HOW WONDERFULLY THE LORD had met us on our Lakeland walk! We
came back feeling physically and spiritually uplifted – and
it has helped us in this book to explore many aspects of
intimacy with God. We have considered how to enter more
deeply into the life of reflection, pondered puzzling dry
times and sought to overcome those crippling enemies of
intimacy: condemnation and striving. We have also shown the
importance of making times of silence, listening and
burden-bearing a natural part of our walk with Him. Now, at
the close of this book, I would like to return to the ‘River
of Delight’ and share with you an episode from early in my
Christian life. It happened in the mid 1970s when I was
working near Paris. I returned home to my lodgings one
evening from a midweek Bible study feeling unusually
deflated. For reasons I can no longer recall, my
contributions had not been well received. I flopped down
onto my knees the moment I reached my room and poured out my
heart in repentance to God.
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Suddenly, I found myself praying an outrageous prayer: that
I might be allowed to go to heaven that night. Such a
request must be mere presumption if the Holy Spirit Himself
is not inspiring the prayer. It was not so much that I went
to heaven as that heaven came to me. My prayer was
abundantly answered, for unexpectedly, gloriously, the
presence of the Lord filled my room. I became aware of the
love of the Lord surrounding, accepting and knowing me in a
deeper way than I had ever experienced before.
All around were the inexpressibly beautiful sounds of
heavenly worship, exquisite melodies embellished with
soaring harmonies of a subtlety quite beyond my ability to
describe. Even though I could see no shape or form, I was
overwhelmed by the certainty that the Lord Jesus Christ
Himself was right there with me in the room. He told me that
this time together had been accorded by the Father, and that
I was free to ask Him questions. |
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With something of the dazed incredulity Peter must have felt
on the Mount of Transfiguration I could only ask whether it
was possible for Him to be appearing to people on the other
side of the world at the same time as He was to me! When He
said that He could, the impact of this revelation left me
feeling still more awed, as all who experience the presence
of the Lord in such ways have always been.
When we are wrapped in the presence of the Lord we can hear
hard truths without flinching. Gently but clearly the Lord
told me that He did not want me to marry the woman I was
engaged to at that time. I had been sensing for several
months that the relationship was not His perfect will, but
for various reasons had been unwilling to face up to the
consequences of doing anything about it. In the presence of
the Lord of Love, I knew that my will must be to do His
will.
| He who sees the end from the beginning knows exactly what is
best for us, and He delayed marriage for me until I met
Rosalind some years later. |
He also mentioned that it was not His will for me to become
a vicar. How strategic and wise He is. His clarity on this
point helped me to fend off many well-intentioned
suggestions from people who wondered why I did not ‘do it
properly’ and get ordained.
Time sped by. It was now half past two in the morning, and I
was completely caught up in the Lord’s presence. We communed
together for what turned out to be a further three hours –
though never have hours passed so quickly or so sweetly
before.
When I asked Him how I could be sure in the future that I
had not imagined this face-to-face encounter, the Lord
instructed me to read a passage from Deuteronomy. One verse
in particular summed up what had happened to me on that
momentous evening: Today we have seen that a man can live
even if God speaks with him (Deuteronomy 5:24).
The Lord also left me with a specific gift. I had for some
time been coming into contact with people who claimed to
have the gift of tongues. I had begun attending a midweek
gathering of about four hundred Spirit-filled Christians. I
had gone along somewhat sceptically, armed with the warnings
of well-meaning friends about the emotional excesses of the
charismatic movement. I realized immediately, however, that
these people enjoyed a degree of intimacy in their worship
that far surpassed my own experience. I longed to know the
Lord as they did.
As a linguist, it had always intrigued me to know how a
human being could speak another language without the benefit
of a Linguaphone course. I was impatient to receive this
gift, but the Lord was more concerned that I should benefit
to the full from this precious time with Himself.
