DIVINE ENCOUNTER
(A MESSAGE BY PASTOR DAHUNSI OLAWOLE)

Text: Exodus 3:1

 “Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro his father in law, the priest of Midian: and he led the flock to the backside of the desert, and came to the mountain of God, even to Horeb. 2 And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed. 3 And Moses said, I will now turn aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt. 4 And when the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I.”

               From the scriptures above, we are told the story of Moses who killed one of the Egyptians in an attempt to rescue an Israelite and ran away.  When God wanted to deliver His children the Israelites, from the land of Egypt, He decided to use that same Moses. Moses encountered God and after the encounter, seeing the burning bush, he never turned back again.

               The word ‘encounter’ means to meet face to face or have an experience. It means to have a taste of what something is like. So Moses encountered God as he was sheepherding the sheep of his in law. Encounter with God will change your vision and dream. It change the dreams of Moses

 Acts 9:1-6

 “And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest, 2 And desired of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues, that if he found any of this way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem.  3 And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven: 4 And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? 5 And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. 6 And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do.”

Paul encountered God on his way to Damascus. He wanted to go and kill the children of God but his life was never the same again after the encounter.

In Genesis 18, Abraham encountered the angels of God, he welcome them and entertained them unknown to him that they were messengers of God. He received blessings from God because of his generosity after the encounter.

The word ‘divine’ has to do with God. It means something beyond human reasoning and explanation; something supernatural. Encounter means to taste, to feel to meet, sudden meeting or accidental meeting.

Bringing these two words together we have ‘divine encounter’ which means meeting God in an unexplainable way or meeting God in a way one cannot explain.

 Types of Encounter:

One can have one of these encounter.

·        Physical encounter- this is encountering something or  someone physical like shaking of hands

·        Spiritual encounter- this kind of encounter happens in the spiritual. It comes from God.

·        Positive encounter- this is encounter that bring brings good things to a person’s life

·        Negative encounter- when you look at the Bible, you see that Jonah’s encounter with God was a negative encounter. He was swallowed up by a fish for three days.

Example of people that encountered God positively or negatively in the Bible:

1.      Lazarus was death for four days and Jesus Christ came and resurrected him. This  was a positive encounter

2.      In the book of Luke, a woman was to go and bury her child when she encountered Jesus. Jesus raised her child from the death. This was another positive encounter.

3.      In Luke 5, Peter had a positive encounter with Jesus. For all throughout the night he was toiling but he caught nothing until he encountered Jesus and his life was not the same again

4.      Jonah’s experience on his way to Nineveh was a negative encounter

5.      The experience of Dathan, Korah and Abiram was another negative encounter. They were swallowed up by the ground Numbers 16:25 -33

What are the things that will happen after divine encounter?

When a person encounters God, he/her life cannot remain the same again. If a person claims to have an encounter with God and his/her life does not change, then it is not an encounter. Encounter will turn you from who you are to what God wants you to be. Examples of encounter are:

·        Saul (Paul) in Act 9. Encountered Jesus. He never turned back again. So encounter will bring a person to salvation and repentance of sins

·         Zacchaeus, when he encountered Jesus, he confessed and restituted everything he had wrongly    acquired without being compelled. This is what we call encounter.

·        Encounter with God will lead to prosperity and divine health. The man at pool of Bethesda, when he encountered Jesus, sickness of 35 years vanished.

·        Divine encounter will cancel death and destruction. If a man is marked for death, encounter with God will wipe it away.

·        It will bring comprehensive blessings. That is, the kind of blessings that starts from you and extends to everybody around you in all ramifications. It is also be referred to as wellness blessings/ total blessing or all round blessing – in he/her home, work, business career etc.

·        It turns sorrow to joy.

·        It terminates reproach

·        It improves a person’s life and gives comfort

·        It brings revival

·        It brings restoration

·        When a person has divine encounter, it will change his/her lifestyle. His/her speech and doing will change. There was a woman that came to church as a quarrelsome and nagging woman but when she gave her life to God, her lifestyle changed and everyone in her compound started wondering what has happening to her. That is the power of divine encounter that transformed her. If you say you have divine encounter and you are still living in you sin, that is not an encounter at all. The persons in the bible that had encounter with God, their life never remained the same. Divine encounter changes your life style and everything about you.

How do we enjoy positive divine encounter?

1.      Learn the method of salvation and repentance: you must have a story or experience of salvation on how you were before your encounter with Christ; how you met Christ and what happened to you after your encounter. The person is saved. He/she had turn from his/her sinful life to God and to do what is right.

Activities in church do not mean salvation and when a man is born again, he/she must be baptized as a sign that you died and resurrected unto new life in Christ.

 I pray for you; anything spoiling your salvation shall die in the mighty name of Jesus.

2.      Learn the principles and method of giving when you are expecting divine encounter

3.      Learn the method of aggressive prayers

4.      Learn the method of divine placement or location: learn to be at the right place at the right time where God can encounter you

5.      Learn the method of consistency: be consistent and persistent on God for a divine encounter

6.      Learn the method of faith - Hebrews 11:6 “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.”

7.      Learn the method of hospitality

8.      Learn the method of evangelism: go out and preach the word of God, inviting people to come and enjoy what you are enjoying in Christ Jesus.

Encounter will give you:

·        What you want

·        All God’s promises

·        It will make you not to struggle in prayers

·        It will make your enemies to be far from you

Close your eyes and talk to God for divine encounter before you pray the following prayers;

1.      O Lord my father, touch me and renew me by your power in Jesus name

2.      Divine encounter that will change my story, manifest in my life in the name of Jesus

3.      O Lord arise, solve all my problems in Jesus name

4.      Divine encounter that will wipe away my sorrow, manifest in my life in the name of Jesus.