“Experiencing God”

Dear Christian, as we journey from this world to the celestial city of heaven, the Lord will often recall to our memory the moments He manifested Himself to us in a supernatural way. It is in these moments when the manifestation of His presence becomes so transparent to our soul; it’s as if we have ascended to heaven in this natural body to stand in the presence of God. Oh, the mystery of the living God, how He can take the laws of heaven and interrupt the natural law of earth to impress upon our memory His divine power. There is no escaping these moments; they are etched into our memory with an iron stylus. It is God reminding us that our earthly body may experience Him so that in a season of doubt, we can go back to those moments for assurance.

I often reflect upon these moments throughout my past, fully understanding the deceitfulness of my own heart. So that even when doubt tries to pry its way into my mind crying out, “Surely this is all not real,” the Spirit of God recalls to my memory those moments of experience that were undeniable. Moments when the Lord moved upon my soul in such proportions that science itself, or the most educated philosophers, could not prove to me that Jesus Christ was only a mortal man Who was not sent from heaven by God. Jacob was a man who understood this as well as anyone. He was raised in a home filled with scheming and deceitfulness, and this became the pattern of his life. He took advantage of his brother to get his birthright and participated in a scheme with his mother to deceive his father.

So, trapped in his web of deceit, he ran for his life and came to a place called Bethel, scared and fatigued. With thoughts running through his mind of his mother, whom he would never see again, his father, whom he had lied to, and his brother, who wanted to kill him, he laid his head on a rock and fell asleep. It was in these circumstances the Lord visited Jacob in a dream, “Behold, a ladder was set on the earth with its top reaching to heaven, and behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. And behold, the LORD stood above it and said, “I am the LORD, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie, I will give it to you and your descendants.” Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the LORD is in this place, and I did not know it.” The scriptures tell us, “He was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.”

Twenty years later, Jacob finds himself in the same predicament, only this time he is being taken advantage of. No doubt his life had become very uncomfortable, and his misery was haunting him.

So, in the midst of his frustration, not remembering the moment the Lord had come to him at Bethel, the Lord visited Jacob once again, saying, “I am the God of Bethel.” The Lord reminded Jacob that though many things had changed in his life, He hadn’t changed and that He is still the same God that came to him many years ago. So, Jacob set his face toward Bethel, the place that God had come to him with a supernatural experience. Christian, the greatest way to know God is through His word, but there are moments of experience that are truly undeniable, but must always be measured against the holy scriptures. May the Lord recall to your mind those moments you had sweet communion with Him, and may it strengthen you to persevere and finish the race with joy.