There is nothing like His presence

There is nothing like the presence of Jesus. He is everything you dream of and more. He is the most relateable presence ever to exist. He exceeds your wildest imagination yet is the fulfillment of all your desires. All of heaven and earth falls before Him whenever we look into the firey eyes of Jesus. "His eyes blazed like a fiery flame" (Revelation 1:14, VOICE). His presence is designed to look you into your eyes and be consumed with love. There is no father, mother, brother, sister, or friend who could ever love you like Jesus. His love is insurmountable over you.

When you encounter Him for the first time, you never return to what you used to know about life. I love Philip Yancey when he says "No one who meets Jesus ever stays the same." The unashamed fierceness of Jesus to break the chains of death so that He can be close to us now breathes His life into us. It is my constant pursuit for myself and those I love to encounter the face of God. The Hebrew word for presence is actually face. To live face to face with God - consciously aware of His goodness - is my lifelong dream. It brings me to tears as I share you this important revelation.

The church has a responsbility of stewarding the most precious being to ever exist. Hosting the presence of God is a revelation I have learned for a few years now. I have been given the important responsibility as a follower, friend, lover, and man to become consciously aware of the face of God in my life. If you would have asked me years ago in my truly beginning walks of the Lord how important this is, I would have been completely confused. I was dull about the presence of God even though I learned countless amounts of Scripture to know that He is a "good good Father." Thankfully the Lord has taken me from "glory to glory" and has never called me to be average. The church is filled with His glory.

How do I become aware of the most precious name ever to exist? We love relentlessly and serve extravagently. Love a neighbor, friend, family member, yourself, and even the beauty of creation around you and you will find the author who fashioned it all. The graciousness of Jesus and the unrelenting fire of His zeal over us becomes the cornerstone of all reality. The action of loving someone around you is where you will find God in the most transcendant moments. Eternity is discovered when love abounds.

Again, never in a million years would you hear me pour out my spirit like I am today. My encounters with the Lord have been so real and those who have paved the way for my experiences are deserving of high praise.

Allow me to share you my story. I grew up in the church. My mother was Baptist and my father was Catholic (interesting combination). I grew up with Jesus and learned about His name. Scripture was my foundation yet I hated reading. My hatred for reading was because I believed it was incredibly boring. Who wants to read books let alone 66 books of the bible? Scripture was all I heard about growing up and I still treasure the verses prophesied over me from my mother. I accepted Christ at an early age yet church was boring because all I did was sleep during the service (Jesus loves naps by the way). I hated reading not only because it was boring but because I have ADD. If any of you understand what I am talking about - an amen will be gladly apprciated. ADD affects my comprehension and social development. I took speech class when I was little, I took courses in high school that helped me grow linguistically and my writing needed so much work. I struggled comprehending my sentences together, until the day when everything changed completely.

I had my first tangible encounter with the Lord that changed my perspective on Christianity completely. In my senior year of high school heading into graduation - I went to a college retreat with my church called Living Faith Fellowship in Pullman Washington. This weekend was a getaway for my brother and I along with 200-300 college students. No better way to worship Jesus than escaping into the woods. I remember that Saturday - we had a worship night. We worshipped until we were falling on the floor and could not get up. The Spirit of God came in like a powerful rushing wind and grabbed our attention as we surrendered before Him. I remember how my body was extremely hot inside like a fire beginning to burn within me. We had a candle service during this time and I remember sitting in my chair crying so hard I could not physically stop. I was so numb on the inside, I could not feel anything in my body other than this raging fire burning within me that consumed my entire being. My friends in front of me were trying to calm me down but I told them I couldn't and I did not want to. This was so real and so tangible. Moments later, I remember we played good good Father and I fell flat on my face in front of everyone. I did not care anymore. I knew my life was completely surrendered to Jesus and nothing else mattered. My tongue was touched by the finger of God and my comprehension level began to sky rocket. This was the beginning of a new story in my life. Scripture became flesh, flesh became spirit and the same spirit that raised Jesus from the grave changed my vocabulary and comprehension level entirely. My vocabulary is nothing like it was years ago before this encounter with the Lord. I enjoy reading the Scriptures now and I enjoy reading books. The Lord touched me and I am in vocational ministry because of it. Being face to face with God is everything. We have the wonderful privlege as sons and daughters to live consciously aware of God in our everyday moments.

My story speaks for itself. God loves it when we search for Him because He longs for us to find Him. The playfullness of Jesus stems from the kindness of His heart. "You will look for me intently, and you will find Me" (Jeremiah 29:13, VOICE).

Our life comes from encounters with the Lord. Go and find Him, trust me, you will never be same again.