Encounters With God - Part 2

So far this year I have had five significant encounters with God. Through worship, intercession, and soaking He has spoken to me, showed me His heart, and led me in intercession to help birth His purposes here on earth. The unusual thing about this is last year I probably only had about five significant encounters with God all year long. So why is this year different? Well, it could be many reasons and I won’t presume to know the thoughts of God, however, I can say I am pursuing Him more this year than I have in the past. He does say in James 4:8 that if we draw near to Him, He will draw near to us. So maybe that has a little to do with it. All I know is I will continue to pursue Him and expect Him to do the same.

In the last post I talked about an encounter I had on January 23^rd where Jesus showed up with a flaming sword and cut me down the middle in order to divide between my soul and my spirit while Hebrews 11:6 was flashing before my eyes and pounding in my ears. After much thought and discussion with Him I feel I understand the correlation between the two verses He was trying to bring to light in my vision.

Hebrews 4:12 (amplified) says, “For the Word that God speaks is alive and full of power [making it active, operative, energizing, and effective]; it is sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating to the dividing line of the breath of life (soul) and [the immortal] spirit, and of joints and marrow [of the deepest parts of our nature], exposing and sifting and analyzing and judging the very thoughts and purposes of the heart.”

Hebrews 11:6 (amplified) says, “But without faith it is impossible to please and be satisfactory to Him. For whoever would come near to God must [necessarily] believe that God exists and that He is the rewarder of those who earnestly and diligently seek Him [out].”

These two verses at first glance seem to not be related at all, however, these were the two God gave me while in the midst of my vision. So further research must be in order to fully grasp what God was trying to convey to me.

Obviously the sword that penetrated and cut me in half was the Word of God not only symbolically in the form of a sword but also in the person of Jesus as the wielder of that sword. John 1:1, “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God”; John 1:14, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.”

As the sword cut through me I heard God say, “I am dividing between your soul and your spirit” and Hebrews 11:6. He “spoke” both references of Scripture at the same moment. Hebrews 4:12 says, “the Word that God speaks is alive….” As God was cutting me in two He was speaking both Hebrews 4:12 and Hebrews 11:6 over me. So it would appear that it was the Words of these verses that were dividing between my soul and spirit causing my flesh to be lowered enough for me to have a glimpse of God’s heart.

So what is it in Hebrews 11:6 that is alive and active and penetrates to the very thoughts and purposes of my heart? Is it faith in God, belief that He exists?

Remember I kept feeling my worship was not good enough, that it was somehow dirty, and all about me and not Him. I did not feel I was able to please Him or be satisfactory to Him in my worship. I never felt condemnation in this revelation, but it was more a matter of fact. That the truth that He is so big, so great, there was no way my worship could ever compare.

Jeff, my pastor, has said time and time again it takes God to get us to God. We can’t know Him or draw near to Him unless He comes to us first. This is what He was doing in me, giving me the faith I needed to be satisfactory to Him, so He could show me a glimpse of His heart. I had to have enough belief in who He is in order to draw near to Him, but in my own state of imperfection and unbelief I cannot do that and be as close as He wants me to be with Him. So in that moment He gave it to me.

As I seek Him out and discover who He is the more capacity I have to hold the amount of faith it takes to satisfy His holiness and the more He is drawn to me. Then one day He steps in front of me and says I love you so much that I am going to help you in your pursuit of me by giving you a little more faith so you can get a glimpse of my heart, and then you will seek me even more. The more I come to know God the more I realize there is so much more to know. I can’t help but continue my journey of discovery of Him because it satisfies the deepest places inside of me.