God's Purpose for Intimacy

http://www.intouch.org/site/c.cnKBIPNuEoG/b.5710053/k.4ECA/God8217s_Purpose_for_Intimacy.htm

God’s Purpose for Intimacy
By Dr. Charles F. Stanley


For most of my life, I believed that the heavenly Father and I shared a relationship for my benefit. However, His primary purpose for creating intimacy with believers is to reveal Himself. The greatest tragedy for anyone, but especially for a churchgoer, is to die without knowing the Lord personally. But like any friendship, intimacy with God requires effort.

In a genuinely loving relationship, each person wants to know more about the other. As believers, we’re sometimes guilty of taking a more self-interested approach and forget that God is the rightful center of attention. Instead, we head to church or into quiet time looking for something to inspire us, motivate us, or help us.


Part of the problem is that we would like to practice our faith in the safest way possible. Bible study, prayer, and church are relatively easy, compared to stepping out in faith or enduring persecution. But to know God intimately is not a purely intellectual pursuit. A truth about the Lord is not truly ours until He works it into our daily life.


First, we must spend time with Him. Bible studies and church are good, but they don't count toward this requirement. We need to be alone with God, away from distractions and anything that might interfere with our communion. Susanna Wesley was mother to 18th-century evangelist John, hymn-writer Charles, and seven other children who survived to adulthood. She had her quiet time on a kitchen stool with her apron pulled over her head. When was the last time you got alone with the Lord and asked Him to speak to your heart?

Second, intimacy with God depends on our ability to listen. Most of the time, He will speak through Scripture. That's why we need to give reading and meditation high priority.


Third, we must speak to God transparently and hold nothing back. A loving relationship is built upon honesty. Each person should feel comfortable expressing both positive and negative emotions while still trusting the other's love. Of course, God already knows what is in our heart. But we must learn to trust Him with our deepest secrets.

Our Father wants His children to understand how He operates. The only way to gain that knowledge is by allowing God to unveil Himself in our life experiences. That means we must be willing to go through difficulty and pain as well as happiness and peace. A man can read that the Holy Spirit is the believer’s Comforter, but he does not know this truth until he has need of solace.


None of us would dare say that the God who saved us is not worthy of our attention. Yet many Christians act as if this were true. Intimacy with the Lord is a privilege. Do not waste the opportunity to be close to Him.


The Christian life is not about feeling good and deriving the greatest personal benefit from our connection to God. Rather, the Lord builds an intimate relationship with each of His followers. In that way, He can reveal more about Himself—truth by truth—as a believer needs that knowledge. What a privilege!

The God To Whom We Pray Part 2

http://www.intouch.org/site/c.cnKBIPNuEoG/b.4943225/k.9234/Audio_Archives.htm
Click the link above and go to the December 31st, 2009 message. Then click start.


This is one of the best messages I have heard lately because it is about prayer and Dr. Stanley really understands prayer. In the message Dr. Stanley says that our view of God affects our prayers. Do you see God primarily as a giver. Is he just a bell hop sitting in Heaven waiting on you to call on Him for something else? Do you ever say Lord I want to know you better. Dr. Stanley asked God in prayer, "What is is about You that You want me to know in my life above anything else?" God answered right away, "How much I love you." The best thing about prayer is not always the answer to prayer.  Are you interested in the giver Himself or just the gift?


Sermon Outline
The Power of a Personal Relationship
http://www.intouch.org/site/apps/nlnet/content2.aspx?c=cnKBIPNuEoG&b=4943677&ct=6698883


excerpt:
 When you begin to pursue a personal relationship with God:


A. He protects you from wasting your life, wrecking your body, following false ideologies, and wasting your finances.
B. You will feel that the Lord is near. You will begin to call him “my Father” and consider Jesus Christ to be your best friend.
C. You won’t feel alone. You may have times of loneliness, but you will be able to sense His presence with you. He promised to never leave you nor forsake you.
D. Sin will begin to lose its appeal.
E. The Holy Spirit will speak through you.
F. You will have a desire for God to be exalted through your life, through your walk, your words, and your work.
Conclusion
Ask yourself the question: Do I have a personal relationship with God, or do I just know about Him? He desires to have an intimate relationship with you that will lead non-believers to Christ.

