Ways of having a divine encounter

WAYS OF HAVING AN ENCOUNTER WITH GOD

Having an encounter with God is not rocket science. It doesn't require you jumping up and down one million times or following a set-in-stone formula.

Glance through the scriptures, and you'll notice that different people had encounters with God in different ways. There's no fixed pattern or system. 

This is because God is dynamic. He is not boring. He loves showing up in different and exciting new ways. 

However, there are some things that you can do to prepare your heart to meet with God. 

• Come to the end of yourself: I beg you, don't be full of yourself. The way some people behave as if they are self-sufficient and God is just an optional back-up plan is so disheartening. 

'I can do it. I can survive without God. I can do everything in my own strength and wisdom. I don't need God.' 

Ha! Who are you deceiving?

If you want to encounter God, you have to come to the end of yourself. 

Take our dear brother Jacob for example. The guy thought he was smart. He stole his brother's birthright and blessing. When he saw that his life was in danger, he ran for dear life. His running exhausted his energy. 

Weak, he finally came to the end of himself, and that was when he had the encounter at Bethel where he saw the ladder connecting heaven to earth and angels ascending and descending on it. God was right at the top. 

This same Jacob had season two of a divine encounter when he was returning to his hometown. 

He wrestled with the Angel of the Lord at Peniel and was rewarded with a limp. His life was never the same.  

• Be humble: God resists the proud and gives grace to the humble. God is sick and tired of pompous people trying to prove nothing. That was the reason he kicked out Lucifer from Heaven. 

David is a wonderful example of humility. 

Yes, he sinned. Yes, he messed up big time by sleeping with another man's wife and then murdering the husband in cold blood to cover his sin. 

However, when God exposed him, he didn't argue or stubbornly claim to be right. He debased himself. Even though he was the king, he tore his garments and put ashes on his head and cried to God. That was how the powerful Psalm 51 was birthed. 

He bore the consequences of the sin, but God was merciful to him and didn't cast him off forever. 

• Become desperate: Have you ever seen the way a caged dog that hasn't tasted anything for days behaves when good meat comes in sight? 

You haven't? 

Oh, well, let me explain. 

So, the dog might at first be happy and jumping up and down in its cage, wagging its tail joyously. If, however, you don't hurry and drop the meat fast, I'm no dog expert, but I can assure you that that dog will begin to bark and growl like crazy.

Now, don't get me wrong. I'm not comparing you to a dog. It's just that many people don't have this sense of desperation for God like a starved dog has for food. 

King David said, 'As the Hart pants for waters so my soul pants for you.' 

For God to know you're serious about wanting to meet with Him, then you must show it by your actions. 

How much do you study the scriptures for yourself instead of only relying on what men of God preach and authors of books write? 

I'm not saying they're bad. They're needed for your spiritual growth, but it's like expecting the party jollof rice you ate on Saturday to satisfy you for a whole week. It doesn't work that way. 

How well can you personally talk with God? Do you just dump demands on God? Are you even allowing him to talk to you? 

Are you the kind of Christian that if any small headache or bad dream comes, you'll be running to your pastor and saying, 'Papa, please pray for me'? 

Become desperate to know God for yourself, my friend! 

THE BENEFITS OF HAVING AN ENCOUNTER WITH GOD

There are so many benefits of having a personal encounter with God. In fact, they are too many to count.  

• You begin to radiate God's light. 

Ask Moses. The more he exposed himself to the glory of God by separating himself from the world on Mount Sinai, the more his face glowed. 

As you encounter God daily, you become transformed more and more like Him. Isn't that wonderful?

• Supernatural courage comes upon you. 

After tasting of the awesome majesty of God, the petty things of the world won't cause you to fear or worry, because you are sure that God is real and powerful. Ask the 120 disciples after the Holy Spirit came down on them in the upper room at Pentecost.

• You begin to walk in the Spirit.

When you encounter God and His Spirit indwells you, you begin to walk in the gifts of the spirit and manifest the fruit of the spirit naturally, without stress.

• God encounters people to use them to change their generation and work great wonders.

Ask Gideon, Moses, Samuel and many others.

IMPLICATIONS OF NOT HAVING AN ENCOUNTER WITH GOD  

It's like saying what are the consequences of bringing a fish out of water, or what are the consequences of breaking a bird's wings.

Without an encounter with God, life will be a disaster. 

Here are some of the dangers of not having a personal encounter with God:

• Such a person is at risk of exposure to attacks of darkness. 

• Such a person will be stuck, running the rat race, living a hollow and purposeless life.

• The Christian journey wil be boring and tiring for such an individual. It's because of a lack of divine encounter that some Christians relegate to a complacent lukewarm lifestyle.  

• Such a person can easily backslide. Yes, a person who is not grounded in God has a higher chance to falling back into sin. 

A little storm and that person is tossed away. A heat from the sun and that person without an encounter with God withers. 

Do not fret, dear friend. An encounter with God is what every believer can enjoy. You just have to believe and position yourself for Him to meet you. 

And He will encounter you, if you just will allow Him.