The test of your encounter with God is always a changed life. The test of the encounter with God that you bring to other people is also a changed life. If lives are not changed then the experience we had was merely a pleasant encounter with other people.
Paul wrote about his encounters with people. “Even though I may not be an apostle to others, surely I am to you! For you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord. ” (1 Corinthians 9:2, NIV) The people he spoke to had lives that demonstrated that the words had changed them. “You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everybody. You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts. ” (2 Corinthians 3:2–3, NIV84)
I think about Jane. Jane is someone that I ministered to when I was a new believer. God sent me to her with a prophetic word. Jane responded and gave her heart to Jesus. She prayed and had an encounter with God. She became involved in a Bible study so she could learn about the God she encountered. She became involved in fellowship to worship the God she encountered. Her faith grew. Today Jane is a leader in her church. Jane is an example of a true encounter with Jesus.
Jesus said we are to make disciples. Making disciples takes time and commitment. It is more than just telling someone that we have a word for them. It is coming into a relationship that seeks to share the experience and journey with God with another person. If someone truly has an encounter with Jesus, they will want to get to know Him and they will begin to follow Him.
Think of these examples. How long did it take these people to change their lives and follow Jesus? Not very long. Their encounter with God changed everything.
“”Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.” ” (Matthew 4:19, NIV84) They followed at once and became transformed into world changers.
“As Jesus went on from there, two blind men followed him, calling out, “Have mercy on us, Son of David!” ” (Matthew 9:27, NIV84) They followed and were healed. It then says, “But they went out and spread the news about him all over that region. ” (Matthew 9:31, NIV84) These people had an encounter so real, they could not help but tell everyone.
“”What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus asked him. The blind man said, “Rabbi, I want to see.” “Go,” said Jesus, “your faith has healed you.” Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road. ” (Mark 10:51–52, NIV84) This man wanted to know more about the Jesus who had just healed him.
What I see today is many who say they have an encounter with God, but lives are not changed. Why?
I think of my own encounters with God. I encountered Jesus as Lord one evening. From them on, I served him, went to church and start to learn about Jesus. Every real encounter left me changed and my inward character become less of me and more of Him.
Could it be that we in the church are still unwilling to change? Could it be that we understand the need for change and we want to proclaim the change but we refuse to embrace the change in our own lives? I have found that I am only able to lead people into a real encounter with God that I myself have had.
Could it be that there are so few baby disciples in the church today because the words we speak are empty of authority to change lives because we refuse to give God the authority to change our lives first?
I refuse to accept anything less than a world transformed by the love and the power of God. Therefore I understand that God must first totally transform me. Perhaps when that happens, there will be many more true God encounters and the church will once again be filled with young disciples hungry for true change.
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