A New Year's Prayer

http://www.allaboutprayer.org/a-new-years-prayer-faq.htm

Lord, my precious Savior and God, help me turn to You through this New Year’s prayer. May I be grateful for every breath. Dear Lord, as circumstances and issues came against me last year and have followed me into this New Year, I cry out to You. Empower me with Your Holy Spirit to overcome these obstacles with a good perspective, realizing You allow trials in my life to mold me into the image of Your marvelous Son.


I need a Father to truly love and care for me. You are that Father, though at times I don’t feel Your presence. Remind me that You will never leave or forsake me. Teach me to find rest for my troubled heart. Lord, let Your Word renew my mind day after day in this New Year. Protect me from the enemy who is on the prowl to devour me.


This New Year, help me trust in You rather than be clothed with discouragement. My desire is to follow You wholeheartedly this New Year. Let my mind be renewed, refreshed, and returned to the joy of Your salvation.


Heavenly Father, let me be not only a hearer of Your Word, but also a doer, practicing Your teachings, no longer quenching the Holy Spirit. Cause me to act on opportunities instead of apathetically overlooking them. This readiness involves praising and worshipping You with a pure heart.


This New Year, I trust Your closeness and care. I have no need for fear because You lavish Your love on me. My Father, I purpose to know more and more of You, seeking Your Kingdom and reign over my life. May my actions prove I treasure the Holy Spirit indwelling inside me.


Let this New Year and the following years consist of You reigning in me. Let me take the time daily to lift Your name on high. Let me realize all the marvelous gifts that come from above: rain, sunshine, blessings. Then, I will bless You with all my soul.


May my mind focus on heavenly priorities: loving You and my neighbor. Lord, this New Year let me walk in humility, serving You, loving You, giving You glory and honor every day. Each day of this New Year may I acknowledge You in everything and for everything. I thank You for the work You do inside me by Your love, power, and might.


Thank You for this New Year. Let me do according to Your good pleasure and purpose, pleasing You in every area of this life. Thank You for Your mercy which makes all things new each morning -- even after a day of failure.


Father, thank You for adopting me as Your child. In this New Year, I cry Abba Father, thanking you for restoring a right relationship with me through the cross. Conform and transform me unto all godliness through the burdens and blessings You allow to cross my path.


Lord, thank You for hearing my prayer. You care intimately for me. May this New Year be truly about You – May I be all about God in my actions and attitudes. From this New Year’s prayer, let me not forget to listen carefully to You. Give me eyes to see and a heart to do Your will this New Year and each and every New Year to come.
Amen!

Christmas Prayer

“Heavenly Father, Thank you for sending Your Son Jesus to earth. We not only celebrate His birth in the manger, but also the reason for His coming -- His death on the cross. We thank You for providing eternal life for each person who will accept His free gift of salvation.


“Father, I thank you for my family. Life is not always easy for us, but we know that You are always with us. As Your Word says, You will never leave us nor forsake us. Thank you for the love that holds us together and for always meeting our needs. Draw us closer together through this coming year. We love You and want our time of celebration to be memorable today. In Jesus’ name, amen.”

http://www.allaboutprayer.org/christmas-dinner-prayer.htm

In the Bleak Midwinter Christina Rossetti (1872)

In the bleak mid-winter
Frosty wind made moan,
Earth stood hard as iron,
Water like a stone;
Snow had fallen, snow on snow,
Snow on snow,
In the bleak mid-winter
Long ago.

Our God, Heaven cannot hold Him
Nor earth sustain;
Heaven and earth shall flee away
When He comes to reign:
In the bleak mid-winter
A stable-place sufficed
The Lord God Almighty,
Jesus Christ.

Enough for Him, whom cherubim
Worship night and day,
A breastful of milk
And a mangerful of hay;
Enough for Him, whom angels
Fall down before,
The ox and ass and camel
Which adore.

