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Divine Encounters: Your Invitation to Experience the Life-Changing Presence of God
Just One Encounter Will Redefine and Redirect Your Life
Do you find yourself longing for a word or touch from God? For a moment of clarity in His presence? Do you wonder why the stories of divine encounters you read in the Bible don't happen in today’s world?
In the age of information and man-made wonders, we’ve replaced a vibrant relationship with God with a stale religion about God. We’ve disconnected from His Presence—and our lives show it.
Revealing not only how believers are called to divine encounters but also how we are created for them, bestselling authors and internationally respected pastors Paul Manwaring and Bill Johnson of Bethel Church point the way back to experiencing God, showing how true encounter is at the heart of the Christian faith—and how you can live a lifestyle marked, and supernaturally shaped, by God’s presence.
Through biblically-grounded teaching, Spirit-inspired wisdom, and uplifting encouragement, this modern-day classic helps you recapture the passion and power of the early church, empowering you
Cultivate a vibrant relationship with the very real Person of God. Position yourself to experience true encounters with the Holy Spirit.Discern when these powerful moments are occurring.Discover the purpose each encounter plays in your life.Recognize encounters as signs of confirmation.Turn your Bible reading into personal experience.Fill your heart with divine delight in the Person of the Holy Spirit.
Leave behind the stagnant religion of this age and run with reckless abandon back to the One who transforms you with His presence and then transforms the world through you.
Do you find yourself longing for a word or touch from God? For a moment of clarity in His presence? Do you wonder why the stories of divine encounters you read in the Bible don't happen in today’s world?
In the age of information and man-made wonders, we’ve replaced a vibrant relationship with God with a stale religion about God. We’ve disconnected from His Presence—and our lives show it.
Revealing not only how believers are called to divine encounters but also how we are created for them, bestselling authors and internationally respected pastors Paul Manwaring and Bill Johnson of Bethel Church point the way back to experiencing God, showing how true encounter is at the heart of the Christian faith—and how you can live a lifestyle marked, and supernaturally shaped, by God’s presence.
Through biblically-grounded teaching, Spirit-inspired wisdom, and uplifting encouragement, this modern-day classic helps you recapture the passion and power of the early church, empowering you
Cultivate a vibrant relationship with the very real Person of God. Position yourself to experience true encounters with the Holy Spirit.Discern when these powerful moments are occurring.Discover the purpose each encounter plays in your life.Recognize encounters as signs of confirmation.Turn your Bible reading into personal experience.Fill your heart with divine delight in the Person of the Holy Spirit.
Leave behind the stagnant religion of this age and run with reckless abandon back to the One who transforms you with His presence and then transforms the world through you.
- GenresChristian
283 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 5, 2024
151 people are currently reading
632 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
January 9, 2025
Awesome
Truth challenges and anointed words from a man whose heart for Father is unquestionable.
Highly recommends is you want to grow in God
Truth challenges and anointed words from a man whose heart for Father is unquestionable.
Highly recommends is you want to grow in God
October 2, 2025
This book is such an encouragement and has given me a great, fresh way in which to read the Bible and connect with our living God.
The author's main focus is on the encounter that the Apostle Paul, formerly Saul, had on the road to Damascus, where his human values and religious beliefs were transformed because of one encounter with Jesus Christ. After the encounter Paul had, his life was changed and his life was dramatically transformed because of this encounter. Manwaring suggests that this encounter for Paul was an 'ultimate encounter' and 'the launch pad for the Way of Life for the rest of his life'. It was great to reflect on the story of Paul and truly take myself into that dusty road, put myself in his feet, and attempt to grasp how he must have felt in that moment.
The author also reflects greatly on reminding the reader that each of us has our own story to tell, and suggests approaching the Bible differently. Manwaring reflects on his own snippets of life throughout the book, especially when he approaches the Bible as having an encounter with God knowing that He can speak to us. I enjoyed the way the author referred to the Bible as a 'library of encounters that were historic, holy, and a journal of ordinary men and women who met an extraordinary God'. How awesome this seems to me and it gave me a new insight into this holy book we have access to!
Another encouragement was that encounters will be difficult to come by if you put God into a box and attempt to limit what He has the power to do. Manwaring recognises the truth in that we are all sinners, but even at our lowest point, we can still have an encounter with Christ. And I believe that is the crux of our faith; we turn to Him in the nadir of our lives or in a season that is extremely challenging and God can meet us where we are, to give us an encounter of His holiness, goodness, and grace that is undeserved.
