Encounters with a Holy God

By Shirley R. Jennings

No one remains unchanged after theyve been touched by God. Through experiential encounters with our loving God, we gain intimate knowledge of how much he really cares about every detail of our lives. As we seek to know him in a more personal and meaningful way, we discover that he is beside us in every situation, which changes us forever. As humans, we tend to learn more from our failures than from our successes. God uses our failures as well as our successes to help us grow spiritually. We grow and develop spiritually in the same way we grow and develop physicallyboth are processes that occur over time. This is the story of one persons gradual experiential realization that what God says in his Word is true, that it is applicable to our current situations, and that he is intimately involved in every aspect of our lives.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Feb 22, 2018
• ISBN: 9781973619338

Shirley R. Jennings

Shirley R. Jennings is the daughter of two Assemblies of God ministers. She is retired and the proud mother of two daughters as well as the grandmother of two boys and two girls. She holds degrees from San Jose State University (BA) and the University of Missouri, Columbia (MA). Throughout her working life she has held a variety of positions in a number of different types of educational institutions. She has been a public-school teacher, a program director of a large private boarding school for people with developmental disabilities, a collegiate instructor and lecturer, and a technician supporting scientific researchers at the University of California.

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Copyright © 2018 Shirley R. Jennings.

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This book is a work of non-fiction. Unless otherwise noted, the author and the publisher make no explicit guarantees as to the accuracy of the information contained in this book and in some cases, names of people and places have been altered to protect their privacy.

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ISBN: 978-1-9736-1934-5 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-9736-1935-2 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-9736-1933-8 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2018901611

WestBow Press rev. date: 02/09/2018

Scriptures marked MSG are taken from the Holy Bible, THE MESSAGE, by Eugene H. Peterson

Copyright 1993, 1994, 1195, 1196, 2000, 2002, 2002.

Used by permission of NavPress. All rights reserved.

Represented by Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.

Scriptures marked NIV are taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV®,

Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, Biblica, Inc.™.

Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com

Scriptures marked Amplified are taken from The Holy Bible, AMPLIFIED BIBLE.

Copyright 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987

The Lockman Foundation. www.Lockman.org

All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Scriptures marked NLT are taken from The Holy Bible, New Living Translation.

Copyright 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation.

Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserve.

Scriptures marked KJV are taken from The Holy Bible, King James Bible. Cambridge University Press, London & New York

CONTENTS

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Chapter 1 Good Isn’t Good Enough

Chapter 2 I’ve Got Spiritual Tooth Decay

Chapter 3 Peter, Peter, Pumpkin Eater

Chapter 4 My Sky Is Falling

Chapter 5 What Is Truth?

Chapter 6 God, Why?

Chapter 7 Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep

Chapter 8 A Hot Day In July

Chapter 9 A Box Is Covering My Head And Face

Chapter 10 God’s Forgiveness Is Like No Other

Chapter 11 Spiritual Power Bundles

Chapter 12 My Burning Bush

Praise for Encounters with a Holy God

Through this courageous book, Shirley has invited others to see what God’s grace can do to redeem a life marked by tragedies, challenges, doubts, and a call to forgive others and one’s self. Her journey is a reminder that prayer is not preparation for life’s battle, but in the battle is where we discover grace, love, life, hope and peace.

Shirley reminds us again through sharing her life’s journey of faith that most of us understand God’s call when we are young or come to faith. However, God’s will for us is often only grasped in full as we look back on life and discover that He knew the way through the ruins and tragedies life brought our way.

—Dr. Harold L. Bussell, doctor of divinity from Andover Newton Theological Seminary; author of: Unholy Devotion, Why Cults Lure Christians (later renamed By Hook or by Crook: How Cults Lure Christians), and Thoughtful Prayers for Serious Believers

To the memory of my parents,

Rev. Leonard H. Rogers

Rev. Medora Combs Rogers

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Thanks to Dr. Harold L. Bussell for his constructive guidance and help throughout the many years it took to write this book.

And thanks to Beverly Keys Combs, other family members, and friends for their feedback and encouragement as this book took form and grew over time.

