Meet Jesus Encounter Jesus Hear His Gospel Respond & Be Born Again Justin Michael

Open Introduction

So, you’re picking up this book for the first time, with what is either hunger or skepticism. Maybe even hunger and skepticism, if we are being honest.

Maybe you know Jesus a little bit. Maybe you know Him a lot. Possibly, you have never met Jesus at all. And you are probably doing what it is that I do every single time that I pick up a book and begin to read the introduction, thinking to myself, Is this book for me?

It’s a legitimate question. If you’re anything like me, you’re busy. No, not the type of busy that some people seem to wear as a badge of honor, but truly, your margins are low.

I have the privilege of being a husband to a tremendous wife and a dad to two amazingly beautiful girls, both of whom are under the age of three. As I write this, we are also expecting our third child, which we have learned is a boy (pray for us). Alongside these wonderful blessings that God has given to me to steward, I have the honor and responsibility of leading a young, growing church here in Dallas.

I tel

Open How to Read This Book

My hope is that this book becomes more for you than just a book, but a living tool in the belt of your life, serving not only to help you meet Jesus but as a guide whereby one day, you might be able to help someone else do the same.

As previously mentioned, the purpose of this book is not solely to provide you with information about Jesus but rather to invite you into the true transformation that is possible through personal relationship with Him.

My commitment to you is that we will always stay within the confines of Scripture. While I will talk more about this in the first chapter, it is my position that the Bible is our baseline for all truth and knowledge of God. Therefore, we will go where the Bible takes us, and we will not go where it does not.

My encouragement to you is that you go through this book with someone. If you can, find someone that you can partner with to embark on this journey of meeting Jesus. Learning about Jesus is great when we do it by ourselves but becomes enriched when we d

Open One Last Thing

Before we go any further into this book, there’s a truth that I want to cement into our hearts, and that is that everything there is to be known about God is known through relationship. All of it. This is the means in which God has chosen to reveal Himself to humanity. And this is why it is of utmost importance that if we are going to know anything about Him, we start right here… in meeting Him.

In the next few chapters, we will dig deeper into the truth that what we know about Jesus comes through the Bible. And the only reason that we have the Bible is because God (once again) was in relationship with people who wrote things down as they were inspired by Him to do so.

Therefore, this book is not a book written to simply gain more head knowledge about Jesus or to gain academic prowess… but to help you gain real revelation, knowledge, and understanding of Jesus by means of meeting Him and knowing Him personally.

In its essence, this book is an invitation to relationship. Not just to learn about Jesus,

Open Chapter 1: The Foundation

Today, we embark on a journey to meet and know Jesus.

I know I’ve already stated this, but it simply cannot be overstated that making an effort to know Jesus is not just one of the most important things that you can do in your life; it is the most important thing you can ever do.

I commend you for getting to this place and taking the time to make this investment into your eternal soul. Only the life beyond this one will reveal the true value of the investment you are about to make during the course of this journey.

Before we begin, I want to encourage you to take a moment and reflect on where you are today in your walk with God.

• Are you standing on the bank?
• Are you ankle-deep in the water?
• Where do you feel that you are right now as you start this journey closer to Jesus?

Maybe, take a moment to note it in a journal or your notes app on your phone so that at the end of this time of exploration, you can reflect on the progress that you have made in meeting and knowing Jesus.

Th

Open Chapter 2: True Christianity

So this Christianity thing. You’ve probably heard about it. Perhaps you’ve even been a Christian for years.

But what exactly is Christianity?

You’ve seen people proclaim to hold affiliation with this term, with John 3:16 stamped in their social media bio, and even worn as a patch on letterman jackets at school. Some put a sign in their yard, some place a cross over the mantle, and others go to even further lengths to try to express to those around them that they are a “Christian.”

But is that all it takes to be a Christian? To just call yourself one?

