Dear People Who Keep Company With God,
I had a very unusual and remarkable experience with the Lord during The Shepherd’s Rod Conference. During the worship time on Friday night I felt someone push me backwards, but no one was even near me. This happened two times. Fortunately, I fell back into our cushioned chairs and was not physically hurt in any way. However, it was disturbing as I was not comfortable with the fact that I was pushed and I did not know who or what was doing the pushing.
The next morning as I pondered the meaning of this I remembered Bob Jones had shared the night before a story about an angel appearing to him once during a time of high praise. Bob asked the angel, “Why are you here?” The angel said, “We always come during high praise.” Bob responded,“I need a scripture on that.” The angel said, “Hebrews 1:6.” I believe the times we now live in demand a real grasp of both the Scriptures and power of God. Jesus said to them, “Is this not the reason you are mistaken, that you do not understand the Scriptures or the power of God? Mark 12:24. It is important to note that the Greek word for understand in this verse means a personal experiential knowledge. The Bible does not teach a balance between the Scriptures and Holy Spirit power as some have taught. It teaches that without a personal experiential knowledge of both we will fall into great error.
I said to the Lord, “I need a scripture on what happened to me last night.” He reminded me when Jesus was in the Garden of Gethsemane just before His betrayal and arrest. Judas then, having received the Roman cohort and officers from the chief priests and the Pharisees, came there with lanterns and torches and weapons. 4 So Jesus, knowing all the things that were coming upon Him, went forth and said to them, “Whom do you seek?” 5 They answered Him, “Jesus the Nazarene.” He said to them, “I am He.” And Judas also, who was betraying Him, was standing with them. 6 So when He said to them, “I am He,” they drew back and fell to the ground. John 18:3-6
I believe I had an encounter with “I am” (in the Greek text the word “He” does not appear in the above verses). Fortunately mine was a friendly encounter, but still no man can stand before His presence. According to Nelson’s Bible Dictionary “I am” expresses the fact that He is the infinite and original personal God who is behind everything and to whom everything must finally be traced. This name, “I am who I am,” signals the truth that nothing else defines who God is but God Himself. What He says (Scriptures) and does (power of God) is who He is.
I believe the Lord desires to reveal Himself in a fresh way to the church. He is a personal God who desires His people to know Him personally. In my younger days I thought I knew the Lord until He shook me so hard that everything in my life that was not from Him crumbled; it was only then that I realized I really did not know Him. The Bible tells us Jesus asked His disciples, “Who do you say that I am?” Matthew16: 15. I believe the Lord was getting my attention that night. It worked. A fresh, personal experiential knowledge of the Lord will lead to a greater understanding of the church and a new release of the keys of the kingdom of heaven (Matt. 16:17-19).
I also believe the Lord is asking the church another question; “Whom do you seek?” God really is the only one who has a right to define Himself. I think we have tried to define God and we have made a real mess in doing it. So when He shows up outside of how we think He is, we reject or refuse to receive Him. We find this happening all through the New Testament. If God chooses to reveal Himself through imperfect people we need to be able to discern when it is truly the Lord. I am asking God to come and reveal Himself as He is and not the way I think He is. We must truly and intimately know the Scriptures and power of God or we will miss Him when He shows up.
Many Blessings, BW