PRAY
Lord God and Father,
open our eyes so we can see Your truth.
Open our ears so w can hear Your voice.
Open our mind so we can understand Your Word.
And open our heart so we may receive all that You want me to receive. AMEN
Today we are going to talk about intimacy.
The meaning of intimacy will vary from context to context. There are some people who think of intimacy only as a sexual interaction, but it is more than that.
As believers we sing a lot of songs that have to do with us being intimate with God and intimate with Jesus and because our world connects intimacy with sex it makes it difficult for us to understand the true meaning of the word.
Intimacy means creating an authentic connection. It has more to do with shared moments than sexual interactions.
Intimacy is linked with feelings of closeness, safety, trust and transparency among partners in a collaborative relationship.
For intimacy to be sustainable and nourishing it also requires trust, transparency and rituals of connection. It requires empathy, which is the ability to stand in the others shoes, to feel what they feel.
Intimacy is having a very close friend or confidant, it is marked by a very close association, contact or familiarity with the person. It is a warm friendship that has developed as time goes on.
I was listening to a worship song the other day and it occurred to me, how hard it might be for the unsaved person to understand how we as Christians desire intimacy with God and His Son, and even each other.
Because honestly, those things are our focus. To be intimate with God and intimate with each other and yet because the world’s view of intimacy differs from God’s view it makes it near impossible to bring God’s good news to the lost.
We sing “love songs” to Jesus and the unsaved person scratches their head because they don’t get it.
I get it because I am a child of God and I love Him and His Son and His Holy Spirit with all my heart. But for those on the outside looking in, let’s face it, it might seem strange.
So today the first thing I want to be sure is that we are all on the same page with this thing called intimacy.
Intimacy means that we are creating an authentic connection with God, a tight relationship so that that your thoughts are intertwined with His attributes.
It is the same connection that Moses had with God.
We see this in Exodus 33:12-18.
Moses was meeting with God in the new Tabernacle called the Tent of Meeting. They were talking to each other as friends do.
Let’s look at it.
12 Moses said to the LORD, “You have been telling me, ‘Lead these people,’ but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. You have said, ‘I know you by name and you have found favor with me.’ 13 If you are pleased with me, teach me your ways so I may know you and continue to find favor with you. Remember that this nation is your people.”
14 The LORD replied, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”
15 Then Moses said to him, “If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here. 16 How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your people unless you go with us? What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?”
17 And the LORD said to Moses, “I will do the very thing you have asked, because I am pleased with you and I know you by name.” 18 Then Moses said, “Now show me your glory.” Exodus 33:12-18 NIV
I want you to pay very close attention to Exodus 33:13. I will read it from the Amplified Version.
Now therefore, I pray You, if I have found favor in Your sight, show me now Your way, that I may know You [progressively become more deeply and intimately acquainted with You, perceiving and recognizing and understanding more strongly and clearly] and that I may find favor in Your sight.
Exodus 33:13 AMP
Moses knew the secret and the power of intimacy with God. He found this in the Tent of Meeting as he was face to face with God.
Moses sat daily in God’s presence, waiting for Him to show him what to do, where to go, how to rule. Because Moses knew this intimacy with God he was able to have the confidence to do what God asked him to do and go where God asked him to go and lead how God asked him to lead.
Moses declared out loud the instructions God had given him. He declared the word of the Lord with power. He also reminded God of their intimate relationship and that he was hungry for More.
They were intimate friends on a first name basis and Moses wasn’t afraid to go in and ask God for More.
Moses walked with God for a long time and experienced the hand of God, he seen the signs and wonders. But Moses knew there was always more!
Child of God, here is some good news for you today; God knows your name too and He wants your relationship with Him to be full and fruitful. God wants you to know, that there is always more of God.
More of His goodness.
More of His grace.
More of His mercy.
More of His forgiveness.
More of His love.
More of His provisions.
More of His strength.
THERE IS ALWAYS MORE OF GOD…ALWAYS!
As you spend time together with Jesus, your thoughts will become His thoughts and your ways His ways. Then you will become full of who He is and who He has uniquely designed you to be.
This very thing happened to Saul of Tarsus.
He knew God but he was not intimate with Him. We pick this up in Acts 9.
Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. He went to the high priest 2 and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem. 3 As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. Acts 9:1-3 NIV
Paul was able to obtain intimacy with God right from the start. It was as if the essence of Jesus rubbed off on him and he received more of God than he had ever had before.