And what about this denomination thing? Tons of them exist, and they all claim to be right. Is Christianity really like ice cream? The same general construct, but with flavors galore to just pick whichever one pleases your palate?

For so many, Christianity seems to mean so many different things. But is it so many different things? If there is only one Jesus, and He is indeed the only “way” that He claims to be, then wouldn’t there only be one way t

Open Chapter 3: A 1st Century Way in the 21st Century

In our last few chapters together, we have been laying the foundation of having a true encounter with Jesus. If you are wondering when that happens, we have already begun. Let’s continue into this next chapter as we continue to lay the foundation.

Having examined what Christianity truly means, now we turn our attention to another central element that piggybacks on the revelation in Chapter 2, adding another layer on top.

In this chapter, we will focus on what it means to be Jesus’ first-century disciples in the twenty-first century… and why that really matters.

I mean, it is kind of an interesting predicament that we are in. Living squarely in the timestamp of the twenty-first century, all the while trying to follow this ancient way of Jesus that is found within a first century Jewish context.

Is that significant? Is it a moot point?

As we have already pointed out numerous times and reiterated (on purpose), there are so many different expressions of what people say being a follower of Jesus act

Open Chapter 4: Nobody Follows Jesus Alone

In the previous chapter, we pinned a thought that we are going to open back up and address together: the need for sheep to have a flock and a shepherd.

Let me just pause right here to say this to you, whoever is reading this. It may not be the most popular thing to say, but popular isn’t always the filter for good. And sometimes what is good, and even right, runs contrary to what is popular. Regardless of how this next statement lands, we all need to hear it, myself included.

You and I need a pastor, and we need a church community that we are actively engaged in and known among.

“Easy for you to say, you’re a pastor.”

Yes. A pastor who has not always understood the gravitas and significance of having spiritual leadership and covering in my life, but I learned it eventually… with a couple of bumps, bruises, and scrapes, might I add.

I write this instruction to you as someone who actively is submitted to good and godly spiritual leadership, who is actively involved in my life.

I need this. You

Open Chapter 5: There Is More

In chapter two, when we jumped into what it means to be a Christian, we learned that the only way to truly be a Christian is to first and foremost become a disciple of Jesus.

Discipleship is a term that is used to describe the process of being and becoming a disciple of Jesus Christ. As we have learned in previous chapters, this is exactly what Jesus is calling us to be and become. To be His disciples. Those who follow His way.

This process of being and becoming a disciple of Jesus is truly a journey for a lifetime. But just because it takes a lifetime doesn't mean that it has to be hard, complex, or near impossible with zero immediate results. God can produce dynamic transformation in your life faster than you can blink your eyes three times and shout “hot dog.” He is God. Don’t minimize this reality or try to downplay what God can do in your life. 

Remember what Paul wrote in Ephesians 3:20, where he tells us that God _“is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according

Open Chapter 6: Face-to-Face

It is my personal opinion that discipleship can be distilled down to these two elements: to “Meet Jesus,” and to “Follow Jesus.”

This is the simple path that I see in the Scriptures. A clear path that centers and hinges on Jesus alone. A path that starts with Jesus and ends with Jesus. One where He is the starting line, the finish line, and the path along the way.

Truly, Jesus is all in all.

If those who “follow Jesus” are those who have accepted His invitation to become His disciples, then it would make perfect sense that before one could ever be in a position to receive such an invitation from Jesus, that person would first need to “meet Him.”

This is, after all, the natural progression that every disciple who has ever become a follower of Jesus goes through. First, meeting Jesus. And then, choosing to accept His invitation to follow. This is not just a different and unique process that we go through in modern times when attempting to become disciples of Jesus, but the same process that every pe

Open Chapter 7: The Spirit of Jesus

As we walk through the following verses of Scripture, layer by layer, we are going to unearth some very important truths about Jesus. This process is one that the prophet Isaiah describes in Isaiah 28, as to how we receive and unveil revelation from God… “precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little, there a little” (Isaiah 28:9–10).

