We started our ministry after receiving a divine directive to “show up and tell the story,” to as many as we can. Recently, we launched our book, Beyond Impossible which details how a 10-day visitation from God brought new life into our marriage and caused a complete turnaround in our lives. 

Recently, Tracy and I had an opportunity to speak at The Lighthouse Gospel Church in Dallas, Texas. We shared our story and how the goodness of God changed everything, and how individual healing brought wholeness to our broken relationship. More importantly, we talked about the need to preserve and protect our encounters with God. 

The encounter you have may be something as simple as a powerful moment at the alter or an experience while you’re praying with a friend or a dream from God that happens in an instant. Encounters can be mild and brief, yet we need to allow them to bring about irreversible change in our hearts. Yet what you do with those moments determines the kind of impact those moments will have.

Prior to my supernatural encounter with God, I had failed to protect previous God encounters. The idea of protecting a supernatural encounter with God that lasted for 10 days was not remotely in my mindset. I didn't believe my encounter could be stolen. But my attitude changed when God told me that praying and journaling were not enough. He required more. He told me to memorize scriptures, read my journal entries from previous years each day, and occasionally read our book to be reminded of the power of his visit.

All of my previous God encounters were brief. They didn't come with visions or the same intensity as the encounter in 2019, but they were just as important. For example, on the evening of July 31, 1990. As I was getting ready for bed, I fell to my knees, began sobbing and telling God how my life was a mess.  

Then, a vision came to me. I was facing myself. I could see my body kneeling, pitched against the side of the bed. I saw two figures standing on my shoulders. On my left shoulder stood Jesus. On my right shoulder stood evil. It reminded me of the illustration we have seen so many times in cartoons but there was nothing humorous about it.

Evil whispered in my right ear, “If you do this, no more drugs, no more going out to bars, no more women. All the fun you've been having is over.” On my left, I felt peace and love radiate from Jesus. He spoke only three words, “Come to me.” They were enough. That encounter led me to accept Jesus as my Lord and Savior.  I was on fire for God and I was checking all of the boxes in my Christian walk. But, several years later, I pushed Him aside. The one who comes to steal, kill, and destroy had stolen my encounter with Jesus. Looking back, it wasn't blatant but clandestine. I was like the proverbial frog in a pot of slowly boiling water. It was all too gradual for me to realize I was oblivious to my own slow death. The change from that encounter was temporary in my life, not by God’s design but by my own choosing. I didn't value it enough to protect it.

You may encounter God and never look back. More power to you. Yet history teaches us that we are all susceptible to failing to preserve our encounters and their impact on us. The Israelites witnessed plagues sent by God to secure their freedom from Pharoah. They watched Him part the Red Sea. He led them with a cloud by day and fire by night. Their encounters were a powerful reminder of God’s authority, yet the Israelites didn’t preserve them. They had no lasting value. There would always be another one tomorrow. Valued encounters produce great faith. The Israelites paid dearly for their lack of faith and ended up wandering in the desert for forty-years.

You may be thinking, “My encounter lasted for only moments. I didn't witness miracles like the Israelites. How can I possibly hope to preserve my encounter?”

Paul clues us in with Ephesians 6:10-18 where he tells us where battle lies and how to fight it. I never took the spiritual realm seriously, much less attempted to fight the bad things in it. Today, I take it very seriously. Satan and his minions are after every believer. The more we are called by God to carry out his plan, the bigger the target we have on our backs. However, even the greatest of evil against us is no match in the eyes of our God.

In Luke 10, Jesus said, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from Heaven.” Can you see the picture? By the will of God, in an instant, Satan was cast out. Knowing is half the battle; the rest is being willing to fight battle with Jesus.

Jesus said, "Your word is Truth" (John 17:19). We fight the enemy with the Truth of the Word. The Lord's word is my weapon and my shield. When Satan attacks, I quote scripture aloud. I don't stop until he stops. If speaking aloud is not appropriate, then I do it silently. His word is my strength! His word is yours as well. 

If you have accepted Jesus as your Lord & Savior, you have encountered God. You have heard His voice beckoning you and leading you to Himself. Encounters don’t always come with visions, or the intensity that mine did. They can be as normal and understated as “pass the salt.” Yet we need to honor them and steward them in a worthy manner. I encourage you, kindle the fire that God started in your heart and never let it go out. Future generations will thank you.