Who You Were Made To Be // Going DeeperSample

The Deep Place: Your Encounter with Jesus

You don’t have to pretend now. Not with Me. I adore you. I love everything about you. I am Who I am, and I will go where no one else will go. You may not understand all that I say at first, but that’s okay. Ask Me questions; I love conversation. I may not answer everything the way you want Me to. I promise you I won’t. But I want to engage with you. I want there to be a give and take. It is for relationship that I created you. Not to stand alone.

How do you know what you think without engaging with Me? How do you know what you love, what you dislike, without reflecting back what I’ve already put inside you? It is when you recognize that all you have is what you’ve been given—that nothing you have is without cost and love—that you live realizing you don’t have to prove a thing, not to Me, not to anyone. You get to live in a space that is divine, set apart. You get to live where nothing can touch you but My love—My love that protects you and restores you. I want to remind you, always remind you, what I’ve always seen in you, and what you were before.

I have something for you to do now. A place to go. A way to see. And it takes looking deeper to find it. It takes patience. And resolve. It takes expectation, believing that I am good, that My love for you is without measure—and that what you hold within you is greater and bolder and stronger and more tender and kind and beautiful than you will ever know unless you grab My hand and go there with Me now. It is to the both wild and yet uncovered place within you that we will go.

Son, daughter, in this place are things I want to show you, teach you, give you. I want you to accept the role I’ve given you to play. And you learn that role, become whom you’re created to be, in this place where only the two of us, together, can go. Do not be afraid to go there—to spend time with Me and learn My plans for you. In this place is where you listen to My voice. It is where you hear Me. It is where I am in you, the place in you where I reside. Do not be afraid. Do not be afraid.

In this place, it is time to explore your heart now. It is time to navigate your way through this landscape, this terrain, that feels foreign, new, and unknown. For in this landscape of your heart you will find your history—moments and experiences that shaped you in ways you’ve not understood. You will find your present—your desires and dreams that are rich and expansive—in conversation with Me, in a relationship beginning now. You will find your future—choices yet to be made, plans still to be set. And this is where we are, together. We are in a place where your heart knows it is known and feels safe. You are unafraid to tread into the areas of your heart yet undiscovered. So, let’s go now. Let’s go.

Because you are My child, I have much to give you, much to show you—all of which has already been given, and all that is also yet to come. Let Me show you what I am building in you. Let Me show you what I use to strengthen you, embolden you. Let Me show you what is yet to be unleashed in you. Come into the place where I am in you. It is the deep place. I want to take you there now.

Exercise:

Let’s hear again what Holy Spirit just said: “I have something for you to do now. A place to go. A way to see. And it takes looking deeper to find it.”

Do you know that place? Your place? Do you want to find it? This place that Jesus created and keeps just for you—just for you and Him to be together?

Well, that’s what we’re going to do. We’re going to have an encounter with Jesus now. And we’re going to ask Him to show us what these places look like—each one unique, just as we are each unique.

Now, we won’t rush through this. So, get into a comfortable position.

We surrender to You our imaginations, Jesus. We give You our attention. And we ask that You take us on a journey, now, and show us our secret places.

Imagine you’re on a path with Jesus. You are by yourselves, walking side-by-side.

Look around. What does it look like? Where are you? What kind of path is it? Is it a rocky, high mountain trail? Is it a path through a lush, green meadow? Is it a sandy path along the coast?

It is a beautiful day. It’s bright and clear. The sky is big and blue. You can feel the sun on your face, and you are happy and content . . . but expectant too. Because you know Jesus has something to show you—a place He knows you will love.

As you walk, you talk and laugh. You’re both at ease, and the conversation flows. But you can tell He can barely contain His excitement about what’s ahead.

You come to a place where there is something to look at—a vista of some kind. You stop walking to take in the view—you stop talking for a moment too. Then Jesus turns to you, His face is kind and full of love. And He says something.

What does He say to you? Take a few seconds to imagine what He might want to say, right now.

Now, what do you want to say, in return?

You begin walking along the path again. It’s not just that you can see the joy in His face, but you can feel Jesus’ joy in being with you. His joy is on you and in you and all around. His joy strengthens you. His joy becomes your joy . . . and your peace.

You don’t want this walk to end. You feel like you could keep going like this forever.

How could anything be better than this?

Now the path begins to curve a bit. And you can see a turn up ahead. You can tell you’re close now, and you’ve both stopped talking. You can feel Jesus’ quiet excitement and anticipation. There is a slight, but unmistakable, bounce in His step.

This place He’s going to show you is, clearly, not going to be an ordinary place.

Your eyes are focused ahead, but Jesus turns and touches your arm, indicating that He wants you to stop for a moment. He encourages you to take a few deep breaths. He invites you to smell the air and notice the sounds around you.

You realize that the scents and sounds in and on the air are among your most favorite. They represent beauty and comfort.

What are they? How does the air smell? What does it feel like, on your skin? Is it still or is there a breeze? What is the temperature like? What sounds do you hear?

And now, with a smile in His eyes, Jesus says, “Come on, it’s time.” And you begin walking again, approaching the turn. And, as you do, you begin to see what Jesus brought you to see.

What is it? Where are you? What do you see? Is it a wide open space? Is it outdoors? A forest clearing, a meadow? How is it protected? Or is it a structure of some sort? Does He take you through a door, into an indoor space? Is there a view? Take some time to look around. To explore. To discover all the details of this place Jesus curated and crafted just for you.

How does this place make you feel?

My friend, this is the place where you get to come, to spend time with Jesus. It will always be here. When you are out there, in your busy world, in your everyday life, you can always come here. All you need to do is to pray. When you experience fear or grief or anger, when you experience excitement or joy or peace, you can always come here. This is your secret place—and it is just for the two of you.

This is where you can come to be restored. This is where you can hear His voice. This is where you can talk or laugh or yell or cry with Him. This is where you are most yourself and where you can just be yourself. This is your refuge from everything out there in the world. Here, you don’t have to try to be anything or anyone other than who you are—mess and all.

Jesus is loving this moment. Seeing your reactions. Walking around with you and watching you as you discover this place for the very first time.

Stay here a while. Soak up this place. Let your imagination—your heart and mind and body—continue to absorb this experience. This is just the beginning.