I recall one time while ministering in Brazil God drew near to me in a very special way. The meetings had been unusually powerful with many coming to faith in Christ and testifying to notable miracles in the nightly meetings. My preparation time for those meetings was precious to me. As usual, I shut myself away for the better part of the day waiting on God. I had spent several hours of prayer, seeking the Lord for His release on the meetings and in preparing my message. The closeness of the Lord’s presence was real to me throughout this time, but when I finally began to wash and change and make myself ready for the meeting, God did something quite unusual. I was walking from the bathroom back to the bedroom when suddenly He came. That’s the only way I can describe it. I had been conscious of the presence of the Lord all afternoon, but this was something different. I know that, biblically speaking, we are always in the presence of the Lord. He said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” But there are different levels of the experience of His presence. And this was quite unlike anything else I had experienced. It seemed as if the ‘background’ presence of God—that presence which fills the universe, suddenly came into the foreground and was revealed to me. His presence was indescribable. I can only say that it lasted about 15 seconds, and in that time I was conscious of thinking that this is what heaven must be like. When the experience was over I realised that I would not exchange those moments for anything on earth and that the presence of God eclipsed every pain and every pleasure of earth. If I were never to experience that blessing again, it would be enough to last until I see Jesus in heaven. It spoiled me for everything else but Him. That’s the kind of God-consciousness which was prevalent in the Early Church and is present in every revival. God turns up the dial and brings His presence closer. There comes a sense of awe, a holy fear—not the fear of judgment or condemnation because His love drives out that kind of fear, but the healthy, awe-inspiring fear of God in which His glory and purposes matter to you more than anything in the world.
Posted on: Mon, 12 May 2014 08:31:13 +0000
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