Through the decades, I’ve heard preachers teach us that we should not consider our senses in our relationship with God. They have inaccurately taught that the only thing that counts is our faith in the written word of God. It has been said that it doesn’t matter what we feel. That is an unintelligent line of thinking. Anyone who reads the scripture will find that all five senses are beautifully and powerfully described. Our senses are part of the image of our Creator that He placed into us.
We are made in His image to see, hear, taste, smell, and feel. Our senses are wonder-filled and treasured by Abba. We can sense, and it is evidence to our very being. Our senses can have wondrous effects upon our faith.
To feel the Holy Spirit, (and all senses that come with His image), is paramount evidence to us personally. We need to feel him. Our relationship with the Holy One can be enhanced or diminished by our feelings and senses.
A certain man was sick and died, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. [See John 11:1]
“Jesus then said to them plainly, ‘Lazarus is dead.’” [See John 11:14]
Please imagine being dead like Lazarus. Each of us would have different images of what this might have been like at that time since it was before Jesus rose from the dead and set the captives free. I see it as darkness and the collapse of all life.
I don’t know how long four days would be to someone dead that long in our earthly measurement of time. Let us just imagine it. Death felt forever.
Suddenly. The eternal voice: Heard and felt, perhaps it had such substance that it was also seen, smelled, and tasted. [Psalms 34:8, “O taste and see that the Lord is good; How blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him!”]
Lazarus!
Imagine. That eternally powerful voice that filled the under-world called your name – called you! Imagine the feeling that must have exploded within the soul. From your deepest parts, you would feel the most exceptional sensations of life. What a surprise! What an explosion of feelings! Please stop reading and try to feel Lazarus’ new life surging through his being – at the sound of his own name.
The taste of the New Wine
Thirty years ago, something miraculous happened in Bethlehem and Jerusalem. The story that most every Jew knows is now old and tangled with fables. That was long ago, and you don’t know anyone who might have been there, and it doesn’t seem to matter. Today is going to be fun-filled. You are attending the wedding celebration of close friends in Cana of Galilee.
The ceremony, the frivolities, the heartwarming foods, and the wine ignite memories and excitement and joy to your heart. While at the table with family and friends, they bring another round of wine for everyone. You lift the cup to your lips as you have a million times before. But, something tastes different about this wine. What is that taste?
It is the taste of heaven.
You don’t know it yet, but no earthly vineyard produced this wine.
When He turned water into wine, what did that new wine taste like? It had not come from a vineyard, and it was not aged. In fact, it was only minutes ago that it came into being. It was the fruit of the vine. But, He is the vine that this wine came from. It was from Him – His Presence.
[See John 15:1 – “I am the true vine…”]
Healed by the touch
The woman who was dying from an issue of blood touched the hem of His garment. “Jesus said, ‘Someone did touch Me, for I felt power go out of Me.’” [See Luke 8:46]
If Jesus “felt the power flow out” of Him, imagine what the woman felt.
His Presence, she longed for life, touched Him, and the floodgates of the substance of heaven broke through to her. That feeling is something she never forgot.
Why we need to feel His Presence
When I get the opportunity to dialogue with people, I love to tell the gospel stories from the position of real life. That which was seen, heard, felt, smelled, and tasted. The word of God comes to life and has real effects.
Feeling His Presence in these ways is important to you and becomes an expression of your testimony. When you tell others about the Master, it is your feeling that gives it living strength. The only way even an unbeliever can reject your experienced testimony is by denying your existence in humanity.
When you feel Him – when you taste Him – when you hear Him – when you see Him – when you smell His fragrance – it is indisputable.