I want to encourage you to read this next part slowly, maybe even a few times over, spending time to let the revelation of these concepts through God’s divine Scriptures settle into your heart and mind. Yes, that also means that for those of you who are listening to this at 2x speed, like I would be doing, should drop it down a little for the next few moments.

I would also highly recommend to you that you stop right here for a moment and ask Jesus to illuminate His living word to your mind as we begin to read His truths.

Ask for Him to send His Spirit to you to breathe revelation into your heart as we together uneart

Open Meet Jesus

So, are you ready to meet Him?

My prayer is that the last few chapters have opened your eyes to know that not only is meeting Jesus possible… but that Jesus wants to meet you.

How about we meet Jesus right now?

Wherever it is that you are as you are reading this chapter, you can meet Jesus right there. Whether in your car, in the break room at work, in the living room of your house, sitting down at a park bench, in your dorm room, at the library, in a coffee shop, or anywhere else that you may be, I want you to know that you can meet Jesus anywhere.

Yep. That’s right.

“I don’t need to be at church to meet Jesus?”

No, sir. No, ma’am.

While you can, and should, meet Jesus at a church gathering, whether that be in a house, sanctuary, venue, coffee shop, or more, you don’t need to be in a church or at a church event to meet Jesus. While we are on the subject, and while I have said and stand by my comments that we all need a pastor, you don’t need a priest or a pastor to facilitate your meeti

Open Chapter 8: Who Is Jesus?

You can experience the presence of God just like we did together and in even greater measure every single day of your life.

Let’s turn together to Ezekiel 47. I brought this up in the introduction, but I want to revisit it again right now.

In Ezekiel 47, God shows Ezekiel a vision. In this vision, God shows him a river that is flowing out of the Temple of God. This river is a prophetic picture of the Spirit of God; yes, the same one that we interact with and also fills our hearts, the same one that you felt just a few moments ago. In this vision, God takes Ezekiel from standing on the bank and looking at the river all the way out into its depths, where his feet couldn’t touch anymore. Ezekiel went from a place of observation, to limited experience with control, all the way to experience without any control at all.

This is a beautiful illustration from God, displaying what we can experience with Him if we are willing to go just a little further, day by day.

Each day with Jesus is a fresh new opport

Open Chapter 9: Good News

So, we have learned that Jesus is God, manifest in the flesh to redeem us, His creation. Which for us is really good news. And interestingly, that’s actually what the term gospel even means.

The Gospel = GOOD NEWS.

In this chapter, we are going to talk about the gospel of Jesus Christ, what it is, and what this good news means for us.

In the previous chapter, we laid out a pretty dense foundation for the conversation that we are about to embark on today. So, let’s do what we always do when attempting to learn more about God: lets dive into the Bible to learn what it has to say about the gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ.

In his first letter to the church in Corinth, in chapter 15, Paul writes to them with the goal of detailing the gospel of Jesus as clearly as possible. I would say that this is probably a great place to start. So, let’s dive in and read what he has to say:

_“Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you

Open Untitled

In the previous chapter, we learned what the gospel is, but in this chapter, we will begin walking down a road that leads us to understand how we can personally experience the “good news” of Jesus for ourselves. Hang on for the ride; this is really good news!

To begin our conversation on this subject, we will jump into the last portion of Luke’s Gospel account in chapter 24. It is here that we find Jesus reconnecting with His disciples after His resurrection.

Luke tells us in the Book of Acts that immediately after Jesus’ resurrection from the tomb, He was seen by His disciples for a period of forty days. During this time, the Bible tells us that Jesus spoke with them and taught them of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God (Acts 1:3).

Now, we learned a few chapters back that Jesus was not to stay with them forever in physical form. Soon, He would ascend into Heaven, no longer being with them… but through the Holy Spirit that He promised to pour out upon them, He soon would be in them.