INTRODUCTION

I grew up in a minister’s home. In fact, both of my parents were ordained ministers. As I grew, I learned many ecclesiastical terms and how to use them appropriately, but my understanding of their real meaning somehow never matured beyond a certain point. My culture’s religious traditions prescribed a way of life but failed to show me that God was more than someone who could get me out of trouble, fix my body, and get rid of my misery. He wasn’t my intimate friend. Instead he was a person who liked me and always seemed to be around even though we didn’t talk to each other very much. I assumed that deep down he liked me because of my parents. In my mind, they had a lot more clout with God than I did because they were ministers and I wasn’t. God seemed more like one of my parents’ friends who looked in on me once in a while to see how I was doing. Even though I knew the religious terms, rules, and concepts, my grasp of the depth of their meaning was limited. Those terms had little relevance to my day-to-day life outside of church and religion. My ability to apply my textbook knowledge to my practical, everyday living was limited. My attempts were clumsy and not very effective.

One day all this began to change. God suddenly captured my undivided attention. I didn’t go through some big crisis or have a divine revelation. Somehow it just dawned on me that my frustrations were the consequence of my attempting to control my life. Suddenly one day I realized that God was inviting me to get to know him in a more intimate way. He was saying that either he was unreservedly MY GOD every moment—every time I took a breath—or he wasn’t. He wanted to be more than the God of my parents and my culture. It wasn’t like a huge marching band came walking in front of my house with horns blaring and drums rolling. It was just a quiet insistence that begged a decision. He wanted me to yield completely to his authority so he could reveal who he was in a new way. The choice was mine. I knew I had to let him have unconditional control, or he was going to let me continue to do what I thought was best, which I was discovering wasn’t always successful. I knew I wasn’t capable of accomplishing much more than I had already accomplished without some kind of help. My life wasn’t satisfying, and I didn’t know how to change it. An awareness was dawning on me. I had become entwined in a bondage that was the direct result of my attempts to live my life my way. I either had to reject God or submit to his leadership.

The moment I surrendered my control to him, the Holy Spirit began setting me free. I saw things through new eyes. Suddenly, I had an uncontrollable desire to read the Bible. I’d never experienced that before. I started listening to the Bible on cassettes and reading scriptures out loud to my husband as we drove to work. I went through the Bible book by book, begets and all. When I got to Hebrews, I started noticing things I had never seen. I suddenly had a new understanding of passages I’d pondered for years. The scriptures took on new meaning. Their words became more real than what I could perceive through my five senses. God’s word had a magnetism I couldn’t resist. I began looking through my father’s library comparing the wording of specific passages in different translations to get a better understanding of what the writers were saying. Each revelation brought new freedom.

I began to see that God had been with me through every experience in my life whether I realized it or not. I was finally realizing that getting to know him was a process that had quietly been going on throughout my entire life. When I looked back, I was beginning to pick up on things I had never seen before. I was moving from a cerebral knowledge of him to a personal experiential understanding of who he was. I was starting to realize that acquiring a deeper understanding of who he really was required me to trust him with every aspect of my life. That was a little difficult at first, but as I gained experience, it became easier. I began to see that my ability to completely trust him in all things took time to learn.

I began learning things so fast that I wasn’t willing to risk losing then. Before long my binders of notes were getting cumbersome, so I bought a computer to record the ideas, perceptions, and thoughts I was gaining. I couldn’t risk losing them. This book is the summation of those notes. It is also a gift to the believer who wants a deeper, more intimate walk with God. It describes my journey and how God moved in my life. I hope this book will help you see how God will use everyday situations as well as the difficult and seemingly impossible-to-survive situations in your life to draw you to himself and deepen your relationship with him.

Hopefully, the story of what he did for me will help untie the knots of religious bondage and confusion in yours. I pray that through it you will develop a new awareness of how God is working in your life as the Holy Spirit enlightens his Word to you and that you will develop a greater awareness of him as both your helper and friend. I pray the level of intimacy between you and God will grow deeper and richer than you realized was ever possible. May you be so filled with his love and power that you will reflect them in every aspect of your life.

I have chosen to personalize these concepts by writing in the first person in the hope that it will help you take personal possession of these precepts and ideas. It is my expectation that by owning them, they will put down roots and penetrate deep into your soul and spirit. I feel much like the apostle Paul felt when he wrote his first letter to the Corinthians. He said, "I was unsure of how to go about this, and felt totally inadequate—I was scared to death, if you want the truth of it—and so nothing I said could have impressed you or anyone else. But the Message came through