Can A Person Have An Encounter With The Living God Series?

CAN A PERSON HAVE AN ENCOUNTER WITH THE LIVING GOD SERIES?

Part 1

Acts 4:1-32a.

I usually start the next week message after I preach on Sunday Morning. I have been switching back and forth from Joshua to teachings on the Fruit of the spirit. By Monday evening I though that I had everything outline and I could let what I had down work in my mind for a bit. On Tuesday morning I started to pick away at the body of the message but I couldn’t seem to get anywhere so I just lean back in my chair and began to just think about the word of the lord.

I have found that for me when the Holy Spirit wants me to go in a completely different direction that he usually works this way. By opening up my mind to the Holy Spirit allowed the Holy Spirit to get me thinking about all the people in the bible that have had an encounter with the Lord. Then I got to wondering is that possible today. The Holy Spirit told me it is possible. As I though about this topic the Holy Spirit flooded my mind with a whole lot of information. I believe that you and I can have an encounter with the Lord that will completely change our lives. One of the things that we will look at is what is stopping us from having that encounter and what do we need to do so that we are always ready to encounter the lord Jesus. Two cows standing in a field saw a milk truck pass by. Painted on the side of the truck in large letters was; Prairie Farmer Milk, Homogenized, Sanitized and Vitamin Enriched. One cow spoke up and said, that makes me feel kind of inferior! Well if we are human then I am sure that we have at times felt that way. I know that I’ve found myself at different function with other pastors and thought to myself I don’t belong here. I have found that when we start thinking like that we become overwhelmed and convinced that where inferior. We share a common problem with those cows in that we all have a limited perspective. Those dairy cows failed to see that the shiny milk truck that made them feel inferior had just left the milk house where they were milked each day. The milk that they thought was so much better than theirs was in fact their milk! We need to learn to see what God is doing in and through His church and in and through our lives.

Jesus said in Matthew 18:20. When two or three of you are together because of me you can be sure that I’ll be there.

We know that scripture from heart but do we ever stop and really listen to the words of Jesus. According to what Jesus has said it doesn’t require a big crowd for Jesus to be present. Jesus is present in churches where a thousand are gather. But Jesus said that if just two or three have come together in the name of Jesus then according to the promise of Jesus; he is there. This tells me two things. Everytime we come together to worship that Jesus is here in this building meeting with us. It also allows me to see the heart of Jesus; that Jesus wants to be with His people. When we gather together as body of Christ do we experience the power and presence of God or are we so busy with our own stuff that we miss experiencing the lord. I often say that we bring the Sanctuary of the Lord together and that is true but in our churches today are people sitting in churches realizing that they have an opportunity to have a real encounter with the Living God. I believe when people gather in the name of Jesus there is always the opportunity for Satan to get us so preoccupied with other things that we miss an encounter with the living God. But it doesn’t have to be that way. How can we experience God’s presence with us? As we gathered here today do we know beyond just head knowledge that the living God is right here with us?

What do I meant when I talk about the presence of God? It simply means that God’s presence can be experienced in many different and unique ways. Experiencing the presence of God is not a rerun of the same thing over and over. Nor is it running around the building or doing something that would be an embarrassing to you or to the Lord Jesus. An ordinary gathering of the people of God can and should have extraordinary possibilities when we recognize that the presence of Jesus is with us. I believe and I am praying that we as a church and as individuals will have an encounter the living God not just within the confines of a Sunday morning worship service, but that we discover God’s presence and power is with us even at work or play making the impossible possible and transforming the inferior to superior!