Pre Encounter
Pre Encounter
Pre Encounter
To an Encounter
With
God
Contents
INTRODUCTION
LESSON
LESSON
LESSON
LESSON
LESSON
LESSON
LESSON
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
NEW BIRTH
BENEFITS OF THE NEW BIRTH
INTRODUCTION
An encounter with Jesus is the most glorious experience a person
can ever have. He transforms our lives, renews our hearts, and
lifts up our spirits. When we encounter Him, sadness disappears,
pain dissolves and depression is broken because the strength of
His Holy Spirit touches our whole being.
When I met Jesus, He changed the direction of my life, turning it
around one-hundred-and-eighty degrees because He is such an
extraordinary person. I started seeing things with new eyes and
with a different perspective. He gave such meaning to my life that
I was convinced that I had been wasting my time. Once I met
Him, I wanted to redeem every minute of my existence.
The night I met Jesus was the most glorious moment in my life.
Every day since that experience has been important because such
a tremendous change had taken place in me and I finally found
meaning in life. In addition, God put inside of me a great desire to
do something for Him. The change in my life came about as a
result f a simple and sincere prayer in which I asked Jesus: If
you truly exist and if you are the God of the Bible, please reveal
yourself to me at this very moment. He responded quickly, and I
came face-to-face with the Author of life. Emotions overtook me:
I cried, I laughed, and I worshiped God with all my heart. I had
met Jesus in a very personal way and He had transformed my
life.
The material you have in your hands will be of great help in
taking a step towards Jesus and having a personal, life-changing
encounter with Him. After the prayer you said, He will also reveal
Himself in your life.
FOUR WONDERFUL
OPPORTUNITIES
No matter how far you may have strayed from God, you
can stop right now and turn back to Him. Just as the
prodigal son made the decision to return to his fathers
house looking for a second chance (see Luke 15:11-20),
you can do the same thing by deciding to have an
encounter with your Father God.
CONCLUSION
THE BENEFITS OF
THE CROSS
THE INCOMPARABLE CHRIST
In all of human time and history, Jesus Christ is the one
person who has impacted the world more than anyone
else. Though there have been others who have been
called great - because of their conquests, exploits,
political talents, devout religious lives or even for having
been able to impose their own philosophies on people
you cannot compare anyone of these to Jesus because
Jesus Christ is God Himself who chose to come to earth
and live in human body.
The apostle Paul writes: For you know the grace of our
Lord Jesus Christ that though he was rich, yet for your
sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty
might become rich (2 Corinthians 8:9). And the writer o
the Hebrews observes: Since the children have flesh
and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by
his death he might destroy him who holds the power of
death, that is, the devil, and free those who all their
lives were held slavery by their fear of death ( Hebrews
2: 14-15).
JESUS is God
Jesus has always existed; His days had no beginning
and will have no end. He is from eternity and to eternity.
That is why, simply put, He had to become one of us
to show us the way of salvation. God had to become ma
in order to save us. In this regard, Jesus gave us a great
example because he, Who, being in very nature God,
JESUS is Humble
that man called Jesus, who had not committed any sin.
And all the good Jesus should have received then came
upon us, simply for believing in Him. When Cog looks at
us, He look at us through Jesus; and when we desire to
communicate with the Father, we should do that through
Jesus.
KEY PRINCIPLES TO REMEMBER
Eternal life is received when Jesus is received as
Savior.
By his wounds we are healed (Isaiah 53:5b)
He who believes that Jesus has redeemed him is
freed from all oppression (see Colossians 2:1415).
The financial curse was canceled when Jesus wore
the crown of thorns (see 2 Corinthians 8:9).
Faith in Jesus restores families (see Malachi 4:6).
Only Jesus can free us from the curse (see Galatians
3:13).
Because of the love of the Father and through the
blood of Christ we were made fee (see 1 Peter
1:2).
Jesus became man and, out of obedience, He
accepted death upon the Cross, which was a great
humiliation.
APPLYING THESE PRINCIPLES
Starting today, make a decision to:
Give Jesus your weaknesses so he can take them upon
himself. Receive His strength in your life.
Give up your sins through repentance, which is the
doorway to His blessing. Receive His salvation.
Give up all sicknesses. Receive His health.
Give up all your lack. Receive His provision.
Give up all anguish. Receive His perfect peace.
A Life of Holiness
Some people struggle to understand completely how the
new birth works. Even the blessed Virgin Mary had
questions when an angel told her she was going to conceive
the Savior of the world.
