There is more than encounterprayer!
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I love encounterprayer! It has been my main practice in prayer for years, and every day I find something refreshing and revealing in it – but it is not everything!
We are now in the season of Advent and I have been asked to preach about the second coming of Jesus, a topic to which I must admit I had not paid much attention in the past. Perhaps this would have been different and more of a focus for my prayers if I was struggling under the weight of persecution, but as someone fortunate enough to enjoy life it has not featured too highly on my agenda. |
‘For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.’ |
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However, since I began reading and thinking about it, I have found myself so excited! I used to think that it was all about rapture and the end of the world (although is this really what Paul was talking about in 1 Thessalonians?), whereas it is more about Jesus ushering in a new heaven and a new earth. In this new creation, every one of our attempts to build the kingdom of God - whether it felt fruitful or pointless at the time - will be redeemed and bear fruit, for as Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15:58, ‘you know that your labour in the Lord is not in vain.’
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When we set aside time to have an encounter with Jesus, no matter how powerful and genuine, there is still more to come. In the New Testament, Paul says in 1 Corinthians 13.12: ‘For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.’
Whatever your life is like, with its joys and trials, it is only a foretaste of what will come when you are part of this glorious new heaven and new earth. All your acts of goodness, kindness and care will be put in the hands of Jesus who will transform them into something magnificent, rather like the small boy who watched Jesus create a banquet for thousands out of his 5 loaves and 2 fish. |
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Enjoy Advent, and during this time let your heart and mind be aware of the glorious wonder of God and all he has for you.
With every blessing,
John Ryeland