One of my favourite highlights, of which I made many during the duration of reading is as follows:
"God chose the only one who was so steeped in the Old that he could see the completion of it in Jesus, and so opposed to the New that his conversion to it could never be seen as anything less than divine" [pg. 69]
"Jesus was the cure for Saul and is the answer for us all." [pg. 138]
I think these two quotes perfectly summarise the book.
The reflection near the end of the book on how we cannot do life alone, and were not made to be separate from God or fellowship was a sweet reminder.
Reading felt like a great extended essay on the encounters Paul had throughout the chapters of the Bible he had written and a deep examination of power, grace, salvation and faith. And this is not in a negative way at all! I thoroughly enjoyed my time reading and definitely will be reflecting on and recording future encounters I myself experience.
As on page 272, encounters with God feed us and may we read our Bibles through the lens of these encounters. He wastes nothing and gets us ready (Romans 8:28)!
The author's main focus is on the encounter that the Apostle Paul, formerly Saul, had on the road to Damascus, where his human values and religious beliefs were transformed because of one encounter with Jesus Christ. After the encounter Paul had, his life was changed and his life was dramatically transformed because of this encounter. Manwaring suggests that this encounter for Paul was an 'ultimate encounter' and 'the launch pad for the Way of Life for the rest of his life'. It was great to reflect on the story of Paul and truly take myself into that dusty road, put myself in his feet, and attempt to grasp how he must have felt in that moment.
The author also reflects greatly on reminding the reader that each of us has our own story to tell, and suggests approaching the Bible differently. Manwaring reflects on his own snippets of life throughout the book, especially when he approaches the Bible as having an encounter with God knowing that He can speak to us. I enjoyed the way the author referred to the Bible as a 'library of encounters that were historic, holy, and a journal of ordinary men and women who met an extraordinary God'. How awesome this seems to me and it gave me a new insight into this holy book we have access to!
Another encouragement was that encounters will be difficult to come by if you put God into a box and attempt to limit what He has the power to do. Manwaring recognises the truth in that we are all sinners, but even at our lowest point, we can still have an encounter with Christ. And I believe that is the crux of our faith; we turn to Him in the nadir of our lives or in a season that is extremely challenging and God can meet us where we are, to give us an encounter of His holiness, goodness, and grace that is undeserved.
One of my favourite highlights, of which I made many during the duration of reading is as follows:
"God chose the only one who was so steeped in the Old that he could see the completion of it in Jesus, and so opposed to the New that his conversion to it could never be seen as anything less than divine" [pg. 69]
"Jesus was the cure for Saul and is the answer for us all." [pg. 138]
I think these two quotes perfectly summarise the book.
The reflection near the end of the book on how we cannot do life alone, and were not made to be separate from God or fellowship was a sweet reminder.
Reading felt like a great extended essay on the encounters Paul had throughout the chapters of the Bible he had written and a deep examination of power, grace, salvation and faith. And this is not in a negative way at all! I thoroughly enjoyed my time reading and definitely will be reflecting on and recording future encounters I myself experience.
As on page 272, encounters with God feed us and may we read our Bibles through the lens of these encounters. He wastes nothing and gets us ready (Romans 8:28)!
November 15, 2024
This book is about to be a game changer in your life. Changing your expectations and looking for encounters with the Almighty God will be the catalyst for change in your life and finding your mission and calling. This book looks at the examples filling the bible of people who encountered God and declares that we are created for this. It takes a closer look at the dramatic life change in Saul of Tarsus to the perspective of Paul as he penned parts of the New Testament. It offers a look at the perspective of the worst of sinners converted and sharing the good news with us. We can take this great biblical example and apply the concept of encounters to our lives. Even providing a tool to audit our own encounters and examine what God wants for us through it, this book will deepen your understanding of encounters with God. Be brave enough to fight the culture of the world that attempts to put God in a box and begin to see the transformative power of encounters with Him in your life.
February 14, 2025
3.5 stars. Loved the in depth look at Saul’s encounter with Jesus and how that shaped the rest of his life. It was just too long. I feel it could have been edited to half its length and it would have had a lot more ‘punch’ to it.
February 20, 2025
A focus on the Apostle Paul's encounter with Jesus and how it affected his whole life and ministry from that time on. The author then relates it to our lives and the encounters we can have with our Lord.
July 3, 2025
SUPERNATURAL
An empowering book on living in the supernatural & hungering for the presence of Jesus in our daily life, embracing the power of the Trinity
An empowering book on living in the supernatural & hungering for the presence of Jesus in our daily life, embracing the power of the Trinity
July 17, 2025
This really makes me think about encounters I've had with the Lord and that I need to refer back to them as a reminder of how to live in trust of God.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews