November 15, 2024 Friday
07:27 pm Eastern Standard Time
Summary
Day 37 of 90
NoFap Streak: 108 Days
Stage 2: 91 - 181 Days
Google Search 6 days without incident
How do we have intimacy with God? We must look to Jesus the Author and Finisher of our faith. To have true intimacy with God is to accept His Son Jesus as the Lord of your life. Study God’s Word and pray every second of your life. It doesn’t have to be a long prayer to Jesus every second but just a simple prayer would do. (Ex: Praise the Lord) That is a simple and thought out prayer praising the Lord. Now I ask again how do we have intimacy with God?
Intimacy with God is available to you. It is as accessible to you as God’s promises. And God’s invitation to you to enjoy intimate fellowship with him is that thing that is putting your faith to the test more than anything else (James 1:2-4 (KJV) My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.
But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.).
Intimacy is what we call the experience of really knowing and being known by another person. We frequently use spatial language when describing this experience. An intimate friend is someone we feel very close to; they know us at a deep level. If something happens that damages the intimacy with our friend, they feel distant from us. Or a person who doesn’t know us intimately knows us at a superficial level. But of course intimacy is not spatial but relational. We all know what it’s like to be sitting right next to a person with whom we feel distant and we can feel close to a person who is four thousand miles away.
“Biblical knowledge is far better than gold when it fuels our trust in God. Otherwise, it only fuels our pride.” What makes us feel intimate with another person? While there are many ingredients to intimacy and each intimate relationship we have has a different recipe, common to all of them is trust. We cannot be intimate with a person we don’t trust. Trust is at the heart of intimacy. The more we trust someone, the closer we let them get to us. The degree to which trust is compromised in a relationship is the degree to which intimacy evaporates.
This is as true in our relationship with God as it is in our relationships with other human beings. Our experience of God’s nearness or distance is not a description of his actual proximity to us, but of our experience of intimacy with him. Scripture shows us that God is intimate with those who trust him. The more we trust God, the more intimately we come to know him. A felt distance from God is often due to a disruption in trust, such as a sin or disappointment. This reality is vitally important to understand. As Christians, we want to experience intimacy with God. With the psalmist we say, “for me it is good to be near God” Psalms 73:28 (KJV) But it is good for me to draw near to God: I have put my trust in the Lord GOD, that I may declare all thy works. And we want to heed James’s exhortation and realize its promise in James 4:8 (KJV) Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. But we can seek that nearness in ways that don’t produce it.
One common mistake is thinking that nearness to God can be achieved through knowledge accumulation. Now, of course, to intimately know God, we must know crucial things about God. Jesus said, “And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. John 8:32 (KJV) and he pointed out that many worship what they do not know - John 4:22 (KJV) Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews.
But never in the history of the Christian church has so much theological knowledge been available to so many people as it is today. The American church enjoys perhaps the greatest amount of this abundance. We are awash in Bible translations, good books, insightful articles, recorded sermons, interviews, movies, documentaries, music, and more. And much of it very good. It is right for us to be very thankful.
But America is not abounding in Enochs (or finding them frequently disappearing), saints who walk with God in a profoundly intimate way (Genesis 5:24 (KJV) And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him. - Hebrews 11:5 (KJV) By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God.). Why? Because knowledge is not synonymous with trust. That’s why Jesus said to the religious leaders of his day, some who possessed an encyclopedic knowledge of Scripture,
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John 5:39-40 (KJV) Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me. And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life. Biblical knowledge is far better than gold when it fuels our trust in God, because it fuels our intimacy with God (Psalms 19:10 (KJV) More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.) But when biblical knowledge replaces our trust in God, it only fuels our pride (1 Corinthians 8:1 (KJV) Now as touching things offered unto idols, we know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffeth up, but charity edifieth.)
Another common mistake is trying to achieve intimacy with God through subjective aesthetic experiences. We might call it a “Field of Dreams” approach: If we build the right environment, God will “come.” Some pursue this in high liturgical environments designed to inspire an experience of transcendence and mystery. Others pursue it in contemporary worship events designed to inspire an experience of immanence. Others chase revivals, thinking that proximity to God’s power will result in proximity to God. If we truly trust God, such environments can encourage our intimacy with God. But none of them inherently possesses the power to conjure God’s nearness to us.
