"Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. If I say, 'Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me, ' even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you" Psa 139:7-12 (NIV).

Surely God is everywhere, but we do not always sense his presence. We do not because we are not looking for Him. As I have explained in my earlier letters, the reason is that we encounter him only if we seek Him, and when we are aware of his presence, move toward Him. The emotion that causes us to move toward someone is love, either ours for them or theirs for us. Initially we are drawn to Him since he has first loved us. Because of our inherent need for His love we respond and invite him into our lives. When installed, we can move toward Him at will. Why?

There is a mental phenomenon called empathy. Empathy is the experiencing of a similar emotion in response to a displayed emotion. Obviously we cannot see God's loving countenance, but we can experience his love because he is in us. An important statement relating to his response is in the Gospel of John (John 14:16-20). "And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever-- the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you."

When he loves us we have to reciprocate. We show our love for Him if we praise and worship Him. We do this best when we pray and sing, but even our petitions are an indication of our love because we are reiterating out dependence on His grace. Still I know there are other ways we can cause the encounter we seek. So I asked myself in what were the ways I had encountered Him. One day while traveling from Pretoria to Johannesburg, I realized that a primary place we encounter God is in the witness of others.

A great testimony to the reality of God and his presence in a person is that one can see and feel the love of Christ when they hear the witness of a real Christian. An experience that showed me how powerful this is occurred at a conference on demonology at Notre Dame University. After I made my presentation, the next speaker opened his talk with these words, "When I used to walk the plains of North China, Jesus would come and walk with me and talk with me. He had on a brown robe." A psychiatrist with whom I was sitting said, "Mother, how did I get in here?" A statement such as this will perk up anyone's interest. What would he say next? To find out I listened intently. When He finished his presentation, he had convinced me that Jesus had indeed walked and talked with him. Ken McAll walks and talks with Jesus every day. In this first encounter with him I sensed the love of God in him. No one can have a radical encounter such as he had, without the love of God being manifest. There are others who have affected me similarly. Among them are Billy Graham, Francis McNutt, Michael Greene, Charles Stanley, Rick Thomas and John Stott. These are all well-known men, but I have met even more less well-known followers of Christ who shed his love abroad quietly and unobtrusively. They do it when they love other people and other Christians. It is the Love that we have for one another, no matter what our station, which witnesses to the world and evokes the response, "See how those Christians love one another."

The reason His love is shed abroad is that we act like we love one another. It is apparent in our behavior. Our facial expressions, and our eagerness to be physically close to one another. The hugging that takes place when real Christians get together is evidence. The animation with which we converse, and the obvious desire we have to know what is going on in each others lives is further evidence of our installation in one another, i.e., our oneness in Christ.

Have you ever wondered why the last thing Jesus told his disciples was that they were to be witnesses to Him to the ends of the earth? I used to wonder, but I no longer do so.

The reason I don't is that I repeatedly encounter Him as I listen to or read the testimony of others. This is especially true when they tell how he first intervened in their lives. They do not have to be present, though, I can also experience Him when I read their testimony in such periodicals as Guideposts or Decision Magazine. This does not happen when I read Christianity Today or First things. These latter periodicals rarely include stories of personal encounters, instead they instruct us or keep us informed about what is going on in the Christian world. Obviously the editors of Guideposts and Decision know that it is important for people to encounter God. Their enormous circulation convinces me that people read these two periodicals because they know they can encounter Him there.

The power of written testimony was revealed in my personal life in 1978 when Guideposts published my testimony. I got over 4000 letters during the next three years from people all over the world. Most of them sought help with personal problems, but many described how they were moved by the article. I do not know how many phone calls I got. There were so many that I had to have my phone number unlisted to escape them. People called at all times of the day and night. Even today, many people recall that article when they meet me for the first time.

I realized the importance of witness (testimony) long before 1978. It became apparent to me when I first heard someone give theirs. We had a Lay Witness Mission in our church shortly after I became a Christian. Although I mentioned these events elsewhere, I need to explain further that they are weekend retreats held in a church. A group of lay men and women visit and conduct a series of services from Friday Night until Sunday morning. These services begin with music that includes mostly praise and worship songs. Then one or more of the witnesses give his or her testimony. After that the people are divided into small groups where they share when and how they have encountered God. On Saturday and Sunday other small group and general sessions are held where questions are asked that have personal application to the attendees. Again testimony is shared relating to the subject under discussion. Finally, on Sunday morning a team member, usually the coordinator gives his Witness. He ends the service by asking the church members to commit or recommit their lives to the Lord.

When they held a mission in our church, I only attended the Sunday service. The coordinator, a truck driver from Alabama, gave his witness. Tears streamed down my face as he described how God had changed his life, and given it real meaning. I really did not understand the power of his witness at the time, but in a few months it became clear when I began to participate in these evangelical missions. As a participant I was better able to learn first hand how the personal witness of the participants changed hundreds of lives. In time I led almost one hundred of these missions, and participated in many more. In every one I was moved by the power of personal testimony as it helped people discover that they had a God who loved unconditionally and wanted a personal intimate relationship with them.

