A Fresh Encounter

Have you ever felt as if you needed a fresh encounter with God? Hopefully your response is yes - more than once! All of us need an opportunity to "refresh" with the living breathing Holy Spirit. It is not that He has evaporated from within us. It is a need to go to the next level with Him and grow even more intimate in our relationship with Him. A fresh encounter says to our Lord, I want to hear You tell me more of what dwells in the secret places with You. I want to experience what the Psalms describe as deep calling to deep. Psalm 47:5-8 Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God. Deep calls to deep in the roar of your waterfalls; all your waves and breakers have swept over me. By day the Lord directs his love, at night his song is with me-- a prayer to the God of my life. What an awesome expression of our deepest need in the midst of the storms of life to connect with our God, our promise and our salvation.

Two weekends ago I was humbled and privileged to witness a wonderful group of men receive a fresh anointing from Holy Spirit. All began this journey of three days from different beginning points. Yet all were unquestionably elevated to a new level of intimacy with Holy Spirit. The first requirement for any of us who desire to go deeper with Him is to become available to Him. We must invite Him to take us to wherever we need to be. Frequently there is a hunger, but in our finite existence we are not sure how to satisfy that hunger. Do we even understand that we are hungry? Do we comprehend what can truly satisfy that hunger as nothing else can? Do you?

We all desperately need more of Him in our lives, but how we acquire this will be different for each of us. As I watched the weekend progress, I observed individuals transform each at their individual pace. The Lord permitted me to serve these wonderful gentlemen as a prayer warrior as well as just being where I was needed as a laborer. This enabled me to be on the sidelines and yet spiritually in the midst. My own hunger and need was being met simultaneously because of the powerful presence of Holy Spirit. When you are under an open portal of heaven, the anointing that flows will sweep you off your feet just as flood waters sweep everything due to their mighty power. Rejuvenation, refreshing, cleansing are just a few ways to describe how this feels.

How do we get a fresh anointing in the midst of the chaos of daily life? The first step is to acknowledge that you need a fresh anointing. Recognize that status quo in your spiritual life is not enough. Yearn for more. Nurture that yearning so that it grows so intense it begins to dominate your thinking, your day, your evening, your sleep. More of You, God and less of me. When that yearning becomes alive in you, you then begin to seek His face in new ways.

Begin your search by studying the Word in a different manner than you have previously. If you were doing a daily devotional that has become routine, create a different routine. Seek a new resource that can present the Word to you in a new light. Challenge yourself to one of the in-depth devotionals that tackles more of the Word than a single verse. Commit yourself to a daily time of being still with Him either while you are doing your devotionals or at a different time of the day. During this still time, make an effort to truly be still so that you can hear His voice. Remember that it is hard to listen when we are chatting away. Don't let your prayer time with Him become a repetition of the same thing everyday. Have a conversation with Him. Be real. He is not only Abba caring for you as His child, but He is also your lover and you are His Beloved. Believe that as you speak with Him daily.

James 4:8 Draw close to God, and God will draw close to you. It is the beauty of this love relationship we have with our Lord. Think about those people about whom you care the most in your life. What happens to those relationships when you spend time together, sharing the highs and lows of your life? You grow closer. The opposite happens when you are too busy to spend time with each other. Distance grows and then it takes time to once again feel the intimacy that once existed. The very same principles operate in our relationship with our Lord. Spend time with Him; share your heart with Him and experience a new level of intimacy and revelation.

I challenge each of you to do something differently this week to draw close to God so that He can draw close to you. If you journal, then record the changes that will inevitably slowly occur in your life as a result of this new effort on your part to be intimate with the One that loves you beyond your imagination. If you don't journal then just jot down an occasional revelation as it comes to you. Put it in the margins of your calendar or somewhere that you will not lose it. :-) Experience the power of a fresh anointing. He is waiting for you.

My apologies for this post being delayed. We experienced computer issues that involved having to purchase a new computer. God was so faithful though that no data was lost. He is so amazing!! Thank you for your continued interest in hearing a fresh Word from Holy Spirit through this humble vessel. Blessings!