Mike Focht 6/19/2026
From Genesis on, the scriptures make it clear that man can experience God. Without explanation, God speaks to Adam and Eve, Cain, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Hagar, etc. Man was made to experience God. Now, spiritual experience has been abused, misconstrued, misemphasized, and ignored or deemphasized at various times and places in church history. No one will deny it, but neither will any child of God deny that they have, in their own way and portion, come to taste and see the goodness of God.
I want to highlight one place where Jesus Christ promises spiritual experience. Sitting at the Passover meal with His disciples, Jesus says to them, He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.
First, it is crucial to see that Jesus is promising spiritual experience. What experience? The experience of being loved by His Father, loved by Him, and personal manifestation. Jesus isn’t just declaring that He loves the world, the church, or even us personally. He is promising disciples personal experience of the Father’s love and His love. He is also promising to make Himself known. God is always with us, but He is not always manifest. Here, He promises to make the reality of His presence, His very nearness, known.
At least one disciple present understood what Jesus was saying. It was Judas (not Iscariot). I wish the scriptures had more of this disciple’s thoughts because he asked what I believe is the most insightful question recorded by any of the disciples. Lord, how is it that You will manifest Yourself to us, and not to the world?
Judas believes in Jesus’ promise of a unique manifestation—spiritual experience—but is confused about what form that experience will take. He believes Jesus is the Messiah, and the manifestation he assumes from Jesus relates to being King of kings and Lord of lords and ruling over all the nations of the world. Yet, he knows Jesus is speaking of a different type of manifestation here. A more personal type. A type that only disciples will receive and not the whole world. He is tracking, but confused. How will Jesus make Himself known to them but not the whole world?
Jesus’ answer is simple. If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him. Jesus promises that anyone who truly loves Him will experience the Father’s love and the abiding presence of the Father and Son in their lives. Jesus then clarifies that His promise about the Father comes directly from the Father. The word which you hear is not Mine but the Father’s who sent Me.
Do you want to experience the love of the Father, the love of the Son, the manifestation of Jesus Christ, and the abiding presence of the Father? Jesus Christ, at the word of the Father, promises this type of spiritual experience to any disciple who loves Him. He will not manifest Himself to the world in this way, but He promises to manifest Himself to us.
How can I have my portion of this spiritual experience? The answer is simple. There is no secret. Obedience. Jesus makes the measurement of true love to Him very clear: He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. . . If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word. . . He who does not love Me does not keep My words.
Sadly, so many believers know they lack spiritual experience with God, but are confused as to why. They know others are experiencing God, but those believers seem special or lucky. Why aren’t they experiencing God like others? These confused saints often get tricked into looking for secret methods of knowing God while ignoring the very promise of Jesus Christ. They are missing the experience of God because they are not obedient to God. The primary blessing of obedience to God is the experience of God. I will discover my promised portion of experience with God as I walk in personal obedience to Christ.
What experience with God did Abraham, Noah, Joshua, Daniel, Esther, Peter, or Paul have as they walked in obedience to God? Each had unique manifestations of God as they walked in obedience. They would have missed seeing and experiencing God if they had not walked in obedience.
Do you want to experience being loved by the Father? Do you want to experience being loved by the Son? Do you want Jesus to make Himself known in your life? Do you want the Father to make it known He is at home in your home? Jesus promises spiritual experience. He promises to make Himself known to us in a way no one else in the world may ever realize. Our only job is to love Him by obeying Him. As I do, He will honor His Word, and lead me into all the experiences I need or could ever want.