Remember, when we talk about intimacy with God we are talking about an authentic connection, a tight relationship so that that your thoughts are intertwined with His attributes.
Paul started his new relationship with God off right. His intimacy began with his surrendering to Christ. From the beginning of this new relationship Paul surrendered to the will of God and to Jesus Christ.
Paul asks, “Who are you?” and when Jesus tells Him, then Paul is obedient to get up and go to the city just as Jesus had directed.
4 He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”
5 “Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked. “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied. 6 “Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”
7 The men traveling with Saul stood there speechless; they heard the sound but did not see anyone. 8 Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing. So they led him by the hand into Damascus. 9 For three days he was blind, and did not eat or drink anything. Acts 9:4-9 NIV
Here was a man who was like everyone else who had or has never personally met Jesus Christ, he did whatever he wanted to do. And yet, when Paul met Christ and became a believer he became a follower instead of a director.
He surrendered and in doing so Paul began to understand what intimacy with God was all about.
Paul also learned how to gain greater intimacy through his obedience. 8 Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing. So they led him by the hand into Damascus. Acts 9:8 NIV
Paul was willing to obey Jesus, right after he met Jesus. There was no questioning Jesus’ request. He got up from the ground and went. He didn’t come up with an excuse. He just obeyed.
The more we obey the more intimate we become with the Father and the more intimate we become with the Father, the more He reveals to us and through us.
17 Then Ananias went to the house and entered it. Placing his hands on Saul, he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord—Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here—has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” 18 Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he could see again. He got up and was baptized, 19 and after taking some food, he regained his strength. Saul spent several days with the disciples in Damascus.
Acts 9:17-19 NIV
Paul had seen the Lord Jesus Christ. And because Paul surrendered, and because Paul was obedient, he became intimate with the Father, just as Moses had been.
Paul began to look for more of Jesus, he went to God’s Word and found Jesus in every portion of Scripture.
The more he studied the more his eyes were opened. He began to see the power and purposes of Christ carried out every aspect of life. And as he understood Jesus more, his intimacy with the Father grew.
Jesus began to rub off on Paul. And the same thing can happen to us.
The very essence of Jesus will rub off onto you and you will become full!
Your life will be focused on God and a journey to know Him more intimately.
One taste of Jesus will increase your hunger and thirst for more of God!
Oh precious child of God how wonderful it is to hunger and thirst for more of Him!
My desire is that my hunger and thirst for Him will grow more intense every day.
Remember the promise God made to Moses in Exodus 33:14?
14 The LORD replied, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”
I like what Moses' response was to God in verse 15. He basically said, “If you do not go with me, I won't go. I will not take one step without You God!”
Moses was walking in the very shadow of God and had decided long ago that he would only go where God went. Moses found the awesome secret place.
The overshadowing of God was so powerful that being with Him and in Him was a place he never wanted to leave.
When the Apostle Paul met Jesus he had the same thought. He said, “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.” Philippians 1:21 NIV
Paul had everything to gain and nothing to lose by allowing his intimacy with God to grow. He did so by staying connected to God.
Staying “connected” has become big business in our culture. Smart phones, Facebook, and Twitter give us instant access to friends, family, work, and the world.
But how much time do we actually spend building meaningful face-to-face relationships? And let’s go one step further—how much effort do we invest in connecting with God?
What kind of relationship do you have with the Lord? Is He a distant Deity or your closest friend? In one way or another, everyone has an association with Him, whether it’s acknowledged or not. Even those who say they don’t believe in God are bound to Him simply because He created them.
Is your relationship with God intimate? Is it such a tight relationship that that your own thoughts are intertwined with God’s attributes.
Moses had an intimate relationship with God and yet he still pressed in for more! Paul had an intimate relationship with God and yet he wanted more.
My prayer is that each of us may we hunger and thirst for God as he takes us from Glory to Glory!
God showed Moses His glory! God showed Paul His glory!
I challenge you to press in! Seek God with all of your heart. Press in and ask for more and you will never be disappointed.
God will reveal Himself to you more and more each day. He has a great adventure just for you. He has treasures picked out for you.
Seek Him and He will far surpass your expectations. Praise Him for His revelation. Press in for more of Him and you will have it.
Desire a thriving beautiful relationship with God and the more you release yourself unto Him, the more of Him you will see and know.
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