Back to the Beginning
Do you ever think about when you first encountered Jesus? Have you felt like there was some part of that missing in your heart? Do you remember when you first encountered Jesus and the fire burned brightly?
After the Lord truly met me time and time again in very profound ways to bring back to Him, I encountered a loving Father who would not let go of His daughter. No matter what I did. He pursued me in His faithfulness and mercy. Finally, I relented to His loving kindness and fully recommitted my life to Jesus. In that moment, nothing else matters except knowing Him. I was radically changed in every sense and was determined to know Him. I had encountered the Risen King, Jesus Christ, and seen Him face to face. In the words of Peter, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” John 6:68 NKJV. I had seen the Risen Lord face to face, and He didn’t even have to say, “Follow Me.” I ran after him with reckless abandon, willing to lay everything down just to hear His voice.
When Jesus appeared to me, the power of God moved so powerfully that Isaiah 61 was prophesied over my life. I was forever marked with the heavenly vision as I beheld Jesus face to face.
The Spirit of the Lord GOD is on Me,
because the LORD has anointed Me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent Me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives
and freedom to the prisoners,
to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor
and the day of our God’s vengeance,
to comfort all who mourn,
to console the mourners in Zion—
to give them a crown of beauty for ashes,
the oil of joy for mourning,
and a garment of praise for a spirit of despair.
So they will be called oaks of righteousness,
the planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified.
They will rebuild the ancient ruins;
they will restore the places long devastated;
they will renew the ruined cities,
the desolations of many generations.
Then, I was asked to teach a Bible study a few weeks later on Isaiah 61 without using any cross-references in the Bible. The leader asked me to teach completely relying on the Holy Spirit’s revelation. Having depended on my mind for decades, including law school, I didn’t even understand what she was asking me. No one taught me the Word, but I would read the book of Jeremiah and cry hysterically. However, the Holy Spirit was faithful and the power of the Lord moved powerfully that night with people encountering the Lord, being healed, set free, and delivered. God took an extremely broken girl with an insatiable hunger to know the Lord and a heartfelt yes for His glory. Even as I type, my eyes are welling with tears with the kindness of the Lord.
Recently, I have been meditating on those sacred times. No one told me to use wisdom, so I was so on fire I boldly evangelized at work and watched people surrender to Jesus, drove a total of 3 hours after work just to be in the Lord’s presence, spent hours in worship and intercession prostrate o my face, without realizing the power of prayer, mocked for being radical, and simply laying hands on the sick and seeing them recover. I was so in love with Jesus that there was an ease. I lost a lot of worldly things during those times, but I gained everything, knowing Jesus intimately.
In Luke 10:42, Jesus says, “But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part which will not be taken away from her.” One thing. Mary sat at Jesus’ feet in the middle of a party, hungering for His Word more than food. In Revelation 2:4, TPT says, “But I have this against you: you have abandoned the passionate love you had for me at the beginning.” Wow, Jesus desires our undivided, wholehearted affection. Yes, there are responsibilities, but I hear a beckoning from the Lord: Come back to Me, Come back to the beginning, Come back to your first love. I sense that so strongly for all of us.
Are you willing to lay it all down just to know Him and the power of His resurrection? Are you willing to be immune to the world because you are enveloped in the love of Jesus?
Yes, we have jobs, responsibilities, and families, but remember the wedding feast in Luke 14. Everyone had excuses.
He is drawing you with cords of loving-kindness. As for me, as I approach the anniversary of my face-to-face encounter with the Lord, I remember and return.
Prayer
Father, sometimes it is so easy to get caught up in things, even good things, things that you have entrusted to our stewardship. However, nothing compares to You. Nothing compares to knowing You and the time in which time is suspended in Your presence. We want to return to our first love, You, Jesus. We lay down our agendas, our plans, and our expectations. We truly surrender again, only to surrender to Your Voice, day after day, moment by moment. Holy Spirit, reveal to us Jesus. Let us return to the heavenly vision You have spoken over us before the foundation of the world and give us fiery boldness to be Your witness only from the overflow of Your precious love. Thank You for never leaving or forsaking us and consistently beckoning us to You, face to face. We love and thank You for a fresh start in Jesus’ name.