What exactly does “Experience Jesus” mean?
I believe there are tens of thousands of “Christians” who have never experienced Jesus. A true Christian is a follower of Christ, not one who merely believes in Jesus or even God. James 2:19 tells us that even the demons believe and tremble. Acts 16:31 says to, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved.” To believe “on” the Lord Jesus Christ is to believe everything that He was and is.
If you have accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, you heard the gospel of Jesus Christ and responded to conviction of the Holy Spirit in your heart to acknowledge your sins and surrender your life to Christ. You did not experience Jesus. You experienced God’s grace and mercy upon you through the debt that Jesus paid for your sins on the cross. You may or may not have expressed emotions at the time that you prayed and asked Jesus into your heart. This is why I said that there are tens of thousands of “Christians” who have never experienced Jesus. They have accepted Christ as their Savior, maybe they go to church regularly, but they have yet to truly experience Jesus.
To experience Jesus we must follow Him, participate with Him. What did He tell us in Luke 9:23? “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me” (NKJV). What does that mean, to “deny himself, and take up his (or her) cross daily”? This whole verse is a call to discipleship. Jesus never said this was going to be an easy life. In fact, He said just the opposite. He said that people will persecute us and hate us. Jesus also said, in John 16:33, that in this world we will have tribulations: “but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world” (KJV). Praise God!