Think of it like this: A candlelit dinner with romantic music may encourage a sweet moment of relational intimacy between a husband and wife, but only to the degree that the environment encourages and deepens their mutual trust and love. If there’s relational distance between them due to a lack of trust, the aesthetics themselves have no power to bridge the distance. Only restoring the trust will do that.
The secret to drawing near to God and having him draw near to us is revealed clearly in the Bible: we draw near to God through faith in Christ who alone gives us access to him (Hebrews 4:14-16 (KJV) Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need. also Hebrews 7:25 (KJV) Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them. also Philippians 3:9 (KJV) And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:), and we put our trust in all of “his precious and very great promises” which find their Yes to us in Christ (2 Peter 1:4 (KJV) Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. also 2 Corinthians 1:20 (KJV) For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us.)
God is impressed with our faith, not our feats. Where faith is lacking, he is not pleased with the quantity of our knowledge or the quality of our aesthetic events. And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. Hebrews 11:6 (KJV) But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. When God sees someone whose heart fully trusts his promises and lives by them, God comes to strongly support that saint (2 Chronicles 16:9 (KJV) For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him. Herein thou hast done foolishly: therefore from henceforth thou shalt have wars.) and manifests himself to him:
John 14:21 (KJV) He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.
“What you must trust God most for right now is where he means for you to draw closer to him.” God wants intimacy with you. Christ has done all the hard work in the cross to make it possible. All he requires is that you believe in him John 14:1 (KJV) Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. He wants you to trust him with all your heart Proverbs 3:5 (KJV) Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. Which means his invitation to you to enjoy intimacy with him is the providences in your life that are testing your faith more than anything else. What you must trust God most for right now is where he means for you to draw closer to him.
It is likely an invitation that your flesh wants to decline. But as you read your Bible, do not the great cloud of witnesses Hebrews 12:1 (KJV) Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, all agree with James and Peter that the greatest testing of faith is the path to the greatest joy (James 1:2-4 (KJV) My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.* also 1 Peter 1:8-9 (KJV) Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory:
Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.)? And do they not agree with Paul that it is not worth comparing to the joy of knowing Christ and the coming glory (Philippians 3:8 (KJV) Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, also Romans 8:18 (KJV) For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.)? Intimacy with God often occurs in the places where we must trust him most. Heaven on earth is the inexpressible joy and the peace that surpasses understanding that comes from trusting God wholly Philippians 4:6-7 (KJV) Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.
And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. For, as the old hymn writer said, “they who trust him wholly find him wholly true.”
James 1:2 (KJV) My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations;
Prayer
Lord, I can only walk in Your manifest presence if I live a life of holiness, righteousness and godly character. Everything is Yours, but I want to be Your prize possession. I seek to be Your child that best steward’s every opportunity I have with You. I long to climb the heavenly temple mount. I want to live in the Holy of Holies. I long to see Your face and stand in Your glory. I must put my ear to Your chest and hear Your heartbeat, I must experience the pulses of Your love. Make Your emotions mine. To have this intimacy with You, I must keep my hands clean and my heart pure. Holy Spirit, apply the work of Jesus to my heart and hands. Wash them and keep them clean. Keep idols out of my heart. May my allegiance and affections only be for You. Not trusting in or advocating for anything untrue and unstable, I will cling to You and Your ways. May Your blessing vindicate my “at Your feet” lifestyle. May my influence spread. May this desire to seek You spread to the next generation. I pray it will be easily caught like a cold. Let their spiritual intensity fling open the gateways of Your kingdom to earth. I pray their worship and seeking will usher in King Jesus and the power of his kingdom. Capture my heart and capture the heart of my generation in the name of the King of Glory I pray, AMEN.
Note: This is my last entry for this journal. I am writing a new journal for a better life. IronWill: Still I Rise - The Road to Victory [38 M] is my new journal for a new beginning.