When the Lord Jesus finally said that our time together must
come to an end, and that I would not meet Him again in quite
this way until He called me home, I felt an overwhelming
grief at the thought of being separated from such perfect
love. Jesus promised, however, that He would send me the
fullness of the Holy Spirit, the Comforter. In an outpouring
of love and worship I received the gift of a heavenly
language – something which has been a consistent blessing
ever since.
I was utterly, joyously overawed. My workload in those
far-off days was light, and this wonderful awareness of the
Lord’s presence continued unabated for several weeks. Heaven
is not far away, it is just another dimension.
Three times over the Lord Jesus had asked me whether I was
prepared to serve Him. In the presence of such perfect
peace, the thought of refusing Him never entered my head.
There and then the Lord called me to be His witness wherever
I went. Initially, being a witness meant just that: telling
people about the Lord Jesus. Already an evangelist at heart,
I became for a season an officially appointed one. More
recently, as the Lord has led us deeper in the ways of
worship and intercession, it has come to mean observing what
God is doing in the heavenly places and discerning those
topics He is calling us to pray about. As I have shown
throughout this book, the love of God can overwhelm us, and
the power of God direct us at the most unlikely times and in
the most improbable places.
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The inward stirring and touching of God
makes us hungry and
yearning;
for the Spirit of God hunts our spirit,
and the
more it touches it,
the greater our hunger and craving.
This
is the life of love in its highest working,
above reason and
above understanding.
(Jan van Ruysbroeck)1 |
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My prayer for everyone who reads these words is that we may
be constant in our desire to love and serve the Lord. We may
not necessarily be granted spectacular experiences of
eternity, because face to face encounters can only be
granted by the Lord as He chooses. If we are willing to keep
seeking Him, He will gladly meet our needs, and inspire
others towards a life of greater intimacy with Himself that
is lived in the awareness of eternity.
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For Reflection
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Our home is heaven. On earth, we are like travellers staying
at a hotel.
When one is away, one is always thinking of
going home.
Life is given to us that we may learn to die
well, and we never think of it!
To die well we must live
well.
(John Vianney)1 |
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If an artist is proud of his handiwork, should not the Lord
be even more pleased with what He is doing in the hearts of
His people? Who knows – we may be the ones who will witness
the return of the Lord! Certainly, we shall soon be passing
on the baton to a generation who must fight harder in order
to fare better than we have done. Therefore we must invest
heavily in them. Our prayers span the years, and will enable
many to go on receiving the Lord’s blessings long after we
ourselves have been called home.
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It will not be long before we see Him face to face. In the
meantime, it is His passionate desire to make His light
shine through us. We are stars shining in the midst of a
crooked and depraved generation. In the day when He makes up
His treasured possession, we will sparkle like jewels in a
crown. He who began a good work in us will bring it to
completion on the day of Christ Jesus.2 |
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Selah
Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as
He is pure – And now, dear children, continue in Him, so
that when He appears we may be confident and unashamed
before Him at His coming – And when Christ, who is your life
appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.
(1 John 3:3; 2:28; Colossians 3:4)
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The Lord is making us beautiful, not because of anything
special in us, but because His love lights up our life, even
as the hills and mountains come alive when the sunlight
shines on them.
I would like to end by praying now for each
one of you who has had the love and the stamina to make it
to the last page of this book: |
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Lord Jesus, I bless You for what You are doing in the lives
of each reader. May You expand their hearts to be able to
receive more of Your love. Make them like sparks which cause
dry souls to catch fire again for You. Deliver them from the
temptation to hold back or to turn aside, and fill them with
the joy of knowing that they belong to You for ever. May
they be given grace to overcome every obstacle that they
face. In Jesus’ name and for the glory of His eternal
Kingdom, Amen.
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References
1. Quoted in The Wisdom of the Saints, Jill Haak
Adels, (O.U.P.).
2. Philippians 2:15; 1:6; Malachi 3:17; Zechariah 9:16.
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