ.

For from the very beginning God decided that those who came to him

—and all along he knew who would

—should become like his Son, so that his Son would be the First, with many brothers. Romans 8:29 (TLB) 

We all need to be transformed dramatically to be like Jesus, all of us. 

If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth. 

But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness. 1 John 1:8-9 (NLT) 

The man who wrote these words was the disciple whom Jesus especially loved, the man who wrote the Gospel of John.

• A good leader knows he too is a brother or sister and not a superior holy being.

That doesn't mean a preacher must always be available for everyone who wants his attention. 

• Many people cry for the preacher’s attention like babies for their mother. 
• Because preachers and leaders are only human, they need time to rest, think and listen to God. 

Don’t expect a preacher to give you what only God can give, to give you his complete and undivided attention, to give you perfect wisdom and to love you as his own child.

Once someone rang up our pastor after 2 o’clock in the morning because he couldn't sleep. 
The pastor answered: “Now there are two of us who can’t sleep.” 

But God never sleeps and when you can’t sleep, he is there with you.

God sees the end from the beginning. 

Before your grandparents were born, he looked down the centuries to come and saw you choosing to love him and trust him with your life. 

• He saw you learning to know him and experience his deep affection, to know the intense devotion that he has for you. If you belong to Jesus, God is your FATHER, the perfect Father who adores his children. 

• A good mother adores her baby and the love of God is even stronger.

Sing for joy, O heavens; shout, O earth. Break forth with song, O mountains, for the Lord has comforted his people and will have compassion upon them in their sorrow. 

Yet they say, "My Lord deserted us; he has forgotten us."

• "Never! Can a mother forget her little child and not have love for her own son? Yet even if that should be, I will not forget you. Isaiah 49:13-15 (TLB)

What is God like?

But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love. 1 John 4:8 (NLT) 

Who can understand what this means? 

A child can understand best of all. A child knows what the love of a good mother or father feels like.

Then he said, “I tell you the truth, unless you turn from your sins and become like little children, you will never get into the Kingdom of Heaven. Matthew 18:3 (NLT) 

When it comes to understanding THE LOVE OF GOD, scholars and teachers often become confused.

• In one usually good commentary I found this strange contradiction.

For God is my witness, how greatly I long for you all with the affection of Jesus Christ. Philippians 1:8 (NKJV) 

“How desperately the minister and church need such tenderness and affection for each other!” 

I pray that your love will overflow more and more, and that you will keep on growing in knowledge and understanding. Philippians 1:9 (NLT) 

“ ...love in the Bible never focuses upon good feelings...The focus of love is knowledge.”  Preacher's Outline and Sermon Bible - Commentary.

God is not controlled by his emotions but he feels intensely. 

He wants you and me to know His heart and feel what he feels.

KNOWING GOD.

But as it is written: "Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man The things which God has prepared for those who love Him."

But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. 1 Corinthians 2:9-10 (NKJV)
God is searching your heart. Does that mean He is looking for the dark secrets, the hidden weaknesses, the shameful thoughts that sometimes trouble you? No, He knows all about those things and He loves you anyway. God condemned His own Son to die on the cross. He died in your place to pay for all the shameful things in your life. Now He sees you as His dear child, as one who He gave His dear Son for.
If you invited Jesus to come into your life, He came. God is actively involved and lovingly at work in your thoughts, in your feelings and in every part of your being.
All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out. John 6:37 (NKJV)
But He will not interfere with your free will. He will not force you to think the way He wants you to. He longs for you to come into harmony with His love and truth. If you have opened your life to Jesus to become His follower, that means God has become your partner in life but not your equal partner, because God is God and He is your Lord and Master. God will direct your life but He is not interested in passive obedient slaves or puppets. What Jesus said to His chosen apostles is what He longs to be able to say to each one of us.
You are My friends if you do whatever I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you. John 15:14-15 (NKJV)
The obedience He is looking for is the active partnership of men and women who want to please God and be led and directed by Him. The Spirit of God is searching your heart in love. He has  also opened His heart to you. He is inviting you to search His heart and know His love and understand His ways for yourself.
God is sad when we passively depend on preachers to tell us what to think about Him. I love good preaching but that must never be my main connection to God. In the Old Testament, God gave prophets and priests to stand between God and the people. Now each one of us is invited to enter into deep personal communication with Him.
Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me. Revelation 3:20 (NKJV)
If you have never placed your life in the hands of Jesus who loved you and died for you, now is the time. We don’t know what tomorrow will bring. Jesus died to forgive your sins but you must receive Him to benefit from His forgiveness.