THE EMMAUS WALK PRESENTS:

"Have you ever met God?"

A radio talk show host recently said that he asks callers to tell him if they have ever met God, and if so, explain exactly how they meet God--and they can't, he stated. I didn't like the sound of that, but though irritated it challenged me to think about it. Could I claim to have "met" God? If so, how did I meet God? "Meeting" God isn't exactly the term I would use, or prefer. But I thought how God meets me primarily in His word. He does that constantly, as often as I turn to it. His word speaks to me, in particular cirumstances, and it is God speaking to me--not just something nice that has been written down long, long ago. I take it from the word that is speaking to me at the moment about something only God would know about me (this is called a "Rhema" word, technically), that He is speaking to me. It is not like reading another kind of book. I can read other books with enjoyment and also learn from them, but this is entirely different--it is God speaking, not a man speaking. It means so much more. It means so much I cannot convey how much to another human being, unless he or she has experienced the same thing. Could an unbeliever understand what I am saying? Probably not!

Next, God meets me in Christians, real Christians. I have known real Christins, and can tell them easily from the nominal or cultural kind. Some nominal Christians are so good at acting, or are so convinced by their own acting ability, that they are hard to distinguish from the real McCoy--but these are very few, indeed. How many Ethel and Lionel Barrymores were here, anyway? Only two! I have known real Christians for many years--and they are consistently Christian, no matter what the difficulty they are facing. They stand the test of time, in other words. Isn't that the most convincing test--not something you can jerry-rig on the moment to look good, but a test that blows away every possible doubt or "maybe." I have met nominal Christians who seem like the real stuff, but some problems blow up and these imposters are blown away--their true, fallen natures come out, huffing and puffing at you, and there is no mistake, they "ain't Christian, jist put on a good show!". They can't stand the test of a true Christian. My great-grandparents, grandparents, and my parents were all true, real, genuine, authentic, time-tested Christians. They triumphed through Christ over everything life could throw at them--and the things were the major things too--the Great Depression, wars, Drought, sudden death, sorrow, miscarriages, loss of loved ones, scarcity, sickness, all sorts of hard things--yet they remained committed to God, remained loving toward others, remained faithful to their Christian values. I can say Christianity is true because these Christians in my life proved it out, countless ways, over many years and three generations. Except for my great-grandparents, which I heard about from my grandmother, I observed these people personally. I know what they were like!

Third, I have met God in experiences. I can point to many experiences in my life that showed God's direct hand in my life--real, incredible miracles occurring, things that I could not possibly have done for myself, God did--and there is no doubt in my mind about it, because the timing is so perfect, the odds against them happening were so astronomical, I can call them miracles. I know the times and places where I have been spared death, been instantly healed, passed a graduate test in German in the subjunctive by guessing all the way through (an impossible feat), and so on--so I have, indeed, met God in my own life's experiences.

Fourth, I have read many accounts by reputable people about their own experiences with God. I can accept their accounts for being truthful, for they are people who are not fabricators--well-known people with verifiable backgrounds and who live publicly, are known, and documented, so that they aren't cute little green-jacketed elves who pop out of dandelions and tell their incredible stories and then vanish by climbing a moonbeam. The Bible is full of accounts of real people who lived for God, knew Him, talked with Him, and served Him all their lives. You can tell plainly by the circumstances given, and the things they said and did and experienced--they aren't anything but real people. They aren't fictional characters! I have loved and studied literature in college and university, and I know the difference between fiction and non-fiction (I love non-fiction too, having read civil war history when I was nine years old).

Fifth, I have read much history and traveled half-way around the world and can see God's hand everywhere in the earth, so that evolution does not appear credible to me in the least--there is a great, divine, master plan, and so this earth is not the product of blind, random evolutionary processes that got started in a Big Bang somehow (it takes far too much faith on my part to believe that!).

Sixth, I can use my own eyes and senses and meet God in the marvelous things he has created--a leaf, a flower, a baby, a waterfall, a snow flake, an ocean, a mountain, a cloud, an act of kindness--they are all so wonderful they bear the imprint of a majestic, compassionate, creator God, and it is so clear I cannot imagine anyone missing it (though I have heard some people do). Last but not least, prayer brings contact with God. God hears prayers, when they are sincere, and addressed to the Lord Jesus. He also hears prayers like: "God, if you are real, show yourself to me!" Moslems, desperate to know God, have prayed that, and Jesus has appeared to them. This has actually been reported by Moslems in Moslem countries, who wanted to know who was God, Allah or Jesus. Allah didn't show up, as you can expect of a god that is a non-existent thing, but Jesus did! Jesus always shows up, to the sincerely seeking lost soul!

Here is a true account, sent to me by my long-time English friend who edits the Anchored Magazine in Worcester, England:

Just a year or so ago, a certain wicked Moslem father in Egypt went on a rampage, killing his wife and then burying her and his little daughter (still alive). Days later they were exhumed, and the little girl was alive! She told them a man had come and stayed with her the entire time--this was none other than Jesus! This account went all over Egypt and the Moslem countries around--a story which no Moslem government could suppress, as everyone knew the village and the family and the circumstances. Moslems reading this: you can turn to this Jesus now--and know God in all his true love and true compassion and true mercy--which he had for the little girl and which he has for you! God will save you--but you must turn to the Son of God, Jesus, who said: "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No man comes to the Father but by Me." Believe him, and enter into eternal right standing and fellowship with God your Maker! Deny him, and continue in darkness and despair and defeat and sin's bondage. It is your choice.

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