Intimacy with God

What does that mean to you, and how would you explain this to someone else?

Well, that is what I have been thinking about lately, and I’m trying to put my thoughts and feelings into words that I can easily express to the students here in Timisoara. It’s not as easy as it sounds, because everyone has their own way of connecting with God, and even 2 people with very similar “styles” of worship and drawing closer to God can be completely different when it comes down to their own intimacy with God. A couple years back, Andy Stanley did a series at church called “You’ve Got Style” addressing the different ways people draw closer to God, and as I think more on this subject and how to prepare for discussions on the topic, I decided to look back into this a little and see some of the areas Andy focused on.

Back when the series was done, they had an on-line survey everyone could take to see what their style was, and fortunately, this is still on-line, so I decided to re-take this survey so that I can see what my “style” is (since I forgot), and also see how I can best explain this to my friends in another culture. If you’re interested in checking this out for yourself, here is the link to the survey: http://common.northpoint.org/sacredpathway.html. Just so you know, my styles are: 1. Caregiver – draws near to God through caring for and serving others, and 2. Naturalist – draws near to God through nature.

As I said before, intimacy with God is a very personal thing for each of us, and how we relate to God involves a lot of personal factors that could either hinder or help us as we draw closer to Him. However, some of the areas I have started to focus on as I try and hone in on what I want to discuss are:

· The dictionary describes intimacy as: “a close, familiar, and usually affectionate or loving personal relationship with another person or group.”

· God initiated the intimacy with us throughout creation and by sending His son Jesus to die for our sins showing His love for us.

· Drawing closer to God should be similar to drawing closer to others. If there is someone you want to get to know better, you do things to get to know them better – you talk to them and you spend time with them, and the more you do, the more intimate your relationship becomes.

I know that just as there are things in each of our lives that affect our thoughts on the subject of “Intimacy with God”, there are also probably culturally some things that may be different with my friends in Romania, so I ask that you all be praying that God will direct my thoughts as I prepare for opportunities to share what God has placed on my heart.

In closing, I just wanted to share with you a little excerpt from a recent post on Facebook by one of my cousins who was sharing about his prayer time.

“When I got to the point where my mind began to wander, I made a concentrated effort to focus on what God was placing on my heart. When I did, I began to feel that ‘heart connection’ with God. God was reminding me that He doesn’t speak English. He is not moved by the depth and eloquence of our words. God hears the language of our hearts. It is the Holy Spirit who allows us to feel what the Father feels, and see what the Father sees.”

“When we allow Him (the Holy Spirit) to be our means of communication, our heart is fully expressed. It’s not a matter of mindlessly letting our vocal chords vibrate, while we put our minds on cruise control (which I am too often guilty of). It is a matter of letting His thoughts become our thoughts, and allowing the Holy Spirit to communicate our heart to His, and His to ours.”

I pray that this week, you would think about where you are with your own intimacy with God, and how you can continue to draw closer to Him.