The God Experience

 

There is a world of difference between knowing something to be true in your head and experiencing the reality in your life.  

Henry Blackaby ~ Experiencing God 

When I was younger things were different.  I was satisfied with the God I came to know in the church.  The God who saved me from my sins, loved me and created me in His image.  What I knew about God usually depended on what the pastor was speaking about that week.  Around the holidays of Easter and Christmas, God was shown to be a loving Father.  However, sometimes that pastor would sidetrack onto an issue where God seemed not so loving.  Like the constant accusation of sin.  No matter the time of year, I was warned to repent of my behaviors.  If I didn't, then God would not be so friendly towards me.  This all came to a head one easter morning as I sat through yet another church service.  The pastor had just finished his sermon of how Jesus died and rose again that my sins would be forgiven.  Then, without missing a beat, he asked anyone with sins they wanted to confess before the Lord to come forward.  So, Jesus died for me but He missed a few sins?  I was done with the church narrative.  The truth was, I had come to know a lot OF God, but I really didn't know Him personally.  To put it better terms, I had read His autobiography, but I had never met Him.  There is definitely a difference between hearing of someone and knowing them.  In my heart I know that God existed, but I had never experienced Him in my own life.  The author Henry Blackaby makes the claim that there is a difference between knowing something is true in our hearts and experiencing that reality in our lives.  This is the God experience.  It goes above and beyond that which we already cognitively already know about the Father.  It compels us to immerse ourselves in the reality of One who truly loves and cares for us.  I personally believe that God has been an intimate part of our lives from the moment we were conceived.  It was God who breathed into us the breath of life {Genesis 2:7}.  At this point, as scripture tells us, man became a living being.  From this point onward, God has been an intimate part of our lives.  Of course, this went against all the church was teaching me, so I never understood His presence in me until later in life.  

In this we know that we are remaining in Him, and He in us, for He has given us of His spirit.

First Epistle Of John 4: 13, Concordant New Testament 

In recent weeks, I have grown to experience God in ways I never have realized before.  To be clear, the Father has been working in my life for some time, yet I have only recently began to experience Him in my life.  This has less to do with church sermons and more to do with the Father opening my heart to all He is doing in me.  As the author said, there is a difference between knowing and experiencing something.  I have always known of the Fathers grace and mercy, but I have only recently been led to experience His forgiveness.  I have always known of His love for us, yet through the death of my mother I came to experience His love even further.  I have also come to experience His provision, and through this, His patience and endurance.  I am not afraid to proclaim that the Father is working daily in and through me.  I have no doubt that others will come to experience Him through me as well (and yes, I do see this beginning to happen in my life).  It is indeed a wonderful experience as we began to not only know the Father, but fully experience all He has intended for us.  The disciples of Jesus did not simply listen to His teachings, they LIVED them.  These men traveled and lived with Jesus each and every day throughout His ministry.  They saw a part of Jesus that very few people have.  As Jesus taught and ministered, His followers came to witness His love, compassion and grace first hand.  I am not merely one who has come to know of the Lord.  I have experienced Him personally in my life.  

~Scott~