This is a continuation of my previous post.

Before you go on, I pray that God will bring about a divine appointment between you and this post. I have spent quite a lot of time studying about this and praying. I hope that you will take sometime off and fix your eyes and heart to your computer screen. I assure you that this will change your life – if not now, in due time.

Here is the post about what I studied last night. Might be a little hard to understand but I pray that God gives you the understanding. I will keep it less theologically as possible hehe. The title of my post:

THE ENCOUNTER

The theme for Grace Youth’s Camp 2005 was “The Encounter”. I remembered the youths were praying hard for an encounter with God before, during and after the camp. And the prayers were heard, on the very last night of camp, God took over during Praise and Worship. Everyone just started to fall on the ground and weeping and crying out to God and had their encounter with God. But not all had one. Let me tell you this, I am sure you have heard it many times but I am going to be like a nagging mom now – You don’t need to wait for a church camp to have an encounter.

Paul the Persecutor.
As we read through the book of Acts. We find that the Gospel has been widely spread by the apostles and disciples of Jesus. Much opposition arose and tried to stop the widespread of the Gospel but God is God and He made sure that nothing would stop the apostles’ and disciples’ ministry. In Acts chapter 7 we see one of the apostles named Stephen giving a speech to the Sanhedrin. At the end of chapter 7 we witness the murder of Stephen when the angered people stoned him to death. And a new character stepped into the pages of Acts. Acts 8:1 – And Saul (Paul) was there, giving approval to his (Stephen’s) death. Let us imagine now, Stephen was giving a speech about Jesus; the people got angry and stoned him. And at a corner somewhere stood a man, arms crossed and staring at Stephen with burning eyes, nodding his head and putting on an evil smile, giving approval to the people’s murder of Stephen.

Down With Christians!!!
Saul (also know as Paul) was a hater of Christians. His job was to persecute Christians. Here is the evidence:

Acts 8:3
Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged of men and women and began to put them in prison.

Acts 9:1-2
Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. He went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belong to the Way (Jesus), whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem.

1 Corinthians 15:9
Paul said, “For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.

1 Timothy 1:13
Even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy.

Need I say more? Paul placed many Christians in prison and people feared him greatly. He persecuted the church of God; in doing this he was actually persecuting Christ Himself. What a great sin!

BUT…
There is always a “but” huh? Well what can I say; our God is a gracious God isn’t He?

Divine Appointment:
The Encounter.

Acts 9:3
As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him.

Paul was on his way to Damascus on his campaign to destroy all Christians when suddenly a bright light from heaven came around him. Paul fell to the ground and Jesus asked, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” And Jesus told Paul to get up and go to Damascus. Paul was blinded after the incident and for three days he was blind, he did not eat or drink anything. Then God spoke to a disciple named Ananias in his dream and told him to find Paul and heal him. Ananias did as he was told. He went to Paul and prayed for him and immediately something likes scales fell off from Paul’s eyes and Paul regained his sight. Then Paul stayed with the disciples for several days.

From Persecutor to Follower:
The Conversion.
After Paul’s encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus, we witnessed a total changed in Paul’s life. He turned from a persecutor of Jesus to a follower of Jesus. Here is the Bible’s account of Paul’s doings after the encounter:
Acts 9:20-21 = At once he began to preach in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God. All those who heard him were astonished and asked, “Isn’t this the man who raised havoc in Jerusalem among the Christians? And hasn’t he come here to take them as prisoners to the chief priests? Yet Saul grew more and more powerful and baffled the Jews living in Damascus that Jesus was the Christ (Messiah).

This is only the beginning of my post.
It is going to be a rather long post but it is up to you whether you want to read it or not. I can assure you that you will be blessed IF you would just take a few more minutes to read this post. I spent 4 hours last night studying about Paul’s Encounter and I got amazing revelations out of it. It is my joy to share them with you. So yea, be blessed.
I shall continue…

Now here comes the main course meal. It is hard meat, you need a sharp knife and fork for this course of meal. And it is advisable that you have strong teeth to chew it and a stomach big enough to hold it. Fasten your seatbelts and chow down! =)

The Light.
Notice that Paul’s encounter with Jesus involved a bright light from heaven that came down and blinded him. The glory of God appeared in the form of a very bright light. What is the significance in this?
God’s revelation of Himself or of His plans and wills are often accompanied by fire or light. His presence is often manifested through fire or light.
The account of:

1. The Day of Pentecost:
In Acts Chapter 2 we read about the account of the Day of Pentecost. God sent the Holy Spirit down upon the disciples and they started speaking in tongues. This encounter of the disciples’ with God was an encounter that sparked and started off the greatest ministry ever. Through this encounter they were filled with the Holy Spirit and were then able to do miraculous things. The worldwide spread of the Gospel started here at the Day of the Pentecost when God’s power descended on the disciples in fire!
Acts 2:3 = They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them.

