ENCOUNTER WITH GOD

Isaiah 40:4 Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low; and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain.

Brother Smith preached one of the very best sermons ever Sunday morning based on this passage, that we all need an encounter with God. Even Jesus did. The disciples did in Acts, John had an encounter and we have the book of Revelation.

What about you? Are you hungry for more of God? The Word tells us that the crooked shall be made straight, but we have to get things right with the Lord in our own hearts. We all have an opportunity to do wrong, but if conviction hits you, that's a good thing. That's the Holy Spirit dealing with you to bring you back to the Father, to come to Him in repentence and invite His presence into your heart once again.

1. Every valley shall be exalted. Low places in verse 4 means the filling process, the trouble spots, the lacking places, failures or whatever has brought you down~~with God you can conquer that failure and have success.

2. Every mountain shall be made low. What is your roadblock? What is the mountain in your life? Believe God and believe His Word. Mark 11:23 ".....say to this mountain, be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass, he shall have whatsoever he saith."

It seems the entire world is shaking, looking for something solid to put its trust in that will stand firm. Look where we are now, there are new diseases, natural disasters, financial ruin all over the globe, and our hope has been put in the wrong place. It's time to trust in the Rock that will not fail, not the world system.

We should be silent no more! Read verses 13 and 14 of Mark 11. Jesus SPOKE to the fig tree and the disciples heard His words. We have to speak out LOUD to the mountain in our lives. The Bible describes Satan as a roaring lion walking about the earth seeking whom he may devour. A roaring lion is certainly not silent, so we can't be silent. Speak the truth of God's Word out loud. Say to the devil to get behind, he has no place in your life. Be bold enough to pray and believe that mountain will move and watch God Almighty perform a miracle for you!

3. The crooked shall be made straight and the rough places plain. Many times in life we get all bent out of shape, we may have emergencies that cause stress, or we might have great success which can be difficult to handle in a Godly manner. These things can cause our thinking to need straightening out. We have "stinking thinking", and we need an encounter with God to get back into His will.

The very best this world has to offer is only a pitiful substitute for what God has prepared for His children.