Experience God

Series: Possess the Promised Land!

Intro: Experiencing God study at LA Tech; 5 guys from the LA Tech football team, the Offensive Head Coach, and I went through the “EG” study by Henry Blackaby on Sunday nights. We were getting so much from the study we even missed a quarter of the Super Bowl to go deeper! The 7 realities of Experiencing God are: 1. God is always at work around you. 2. God pursues a continuing love relationship with you that is real and personal. 3. God invites you to become involved with Him in His work. 4. God speaks by the Holy Spirit through the Bible, prayer, circumstances, and the church to reveal Himself, His purposes, and His ways. 5. God's invitation for you to work with Him always leads you to a crisis of belief that requires faith and action. 6. You must make major adjustments in your life to join God in what He is doing. 7. You come to know God by experience as you obey Him and He accomplishes His work through you.

I don’t want to just know about God, I want to know and experience God! The Bible teaches us how to know and experience God. How?

1. RESPECT GOD’S AUTHORITY IN YOUR LIFE

Do you want to experience God in your life? You must come to a place in your life when you realize the Lord is God. Not only is the Lord – God, He also desires to be your Lord and your God.

He did not come to be commanded by you, but to be your Captain and Commander! God did not come to take sides, He came to take over.

Do you want to experience God? You must stop trying to get on God on your side and get on His side.

Ex. Trey “Tummo.” Trey was the best athlete in our neighborhood. No matter who played on Trey’s team, they always won because Trey was the best. You do realize the only way to victory is to be on the winner’s side? No fun to be on the losing team, I want to win! Joshua learned that victory would come through surrender! Joshua was a tremendous leader, but first He had to be led by the Commanding Leader!

Joshua 5:13-15, “And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted his eyes and looked, and behold, a Man stood opposite him with His sword drawn in His hand. And Joshua went to Him and said to Him, “Are You for us or for our adversaries?” So He said, “No, but as Commander of the army of the LORD I have now come.”

And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshiped, and said to Him, “What does my Lord say to His servant?” Then the Commander of the LORD’s army said to Joshua, “Take your sandal off your foot, for the place where you stand is holy.” And Joshua did so.

Joshua takes a walk and begins to think about the city of Jericho? How are we going to take this city? How are those walls going to come crumbling down? God, are you really in this? Chill out, Joshua…God has a plan.

First of all, Joshua encounters a man who appeared out of nowhere. Are you for us or for them? No!

This is an OT appearance of the Lord Jesus Christ! How do you know this? An angel would have turned down that worship. God is present in all your battles!

In order to possess the promised land, there must be the priority in worship in your life unto the Lord God Almighty. The Lord wanted Joshua to know he was standing on holy ground. It was holy ground b/c God was standing there!

Moses and holy ground; Exodus 3:5

How do you respect God’s authority in your life? The same way Joshua did. When Joshua understood whose Presence he was in, he was broken in humility before the Lord. He then said affectionately to him, "My Lord." In submission he removed his sandle and became teachable to the Lord. He was receiving his marching orders to take over Jericho.

Respect God’s authority in your life. Realize He is number one in command. Watchman Nee said, “Not until we take the place of a servant can He take the place as Lord.”

Surrender comes as you remember God is greater than anyone or anything. People are going to let you down…God won’t. Battles will be difficult…God will lead you through. Habits will appear unbreakable…God can bring deliverance.

How can you experience God? Realize the battle is not yours, but the Lord’s! You need to know that, just as Joshua did!

What battle seems impossible for you today? Marriage that is out of control, Addiction to some secret sin, worry about the future that is keeping you up all night? A child that is rebelling against the Lord?