She asked, How is this possible since I am a virgin? The
angel responded, The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and
the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the
holy one to be born will be called the Son of God, (Luke
1:35). The Holy Spirit becomes part of us when we receive
Jesus as Lord and Savior, thereby becoming part of God. He
is a gentleman and He will never try to force things upon
us. He will not enter anyones life uninvited. He will only
move through our faith in the Word of God. That is why by
simply believing in Scripture and desiring its fulfillment in
us, the Holy Spirit will cover us with His shadow and
conceive a holy life that will be born in us.
A Personal Experience
APPLYING THESE PRINCIPLES
The Lord told Nicodemus, The wind blows wherever it
pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it
comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born
of the Spirit (John 3:8). Sometimes the wind is strong,
hurricane-like, devastating everything in its path. At other
times, it is soft, gentle, and peaceful. The same is true with
the Holy Spirit. Some peoples conversions are accompanied
by strong emotions, while other people hardly even
Let the new birth lead you the certainty and security given
by the Holy Spirit (see 2 Corinthians 1:22).
The great man of God, Moses, wrote that, man does not
live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the
mouth of Lord (Deuteronomy 8:3).
It teaches (doctrine).
It rebukes (reproof).
It corrects (restores to a correct state).
It instructs (guides).
Communicate with God through Prayer
The Lord has established prayer as the only means by
which we can communicate with Him. Prayer is so
important that Jesus spent time teaching His disciples how
to pray (see Matthew 6:9-13). The writer of Proverbs says,
but the prayer of the upright pleases Him, (Proverbs
15:8b). It doesnt matter if you are not eloquent when you
direct yourself to Him. God will look at the attitude of your
heart and will rejoice over every word you say to Him.
How to Pray
Redemption
Understanding our
enemy
Satans primary purpose is to cause a person to harden his
heart toward God and block his mind so that the message
of salvation will not be heard or accepted. Paul said, And if
our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing.
The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so
that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of
Christ, who is the image of God (2 Corinthians 4:3-4,
emphasis mine).
Satans Organization and Character
Satan has the organizational skills of a military strategist,
and he imposes a reign of fear in the hearts of people.
Under his authority, there are rulers, authorities, powers of
darkness and spiritual forces of evil in heavenly realms (see
Ephesians 6:12).
He is characterized as being: sly or crafty (see Genesis
3:1); a liar (see Genesis 3:1-3); vengeful (see Psalm 8:2);
destructive (see Isaiah 54:16); tempting (see Matthew
4:7); an accuser (see Revelation 12:10); prince of the
demons (see Matthew 12:24); a murderer (see John 8:44);
the father of all lies (see John 8:44); prince of the kingdom
Let the saints rejoice in this honor and sing for joy on their
beds. May the praise of God be in their mouths and a
double-edged sword in their hands. The doubled-edged
sword is the Word and it is used to execute judgment
among the nations and punishment among the people in
order to bind kings with shackles. These kings are the
demonic principalities of evil that operate in the spiritual
realm. God has given you the anointing and the ability to
bind kings with shackles. Believe it and walk in it!
Live a life of integrity.
In Matthew 12:33 the Lord said, Make a tree good and its
fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be
bad, for a tree is recognized by its fruit. This verse refers
to our lives as trees. When Satan departs from someone,
the life of evil that was inside the person leaves. And this is
a miracle, because when evil leaves, God replaces it with a
life of good and that life of good is Jesus Christ. If you are
one of Jesus trees a person who has His life then the
fruit you produce should include integrity, justice and truth.
There should be no such thing as, I am a Christian, but I
fornicate. Are you a tree of Jesus or not? When you want
to know what kind of tree a person is, look at the fruit in
this life and make sure your life bears the fruit of the
Lord.
Some people get confused about this issue. They go to
church, but they really arent Christians. Going to church
does not guarantee salvation. We go to church because we
are fruit, because we are new trees, different people; and it
is there that we express our worship and gratitude to God.
The life of the Father is shown in people through the fruit
they bear.
Watch Your Words
Jesus said, For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth
speaks. The good man brings good things out of the good
stored up in him, and the evil man brings evil things out of
the evil stored up in him. (Matthew 12:34b-35). Your
Pauls desire was to feel what Jesus felt while He was on the
Cross. He wanted to suffer the same agony that Jesus
suffered during His crucifixion. He understood that if he had
this experience, he would also be able to experience the