What IS an Encounter with God? (Day 1)

Today is Day One of 31 Days of Encountering God! If you missed the kick-off, you can go HERE and find the Introduction as well as each days post! (I will be adding every day as the month goes on!)

What IS an Encounter with God?

Today is Day One in our 31 Day series of Encountering God, and before we dig right in I wanted to sort of explain what I mean when I talk of God Encounters.

We'll start off really basic... with a definition:

en·coun·ter      verb      \in-ˈkau̇n-tər, en-\

: to have or experience (problems, difficulties, etc.)

: to meet (someone) without expecting or intending to

I think that many of us gather in certain places, looking to encounter God... we go to church, we read our Bibles, we may expect to run in to Him at a wedding or a funeral.  But what about encountering God in your car, or in line at the grocery store? What about when emotions over take you when listening to the lyrics to a song, or watching a baby drift off to sleep?  What about those brief moments when the veil that separates between Heaven and the Here and Now seems oh so thin, and you can almost feel a sense of Holy enter a room?

Yes... let's spend October talking about those things... opening our eyes and our ears... stirring up our hearts and our expectations... let's invite Him in to Encounter us in all sorts of ways and let's just see what He has to say... how He will show up for us!

An Encounter is often unexpected, but I believe the more we talk about it, the more our faith is stirred to look for it! The more we look for Him, the more we will find Him!  (I've read that somewhere before!)

"Ask, and it will be given to you; 

 seek, and you will find; knock,

and it will be opened to you.

For everyone who asks receives,

and he who seeks finds,

and to him who knocks

it will be opened."

                                ~ Matt 7:7-9 NASB  

So join me this month, as we dive into some God Encounters... we will Ask... Seek... and Knock.  And I believe that the Word is true... so we can expect that we will also Receive, Find, and Doors will be Opened!

When I say "Encountering God" - I am talking about the ways He reveals Himself to us... whether it be in the midst of church or prayer or worship... or (often my favorite!) in the midst of every day living... in the midst of our bossy lists, deep disappointments, and honest confusion.  He desires to speak with us... I truly believe that as we pursue Him... all the while... He is pursuing us!

As I mentioned yesterday, some posts will be short and sweet, just inviting Him right in with a prayer or a song... some will be more of a testimony of how I have enountered Him in the past... some may include a vision or a Scripture... but no matter what form they take, my prayer is that He is Present and reveals Himself to you in each one!

In the comments below, I'd love to have you share how you most often Encounter Him!  I hope to have you back tomorrow where I will share some of my earliest Encounters with God.  




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