Encounters - Week 4 ( Purpose )

Encounters
(2 Corinthians 3:18) “And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.”

(Matthew 5:16) “In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.”

(1 Peter 2:9) “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.”

God wants to reveal Himself to you.
(Isaiah 6:1-3) In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him were seraphs, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. And they were calling to one another: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.”


God wants to settle the issue of yesterday.
(Isaiah 6:4-7) At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke. “Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty.” Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. With it he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.”

God wants to give you a seemingly impossible vision.
(Isaiah 6:8-9) Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I. Send me!” He said, “Go and tell this people…”

Encounters on Purpose
(Acts 9:3-6) As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” “Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked. “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied. “Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”

1. Take a step of faith.
(Acts 20:22) “And now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there.

(Hebrews 11:6) “And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.”

2. Expect resistance.
(Acts 20:23) “I only know that in every city the Holy Spirit warns me that prison and hardships are facing me.”

(1 Thessalonians 2:18) “For we wanted to come to you--certainly I, Paul, did, again and again--but Satan stopped us.”

3. Focus on eternity.
(Acts 20:24) “However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus Christ has given me– the task of testifying to the gospel of God’s grace.”

(2 Corinthians 4:16-18) “Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”