More Intimacy with God

 

I want more intimacy with God. I do not want more of His power to do great works, or more of His blessings to enjoy a better life, or more of His authority to hold a position of importance.

I just want more intimacy with my Father, King and Lord. As Desert Skies sings, “I want to feel His hands on my soul, molding me into grace, to be a reflection of His holy face.”

We do not have to perform some task to enjoy an intimate union with Him. We simply sit at His feet (Luke 10:42). We are human “beings”, not human “doings”.

We take the time to look into His benevolent face and whisper words of love or shout our gratitude from the rooftops. We praise Him and give Him all the glory.

We follow the example of the psalmist and sing of His excellent love, impartiality, power, goodness, etc. The list is eternal (Psalm 59:16, 89:1, 100:5).

One way to have more intimacy with God is to give God more intimacy with us. We can have fun as a child of our Father and enjoy spending time with Him.

We chat with Him throughout our day even about the mundane issues we are facing or the most boring of chores or responsibilities.

We ask His advice about hurdles we encounter, the best way to perform a task and about interpersonal relationships.

As we follow the leading of God’s Spirit, even our most insignificant acts of kindness or service can make the biggest difference in the eternal destiny of our friends, relatives, associates and neighbors.

Regardless of our circumstances, we can spend time worshipping our Savior and King, our Creator and God, our Comforter and Guide. This may not resolve our issues, but it changes our attitude and focus about them.

Prayer:

Father God, our soul thirsts for You, our Living God (Psalm 42:2). Our flesh cries out for You, and we attentively seek You (Psalm 63:1). You are so real to us that we can almost taste and see that You are good (Psalm 34:8). We love you with our whole heart.

Teach us to walk in peace instead of stress, joy in place of concern, and holiness rather than carnality. Give us Your wisdom, agape love, grace and mercy as we function in this life. Provide us with Your salvation, so we can spend our life with You throughout eternity.

Thought for the Day:

God rejoices over His loved ones with singing. – Zephaniah 3:17

Desert Skies: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Desert-Skies/56135996899

Moving Forward through Forgiveness

God became man in order to atone for our sins, because we could never pay the debt on our own (1 John 4:19). Jesus loves us more than a pearl of great price (Matthew 13:45).

Jesus relinquished his royal status and gave His life, so that we can live as God's adopted children and joint heirs with Him to receive all that the Father owns in His Kingdom (Romans 8:16-18).

God forgives us of every transgression of His law; but unless we forgive our self, Satan keeps us under his bondage to degradation and sin. The shame we feel for our behavior is fed by Satan's lies, which He whispers in our heart day and night (Revelation 12:10).

Satan knows that if we ever forgive our self, and dedicate our life completely to the God who saved us, he will lose us forever. There is no thought, word or deed, which we commit, that is too horrific for God to forgive (Romans 5:8).

Most of our choices are mistakes that we make without thinking, although some of them are premeditated. Yet, God forgives each one, which we confess, according to His mercy and justice (1 John 1:9, 3:9). He erases the injustice of our behavior with His goodness and grace.

God has a perfect plan for us and our true joy lies in following that plan (Ephesians 2:10). It is never too late to change. We can lay down our shield of lies and our heavy burden of pain at Jesus' feet.

We come to God in our weariness and hopelessness, and He gives us rest for our soul and births life into our dead spirit, which we carried around within us for our whole life, until the day we repent (Matthew 11:28).

Prayer:

Father God, Your Spirit joins Your Bride in encouraging anyone who reads or hears Your Word to come to Your river of life (Revelation 22:17). Your voice penetrates the hard wall, which we build around our soul to keep out the pain of the past and the eventual pain of the future.

This wall crumbles when we face life's difficulties with Christ in us. Help us not to patch up the wall of defenses and build it higher and thicker, and to realize that only Your love can protect us from life's hardships and storms (Isaiah 4:6).

Complete surrender to Your call on our life will put us under Your umbrella of protection (Job 11:13-15). You give us a place of repose (Isaiah 28:12). You refresh and satisfy our faint heart (Jeremiah 31:25). You give us Your living water to drink for eternity (John 7:37).

Thought for the Day:

Forgiving others and our self is the key to freedom from the destructive aspects of life and it is the door to our freedom in Christ.

Filled with God's Spirit - Part 2

 

Once we surrender possession of our life to God's Holy Spirit, our total motivation in life changes. We are directed each moment of the day to walk in the center of God's Will. The still, small voice within us whispers our marching orders (Isaiah 30:20-21). The Spirit permeates our life and dictates our thoughts, words and deeds (Romans 8:14).

If what we hear contradicts the Word of God, we never act on it (John 16:8-11). Satan is an angel of light and His whole purpose in life is to deceive. He will give us promptings that will lead us to a ruined life. God's Word is our measuring rod to gauge what we hear (John 16:12-15). God's Spirit will never oppose His Word.

The power of God's Spirit within us allows us to make wise choices for our life, to live by Godly principles and stewardship, to have a word for the weary in due season (Isaiah 50:4) and to witness to people in every situation, which God provides for us (Acts 1:8). Through God's Spirit we have a new song in our heart (Psalm 96:1).

We speak to one another in spiritual songs, giving continual thanks to the Lord (Ephesians 5:19-21). God's Spirit teaches us God's ways, conforms us to the image of Christ's divine nature and keeps us on a solid footing on the rocky road of life (Romans 8:29; Psalm 27:11; 2 Peter 1:4). God's Spirit is our guarantee and assurance that God abides in us (1 John 4:13; Romans 8:16).

Prayer:

Father God, if we follow the vain idols, which this world offers to us, our heart will faint away and we will end up in desolation. Only You give us Your eternal life and salvation (Jonah 2:7-9). Teach us to continually walk by Your Spirit (Galatians 5:15-25). Help us to hear Your Spirit and to walk in Your statutes (1 Kings 8:61), and to memorize Your Word and to hide it in our heart, so that we will never sin against You (Psalm 119:11; Acts 20:22-23).

Thought for the Day:

God's Spirit will teach us God's ways, so that we can have faith in His faithfulness, and walk through life with our focus on the glory of His name. - Psalm 86:11