True Intimacy With A Loving, Intimate God
What does true intimacy with God really look and feel like? If you really want to know then you have to cultivate a relationship with Him not only as God the Father, but God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. You must spend time with them all just as you do any other person. The problem is that we don’t relate to God as a person … and unless you begin to see Him that way and not some unreachable deity then you never will have an intimate relationship with Him. How do we get there?
First, let’s define intimacy which is a close, personal, informal, familiar, a confidential, without reserve, loving relationship belonging to and characterizing one’s deepest nature. It is a relationship developed through a long association! Whew, what a definition!! God desires to have this type of relationship with you. One that grows, has depth, comfortable as an old chair (you know the one that you can’t get anyone to throw out), soft and snuggly like your favorite teddy bear … yet strong enough to hold you in your hour of need. Have you discovered this side of the Father?
I nteraction with Him – He loves to talk with us and snuggle! He said in His Word that He wants to share with you the hidden things that you don’t know. He longs for you to come close, as if He were a warm coverlet. This is what He desires, He longs for … and not just Him … our husbands, our children, our loved ones … they desire it too. How often has someone you loved asked for you to listen or hug them … how did you respond, did you push them away?
N urture - God has a very nurturing nature. He as our Heavenly Father longs to raise us up in the nature and admonition of His Presence. It is not enough to go to church, sing praise and worship, and shout hallelujah in a very public sanctuary! It is not enough to sit in front of the television or go to the movie theatre with your wife or spouse! God longs for intimacy … the deep, secret, longing for His company and times where we sit at His feet … that is where we will KNOW HIM. Your husband, your family, and the people you love need that type of intimacy as well.
T ransparency - He is all knowing, all seeing! Yet, He desires us to be transparent before Him. Acknowledging our sins, confessing them before Him and humbling ourselves through repentance (true repentance – means change). He wants us to talk with Him, sharing our inner most thoughts and feelings, our hurts, our desires, our needs. When we do, God will bathe us in His mercy and grace! He brings us into a place of cleansing, making us pure, strengthening us and filling us anew … all of which comes through intimacy! The other side – He longs for us to know Him! He wants to be transparent before us! He desires for us to know His heart! In your relationship with the Father … you reap what you sow, in sharing with those you love … you will reap the benefits of having shared, and they will share their hearts, hurts, desires and needs with you.
I mpart – He wants to give us more of Himself! He wants to give us wisdom and knowledge! He wants us to have the assurance of His Love and who He wants to be in our lives. Intimacy! “And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ …” Philippians 1:9-11
M editate – Meditate on His word, know His heart. You will know His mercy. “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me – put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.” Philippians 4:8-9
A ll – He is all things, to all people! Father to the fatherless! Mother to the motherless! Friend to the friendless! Husband to the husbandless! Through intimacy, He wants to show you all that He is, all that He was, but most importantly all that He will be in you and to you!
C ompanion & Comforter – He wants to cleanse past hurts, comfort and help us to move on to forgiveness. Forgiving the past and pressing into God! “He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.” Psalm 14:3
Y ield – We can’t have intimacy unless we yield to the Holy Spirit! Humility is a part of yielding to the Father … humbling yourself and kneeling before His throne. In yielding to Him, surrendering and acknowledging that you need Him … you gain intimacy.
It is through intimacy with God that we will interact with Him and others on a deeper more meaningful level, become nurtured and nurturing, be transparent and become comfortable with others when they are transparent, be imparted knowledge, meditate on His word, recognize Him as All, discover the true essence of companionship and comforter, and yield to the guidance and humbling power of the Holy Spirit.
