Intimacy with God – Part 1
Hey friends! As I already mentioned, my blog is going to be a bit different this year. I’m invited some dear friends to write each month on topics that are near to my heart. Topics that Regina took me through 10 years ago as a part of the Titus 2 Mentoring program.
January begins with “Intimacy with God.” I reached out to my precious friend, Kay Wyma, who I met through the author world – but has become one of my go-to friends the past couple of years. She has walked with me through so many ups and downs and I treasure her wisdom and counsel. So thankful we are now in the same city and can do coffee and lunch.
I asked her to do ONE blog post and you’re going to get three – because she has a passion for this topic! Enjoy. I know you will. – Courtney
by Kay Wyma
A little over ten years ago, I threw up my hands.
Since I was a little girl, I had known the Lord. At least knew who He was. And I knew that I wanted to lean more on His ways than my own. I don’t know why I felt that way except to say that He seemed so safe – in a never-wavering sort of way.
I guess more than anything I longed to be loved unconditionally – with no strings attached/without abandon. As a child, that’s how I understood God’s love to be. And I wanted it.
But, at some point along the way, intimacy with God (a real relationship) took on performance attributes. In order to know Him/to be worthy, I had to do something or be a certain way.
To-dos included all kinds of things – serve, put others first, be kind to my enemies, think nice thoughts, read my Bible, “hide it in my heart.” Which I obligatorily tried to do – struggling under the weight of it all.
Thankfully, through wisdom offered by an older and wiser sojourner, I was introduced to and ran toward God’s grace, a welcome concept for my performance-oriented self. I grabbed onto and embraced the truth that we are saved by grace, not of ourselves. And I leaned into the enormity of that gift and the sacrifice Jesus made on our behalf out love.
But I still struggled – especially with lists of directives in Scripture that clearly fall into the to-do camp, lists that made the welcomed gift of grace confusing.
I’d hit passages like 1 Corinthians 13 and be super convicted to love. Paul clearly states that if I “do not have love, I gain nothing.” But the heaviness of it all. I can’t even get past trying my hand at the first Love is…:
- “patient” – yeah, not so much
- “does not envy” – can’t say that either
- “does not boast” – I try to avoid that one. And now with social media in play – is posting boasting?
- “is not proud” – maybe, until I realize that pride is any time my thoughts are anchored on myself, either in puffing up or beating down.
My goodness – it’s right about there that I quit, not knowing quite what to do.
Of course admonitions are not just in 1st Corinthians. They pop up everywhere. And directives felt/feel heavy.
Until that moment when I literally gave up.
I found myself one morning on my knees in prayer. I had come to the end of my trying. I had nothing left except to ask the Lord to please show Himself to me.
I was tired and I ached for the safe/unconditional love I thought possible when I was young. I really needed/need that love. My kids were little. The world’s pressures were so heavy; I just couldn’t handle the weight of religious pressures, too – especially when faced by my inability to measure up.
So I basically asked the Lord:
Will you teach me? Whether the words in my Bible come alive or not, I’m not going to stop believing, but if possible, would you PLEASE show me who you are.
I now know that such a request is the beginning of intimacy with Him.
“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. (Matthew 7: 7)
My time in Scripture and my interaction with lists began to change. Rather than reading passages as they related to me (my actions/inactions), I started to read to know Him.
1 Corinthians 13 changed from a laundry list of to-do’s to a beautiful portrait of Him. For if God is love (Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 1 John 4:8.), then HE:
- is patient
- is kind
- does not envy
- does not boast
- is not proud
- does not dishonor others
- is not self-seeking
- is not easily angered
- keeps no record of wrongs
- rejoices in truth
- always protects
- always trusts
- always hopes
- always perseveres
… and, “LOVE (God) NEVER FAILS.”
Can that be true? Is the Lord all of those things?
Yes – and so much more.
Paul adds a little further down in Chapter 13 that we can only see a portion while here on earth. Because “(f)or now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.”
Let the floodgates open – even today.