This

Open Chapter 11: Happy Birthday, Church

Remember back in Chapter 1 when we read Hebrews 2:3? I think it is important to bring that verse of Scripture back up now… as next, we are about to see this verse in action and use it to examine exactly how it is that we receive salvation.

“how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed to us by those who heard Him” (Hebrews 2:3).

At this point together in our journey of meeting Jesus, we have encountered His presence, heard His gospel, and the salvation that it brings. But now, we will begin to add another layer to the journey… as we observe together how we respond to and freely receive the salvation that Jesus’ gospel provides.

Let’s take a moment to have another quick Bible study, examining a few of the key things that Jesus said about salvation in the Gospels. We want to pay close attention to what He says, as soon we will examine in the Book of Acts how the disciples of Jesus confirmed what Jesus taught with great ac

Open Chapter 12: All Roads Lead to the Cross

Our merciful God became like us so that through His gospel, He might make us like Him once again.

He became the sacrifice that we couldn’t make ourselves so that we could be restored through Him, once again, to fellowship. To be returned to His image and likeness, providing us access to that face-to-face, Edenic closeness that we were once made for.

This is the whole point of meeting Jesus.

To encounter Him, hear His gospel, and respond to it, being born again.

This is what Paul means when he writes, “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17). All through Jesus.

I want to have you read the following verses of Scripture that Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 5:17–21, just to let this fully sink into your heart right now.

_“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself thr

Open Chapter 13: Creating Spaces for People to Meet Jesus

What a journey we have been on together!

My prayer is that on this journey, no matter where you began from, you have learned something new about Jesus that has changed your life and that you have been able to know Him more than you did before you ever picked up this book.

I pray that whether you began this journey standing on the bank of the river or out in the water up to your waist, that now you are standing even if just a little deeper in the river of God than you were before you’ve ever been.

Now, as we close, I get to tell you one of the most important things that I can tell anyone who has truly met Jesus.

And that is this…

Those who meet Jesus create spaces for others to do the same.

That’s right! You can lead someone to have the very same experience that you have had with Jesus. And as a matter of fact, this is exactly how we fulfill God’s will and purpose in our lives.

Helping others meet and then become followers of Jesus is central to the purpose that Jesus has for each and ever

Open Bonus I: Water Baptism in the Name of Jesus Christ

As we have seen in our study of Scripture throughout the course of this book, baptism by immersion in water with the invoking of the saving name of Jesus Christ, is essential for all who believe in Jesus.

We who believe must be baptized, and we must do so in His name: “Jesus.”

This is the biblical record, proven by the actions of the disciples of Jesus Christ in the Book of Acts, as they went forth to obey Jesus’ commands… as every example of water baptism found within the confines of Scripture is carried out in “Jesus’ name,” or the “name of the Lord” (which is Jesus).

The greatest question that arises then is usually one that comes with reference to Jesus’ words to His disciples in Matthew 28:19, where Jesus told His disciples to “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”

The question usually looks something like this (and is a valid question to ask): “If Jesus told His disciples to baptize in the name o

Open Bonus II: The Baptism of the Holy Spirit

We must be filled with the Holy Spirit, just like the disciples of Jesus were in the book of Acts.

What took place on the Day of Pentecost was not some one-off experience. But rather is the same experience that is available to all of us today. Jesus promised this to all of us!

To bring more clarity and assurance to all of us, that this experience that the disciples had on the Day of Pentecost was not just a one-off moment, but an experience to be had for all people.

Let’s take a look at Acts 10, where the Holy Spirit is poured out upon a man named Cornelius, a Gentile. At this moment, the Jews thought that this new covenant that God had made, and this experience that they had in Acts 2, was only for the Jews.

But God sent an angel to Cornelius, telling him to send for Peter, who was presently located in Joppa. And when this angel visited Peter, who was coming out of prayer, having just seen a vision from God that related closely to this task, Peter complied to go to  Cornelius’s house.

When Pet