As I talked to those who came to know the Lord during these missions, it became apparent to me that as the witness told of the depravity of their preChristian life many of those who listened could identify with their plight. When he or she then told how God had revealed himself to them and the flood of love they experienced, the listener passionately wanted that same love. Later, when they were offered Christ and told how to receive him, they needed little exhortation to submit and receive it. Salvation may have a rational component to it, but the ultimate determinant is the emotion of love offered by a gracious God. It is not surprising that over 30% of the people who experience salvation do so because they have heard the witness of a person who knows Him.

Another powerful witness to God's grace is the Bible. From beginning to end it testifies to God's concern for man, and his loving kindness . The Gospels are the primary witness to Jesus. John's Gospel and the Epistles are a continuing witness to Jesus' continued presence in the world through the work and person of the Holy Spirit. Through the Bible we get to know Him. Jesus told us this would happen in John 14:26 when he said "But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you." The observations of William James that truths are perceived that have not been perceived before is evidence that this statement is true. Most Christians will testify to its truth.

The work of the Holy Spirit in bringing about an encounter with God through the Bible is also manifest in the observation that many people are saved when they read the Bible. Years ago we asked over two hundred Christians how they came to know the Lord. As I noted above, one third of them came to know him through the witness of a born again believer. Another third came about because of a sovereign act of God. Many of these persons to whom God spoke sovereigny were reading the Bible at the time they encountered him. The other third were saved in a variety of ways, some through evangelical crusades, some through tracts and a few through events in a church or parachurch organization, but in most of them the Bible played some role. One cannot emphasize too much the role of the Bible in almost all salvation experiences. It is not surprising that Paul told Timothy "....and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus (2 Tim 3:15)."

My own salvation came about because of a selection of scripture read by a nonbeliever. It was a commentary on a verse from Matthew that set into motion the events of my initial encounter with God. In the 23rd chapter verses 25 and 26 were addressed to the Pharisees. Jesus accused them of having dirty souls. When I learned I should not have inner dirtiness, I was convicted of the fact that I needed to clean up my inner being. When I sought to discover how I could do this, I opened myself up to get an answer that only God could give. The answer came when He revealed his love for me. God could do it! His WORD came and dwelled in me. This set in motion all the process of cleaning me up.

This happened because the Holy Spirit illuminates the words and I perceived their truth. How the illumination occurs is a mystery, but there is no question that it does occur. I had been a Christian for 1 and 1/2 years before this happened to me again. After I came to know the Lord I tried to read the Authorized (King James) version of the Bible. I simply could not understand it even though I tried and tried. Finally, while on my first Lay Witness Mission, I bought a copy of Good News for Modern Man. After I got back home I sat down late in the evening to read it and find out whether it was readable. I started with Matthew and read on. I finished the entire New Testament around 2or 3 AM. I could not put it down because the words were literally leaping off the page at me. I took all kinds of notes on the blank pages in the back of the book. Certain scriptures seemed so important I wrote them down to remember them better, and to find them again with ease. I encountered God again in the Word that night, and I still do every time I read the Bible. It is a means of grace, for his love is revealed to me and I encounter Him.

I do not need to belabor the point that the Holy Spirit makes the written word alive and active. It is "...living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart (Heb. 4:12)." So when it "goes out," whether we read it silently or read it aloud to others, it does not come back empty, i.e., it has power to change the reader or hearer both cognitively and emotionally. We have His assurance, for He told Isaiah (55:11)"...so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it." His purpose is to bring about an encounter with Him.

The Bible is then a witness to Gods presence and activity in the world. In it all his attributes are revealed. In it we read about his goodness, greatness, power, justness, mercy, comfort, knowledge and wisdom. The New Testament reveals his love for everyone of us. The Bible clearly declares our infinite worth as revealed in the atonement. Each one of us can say that Jesus came into the world to reveal God to us. Then he was crucified to take our punishment. Guiltless, He suffered the punishment that should have been ours. Then He died to complete the work God sent him to do. He died for us. There were many witnesses to His death, burial, resurrection and ascension. When we read the gospel accounts of His life, we encounter Him. They are as reliable as the accounts of the conquests of Alexander the Great, Caesar's Gallic Wars, or Pliny's History of the Roman Empire. Surely, no one could have shown greater love. For this reason men empathetically respond.

In God's witness to the world we encounter him. If it is personalized in the words and lives of living and breathing men and women it has great impact. When written, witness loses little of its power. Still we find that the church neglects this powerful instrument that God ordered us to use. "You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8)!" The time has come to once again let witness be the powerful instrument that it is to help people encounter God!