Bill Myers wrote The Jesus Experience to encourage us to “journey deeper into the heart of God.” He relates an occasion when he felt God saying to him, “Son, if I were to put you in a coma and you could not talk to others about Me, could not serve Me in any way, would I be enough for you?” The question startled Bill and startled me too.
I realized that I get so caught up in being good and in service and in sharing God with others through my writing that I forget to spend time with the One who created and saved me. As Bill puts it, “… my purpose in life had become success for God instead of intimacy with Him.”
In my attempts to serve him, I’d forgotten the experience I, Deb, had when He drew me to Himself. The pastor had asked me if I knew Jesus Christ. I answered, somewhat flippantly, that of course I knew Him—everybody did. You know, Christmas, Easter, and all that stuff. He stopped me and asked. “No, I didn’t ask you if you knew about Jesus Christ, I asked you if you knew Jesus Christ. Is He real to you? Is He someone you can talk to, walk with, cry with? Is He your friend? I admitted that I did not know Him in that way, but before the morning was over, I did.
Bill takes us back to that time when we first knew Him—when the joy of the Lord was our strength (Nehemiah 8:10, paraphrase mine). He walks us through the steps of drawing closer to Jesus once again:
• Seduced By Service
• Falling Back in Love
• Three Cornerstones
• The Power of Adoration
• Real Freedom
• Truth and Grace
• Fruit of the Spirit
• A New Way of Thinking
The Jesus Experience is written in a simple, easy to understand manner that clearly delineates what we must do to walk deeper with Him. If, like me, you’ve somewhat lost your first love, you’ll want to read this book to be reminded why we’re His. As the Shorter Westminster Catechism says, “Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy Him forever.” Or, as Jesus himself said, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind” (Matthew 22:37).
Only when we center ourselves on Jesus and set out to praise and enjoy Him forever, will we be able to “journey deeper into the heart of God.”
Bill Myers is a writer/producer whose books and videos have sold over eight million copies and have won seventy national and international awards including the C.S. Lewis Honor Award. To learn more about Bill, check out his website, www.BillMyers.com.
To purchase a copy of The Jesus Experience, click the link: The Jesus Experience: Journey Deeper into the Heart of God
Barbour Publishers gave me a copy of The Jesus Experience in exchange for my candid review. I am exceedingly grateful!