As followers of Christ, we walk in a progressive revelation and understanding of God and His love towards us. Each day is a journey that should propel us to a new and fresh experience with God. Each day should bring growth and maturity in the life of a believer. “Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits— who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.” (Psalm 103:2–5, NIV84) Each day is a day to praise God because we have another opportunity to experience His love and to grow in our understanding of Him.
When we first become true Christians, we experience the benefit of Christ that He “forgives all our sins”. I remember when I first believed. I did not know much Scripture. The only thing I knew was that somehow I could stand before God and know that all my sins were washed away. That knowing and that experience allowed me to draw near to God. Although I had never read this verse – “let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.” (Hebrews 10:22, NIV84) I had experienced it. Later, in my times with Jesus, I found that the Scripture confirmed my experience. I learned from this to always come to God. I also learned to test every experience by the word of God.
As I grew and learned to trust God, the revelation and experience of God also grew. I began to experience the revelation that God “heals all your diseases”. The word disease in the Hebrew speaks not only of sickness but infirmity, weakness, grief. God wants to heal the body, the mind, the emotions and the heart. God heals even if we do not understand how He heals. “He sent forth his word and healed them; he rescued them from the grave.” (Psalm 107:20, NIV84) God heals the inner man and the outer man. “He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.” (Psalm 147:3, NIV84) In more than twenty years as a Christian, I have experienced both emotional healing from wounds of abuse and betrayal as well as physical healing from incurable illness. Even the understanding of healing is progressive.
Perhaps we enter into a season of loss. We may become confused and depressed. Some have called it the “dark night of the soul”. Many who love God have experienced it. When we cling to God in that season we also will experience the benefit of God. We will experience the God who “redeems your life from the pit”. God promises that for those who cling to him, there is no pit big enough to keep us from His love. “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:38–39, NIV84)
As we grow in our relationship with Christ, the heart of Christ becomes formed in us. It is a benefit. God “crowns you with love and compassion”. He develops the fruit of the spiti in us as we surrender and yield to Him. “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.” (Galatians 5:22–23, NIV84) As we grow and experience the love of God each day, we become carriers of love. “Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.” (1 John 4:7–9, NIV84)
There comes a place and a time when our lives are transformed. We experience the revelation in our hearts that what we want is what God wants. It is then that we find that the life of God can flow through us freely. We experience the God “who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.” We become people who have received from God freely and are empowered to give to others freely. We become ambassadors of God’s kingdom. “As you go, preach this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven is near.’ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received, freely give.” (Matthew 10:7–8, NIV84)
I will never chasten another believer for what they have not yet experienced. I will encourage them to seek a deeper experience.
I will never believe that I have experienced it all. I know that God is infinite and His mercies towards me are new every morning.
I will stay hungry for the experience of God for today.
