A Fresh Encounter With God | Reflection By Charles Stanley
Scripture Reading: Isaiah 6:1– 9
Psalm 139:3
You comprehend my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways.
Have you ever approached your devotional time with the idea of actually meeting with God?
It is easy to reduce a quiet time to little more than a perfunctory Bible reading or study and a quick prayer if you forget the real purpose of setting aside that time.
God wants you to have a real and fresh encounter with Him each day. You don’t generate this meeting through any formula or particular method; you simply come before Him with a humble, repentant heart and a genuine desire to know Him more.
You gain a sense of His presence. Isaiah knew immediately that he was in the presence of the living God. When the meeting ended, Isaiah walked away a changed man.
You cannot experience God’s presence and be the same; God’s holiness is life changing, and through the Holy Spirit, He lives inside you forever.
You are never without His presence. You sense your unworthiness.
As you come face-to-face with God’s holiness, you realize your needy state. His awesome brightness eclipses even the angels in heaven.
The standard of His righteousness illuminates the sin in your life.
You need to understand His forgiveness. The purpose of recognizing sin is not for condemnation and guilt, but for repentance. Christ forgives all your sins, but He wants you to confess them in order to experience His wondrous grace.
Precious Lord, I want to have a fresh encounter with You today. I want to know You better. Meet with me, and when our meeting ends, let me walk away changed.
Charles Stanley
Dr. Charles F. Stanley, pastor of the First Baptist Church of Atlanta and founder of In Touch Ministries. Charles Stanley was born on September 25, 1932 in Dry Fork, Virginia.
