Last month’s blog on how a football game can be a picture of growing in intimacy with God was more timely than I could have ever imagined. In fact, I was teaching my new series on intimacy the same morning that the Supreme Court ruling on same-sex marriage was announced. Suddenly, this topic was not just a “nice to know” instruction, it was a manual for survival and victory in these end times.
Intimacy with God is THE number one anchor that you will need not just to survive, but to effectively thrive in releasing and accomplishing His end times purposes in these end times. No longer is “head knowledge” of God going to cut it, no longer is being involved in your church and congregation to “feel good,” or for social reasons, or just to make it to heaven going to keep you strong enough to fight for righteousness and stand for God’s truth in the face of persecution.
The word courage comes from the french word “coeur” which means “heart.” Appropriately so, as it will be impossible to have the courage to stand firm in these times without a “heart knowledge” of God that comes from experiencing deep intimacy with Him. Choosing whether or not to pursue and commit to growing in intimacy with God is no longer an option for the believer, it is a criticality, a non-negotiable, a must-do, or else we will fall as individuals and as a body.
Intimacy with God is the only thing that you can never lose. At this time when your rights to freedom of religion and speech are being threatened, you need to be focused on all of the ways you can grow deeper in intimacy with Him each day – the “one thing” that He asks of you, the one thing that all works must flow out of, and the only thing no one (other than you) can take away from you. If the source of your joy, mood, emotions, happiness, security is in anything else, you won’t make it through these times being effective for the Lord, you will look just like everyone else – miserable, fearful, insecure, looking for your needs to be met in all the wrong places.
Intimacy with God is the key that will mobilize you out of fear and anger of this Supreme Court decision and into action — effectively fulfilling what God is calling you to do for such a time as this. So let’s continue our description of the offensive moves we need to make each day to grow in deeper intimacy with God. Last month, I stated that one of these moves was to make the choice to focus on who HE is all throughout the day, and that a great way to do this is by praying through the attributes of Yeshua found in Revelation chapters 1-3. Thanking Him out loud for each attribute, asking for increased revelation of what this means to you personally in your life, and asking Him to show you how you can demonstrate this attribute is a very powerful prayer that God will faithfully and clearly answer – I strongly encourage you to do this in your journey toward increased intimacy.
Over the past few weeks, I have been praying through the attribute of “the one who loves us” (Rev. 1:5) each day. Again, these prayers are powerful and convicting, so be prepared to listen to what He will say! For example, the Lord showed me all the ways that I justify not being loving toward others. My husband was trying to give me His opinion on something while I was rushing, and so I snapped at Him because He knew I was in a hurry; I avoid reaching out to people in social settings or I’m grumpy with family members because I’m tired, stressed out, or too busy. Just last week, I was at a dinner where I was angry with the leader because she expected us to pay for the entire group — which wasn’t fair — so that justified my anger and unwillingness to get to know anyone at the table and blocked Yeshua’s light in me.
People hurt us, disappoint us, and push our buttons; or they are against us, they believe differently from us, they are living in sin, they are responsible for the moral decline of this country, etc., and so we justify not having love toward them. However, God’s heart is always to have love toward others, to bless them. One of the primary ways we grow in intimacy with the Lord is to connect with His heart – whether it be toward ourselves, others, Israel, the Jewish people, Jerusalem, or the Millennium. It’s impossible to experience intimacy with the Lord when we do not connect with or have His heart toward these things — and His heart is not one of fear, condemnation, rejection, bitterness, unforgiveness, justifications and excuses.
Lastly, we must not forget the spiritual battle behind all of this. It doesn’t matter to the enemy whether or not we are justified in not having love toward others, He gets a handle, influence, or authority in our lives regardless. So when we choose to justify not having love for others, not only do we do not experience intimacy with the Lord because we are not connecting with His heart, but we are also increasing the enemy’s reign over our own hearts and in this world!
I will close with the most powerful conviction I received when the Lord brought this scripture to mind: “You are not your own, you were bought at a price, therefore glorify God in your body.” (1 Cor 6:19-20) He said to me, “You do not have the right to choose not to love others. You are not your own, you were bought at a price. Your body belongs to me to show forth my heart and to accomplish my purposes.” So now, when these justifications and emotions begin to creep up and I see how I’m not being “the one who loves” as Yeshua is, I remember this verse, and choose to use my spiritual weapons of warfare to break through the barriers and justifications to intimacy.
When there are so many justifications all around you to fear, and to not love as Yeshua does, ask yourself if they are really worth blocking intimacy with God – your anchor for survival and the only thing that cannot be taken away from you. It is no mistake that you are alive and on the earth at this time. Let it not be a time of fear, anger, and resentment but let it be an exciting privilege and honor to effectively fulfill and release God’s specific purposes for you and through you for such a time as this.
