One of the most scandalous truths of the gospel is that our creator longs to be encountered by his creation.

God longs to meet with us. His greatest desire is for relationship with us. God is pursuing each of us with his relentless love,

seeking out of those who might respond to his open invitation by opening the door of their hearts to him.

My prayer is that in response to God's desire to meet with his people, we would be those who say yes to centering our lives around his nearness.

May your weak focus on God's desire to be encountered be marked by

the reality of his presence and love. Welcome to the First 15 podcast. We serve a God who longs

to be encountered. Our God is not distant. He's not a recluse. Every morning there is an open

invitation set before us to encounter the peaceful, tangible

presence of the living God.

In fact, it's because of God's desire to be encountered that Scripture so often commands us to seek

Him.

He is not a God who hides, but he is not a God who forces himself on us. He quietly beckons us to a life

marked by his nearness, asking us to seek him that a heart might be open and receptive to him.

First Chronicle 1611 commands us, seek the Lord and his strength, seek his presence continually.

In Revelation 320 says,

Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door,

I will come in to him and eat with him and he with me. May we be people who center our

lives around God's longing to be encountered. May we seek him with all we are. I've lived so much of my life

as if I'm on my own. I was without true revelation of just how close God is to me. I was without a true

knowledge that the God I serve longs to be known by me. You see, the foundation for my spending

time with God was that I should, not that he actually

desired relationship with me.

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