2. Moses and the Burning Bush:
Moses was tending his father-in-law, Jethro’s flocks when he caught sight of a burning bush. The bush was on fire but it didn’t seem to burn the bush at all. So Moses went and had a look. At the Burning Bush incident, God turned the life of Moses upside down. God gave orders to Moses to bring the whole Israelite community out from Egypt. And this account of Moses’ encounter with God at the Burning Bush changed the whole cause of Israel’s history!
Exodus 3:2 = There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that the bush was on fire it did not burn up.

3. Moses and the Israelites’ Journey:
During Moses’ and the Israelites’ journey from Egypt to the Promise Land, God was with them. In Exodus we see that while they were traveling in the desert, God went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light. Again we see another encounter between human and God. Again we see the use of fire and light. The fire was to keep them warm and out of the fire, light to guide their way so they could travel at night.
Exodus 13:21 = By day the Lord went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night.

4. Moses on Mount Sinai:
God descended on Mount Sinai accompanied by thunder and lightning and fire. God then gave Moses the famous Ten Commandments. Here we see another account of an encounter between human and God and it involves fire and light. Through this encounter, the Ten Commandments were given to Moses and the Israelites and it shaped the next course of the Israelites’ journey into the Promise Land.
Exodus 19:16 = On the morning of the third day there was thunder and lightning… Mount Sinai was covered with smoke, because the Lord descended on it in fire.

5. Elijah on Mount Carmel:
Elijah the prophet made a “duel” with Ahab. Ahab was a worshipper of Baal, a false god and this angered the Lord. So Elijah was sent to Ahab to make a duel. Elijah ordered Ahab to ensemble the 450 prophets of Baal and 400 prophet of Asherah (a goddess in a form of idol) They were to meet at Mount Carmel and prepare a bull each, cut it into pieces and placed it on a wood but do not light it on fire. They are to call on their own respective gods and the god who answers by fire is the true God. So from morning till evening the prophets of Baal called on the name of their god Baal to send fire from heaven but no one answered. Then Elijah called on his God, and immediately fire came down from heaven and consumed the bull and licked up the water around the trench where the bull was placed. This encounter with God struck a devastating blow on the worship of Baal. Another encounter that changed lives!
1 Kings 18:38 = Then the fire of the Lord fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the soil, and also licked up the water in the trench.

6. Ezekiel’s Commission:
Ezekiel the prophet was charged with a commission from God to speak to the rebellious Israelites. God charged him to speak to the Israelites about God’s judgment on them. This happened when God appeared to Ezekiel in a vision that involved a bright light (similar as that of Paul’s encounter). After Ezekiel’s encounter, he was commissioned to bring the message to the Israelites.
Ezekiel 1:27-28 = I saw that from what appeared to be his waist up he looked like a glowing metal, as if full of fire; and brilliant light surrounded him. Like the appearance of a rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the radiance around him. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord.

All Paul had was just ONE…
Above are 6 out of hundreds of accounts of God’s encounter with man in the form of fire or light. And through all the encounters mentioned above we can see a change. Through each and every encounter, God made a big change in the course of the lives of those He encountered with. This was similar to the case of Paul. After he encountered God, his life turned 180 degrees around. From being a man that hates Christians he became an apostle of Jesus.
Like many other Bible character’s encounter, Paul was one that changed the course of Christian history. He could go on persecuting the Christians and stop the spread of the Gospel if he grew more powerful and got more influential. But God is God and He knows what to do. That very encounter between Jesus and Paul changed everything.
Paul grew stronger in the faith and went on missions to spread the Gospel with Barnabas. He ended up writing most of the books of the New Testament, 13 in total. His writings were power God-breath and Spirit-filled writings. Paul was transformed to the maximum and this was made possible by divine intervention.
Paul had only one life changing encounter that shaped the early church.
All Paul had was just one encounter.

You can have that Encounter too!
How many of us can say that we have had an encounter with God before? Very few right? Do you know that as much as your heart desires to encounter God, God also desires to have an encounter with you!
We do not need a huge “hoo-haa” camp to get that encounter we need. No! We do not need to attend the biggest Christian concert or seminar to have that encounter. We do not need to get blinded by a light from heaven (like Paul) or fire from heaven to burn something up. Yes, God CAN do that if he wants to. Don’t belittle our God, He can still do what He did many many years ago in the Bible.

