INTIMACY WITH GOD
Last week my friend Kathy
Stiles shared new insight on Ephesians 1:17. What she wrote opened my heart to
a whole new world of intimacy with God. The Passion Translation of that verse
goes: “I
pray that the Father of glory, the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, would impart
to you the riches of the Spirit of wisdom and the Spirit of revelation to know
him through your deepening intimacy with him.” I’d never seen this translation,
but something about the second part of the verse caught my attention.
That “God would impart the spirit of revelation to know Him
through your deepening intimacy with Him.So, what was the process of how the
second part of the verse became a much bigger reality than ever before?
1.
God let me know this was important, so I read it over and over
and mulled it over in my mind.
2.
Next, I wrote it out myself. Putting something in our own
writing seems to help establish it. There are many scriptures that document
this truth. (Even God had to put the Law of Moses on tablets).
3.
Then I put it in personal terms: “God will give me the spirit of
revelation to know Him through my deepening intimacy with Him.” I had to think
about this one! What does “intimacy” really mean? Well, first I thought of a
married couple. They know secret things about each other that no one else
knows. We all have intimate thoughts that maybe never even come out, small
worry thoughts such as “I wonder if the doctor is going to be mad at me for not
doing my medicine right,” “I wish my daughter wouldn’t hand out with that
girl,” “I really am so bored by this project.” These are kinds of seemingly
small issues that we keep to ourselves or maybe share with one other person.
But these are the kinds of intimate things God wants us to share with HIM!
4.
I repeated many times: “God will give me the spirit of
revelation to know Him through my deepening intimacy with Him.” Then I started
with one or two slightly negative thoughts that entered my mind, and I voiced
them openly to God. He answered me immediately!
I realized THE MORE INTIMATE I
AM WITH HIM, THE MORE INVOLVED HE WILL BE WITH ME! Now that I see how true this
is, it makes total sense, and I wonder why I never saw it before! I used to
think that asking God yes and no questions was a good way to start to be able
to hear from Him, and it’s not a bad idea, but this intimacy thing is far
better. Yes, it takes a little work if you’re the kind of person who keeps
everything inside you, but now you can change that.
Such a simple and amazing truth for
each of us. Start off by saying this out loud to yourself right now: THE MORE
INTIMATE I AM WITH HIM, THE MORE INVOLVED HE WILL BE WITH ME
Love, Carolyn
