Chapter One
Experiencing Jesus
Paul said that it was the throbbing ambition
of his life to experience Jesus Is it yours?
When my secretary told me I'd been invited to the White
House, my heart picked up a little speed.
I wonder if I'll get to meet the president.
Like everyone else, I'd read a lot about him and seen him
countless times in pictures and on TV. I'd followed his political
career with more than a little interest. In fact, I had
voted for him. If someone had asked if I knew much about
him, I could have launched into a rather extensive description
of his background, his political philosophy, and his policies.
But this was different.
I was on the verge of actually experiencing him.
Personally.
Wearing my best navy pin-striped suit, a starched
white shirt, and a "presidential" tie, I stopped long enough
at the airport to get my shoes professionally shined. I could
hardly keep myself from telling the man bent over my feet,
Do a good job-these shoes are headed for the White House.
I felt sobered as I walked into the grand foyer of our
president's home. These truly are the halls of power, I said to
myself. Behind closed doors in this very house wars have been
declared-history made.
I found myself seated on the front row of the East
Room. The small gathering hushed as a commanding voice
announced, "Ladies and gentlemen, the president of the
United States." We stood as he walked in briskly and took
his place on the low platform. I couldn't take my eyes off of
him. I was in his presence and found myself intrigued by
his every move. Later, in a very brief conversation, I was
surprised at how engaged he seemed. If only for a moment,
he looked into my eyes and gave me his attention.
Frankly, having experienced the reality of his presence,
I will never view our president in the same way again. I
went away wishing I could know him better.
It's like that in your relationship with Jesus: You can be
satisfied to just know about Him, or you can enter into an
experience with Jesus. Only you can make the choice. And
this choice determines the difference between religion as
usual or the satisfaction of connecting with Jesus, the One
we were created to enjoy.
More Than Mere Knowledge
We all know who Jesus is. Right?
In the last two thousand years, no other individual has
commanded such respect, such honor. Our entire Western
civilization-from its laws to its ethics-has been marked
and molded by His teaching. For over two millennia, history's
greatest works of art have centered on His life, death,
and resurrection. Enduring musical masterpieces have celebrated
His worth and glory. But for those who have personally
embraced the liberating reality of His forgiveness of
sin and hope of eternity, He is so much more.
Or . at least, He should be.
We preach and teach about His will and His ways; tell
His stories by heart; celebrate Him in worship; and serve
Him with enthusiasm. Yet underneath it all (if we are truly
candid), there is a gnawing sense that there should be something .
well, more to this relationship.
Why is it that He often feels so far away? So historical?
So church related? So other? The distance between knowing
Him and knowing about Him is vast. And the space
between these two experiences separates the spectators from
intimate participants.
Think carefully. It's a pretty safe bet that if you are reading
this book you know at least something about Him. You
know something about Him biographically and historically.
In your more lucid moments, you might even be able to
talk a little theology. But as impressive as your knowledge
about Jesus may be, the unfortunate reality is that most of
us stop there. Seemingly satisfied that knowing about Him
is enough, we have no clue that there is more.
And there is more.
The thought of a deep richness waiting for those who
get beyond knowing about Him to actually experiencing
Him has either escaped us or-worse yet-has been exiled
to the vague regions of religious wishful thinking.
If that's your story, get ready.
The best is yet to come.
Jesus intends for you to experience the pleasure and
reassuring peace of His presence at the core of your life. He
wants to be more than just another volume in your encyclopedia
of biblical facts. He didn't die for you to simply
strike a deal guaranteeing heaven. He died for you to make
you His own and to grant you the unspeakable privilege of
experiencing Him personally.
As Paul wrote to early followers of Jesus .
He [God] is the one who invited you into this
wonderful friendship with his Son, Jesus Christ.
1 Corinthians 1:9 NLT
And think of this invitation that Jesus extends to all of
us who will respond .
"Look! Here I stand at the door and knock. If you
hear me calling and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal as friends."
Revelation 3:20 NLT
This is incomparably better than an invitation to the
White House. The eternal God of the universe has called us
into fellowship-friendship, companionship, close contact
-with His Son. Jesus never intended to connect only
with your head; He lives to connect with the entire you. In
fact, He sent us the Holy Spirit to make the total connection
possible, and gave us His Word to show the way. And,
regardless of who you are or how you have chosen to live
your life, you can know the pleasure of His presence.