No. Not like that… though it would be cool.
I had my life changing encounter. And no, it wasn’t a big thing that everyone can see. No, fire did not come down from heaven and burn my clothes. No, there wasn’t any bright light from heaven that came down, boom and blinded me for 3 days. No, I did not get slain by the Spirit and fall to the ground wailing in tongues. No, I did not start speaking Japanese (that would be cool though). There wasn’t any “big” thing that happened when I had my encounter. And best of all was – I did not realize I had an encounter.

My Encounter.
It happened during one YE service in early 2005. One Saturday there was an event going on somewhere and a lot of the YE-ians went for it and a few of us were not aware. So we came to church and saw no one. The ones that were present were (I can remember clearly) me, Adrian Yap, Han Ern, Alan Tan, Caleb Tan, Uncle Bryan and Uncle Matthew (the last one I am not sure, but he was the featured speaker for that day).

Seven: The Number of Perfection.
The seven of us then decided to have a time of worship and prayer. And so we did. Alan, Adrain and Han Ern took turns playing the drums throughout the meeting and I was playing the guitar (struggling to play because I just learnt) and we prayed and prayed and prayed and worshipped God. And little did I know that that day was a life changing day for me… The perfect number gathered together and God intervened. It was divine appointment!

The Transformation after the Encounter.
After that prayer meeting we had. I suddenly had the passion to want to know God more. I started to read the Bible everyday and prayed. And it was then that I found out that I had a gift of evangelism that I didn’t knew I had. Andy, my best friend and my classmate started to bring Jesus wherever we went. At the end of the year (I was in Form 3) we managed to share the Gospel to every of our classmates including the Malays! And we have not stopped since. One incident I won’t forget was that we spent about 40 minutes sharing the Gospel to a Malay teacher haha. He didn’t receive Christ though.

Only NOW I realized that I had my encounter that changed my life. Like Paul, right after his encounter he started to preach. And me, right after my encounter I started to share Jesus in my school. And another amazing thing was in the same year, I heard my calling. That time I wasn’t sure but now I am very sure of it. My calling has not changed since. After that encounter I had everything changed. I started to slowly get involved in YE ministry and came into leadership when Pastor John took over. And now I am writing this post. But know that I am also a human, I am not perfect, and I still do have flaws and weaknesses. Notice that after Paul’s encounter, he wasn’t a perfect man. He had a sharp disagreement with Barnabas in Acts 15 and they parted ways. Moses wasn’t perfect too. He was a coward at times and doubted and he failed to lead the Israelites into the Promise Land. But this does not give me an excuse to do wrong. I will do what’s right but I just want you to know that I may fail at times too. Just like you. But bear with me, God is still working on me.

No Fire?! Aiks!!!

It didn’t take a big fireball from heaven to tell me that I have encountered God. I found out on my own. You too can have that encounter. And you will know it when you suddenly see a change in your life; a change that can only happen through the power of Christ working through you and in you.

So you still want Fire and Light?!

Sure! You can have it! Paul encountered Jesus through light, Moses through fire. And guess what?! You can too! =)

But how?!

Do you not know that the Word of God is FIRE?
Do you not know that Jesus is the LIGHT?

Jeremiah 23:29“Is not my word like FIRE,” declares the Lord, “and like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces?”

John 8:12
Jesus said, “I am the LIGHT of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

There you go! You have it!
YOU CAN HAVE THAT ENCOUNTER!!!

Paul, Moses, Elijah, Ezekiel and many other men and women of God had their LIFE-CHANGING encounter with God. God manifested Himself in the form of light and fire and reveal Himself to them. He can do the same with you!
The Word of God, the Bible, is the FIRE.
Jesus Christ your Savior is the LIGHT.

All of us who has Jesus in our lives already have the LIGHT.
But many of us are just leaving the FIRE there lying on the shelf collecting dust.

God wants us to encounter Him. And He has always wanted to do so. The problem is that we are not allowing Him to encounter us. We are too “busy” with our lives that we can’t even find time to read the Bible. The more you neglect the Bible, the further you get from your encounter. No wonder so many are complaining that they have never had an encounter with God before.

Don’t wait for a camp or concert till you seek for an encounter. It usually doesn’t happen there. Do not keep God waiting. Camp is at the end of the year, God is right there beside you now. Reach out for your Bible, pray and have a daily encounter with God.

Jeremiah 29:13
You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.

Take note that it does not take one encounter to change you and make you perfect. But it takes one encounter to start to change you to be more Christ-like.

Encountered and Still Encountering,
Zlwin Chew.