Angels and archangels
May have gathered there,
Cherubim and seraphim
Thronged the air,
But only His mother
In her maiden bliss,
Worshipped the Beloved
With a kiss.

What can I give Him,
Poor as I am?
If I were a shepherd
I would bring a lamb,
If I were a wise man
I would do my part,
Yet what I can I give Him,
Give my heart.

John 14: 12

12 "The truth is, anyone who believes in me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works, because I am going to be with the Father.

While You Were Sleeping ~Casting Crowns

Oh Bethlehem, what you have missed while you were sleeping...
Oh Bethlehem, you will go down in history
As a city with no room for its King...

Jerusalem, what you have missed while you were sleeping
Jerusalem, you will go down in history
As a city with no room for its King...

United States of America...
What will we miss while we are sleeping
 Will we go down in history
As a nation with no room for its King...
Will we be sleeping...
Looks like another silent night.

The Marriage Builder by Dr. Larry Crab: Desires vs. Goals

Excerpt from The Marriage Builder by Dr. Larry Crabb


When by simple faith I accept Christ's shed blood as full payment for my sins, I am brought into a relationship with an infinite Being of love and purpose who fully satisfies my deepest needs for security and significance. Therefore I am freed from self-centered preoccupation with my own needs; they are met. It is now possible for me to give to others out of my fullness rather than needing to receive from others because of my emptiness. For the first time, I have the option of living selflessly. (page 60)


The goal and purpose of marriage is to minister to our spouse. Our desire is for them to minister to us.
Our highest purpose as husbands or wives is to be an instrument for promoting our partner's spiritual and personal welfare.(page 66) It requires mountain-moving faith to believe that Christ is sufficient for me and that I am capable of giving to my spouse regardless of what I receive in return. It takes a commitment to the goal of ministry; and a strategy for handling negative emotions that neither violates the goal of ministry nor creates distance between the partners. (page 68)


No matter how resolutely we commit ourselves to the goal of ministering to our spouses, we will experience an unquenchable desire for our partners to minitster to us. In order to make the commitment to minister to my spouse I must agree with God that manipulation to meet my own needs is sinful. I must turn from my sin, believing that a good God leads me along good paths (repent). Then I must choose to walk along the path of ministry (obey). (page 60)


A goal is an objective that is under my control. When reaching an objective depends solely on my willingness to do certain things, it may properly be called a goal. Therefore I am responsible to act in ways that will realize my purpose. I may not feel like doing what is required to reach the goal, but I can do it if I choose.


A desire is an objective that I may legitimately and fervently want but cannot reach through my efforts alone. To fulfill a desire requires the uncertain cooperation of another. To make it a goal to try to change your spouse, you presume a power you do not have. Choosing a goal to pursue must be in terms of your response to your spouse not their response to you.


The proper response to a desire, then, is prayer. To a goal, the appropriate response is a set of responsible actions. If we confuse our goals and desires, our responses will be wrong. Too many peope pray for their goals, "Lord, make me treat my wife more kindly" and assume responsibility for their desires "Honey, will you get off my back!"


Examples of Desires:

1. I want my husband to understand how I feel.
2. I wish I could get through to my wife that I do love her. She is so insecure.
3. I'd come back to my husband if he were more loving.

Examples of Goals:

1. I will write my husband a letter telling him how I feel. I hope he understands (desire), but my objective is to express myself as clearly as I can (goal).
2. My wife is so insecure. Although I can't be sure that she will feel loved (desire), I will list five things I can do this week that I believe would reflect my love for her, and then I will do them (goal).
3. I'm scared to death to come back to my husband. If he doesn't change, I'm not sure I could take it (desire). But because I believe God commands me to be willing to live as his wife, I will choose to return and to be the best wife I can be (goal).

There is nothing wrong with diligently working on your goals in the hope that your desires will come true, but your heart must never be set on reaching desires. The Bible instructs us to seek first God's kingdom, to lay up treasures in heaven- in other words, to set our hearts on reaching the goal of worshiping God, serving Him, and becoming more and more conformed to the image of Christ. By God's Enabling grace, this goal is reachable no matter in what circumstances we find ourselves.