My last post was about what intimacy is and the difficulties achieving intimacy with God. This post will focus on how we overcome those difficulties and grow closer to God. We defined intimacy as honesty or the ability for two people to be genuine with one another. Psalm 139 describes how well God knows us (whether we choose to reveal ourselves to him or not). The first verse says, "O Lord, you have searched me and you know me." We can choose to reveal ourselves to God by praying out the contents of our heart. Sharing our frustrations with Him. We can express our joys to God through prayer or worship. We can give our worries to God. He does not need us to share these things (a benefit of being omniscient) but He desires this from us. By using our free will to reveal ourselves to God we are choosing him (an expression of our love).
However, intimacy is a two way street. We also need to allow God to reveal Himself to us. Obviously we do not know God as well as He knows us. The first chapter of the gospel of John tells us that when God came to earth (in the form of Christ) the people of earth did not recognize Him! The bride did not recognize the bridegroom! The image by whom we were made stood among us and we did not know it. According to Hebrews 1:1 God has spoken (and I believe continues to speak) in many ways. To gain intimacy with God we need to listen when he speaks. I was taught (thanks Dr. Brooks) to remember BENJI:
Bible
Events (miracles)
Nature (Romans 1:10)
Jesus
Intuition (dreams, conscience, meditative thoughts)
We can become more intimate in our relationship with God by reading the Bible, contemplating God's invovlement in everyday events, observing and respecting nature, studying the life and teachings of Jesus, and by meditating (allowing our mind to focus) on God. I am sure there are other ways to know God. Would love to hear other thoughts on the topic.
8 comments:
I feel like it's a lot easier for me to be intimate with God than with people.
This made me think- do we grow closer to God via our relationships with people? Jesus told Peter (repeatedly) "If you love me then feed my sheep." Maybe this is more about growing close to God through acts of service? However, we can learn about God by loving what He loves- people.
Hmm...I feel like I'm the opposite of what Numa said. I find it easier to be open and honest with people than with God. I guess that's something I have to work on.
This makes me think of Adam, after his eye's were opened to sin, trying to "cover his sinfulness" with a leaf and also by hiding from God. A large part of our intimacy with God (through prayer) goes to praise Him. How many times do we feel intimate enough with God to openly reveal our sinfulness and ask for his forgiveness? This response is probably more relevant to your last post, but oh well...
Great point Long! From the time sin entered our lives we have struggled to be intimate with God. Adam and Eve not only clothed themselves but actually, physically hid themselves from God (Genesis 3:10). Intimacy is being honest and revealing yourself fully to another. Adam and Eve felt they could not do this because of the sin in their lives.
Is it really possible to be intimate with God since he already knows everything? It's kind of up to God to be intimate with us and show himself to us. I mean, it works the same ways because you have to have a relationship with him for him to reveal himself and for us to acknowledge his work, but Intimacy is kind of an active thing and God already knows everything so the active part of being Intimate is up to him....
So are we just passive recipients of God's love not being able to offer anything in the deal? On this note I would remind us of the reason for free will... so that we can truly choose to love Him or reject Him. We can reject God, ignore His presence, deny His existance, and refuse intimacy with Him. Conversely, we can look for God, seek His presence, proclaim His existance and have an interactive and mutual intimacy with Him.
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