As I force my eyes off me, I more easily search to see HIM in Scripture; to see HIM in Creation around me; to seek HIM and to find HIM rather than to live up to some method of performance.
Maybe that’s why the intimacy seemed so far out of reach. My focus was more on doing rather than knowing-Him. His yoke didn’t feel light or easy, until I started to understand surrender. What I thought I had to do myself, I realized He does for me.
Maybe this is where the enormity of grace meets the action steps of faith.
The lists really are there “so that (life) may always go well for you” (Deut. 12:28) – because God loves us (in the same way I love my kids and provide directives so they might thrive), but also – maybe because we can only attempt the lists with Him (“…apart from me you can do nothing John 15:15)
And really – what can be more intimate that God doing it for us.
It’s a mind-blower for me: Any time I love, I’m bumping up against/engaging with/tapping into God because He IS love.
Now, that’s intimate.
I recently read a quote by St Augustine:
“The mind commands the body and is instantly obeyed.
The mind commands itself and meet resistance.”
And I contemplated the potential in that statement. What if I actually surrendered to the Lord and invited the Holy Spirit to command my thoughts and subsequent actions as the mind commands the body. In the same way my heart beats, or even my fingers type this message, when directed by my mind (thankfully without a second of resistance), I pray my thoughts surrender to and obey the Holy Spirit. Left to myself, there’s lots of resistance.
And then, I might be able to grasp the essence of intimacy as indicated in Romans 15:13 – a verse wrapping up what in years past could have felt like a laundry list of heavy-burden action steps for right-living in Romans 12-15:
“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”
Which rings true to Paul’s doxology in Romans 11: 36
For from him and through him and for him are all things.
To him be the glory forever! Amen.
EVERYTHING – all of life – is “from him,” “through him,” and “for him.”
That’s exciting intimacy for sure.
Learning from the journey. Thank goodness we don’t walk the road alone. I, for one, would LOVE to hear what the Lord is teaching you about intimacy.
THIS….. This is exactly what my heart needed today. I need to change my perspective from performance based to learning about who God is. Can’t wait to read the other posts!
This was SO GOOD!
I really enjoyed this…looking forward to the next two parts!
