Intimacy With God
Intimacy With God
Audio Version Coming Soon!
In this hectic, sometimes crazy world, often all a buzz, we can lose sight of what is important.
Where do we find balance and refocus? Where do we refuel, find peace, purpose, and direction for our lives?
It starts with God and our relationship with Him. When that relationship is in the right perspective, we gain insight into the rest of our life.
How do we work on our relationship with God when everything else is clutter?
Stop. Take a deep breath. Carve out time. Even if in the early morning before anyone rises or late at night when all are asleep. But take the time to regroup with God.
In the Old Testament, Moses had one of the most spectacularly intimate, vibrant, and fulfilling relationships with God that man can consider.
In Exodus 33:7-23 and 34:1-9, we see the most intimate relationship between Moses and God. Specifically, we see the reality of the Lord and Moses’ connection in verse 33:11:
“Thus the Lord used to speak to Moses’ face to face, as a man speaks to his friend…”
The whole passage from Exodus 33:7 to 34:9 is a spectacular description of the close intimate, vibrant, and fulfilling relationship. What would we give for that kind of a relationship with God?
Moses would go each morning to the “Tent of the Meeting,” and the Lord would come; the pillar of cloud would descend and stand at the tent entrance, and the Lord would speak with Moses. Moses would enjoy spending time with the Lord. He would get detailed directions for the day. Moses received insight into the Lords’ heart for the people, along with His plans and provision for them.
God wants to do the same for us today.
God is looking for an intimate, vibrant, fulfilling relationship with us. So, how does that look?
“I want you woven into a tapestry of love, in touch with everything, there is to know about God. Then you will have minds confident and at rest, focused on Christ, God’s great mystery. All the richest treasures of wisdom and knowledge are embedded in that mystery and nowhere else. And we’ve been shown the mystery!”
Colossians 2:2-3 MSG
When we think about the word “intimate” the words close, near, warm, friendly, dear, cherished, familiar, cozy, and quiet come to mind. The kind of relationship with God that would be so comfortable and precious we would guard and nurture our time together. We would value, protect, and glean from the very essence of God. We gain understanding and insight into His character, what is of value to Him, and how to act or respond to every situation we might face in this world through the heart of God. There is comfort and peace; there is wisdom and strength in this relationship.
We could relax in the enjoyment and peace of spending time with God, but He has more for us. He wants our relationship to not only be intimate in our communication but desires us to have a vibrant, life-changing, and exhilarating relationship; a relationship that compels us to act in our everyday lives.
Let’s consider the word vibrant. The word vibrant elicits terms like; lively, vivacious, animated, exciting, pulsating, energetic, effervescent, alive, vital. These are not a ‘sleepy set by the fire’ type of words.
We become energized by these words. With these, we sense a compulsion to be engaged in the pursuit of wherever we are focused. When God guides our focus, because we have a dynamic and intimate relationship with Him, we are empowered and strengthened by not just our knowledge of God but His Holy Spirit abiding within us. Not only reminding us of what Jesus taught but empowering us to be a reflection of God, as was Jesus, to the world. Jesus changed the world forever by reflecting His Heavenly Father and fulfilling His purpose here on earth. He desires the same for us.
There is nothing tiresome, ineffective, or flaccid about this relationship with God or its impact on our lives and the world in which we live.
Everything about a Moses-like relationship is fulfilling beyond words. Consider Moses’ life. It wasn’t easy; he had tests and trials. Moses had successes and failures. He often faced insurmountable challenges that he could only overcome with the help of God. His life was the farthest thing from boring there was.
And Yet.
When Moses’ training in the desert was complete, God said it is now time to accomplish the purpose for your life. Moses learned how to depend on God. He knew how to go to God for all details; without God, this plan would fail. I want to remind us that Moses was 80 when God commissioned him to set the Israelites free and sojourn on into the wilderness headed for the promised land. He and they learned how to have a relationship with their Almighty Maker.
Moses’ purpose wasn’t fulfilled in a day, nor was his training; neither will ours.
But suppose we will embrace today, with all of its challenges, tears, and joys being unequivocal, intentionally, doggedly determined not to take one more step without God actively engaged in an intimate relationship with us. In that case, we will have a vibrant and fulfilled life. Being fulfilled in all of the adjectives that we can imagine: satisfied, rewarding, pleasing, gratifying, enjoyable, and accomplishing, realizing that I could go on, but I think we get the picture.
Jesus refers to us as friends and no longer servants in the Gospel of John.
“No longer do I call you servants, for the servant, does not know what his master is doing, but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.”
John 15:15 ESV
Life, like that of Moses, Jesus, or any of his disciples, wasn’t always easy; it was often very difficult. Their commitment to their relationship to God, walking step by step together with God, gave them the direction, inspiration, encouragement, strength, and power to push through the hard times to the end goal, fulfilling the purposes in their life. They weren’t alone; they were in an active, intimate, vibrant, and fulfilling relationship with God, the Lord of All.
It is not enough to throw a few prayers up when we need something or just saying hello. We need to pursue, engage, and spend time. That is what it takes to gain an intimate, vibrant, fulfilling relationship with our heavenly Father, the God that not only created the universe and all that it contains, but He created us individually, knowing us by name with every hair on our head.
Take time to study Moses’ relationship with God in Exodus. It is an incredibly inspirational and powerful story.
As you plan for the year to come, can you carve out time in your schedule that is immovable and set aside for your pursuit of a “Moses-like” relationship with God?
