David E. Taylor - Face-To-Face Appearances of Jesus: The Ultimate Intimacy

The Ultimate Intimacy

DAVID E. TAYLOR

Copyright 2009David E. Taylor

All rights reserved. This book is protected by the copyright laws of the United States of America. This book may not be copied or reprinted for commercial gain or profit. The use of short quotations or occasional page copying for personal or group study is permitted and encouraged. Permission will be granted upon request. Unless otherwise identified, Scripture quotations are from the King James Bible Version. Scripture quotations marked NIV are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION, Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved. Please note that Destiny Images publishing style capitalizes certain pronouns in Scripture that refer to the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and may differ from some publishers styles. Take note that the name satan and related names are not capitalized. We choose not to acknowledge him, even to the point of violating grammatical rules.

Due to the revelatory nature of these encounters and because of the authors desire to preserve a very intimate and personal reading experience, editorial license was taken to maintain the emotional impact of the stories as they were told.

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ISBN 10: 0-7684-3147-6

ISBN 13: 978-0-7684-9679-6

For Worldwide Distribution, Printed in the U. S. A.

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It was during the Christmas season of December 1989. I fell fast asleep one night, about five to seven days before Christmas Eve. Suddenly, there He was with eyes glowing full of love. Standing in front of me was the man Id heard about as a little boy my entire life. I had heard about this man from my father and mother, and was taught that He died on the cross for my sins and rose again on the third day from the dead. He still was not truly real to me, only a religious opinion. He was just someone my parents told me about because of their religious beliefs. Then, out of nowhere, He was standing there in front of me, face-to-face. As He stood in front of me, His very presence exuded and emanated such gentleness, a pureness and kindness beyond this world. It was ecstasy! For the first time, I was standing in front of Jesus. My whole being felt Him. You can imagine the ecstasy I felt. It was a feeling of intense glory! It is like wherever He stands He fills the very atmosphere, air, and molecules all around you. Even the atoms inside your very body and being respond to Him. It was total ecstasyindescribable, blistering with ecstatic eruption! My whole being felt like it was caught up into Heaven. The very atoms in my body made me feel like I was about to explode! Currents of electricity went through me!

Standing in front of me was an awesome manhandsome and perfect in stature. He was just a little taller than me, about six feet or morethe perfect height of a normal man. As I gazed upon Him, I saw that the color of His hair was sandy-brownish and parted at the top, coming over the sides of His face, and down His shoulders in waves. The natural words of my vocabulary fail to describe how awesome He was then and how He is presently today! Jesus stood before me with eyes full of love and His face full of light and power. His eyes are so striking that when He looks at you, they penetrate through your very being, character, and nature. When He looks at you with those eyes, He knows everything about you, and nothing is hid from Him. His eyes are like an x-ray or a translucent ray of light. They penetrate and arrest you at the same time. Standing in front of me was Jesus, the King of kings, but He stood there unassuming, just as common as a normal man. I was seeing His humility and meekness, but I didnt understand it then.

It wasnt until years later that I understood what I was seeing in His character which He mentions in Matthew 11:29:

Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart.

His humility was so shocking to me. At this point, He was no longer a distant person who sat at the right hand of the throne beside God. He was real! He was alive! He was a man with a personality, and He was standing in front of me!

The One I now love was standing there wearing a beautiful, flowing white robe. There He was, the One I had heard about growing up. He was so powerful, but yet gentle; so merciful, yet full of judgment;so meek and lowly, yet so silently bold. I was captivated by His love. The atmosphere was filled with electricity, but with a peace and serenity beyond articulation. Who was I that the King of kings and the Lord of lords would come and appear to me like this after I had lived such a riotous, worldly, and sinful life? Years later, I wondered about the reason He came like this.

My friend, what and who I am talking about is not just some religious myth, opinion, or fairy tale. He is more real than the very breath of air youve just taken, the clothes you feel on your body, or the book you are holding in your hands reading this very second! I am talking about the most genuine person you will ever want to meet, and I saw Him for the very first time eighteen years ago. He was nothing like the Church has described or portrayed Him to be. Even now, men and women everywhere, and in the Church at large, have failed to describe Him to His fullest.

In this dream, there stood Jesus as I have described. I was standing in front of Him as He was present with me, face-to-face. At the time, I was unaware that years later Exodus 33:11 would become the foundational Scripture that would fuel the passion of my pursuit for His friendship and intimacy.

Exodus 33:11 says,

And the Lord spake unto Moses face-to-face, as a man speaketh unto his friend.

When Jesus looked at me, I knew what He wanted without Him using or moving His mouth. Then He was suddenly talking with me, telling me to come to Him, to give Him my life, and to follow Him. That is all He said to me. His words were not long; they were short. Later I found out why His mouth didnt move. You see, in the Spirit, you dont need the natural faculties of your body to communicate. It is only here on earth that you need them. The Bible says in Romans 8:16, The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit. So, when God talks to us, He speaks to our spirit, and we hear Him clearly with our spirit, just as we hear with our natural ears.