For over 60 years I have sought to follow Jesus, not only as a philosopher and teacher of love, humility and forgiveness, but as one who is who he claimed to be- God in human form. For most of those 60+ years I have had the privilege of being a Pastor and Counsellor sharing the life and ministry of Jesus with thousands of others, but my primary goal has been to become more like him.
If I was to choose one experience out of hundreds, that I would regard as the most significant in my life, it has been the daily experience of knowing Jesus better, and through him knowing other people and myself better as well. Getting to know myself better has not always been a pleasant experience but what has been rewarding is to discover that while God loves me as I am, he is not content to leave me as I am, but to gradually transform my attitudes and my behaviours until I am more like him.
Central to my mission to know Jesus better, has been a daily commitment to reading the Bible. In one sense that is not such a big deal. Everybody has something they do on an almost daily basis. Some watch television every day, others rarely miss a daily newscast. Others again visit social media every day, and some read the daily newspaper. I do some of those things too, but like tens of thousands all over the world I also choose also to read the Bible. Social media tells me what other people are thinking, what they have done or are doing, and where they have been and where they are going. The Bible tells me what God is thinking and saying, what he has done and is doing, and where he has been and is going. I enjoy hearing about my friend’s musings, movements and dreams but for me it is imperative that I know what God is saying and how what he has done and is doing impacts my life.
Many, many times in these 60+ years I have read the Gospels and each time I have been deeply moved and inspired by how Jesus lived his life, what he said and what he did, especially dying for me on a cross and rising again from the dead. I am inspired and moved, not so much by reading the historical account of a great man, but by encountering in the pages of the Bible, a contemporary figure, who seeks to live his life of love end forgiveness through those who love him.
That is why I have written Encounter. It follows Jesus through the three years of his public ministry leading up to his crucifixion. It invites the reader to stand in wonderment with Jesus’s disciples, at his teaching, his miracles and his humility. It invites us to confront the same doubts, ask the same questions and struggle with the same fears that this very human group of followers experienced. It seeks to convey the heartbeat of Jesus, the hopes and fears of those who came to him and the joy they experienced when they knew that they were in the presence of God himself.
Encounter is presented as a book of daily devotions. Each page is devoted to one day and has a passage of scripture to read, some comments to ponder, a verse for the day, and a prayer to add to your own.
My prayer is that people will obtain it for themselves and as a gift for a loved one and that each reader will be encouraged as I am, to pursue the journey of becoming more like Jesus, God’s Son and our Saviour.
Watch this website for the announcement of the release date and then visit my online bookshop to purchase a copy of Encounter. While you are there read about my other two books When The Tiger Roars (2019) and The Guilt Busters (2020). Please share this post with others.
God Bless
Graeme.