Mysterious Encounters

For this reason I, Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles— assuming that you have heard of the stewardship of God’s grace that was given to me for you, how the mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I have written briefly. When you read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit. This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel. Ephesians 3:1-6

How does this highly educated teacher of the law, who despised those followers of Jesus with such zeal that he went after them and approved of their destruction (actually watched Steven’s execution by stoning), make such a massive change in understanding? Saul volunteered to be the opposition’s ‘point’ man and going after anyone who talked about Jesus. He set out to root out all of them and convict them. And then he met someone while on the road … and you know the rest of the story.

It is BY revelation that we come to understand the ‘Truth’ of who Jesus actually is. That revelation comes by direct ‘encounter’. It may not be as dramatic as the apostle Paul’s but it is still ‘direct’ and personal to you alone, by the Holy Spirit. That ‘touch’ or encounter IS the most important thing in your life! It is the Holy Spirit that reveals who Jesus actually is. The Holy Spirit brings ‘revelation’ and an unveiling of the ‘mystery’ of things beyond our scope of understanding and then we learn the Truth. Reading or knowing the scriptures does not bring transformation. If that were the case there would be no atheists or agnostics, or fallen angels because many of those know the scriptures better than most who sit in Church every week. It is THROUGH the Holy Spirit that the Truth IN the scriptures is revealed to the reader. Every reader interprets what they are reading or hearing. How do you know you are interpreting it correctly? How do you know what is the correct interpretation that the ‘pastor’ (or any other speaker) is saying it is? Who is the One who confirms what actually is the Truth? Saul / Paul certainly ‘knew’ the scriptures better than 99% of all of the followers of Jesus at the time (The Way). So what changed? Why did Saul become Paul?

Don’t negate the direct personal encounters with the Holy Spirit! Don’t belittle His whispers to your soul. Don’t ‘brush off’ His instructions to you – no matter how small you think they are. The Holy Spirit is your connection to spiritual understanding. Without Him we only ‘guess’ what the interpretation is. This type of interaction with the Holy Spirit is NOT gone. This type of relationship with the Holy Spirit did NOT stop and die with the apostles. IN fact this relationship with the Holy Spirit is the MOST important thing in your spiritual life! This relationship with the Holy Spirit is WHAT Jesus came to give you! Press IN to the Holy Spirit EVERYDAY!

The encounter Saul had ‘on the road’ was so dramatic — everyone knew it totally changed him. How have the encounters with Jesus and the Holy Spirit changed you? Are the encounters with the Holy Spirit still changing you? Are you ‘hearing’ Him deep within your mind and soul? Can you discern His Voice within you? How is His fruit planted deep within your character changing you? Are you following His directions? Are you actually waiting for His ‘words’ to you? IS your heart really searching Him out? This isn’t a religion — it is a real dialogue and a moment by moment communication with GOD! The scriptures are just the written ‘history’ in which the Holy Spirit explains the HEART of God towards YOU! Without the Holy Spirit spiritual things are NOT understood.

Learning how the Holy Spirit speaks to you — and moves in you, and directs you, is the ‘key’ to ALL spiritual growth and maturity, and understanding. You MUST learn to recognize Him. Just as we must learn to recognize who Jesus is! The ‘pharisees’ of today want you to believe that only through them will you really know the correct interpretation of the scriptures. Beware of these types. The goal of the modern day pharisees is to belittle the work and encounters with the Holy Spirit. They want to limit any real exposure to the Holy Spirit within their followers.

I tell you to SEEK OUT THE HOLY SPIRIT everyday! Follow His instructions!