God Encounters /A New Task

We have been talking in the last couple of  post about Ezekiel and the encounters he had with God.  We talked about how God called him to do some pretty crazy things  – read Ezekiel 1-4 if you want to get a picture of his calling and just a small taste of the crazy things he was called to do.  He was called to do these crazy things by God when he realized his dream of going home (he was in exile) was not going to happen.  God gave Ezekiel a fresh dream and a fresh vision of what he was to do and Ezekiel probably did not understand all that was going on in the vision but he moved forward in obedience and trust.  That then leads us to see a few more things that we can learn from Ezekiel’s encounters with God.

Another thing I think Ezekiel learned  is an encounter with God is a private thing. God spoke to all of the Jews in Babylon through the letter from Jeremiah, but God encountered Ezekiel privately. There are some things in life that are done in public and other things in life that are done in small groups and then there are certain things that are always experienced alone. Ezekiel encountered God by himself. God will come to you and call you privately to do some things that others will not understand but you must seek His face during these times and then be sure to follow through.

You can seek the face of God with others but sometimes you must do it alone and that is really what an encounter with God is – it is when you seek His face. The exiles were told to seek God with a whole heart in Jeremiah 29:13: You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. Can you say that you are seeking God with a whole heart? Psalm 27:8 tells us this; When you said, “Seek My Face”, My heart said to you “Your face, Lord, I will seek”. Are you seeking the face of God? When you do – you will find Him and encounter Him powerfully and things will change! Dreams will come alive. Passions will arise. Direction will be given!

Why will things change? They will change because an encounter with God can give us new visions or direction for life. Ezekiel got a vision of God in his encounter with Him, and received a two-fold message. First, to warn Israel of her being defiant and second write the predictions about the new Temple of God that would be built in the future. Ezekiel led people to God so that God could do what He wanted to do through them. Ezekiel gave them God’s vision but first Ezekiel had to be in a position to receive the vision from God. Are you in a position emotionally and spiritually to receive a new vision or direction from God? We must have open hearts and attitudes towards God to receive the vision or direction from Him. Are you ready for it?

When you have this new vision then you need to know that an encounter with God may result in a new task in life. Ezekiel had prepared for the priesthood and at age thirty he was at the doorway of his life-long goal. But at the last minute Ezekiel encountered God who had him embark on a new ministry. He would become one of God’s Major Prophets; no longer would he be a priest. Out of his encounter with God came a new task. God has tasks for all of us.  For some God wants to change your task and for others He wants to renew the task he has already given you, but the real question is are you ready for it?

What is a new task that you think God could be leading you into?  What are the reasons you think that?

God Encounters – Seeking the Lord

In the last few post we have been talking about Jacob and his encounter with God.  Jacob in his encounter with God  wrestled with God and it changed everything for him.  It changed the direction of his life and even changed his name.  In this post we will continue to look at Jacob and again if you are unfamiliar with him please read Genesis 31 and 32 – if you wish you can click here to read it.  The minimum I think you should know about his encounter is in this paraphrase of the Scripture of Jacob wrestling with God:

Jacob stayed behind by himself and this is where there is real mystery in what happened is written. We know that Jacob wrestled with a man until daybreak. We do not know how this happened but Jacob wrestles with the man. When the man saw that he couldn’t get the best of Jacob as they wrestled, he deliberately threw Jacob’s hip out of joint.

The man said, "Let me go; it’s daybreak."  Jacob said, "I’m not letting you go ’til you bless me." The man said, "What’s your name?"  He answered, "Jacob."

The man said, "But no longer. Your name is no longer Jacob. From now on it is Israel; you’ve wrestled with God and you’ve come through." Jacob asked, "And what’s your name?" The man said, "Why do you want to know my name?" And then, right then and there, he blessed him. Jacob named the place Peniel  because, he said, "I saw God face-to-face and lived to tell the story!" The sun came up as he left Peniel, limping because of his hip being knocked out of joint.

In looking at the last couple of days we have seen that different motivations drive us to God and for Jacob it was family issues and problems.  We have seen family issues do drive us to seek the presence of God and they push us to seek direction from God about them.  We also talked about the paradox that we must give up the most precious things in order get all that God has for us.  There are some tough things to learn but if you wrestle with God you will find that God does not want things easy for us but He simply wants us to hold on tight to Him through all we go through.

Another tough thing to understand in all this is this thought: We encounter God in the darkest of night’s experiences. Sometimes God doesn’t come to us when everything is rosy. When we have health, happiness, money in the bank and no threats, we usually don’t think much about God. But the darkest nights scare us because we can’t see where we’re going, we can’t see things, we can’t see ourselves; nor can we see God. In those dark experiences, we can seek God and He will reveal Himself to us. If you are in a dark black night – it is time for you to cry out to God to show you His presence and power and light – it is time for you to encounter the light of the world! God who is light want to shine into that dark night and provide for you – but you have to trust him for that to happen! You have to be willing to change – unwillingness to change means things will remain the same. God will shine his light into your life for change!

For an encounter with the Almighty God we need sometimes to get to this place: The place where everything seems lost and it is at that place that we must seek God’s face. Jacob thought he was about to lose everything. His greatest fear was the fear in his own heart. When all seemed lost, God came to him. In our lives, God lets us experience extremes in our hearts, because man’s extremes, are God’s opportunities. It is in these experiences that God reveals Himself to us. Has God allowed you to go through deep waters? It will be in those deep waters when everything seems like it is lost that God will encounter you and change things. You must seek him in those times – go hard if it seems like everything is lost! God is always right there with you – know, believe, and understand that! Seek Him and hold on tight like Jacob did!

In Psalm 73 we see this; “But as for me, my feet came close to stumbling, 
My steps had almost slipped. With Your counsel You will guide me, 
And afterward receive me to glory. Whom have I in heaven but You? 
And besides You, I desire nothing on earth."

Could that be your prayer – do you desire only God – you say yes but what about you actions and attitudes – what do they show?

How desperate are you for God? You see: God reveals Himself to those who desperately seek Him. Jacob was not a perfect man by any stretch of the imagination as seen by his deceiving of those closest to him in his life –he deceived his family. He put them at risk to save his on hide and to take advantage of them. He was not perfect and had real problems.

That brings to my mind a question – So why did God reveal Himself to Jacob if he was such a schemer and liar – Because above all else, Jacob sought the Lord. He is an example of someone who had an open heart and was willing to change and God encountered him in spite of how bad he looked to others. Remember that He exerted all physical energy he could to hang on to God when wrestling. It was only when God touched his hip that Jacob released his grip on God. You will realize God’s presence only when you seek it more than pleasure, food, financial security, sensual things or any other thing in life. We can encounter God when we give up everything to experience Him. Many of you unfortunately will not have a God encounter like I am talking about because you are not willing to give up things. You might not want to give up that sin that so easily besets you because you like the power it gives you so you just tell people you cannot change. You might want to have money more than an encounter with God so you seek money hard and just give God your left over time. You might want entertainment more than God so you continually skip godly activities so that you can be entertained. Let me ask you – could it be said of you – above all else, you seek the Lord?

If you had to explain what it means to someone to “seek the Lord” – what would you say?