I’m going to give you five reasons why we all want a Divine encounter, four reasons why it ain’t gonna happen anytime soon, and how to experience the kind of God encounter you can have – on demand! Ready for it? Here it is.

Sam In Florida

Sam recently visited Orlando, for a big convention of Florida Fairs where he wrote this post

Genesis chapters twelve to eighteen record for us five encounters Abraham had with God. Can you imagine? We all envy the idea that God would come to us, physically appear in our room, sit down with us and have a conversation. Why is that? Here’s five universal reasons why all humans desire this kind of angelic encounter:

  1. It would solve all our problems
  2. It would transform us into the people we need to be
  3. It would answer all our questions
  4. It would be all warm & wonderful (it would require nothing from us)
  5. It would tell us what we should do
  6. What do you think? ______________________________________

Nice and tidy, right? Very powerful, right? So what’s the problem? If its so good, why doesn’t God make it happen? Here’s my four reasons why it doesn’t happen:

  1. It creates connection to answers, not relationship with Him.
  2. The next day a whole new set of questions would arise from trying to apply the answers from the first encounter. What then? Another encounter to solve all the questions created by the first encounter? Another encounter to fix the encounter? When would it all end?
  3. The answers to our problems are too complex to solve in a one time encounter
  4. After we were transformed we would no longer fit the life we were living the previous day. Think of Moses coming down from the mountain, glowing from God’s presence. What happened? A big giant crash between him and the fleshy life being lived by the Israelites. Not a pretty site.
  5. What do you think? ________________________________________

A Better Plan

So what is the answer? What kind of an encounter can we ask for and expect to be answered? The answer is clearly in what God has given us in the Word. Don’t get me wrong, I do believe in angelic encounter and I believe Jesus still shows up on earth, in physical form. (That’s in the Word, too) He did it then, he does it now. He is the same yesterday, today and forever. History is replete with stories of such encounters. However, I believe Jesus gave us a better plan. Here’s four scriptures that reveal God’s best plan for a Divine encounter for you:

  1. Acts 2:8 – You will receive dynamite when the Holy Spirit has come upon you!
  2. John 14:26 – I will send you a helper, the Holy Spirit and He will teach you all things.
  3. Hebrews 12:2 Fix your eyes on Jesus, the one who first gave you faith, for He is the one who will take your faith to full maturity
  4. John 7:37 to 39 – Out of your innermost being will flow rivers of living water

When Jesus spoke these words He was physically in the presence of His followers teaching them, guiding them, having conversation with them, yet He said it was better for them if He went away and the Holy Spirit came. Why? So they would have the best, most productive kind of encounter God can create, one even better than Him being physically present: God in them 24/7.

His Plan For Them Is His Plan For You

What He taught them the night before His betrayal and set in motion with them on the day of Pentecost is the plan He had for them and the plan He has for you. His plan is to give you the kind of encounter Abraham could only dream of; God himself, the Holy Spirit living in you, 24/7, teaching you, guiding you, having a conversation with you.

I can hear you now, “I don’t know about this Holy Spirit thing. Life is confusing enough and I don’t need something else to think about.” I answer you by saying this, this kind of God encounter, receiving and developing relationship with the Holy Spirit, is the best kind of God encounter because it answers the five universal reasons why you need a God encounter, and it gives answer to the four reasons why the encounter probably won’t be happening for you. The Holy-Spirit-in-you-plan is the best because it leads to relationship. It invites you to partnership. It requires a lifetime of seeking and learning. It gives you the best opportunity to grow. It provides the answers you need in the most logical, effective way; one day at a time, one problem at a time, and it does it in a way that provides for you the best hot house for personal transformation. It doesn’t give you all the answers right now, it doesn’t solve all your problems today, but it does give you the very best answer to life and it focuses on the most important aspect of life; close, intimate relationship with your creator: Jesus.

Dream On

You have what Abraham only dreamed of when you accept Jesus and learn about the Holy Spirit and how He works. In doing so you step into the very thing your heart actually desires and needs: intimacy with God, and as a by product all the answers you need come along with that in due time and in the end you get the ultimate gift: eternity in God’s presence, in a new world, full of unending hope and productivity. Who knows what we shall build then! But, until then, build what is best in the here and now, intimate relationship with your earthly partner, the Holy Spirit. That will in turn will make your family, your church, your business prosper as it should, for our God is a God with a prosperous heart and He is a God of prosperous means. As He prospered Abraham so He desires to prosper you.

Here’s nine keys to avoiding Abraham’s mistakes and receiving Abraham’s success:

  1. Be in connection with God, ask Jesus to come and live in you
  2. Put your eyes on Jesus: check your filters about who He is by reading the gospel stories about the kind of person He was and the kind of things He did
  3. Quite yourself down, turn off all other voices: ideas, people, doubts, fears
  4. Tune into the peaceful, spontaneous voice in your deepest, most intuitive heart of hearts
  5. Journal what you hear Him saying
  6. Check that against your growing knowledge of the Word.
  7. Give His voice time to mature it’s answer
  8. Submit your voice answers and leadings to others who are mature and productive in the area you are called to
  9. Then act on your leading, come hell or high water, for you have an enemy who will resist you every step of the way