Up close and personal.
Forgive a trip down memory lane, but I long again to
experience Jesus in my grandmother's quavery voice as she
sang the words of her favorite hymn:
I come to the garden alone
While the dew is still on the roses, And the voice I hear falling on my ear
The Son of God discloses.
And He walks with me and He talks with me
and He tells me I am His own.
And the joy we share as we tarry there, None other has ever known.
Knowing my grandmother, I have little doubt that she
had moved well beyond simply "knowing about Him" into
the joy of experiencing Him.
And just in case you think that a closer relationship
with Jesus is about some kind of rigid morning routine,
some tedious-but-essential religious exercise, think again.
While regular Bible study and cultivating a life of prayer are
indispensable, there is far more to a personal experience
with Jesus.
-It's about a deep and abiding sense of His nearness on
the journey.
-It's about an unshakable confidence that only His abiding
presence can give.
-It's about courage in the face of previously intimidating
encounters.
-It's about a closeness that enables your spirit to commune
with Him, anywhere, anytime, regardless.
-It's about meeting Him in places you may have never
dreamed of . in the most heated of seductions, in the midst of
suffering, and in acts of unflinching surrender.
There is a marvelously mystical aspect to all this. You
can't wrap words around it. You can't put it in a box and tie
it up with a red ribbon. When you try to fully define it, you
degrade it.
Jesus is never predictable. Just totally available. He
doesn't play hide-and-seek. In fact, He consistently rewards
anyone who diligently seeks Him (Hebrews 11:6). But to
many of us, tasting of that reward seems so illusive. Could
it be we simply don't know how to seek Him or where to
find Him?
I'll never forget the frustrating experience early one
Sunday morning when I was supposed to pick up an elderly
relative who had come into Chicago on the train from
Milwaukee. The whole purpose of the exercise was to find
her and get her safely to our house. I showed up on time,
but where was she? Certainly not where I thought she would
be. I checked the monitor and the train was already in. With
a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach, I scoured the
early morning loneliness of Union Station . to no avail.
I was about ready to leave when I happened to glance
down a hallway toward the baggage area. There she was, luggage
at her feet, patiently waiting for me to arrive. She'd been
there all the time. And to my chagrin, she was right where she
should have been! I had been looking in all the wrong places.
The great news is that Jesus is there, patiently waiting
for you. In fact, He not only waits, but is also at this very
moment busily pursuing you. The fact that you are reading
this book is no accident, no coincidence. It's just another
one of the countless ways He hopes to get your attention.
It's time to connect.
You Can't Get Enough of Him
The following lines of Scripture have captured my heart in
recent days. Don't skip over them. Don't let your mind
wander. If you really want to experience Jesus, you must
read these words slowly and thoughtfully . until they have
gripped your heart.
I once thought all these things were so very important, but now I consider them worthless because of
what Christ has done. Yes, everything else is worthless
when compared with the priceless gain of
knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. I have discarded
everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I
may have Christ and become one with him. I no
longer count on my own goodness or my ability to
obey God's law, but I trust Christ to save me. For
God's way of making us right with himself depends
on faith. As a result, I can really know Christ and
experience the mighty power that raised him from the
dead. I can learn what it means to suffer with him, sharing in this death, so that, somehow, I can experience
the resurrection from the dead!
Philippians 3:7-11 NLT, emphasis added
More than any other writer, Paul spoke most passionately
about knowing Jesus. It was his singular quest in life.
Everything else became peripheral-rubbish-compared
to knowing God's Son. And in this text, when he speaks of
giving everything up to know Jesus, he uses the Greek word
that means to know by experience.
But here's the thought that sets me back on my heels.
Paul had already experienced Jesus in far more dramatic
ways than anyone before or since. On the Damascus highway,
Jesus appeared to Paul in a bolt of white fire and spoke
to him in person. Sometime later, Paul found himself swept
up into the "third heaven," where he had an extended season
of personal experience with Jesus.
Yet what did Paul want with all his heart?
He wanted more.
He was still so taken with Jesus that the entire focus of
his life was to experience more of Him. Which only proves
that once you get a taste, you can never get enough of Him.
Having experienced Jesus makes even the brightest treasures
of life look dull by comparison.
Do you wonder if this is for you? Wonder no longer!
He is at the door of your heart, wanting to come in for
some serious fellowship.
