ENCIRCLED PAGE 33

While at church the other day….a particular song inspired me to envision myself surrounded by the light of God.  I felt His protection from every angle.  Actually, there were no angles… and that in itself was a personal “revelation”.  I felt that I was “encircled” by God’s love –safe and protected.  I imagined a light radiating out from all around me.  In that light was God’s power and merciful grace!   Within the midst of this I was redeemed by forgiveness.  Mentally I was in a Holy place!  With my heart full of faith and my imagination wide-open I was able to share my heart with God.  I was in essence saying:   “Lord, This is how I envision your presence.”  That is exactly what it was….my vision of His presence.  This, perhaps,  is the best we can do on this side of heaven.

Later, I remembered a scripture that teaches about God’s protection.  This particular scripture says:

“Then your light will break forth like the dawn,
and your healing will quickly  appear,
then your righteousness will go before you,
and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.”
Isaiah 58: 8

 I always found that scripture to be empowering.    It says that goodness will flow before me like the racing rays of the rising sun…and the glory of the Lord will be my rear guard…protecting me from “behind”.  Study about the glory of the Lord and you will find that this is truly saying something.  With this scripture as a reference, I always counted on God’s protection-behind and before me….but what about those other angles?  Was I unprotected on my left and right???   Being the typical human that I am, I often felt that I had to glance over my shoulder….just to stay “on alert” and do my part.  I’m fallible…so I allowed for these daily concerns!    However, with my newfound revelation….I was encircled; there were no blind spots in my faithful stance.  I knew that I had come upon something important; a spiritual revelation.   I became acutely aware of God’s complete power….of His dominion and authority in my life!  

 God will open our eyes to His powerful range of ability if we’re spiritually open to see it.  Faith is required…and it is that very faith that allows us to pull back that earthly veil that impedes our vision of heavenly things.  To see beyond the barriers of this world and into the spiritual.....we must open our minds to it - for a spiritual revelation is very much like an epiphany.  An epiphany is “a sudden intuitive leap of understanding, especially through an ordinary but striking occurrence.” 1  That Sunday service was typical…. representative of most Sundays…but in that moment something striking occurred….a sudden intuitive thought leapt into my mind….and with that  I was encircled with God’s radiant presence.

At this point in history seeing God is spiritual encounter because our relationship with Him is set in the spiritual realm.  With this understood, we realize that in order to have a relationship with the Living God we must let go of any doubt about spiritual things.  There is no doubt in my mind that God drew close to me in that moment for, you see, I was emotionally and spiritually drawing close to Him.  The crucial point here is that removing doubt is the mode by which we find God.  Being sure about our faith …even though we cannot see God is the very thing that allows us to perceive Him.  It’s a mental, discerning mechanism that is similar to intuition!  A crisp descriptive of what I am trying to explain would be termed Spiritual Discernment and that is exactly what scripture calls it.

Here is what the Bible says about Spiritual discernment:

“…The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. 
For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man’s spirit within him? 
In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. 
We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God,
 that we may understand what God has freely given us. 
That is what we speak, not in words taught by human wisdom
 but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words.
The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God,
for they are foolishness to him and he cannot understand them,
because they are spiritually discerned.”
1^st Corinthians 2: 10-14

This scripture tells us that we have been given “the Spirit who is from God.”  This is referencing the Holy Spirit. This scripture continues to build on the fact that we are taught by the Spirit who expresses spiritual truths in spiritual words.  This is not an audible lesson but an internal one with collaboration between the Spirit of God and oneself.  It is a mentorship above all others.  As the above scripture says our “spirit can search all things, even the deep things of God.”   That is beyond amazing!  The question is- do we search all things...particularly the deep things of God?  It appears that that is simply and profoundly up to us. 

“For this reason I kneel before the Father from whom his whole family
 in heaven and on earth derives its name.
 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit
in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.
  And I pray that you, being rooting and established in love,
 may have power, together with all the saints,
 to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ
 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge-
that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
“Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine,
 according to His power that is at work within us,
 to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations,
 for ever and ever! Amen” 
Ephesians 3: 14-20

Song Recommendation
God With Us
BY:  MercyMe

Study tip: - The scripture preceding Isaiah 58: 8 is talking about fasting in comparison to extending ourselves with “acts of kindness, charity, justice and generosity for the good of others”. 2 Please read Isaiah 58: 6-7 to study this further.

1-Online Encarta Dictionary
2-Footnotes in reference to Isaiah 58: 6-12 in the NIV Bible