John 3:3-5, 16-17 NKJV
Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.
Our annual camp meeting, “Jesus’ Feet”, starts in a few days and I am specially inviting you (see attached flyer for details). This meeting is an opportunity for humanity to encounter divinity. For the next few days, we will unpack what it means to experience “divine encounter” and how to make the most of it.
The first thing I want you to understand about maximizing divine encounter and everything you receive from God is that you must be a good steward of it. In other words, you should profit from it, not waste it. You will know you’re wasting divine encounter if the best you can do is tell a story about it. Gehazi is an example of someone who experiences divine encounter and because he failed to respond correctly, the only thing written about him is his missed opportunity, error, and how he ended his life just telling people about the anointing and the divine instead of walking in it (2 Kings 5).
In this series, we will focus on a few Bible personalities who encountered God through what our generation might call third-party transactions. All of them lived before the incarnation of God in the person of Christ Jesus, His Son ( Isaiah 7:14, Isaiah 9:6-7, Matthew 18-25). In their generation, God visited men, true, but He did not habitate with them. There was no indwelling of the Holy Spirit, yet. But God had glorious plans for these individuals just as He does for your life.
God, in His infinite wisdom, programed divine encounters through their relationships with the chosen as if they themselves were not chosen! God did not communicate their assignments directly, at least not initially. Rather, He communicated to them through the chosen.
Have you ever wondered why God communicated directly with some people and not others? Did such people offend Him in some way? If this was fully the case, we would not be still be talking about these people thousands of years after they existed on the earth. The fact that we do is strong evidence of their own unique calling which manifested through their encounters with their divine linkages, despite them not hearing from God directly.
If we want to have direct net-breaking miraculous encounters with God just like Simon Peter and his partners had with Jesus in Luke 5, we must ensure that our desire does not put God in a box, nor should we begin to dictate to His Holy Spirit how He ought to operate His Kingdom. Rather, our focus must be on sensitizing our spirit enough to be led by the Holy Spirit. As such, we must recognize what God is doing through Christ’s Bride, the Church, which is also the Body of Christ.
Your local church is the major authorized and established structure you must be part of to access what God is bringing for His glory and your greatness.
Although, our focus here is not on correct church membership, I will encourage you evaluate both your local church and your membership and make sure you are in your God-ordained church with a candlestick before the heavens. As a believer, you are to align yourself as a faithful member to your God- ordained, local church. You are called to be a member the same way your pastor, ideally, is called to be the shepherd.
Now back to our main focus which is yo maximize divine encounters; as a believer in Christ, your first encounter must have been with the Holy Spirit, the Initiator and Leader who introduced Jesus, our Savior, to each believer. This is the most important encounter because it ushers you into God’s kingdom. This is your spiritual birth, usually described as the “born again” encounter. If you are reading this today and you are wondering what it means to be born again; it is simple. To be born again, you need to agree with God that His plan for mankind is the only WAY to have a relationship Him. You must accept His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, as your personal Savior and Lord, entrust your life into His hands and submit to the leadership of His Holy Spirit who introduces Jesus to each believer. Doing this is fundamental. We will continue with this thought tomorrow.
Countdown to Jesus Feet 2023
