The revised and expanded version of Experiencing God by Henry Blackaby, Richard Blackaby and Claude King has been such an encouragement to me in my walk with God, it is no exaggeration to say this book is profoundly life-changing.
I have been a Christian for 17 years and during this time have been an avid reader of Christian books. I don’t think I have ever read a book that has affected me so deeply in my relationship with God. When I read it for the first time I could not put it down. When I finished the first reading, I then went back to the beginning and re-read it carefully, high-lighting key passages,wanting absorb its encouraging truth. I lead a fortnightly bible study group and as a blessing to them I purchased 10 copies of this book and gave it to them as a Christmas present. That’s how much I love it! I consider it an investment into their spiritual lives which will encourage maturity and growth.
The premise of the book is that God desires for us to not just know about Him in theory but also to know and love Him by experience, and that God desires to work out His purposes in and through our lives. The material is organised around what he labels “the seven realities of experiencing God”, which are as follows:
1. God is always at work around you.
2. God pursues a continuing love relationship with you that is real and personal.
3. God’s invites you to become involved with Him in His work.
4. God speaks by the Holy Spirit through the Bible, prayer, circumstances, and the Church to reveal Himself, His purposes, and His ways.
5. God’s invitation for you to work with Him always leads you to a crisis of belief that requires faith and action.
6. You must make major adjustments in your life to join God in what He is doing.
7. You come to know God by experience as you obey Him and He accomplishes His work through you.
The book encourages you to seek to see what God is doing in your life, family, Church, world, etc., and to actively participate in His work as he prompts you, by faith. Joining God in His work will involve making adjustments in your life, and challenge your thinking and attitudes. The author encourages you to be bold and obedient to the call of God on your life, and the authors share many encouraging examples from their own personal lives and from Scripture. Life with God should be a glorious adventure of experiencing God’s love and of being involved with Him and His wonderful work throughout your lifetime. God wants to use you!
This book has the effect of orienting you to see things from God’s point of view rather than your own, and makes you want to serve Him with great oldness and abandon. The biblical principles this book sets forth are sound. Experiencing God will certainly build your faith and encourage you as you seek to walk with God in all His will and purpose.
Be blessed as you read!