コンスタンチンchaykinコンプトゥスの復活祭の時計は、あなたはそれを推測し、東方正教会の復活祭の感動的な日付を識別する顕著な挑戦に取り組むために設計されました。 パネライスーパーコピー このように、なぜ日付を計算するのが非常に難しいですか?さて、決定要因を含むので、月のサイクルは、太陽のサイクルは、エパクト、太陽の補正とより多く。chaykinのこれらの要因の全てを使用して計算をするために彼自身の方法を作成する方法を学びました、そして、彼だけにクロックを教えるように東方正教会の復活祭の日付を計算する。私たちはすぐにリストが無数の他の機能の中で、これはこの顕著な構造の目玉、大理石、真鍮、シルバー、鋼、ジュラルミン、ガラス、金、ラピスラズリ、とより多くから作られます。 http://www.newkakaku.com/cxb1.htm
の原則は原則の詩と経済学の原則で、第2の「等価。ここでは、まあposited実用方程式の間です。「いい」、「次」と「既成事実」。PAS(良いと深刻な自制、自制、自制)。」準配備本もろくて弱い経済方程式、探求の境界の間の過程と製品、成功と失敗、天才と。ロレックス 時計コピー「なくて、私達のここだけの話しましょう、私達に引き続き気づいた、このタイプの反復件1。 http://www.ooobag.com/watch/jacob/250a3b28b490109c.html
ガス針表その寒さ、耐高圧、堅固な精確な特徴、人類の極限スポーツにも優れた性能。エルメススーパーコピー1960年5月25日午前4時20分、針に伴うガス表王富洲など中国登山隊員を実現した初の東北から稜線登って標高8848メートルのエベレストの夢を発揮し、上質な夜光機能、正確に記録した神聖な歴史時刻を北麓から登頂世界人類屋根の快挙。 http://www.wtobrand.com/prada-bag1.html
さらに、20 mmのひもが私の例についての湾曲した開口部を通して自然な合うものではありません。だから私の設計目標は、従来から搭載ストラップを保持するが冗長性と独特のルックスをそれに加えました。その結果、多くの紙と革のプロトタイピングに使用する連続ループを確保し、従来のストラップを介して一対のいわゆる「ズールー族の「鋼のループ。 ウブロ 時計 コピー 結果として視覚的密度のストラップ」がたくさんありますが、実際のシステムと腕時計にマウントを製造する技術的に簡単である。概念的に、デザインへの挑戦が、実装するのが簡単である。極端な冗長性と連続的な二次のループで、名前を「インフィニティ・ストラップ」を作りました(私に)。 http://www.brandiwc.com/brand-super-18-copy-0.html
そしてシンガポールから上場グループ高登(Cortina)は4月以来台北101でMALL咲いHarry Winstonなど8大ブランドの大きい後、2か月近くには、宝のプラチナ表大きい登場しない于新宇グループを時計メーカーが直営大きいルート、高登時計を表展経営モデル開発大きい、所耗费コストが高い、相対的に回収も遅い。 http://www.fujisanbrand.com/watch/rolex/index_3.html
スイス昨年各種経済指標が比較的に理想的で、全国的には喜んで?。しかし、スイス連邦政府の経済最近事務秘書署は、スイス経済最近に遭遇した30年以来の珍しい困難を予測し、国民経済は今年、縮んで2 . 2%、2010年に失業率が5%の上昇があり。 http://www.newkakaku.com/cq19.htm
のボールは本質的に時間と日/日付を合併した腕時計です。ボールは、スイスのイータ2836自動運動の修正版を使用しています。ボールによれば、運動の彼らの衝撃保護システムが与えられます。これは、基本的には、着用者からの自動回転ローターをロックするために、時計ケースの後ろのねじれをすることができます。 http://www.gginza.com/News/index.html
Rolexスーパーコピー時計販売はROLEXコピー時計通販専門店です . 0.678244178 ロレックス時計のムーブメント:スイス製クォーツ . 品質保証、世界一流ロレックス時計スーパーコピー、精巧に作られたのスーパーコピーロレックス(N級品)2015年新作。 http://www.bagkakaku.com/vuitton_bag/2/N41542.html
私は、私が私がどれくらいのスポーツ好きの言うことができるかどうかわからない。スポーツと腕時計:それらの2つのブラケットは、私がこれまでに持っていたと思いますあらゆる趣味を含みます。とマンチェスターの中心から20分で育ちました。パネライスーパーコピーサッカーの重要な歯のエスケープホイールにとって重要であると言っているように私に言います。しかし、私は、ブローヴァマンチェスターユナイテッドクラブウォッチについて聞いたとき、私は興奮よりも神経質でした。私はしばしば私の2つの大好きな分野の融合について疑問にふけっていました、私がどのようにアリゾナ・カージナルスロゴは、贅沢な腕時計のダイヤルの上で高級に見えさせる、というトロントメープルリーフスのバッジの可能性を考えてクラウンに愛国的な見えないのか不思議と国民の巻き毛の「w」またはkiddishにクールに見えますストラップにエンボス加工したならば?私は唯一の失敗は、大胆な生意気なスポーツのしるしとの組み合わせを待ち受けていたと推測しました、そして洗練された文化的な腕時計のデザインとした。しかし、ブローバ私が間違っていますか? http://www.bagkakaku.com/vuitton_bag/2/N42250.html
bmwのコレクションのためのボールのハイライトの1つ(非常に優秀な腕時計デザイナーのマガリmetraillerによって設計されていることを除いて)bmwブランドはダイヤルの上にむしろ微妙であるということです。その時計はボールによってbmwの商標がない」あなたの顔であることを意味します。」小さなと上品なbmwのロゴは、小柄な形で3時の時間インジケータの隣に存在しています。ロゴは、それが着用者のことを思い出したい場合にはないが、誰が着用者の手首に腕時計を見る人には容易に明らかであった。 http://www.wtobrand.com/pr1.html
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