Intimacy with God

Getting close to God and staying close to God should be a priority for every Christian. As we get ready to start a new year, I thought it might be good to think together about a few things that help us stay close to the Lord. I hope these reminders will bring value to your life.

I’ve found that intimacy with God is a constant joy and a constant frustration. The closer we get to the Lord the greater our joy. Yet there is a frustration because the closer we get to Him, there is this awareness of how much closer we need to be. Even the Apostle Paul dealt with this in his life (Phil. 3). It seems we can never arrive at perfect fellowship with God because of our sin and our pride. We always have room to grow and the moment we start to coast is the moment we start to drift away. But as we keep moving in the right direction, there is great joy and delight in His presence. I guess we have to keep living with that tension as long as we are connected to a fallen planet.

Intimacy with the Lord is never accidental, but rather intentional. No one gets close to God by mistake. We have to do it on purpose. We need to have the daily discipline to stay in the Word and linger in prayer if we ever expect to enjoy real closeness with God. Of course the biggest barrier for most of us is our busy schedules. To carve out daily time is a real struggle. We have so many responsibilities and deadlines to meet. I’ve been at this a while and I still wrestle with trying to fit my quiet time into my schedule rather than building my schedule around my quiet time.

Intimacy is enhanced by trials, not hindered by them. It is the high winds on the mountain side that rock the trees back and forth. But as the trees are being blown around, the soil deep beneath their roots is being loosened by the rocking motion the wind creates. The high winds actually make it possible for their roots to grow deeper. Friends, that is also true of those things in our lives that blow us around. Of course much depends upon our response to those high winds, but the winds are never wasted on those seeking intimacy with the Almighty.

Intimacy requires times of isolation. We all know the account of Elijah’s great showdown with the Baal worshipers on Mt. Carmel in First Kings 18. After the great victory, Elijah needed an intimate time with God to hear His voice. It was only in the sound of silence that he could hear from God. As you prepare for 2010, I hope you will be able to find a place of solitude to get direction from the Lord for the New Year.

Intimacy is a spiritual battle. I am convinced that Satan fears the weakest Christian who gets on his knees. He will bring us every kind of obstacle, distraction and hindrance to keep us from getting closer to the Lord. He fears the damage we can do to his kingdom, but he also hates to see God communing with His child. He knows what great joy God takes in our closeness with Him and the devil hates God so much, he seeks to rob God of that intimacy. Let us determine not the give our enemy any such pleasure.

Leaving a Legacy

I write this article after a long night at the hospital. Our fourth grandson was born early this morning (Monday) at around 3:30 AM. Being the sentimental sap that I am, I can’t help but to reflect a little. My wife and and I have been blessed with five sons and a daughter whom we love and cherish. Now we have seen our influence extend to a new generation of grandsons. We are truly blessed of God. But it makes me ask, “What about our spiritual children and grandchildren? Are we leaving a spiritual legacy? Are the people I have led to Christ living for Him faithfully? Are they growing and maturing and touching other lives for Christ?”

Of course there is a limit to anyone’s influence. People do, after all, have the ability to turn their backs on the Lord and they may choose a path totally opposite of what we have taught and modeled for them. But how do we increase the chances of success for those who come behind us?

The first key is to consistently live out our convictions and to be an example of the life choices we teach. Clearly, if our lives are inconsistent with our teaching we will have little influence upon those who come behind us. Hypocrisy will cancel out the best teaching. Recently we have heard of a famous sports figure who has been involved in adultery. Not only will he lose millions of dollars he once made endorsing everything from Buicks to Gatorade; he has lost the respect of millions of people. His influence has been severely diminished due to his poor lifestyle choices. For those involved in teaching ministry, the lesson is clear. We cannot leave an effective legacy for Christ through our teaching alone.

Another key is genuine love for others. As we study real love from 1 Corinthians 13, it is clear that biblical love is much more than a sentimental emotion. Real love involves demonstrating kindness and courtesy to others. Genuine love shows up in our generosity toward others and in the way we encourage the people around us. Love is the opposite of the apathetic teacher who refuses to be involved in the lives of her students. People are flawed, but love covers a multitude of sin. People are insecure and need to be valued and affirmed, and love steps up to focus on the needs of others rather than self. May God help us grow in biblical love.

Biblical teaching and training also has significant influence. Contemporary self-help teachings based on humanistic ideas and pop-psychology seem to change every three or four years, but God’s Word is eternal. When we teach the life-changing principles of the Bible to others, we are unleashing the living power of the very Word of God. That is a powerful way to influence lives. There is amazing potential in just one Bible lesson or sermon. People have literally made life-altering decisions because of one Sunday School lesson that God used to speak powerfully into their lives. Many times we teach in more informal ways through casual conversations or simply sharing an insight to a friend over a cup of coffee. As we share biblical thoughts and insights, our influence grows and our life-message leaves a legacy of truth that can be passed on to others long after God calls us home.