Good morning readers! My heart is literally singing this morning with the birds as we celebrate this awesome spring delight. Earlier this morning I cruised into a Kindle book I’d read previously by John Bevere titled “X: Multiply Your God – Given Potential” picking up in a section titled “What I Believe.” Once again, I am “compelled” to share this story with you right now, not later today, or this weekend, but now, putting all else aside. And, I likely will never know the why “now!” I am learning to treasure and revere these “compellings.” The opportunity & blessing of Instant Obedience! However, where ever! The following is verbatim beginning on page 171.
“What I Believe”
Let me tell you a story. I had just flown eight hours to Hawaii for a conference. Still in my travel clothes, waiting for my hotel room to be ready, I’d found a spot to rest under a poolside umbrella. It just so happened that a businesswoman was also waiting – she was attending a different conference. We got to talking, and once she discovered I was a Christian author and minister, she began to elaborate on her relationship with God.
It didn’t take more than a minute or two to realize that she didn’t know God. She kept confidently stating what she believed and very little corresponded to what scripture reveals. While she was still expounding further on her beliefs, I asked the Holy Spirit for wisdom, and He showed me what to say.
When the woman finished her discourse, I asked, “Do you see the man sitting across the pool?”
“Why, yes,” she responded.
“Allow me to you about him,” I said. “He’s a strict vegan – he doesn’t eat anything from an animal, not even honey. His dream is to be on the US Olympic Swim Team. He works out six hours a day. His hobbies are racquetball, tennis, skydiving, and painting. He’s married to that woman over by the hot tub and she’s ten years younger than he.”
The woman was intrigued but also a little confused as to why I would change the subject so abruptly. She had just shared her deep thoughts of God and, in turn, suddenly I am describing a man across the pool. Her curiosity got the best of her, so she asked, “Is he here to attend the conference with you?”
“No, ma’am”
“Well, how do you know him?” she asked even more curious.
“I’ve never met him.”
Now looking confused and concerned, she asked how I knew so much about him. I have no idea if this is correct, but by the look on her face, I’m guessing she might have thought I was a CIA operative, an FBI agent, a detective, or even a stalker. Her curiosity had been piqued.
I paused, and then said to her, “That’s what I believe about him.”
She was speechless.
“You just spoke with such confidence of your belief of who God is,” I continued. “But almost everything you just said about Him is not true. I know this because I know Him.”
Then I turned, looked her straight in the eye, and said, “What I just did with that man who I’ve never met before is no different than what you just did with God. I told you what I believe about the man across the pool, but chances are that most of what I said isn’t true, and the reason is, I’ve never taken the time to get to know him.”
The woman was listening but appeared slightly shaken.
“God gave us His Word, recorded on the pages of the Bible, that reveal who He is,” I said calmly. “He also sent His Spirit to reveal Jesus to us, who in turn shows us God Almighty, because He is God manifested in the flesh.”
I paused, and then asked gently, “Do you think you may have made up an imaginary god in your mind, one who actually doesn’t exist?
Sadly, either she was not ready to confront her lack of knowing God or she was scared to face the reality of meeting Him. We chatted for a few more minutes and soon afterwards parted ways.
You may be smiling as you read of this encounter, as you think, I know God. I go to church and I have read the Bible. However, before any of us get too comfortable in that thought, we must remember the plight of the Pharisees. They had perfect church attendance, prayed and even fasted regularly, and could quote from memory the first five books of the Bible. (I sure don’t have that good a record!) Yet, they couldn’t recognize God manifested in the flesh – Jesus, standing right before them.
“Knowing God”
So, who gets the privilege of knowing God? All are invited, but there are established parameters. The door is open for an authentic relationship when we , from the core of our being, make the decision to give our life fully to Him. Not in pretense, but accompanied with corresponding actions including the seldom mentioned “repentance” – our need to walk away permanently from a self-seeking life-style and lay down our life for Him. Matthew 16:24-25 The Passion Translation (TPT) says it well: “If you truly want to follow Me, you should at once completely reject and disown your own life. And you must be willing to share My cross and experience it as your own, as you continually surrender to my ways. For if you choose self-sacrifice and lose your lives for my glory, you will continually discover true life. But if you choose to keep your lives for yourselves, you will forfeit what you try to keep.”
The apostle James writes, “But don’t just listen to God’s Word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves” (James 1:22). The person who hears God’s Word, yet is unresponsive in thought, word, and action, has fooled himself. The Passion Translation calls this “Self-deception,” which I think accurately describes the third steward with one buried talent, the Pharisees, the woman at the pool in Hawaii, and the many others I’ve encountered, who fully believe they are in relationship with God because they attend church and quote Scripture, BUT ARE REGULARLY SPEAKING AND LIVING CONTRARY to His Word. They are sadly misled. It is self-deception; and so deadly!
If you’ve been blessed by this encounter, consider sending it on to others. Today, we are to simply know & obey. Tomorrow or someday soon, we anticipate eternal peace and our rewards.
Blessings as You Journey Forth>>>>> merlin