Intimacy with God

Originally wrote March 1, 2018

What is intimacy with God? Is it keeping all His commandments? Is it being up to date on repenting for your sins? How about putting a generous tithe into the offering plate at church? To be honest, I am trying to figure that out myself. I believe it encompasses all of those things, but not in the way you might think.

I believe intimacy with God is having the desire to seek Him. Having the desire to follow His commandments and loving your neighbor as yourself. It is reading His word with a hunger that always brings revelation. When you develop intimacy with God, it will ALWAYS bring change to your life. It will build your character and cause you to forget about the cares of the world, because all you need is God. Psalms 23, verse 1 says "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want". That is intimacy. It is knowing who God is and how much He cares for you. That verse tells us, the He will guide us and we will never have to care or want anything, because our Father is there for us and will provide whatever we need or want. You can look at the rest of that short chapter and if you truly believe it, you should never worry or be anxious about anything for the rest of your life because God will take care of you and all your needs.

Matthew 6:33 says "But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you." To me this means to pursue a relationship with God, pursue intimacy. Once you do, EVERYTHING will be added unto you. Your needs and wants (if in line with God's will) will be taken care of! Don't be worried or anxious about anything! God created all of the 100 plus galaxies in the universe. He created food, clothing, gasoline, and everything else that you need, that you may be lacking in now. His word says God even takes care of the sparrows. How much more will He take care of you?

Intimacy with God will do all sorts of things for you because God is holy. When you get close to someone you become more like them, whether it is good or bad. It always happens, a little bit will rub off on you. When you get close to God, His holiness and goodness will rub off on you. Once you are close to Him, you will want to follow His commandments, you will want to do what He asks of us. You have a choice though. You can choose to continue seeking God, or you can seek the world. If you seek God, you will get Godly results. If you seek the world, you will get worldly results. God is life and the world is death. Seek life...

How do you get intimate with God though? Pray, read the Bible, pass out gospel tracts? I would start out with a simple prayer. Something like this.

'God, please forgive me for my sins. I don't know You or understand You. Please give me a hunger and a desire for You and Your word so I can know you better. Please show me how to seek You.'

Because God answers prayer, you will begin to hunger for Him. Seek Him and read the Bible. Ask for understanding, revelation, and wisdom. Make time for God. Draw near to Him and He will draw near to you. Why do we have to ask God to give us a hunger? Because He is the creator of ALL things, even the unseen hunger. God loves when we use faith. Take a step forward in faith and God will meet you.

Be blessed that you have such a loving and merciful God. If you choose to follow Him and seek Him. You WILL have a blessed life. Even under the worse circumstances.

Seek God and find life. Abundant life.