the power of an encounter

 

What does it take to impact a life so much
that one would change the course of their life forever?
A God encounter.

I was just thinking the other day....God encounters are so much more than simply a physical manifestation; they are intimate and powerful. When you live your live out of 'function' without an encounter, all you are left with is religion--dead, powerless religion. Lord, save us from it.

I'm also realizing that the reality of an encounter with the Lord often proves to be more difficult than at first thought. From the beginning of the Bible to the end, the ppl who have God encounters can tell you-- they change your life. I'm so hungry for the same. Also....a God encounter defines who you are.

I am challenged by Abraham. What kind of God encounter did he have that caused him to take his whole family and begin to wander into the unknown? His simple act of obedience was the seed of a nation that would change the world. But his obedience was birthed from a God encounter. It swept him up and captured his heart and moved him into something that lasted more than a moment-- he believed. He believed that there was something greater than him, something greater than now, and he wanted to lay hold of it and invest in it.

Remember Moses with the fiery bush, David as he played his harp and before he led his armies, Job in the midst of the storms of life, Isaiah as he produced a life-altering revelation, the disciples as they left all that they knew to simply follow Jesus, Saul on the road to Damascus, and Peter when he declared that Jesus was the Christ.

Again, a God encounter defines who we are. I pray for more of them for myself and also for you! Come, Lord Jesus.

Getting there is half the fun... (Day 1)

Many of you have already heard, but many still have asked about my trip up north and how it went. I wish I could say all was smooth sailing... I think Steve Sargent hit the nail on the head when he said, "this adventure will be more difficult than you anticipated yet much better than you anticipated." So I've had the "more difficult" already and so now looking forward to the "much better".

Note to self... things always take longer than you expect. Due to selling my car the day before and just taking an excruciating amount of time to haul stuff to goodwill, the trash, and finally pack the smallest amount possible... I left a day later. This was a hard decision because I'm all about making the plan and working the plan but couldn't hop in a car and drive 12hrs after being up all night.

I left beloved Indy Saturday morning with cat in tow and joyful heart, ready to embark on all God has for me. It's a wonderful place to feel and know that you are in the center of His will for your life. So secure, so safe. The Lord really gave me the opportunity to truly decide if that's lip service or I really believe that in my core. Just a few miles west of the IN/IL border a van just a bit ahead of me and in the other lane lost control and swerved in my lane. Of course my first reaction was to break and try and get out of his way which really only made matters worse. We hit each other and both went into the median. He stopped there but I went through it into uncoming traffic and hit another car coming from the other direction causing him to flip. It all happened within seconds, of course, and so I sat there, air bag activated, trying to "get a grip" on what had just happened. Of course I was concerned about my cat's well-being as well. Avis sent a new rental, my parents traveled from Indy and helped me transfer my stuff, and I was back on the road by about 2:30pm. No lie, it was a challenge to not get discouraged. I was minding my own business (in my own lane) and driving carefully on the very slick road. Can't other people drive? what the heck?

But the Lord is faithful. He brought a measure of peace to my stressed out soul and I felt His nearness with me in increased measure. I'm so thankful for so many of you that prayed for me, especially on Saturday. Your calls and text messages were so encouraging. I don't know that I've ever felt the intense prayers of family and friends like I did on Saturday. It was incredible.

More to come... (it gets better).