INTIMACY WITH THE BELOVED

“Yet, a time is coming, and has now come, when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth, for the Father is seeking such to worship Him.” 

In this hour, the Lord is calling God’s children to come up higher in Him. To walk (rest, live, and abide) in greater revelatory understanding of His Truth and of the full counsel of the Almighty. We go up higher in Him, by going deeper into intimacy with our Beloved. 

The Word worship means to “kiss”. We “kiss” Him passionately with the words of our mouths and the deepest longings (desires) of our hearts. We make known to Him that He alone is the desire of our heart. Is pleasing the Lord truly the greatest desire of your heart, child of God? What we say with our mouths and believe in our hearts will bear witness in our daily lives.

Ultimately, we want to be more like Jesus, to manifest more of His love, His Joy, His peace (the fruit of the Holy Spirit) in our own lives. This may win more souls to Christ than the greatest sermons preached in the pulpit. How passionate are you about winning souls to Christ? 

That Father’s heart is for the lost. Intimacy with Him necessitates a love for what our Lord loves. Conversely, our hearts should break over whatever breaks His heart. Sin breaks the Holy Spirit’s heart. Sin quenches the Holy Spirit. We ought to invite the Master to make a diligent and daily search of hearts, so that He can clean us. He cannot cleanse us, if we do not show Him the darkest aspects of our souls.

Jesus washed the disciples feet. The disciples did not walk on pavement, but through dust and dirt. Their feet stank. Yet, our Lord washed the most undesirable parts of His disciples bodies so that they could enjoy fellowship with Him. When Peter objected, our Lord advised him that if he did not allow the Savior to cleanse the filthiest parts of himself, he would have “no part with” Himself. What is the filthiest part of you, child of God? Show (reveal) it to the Master, so that your communion with Him is never interrupted. Whatever breaks our hearts about ourselves, breaks His more. It’s time to come clean.

How do we grow in Intimacy with the Lover of our souls? As it is in the natural, so it is in the spiritual. We create an atmosphere that invites intimacy with our Beloved. We initially prepare our hearts for an encounter with our Lord through confession and repentance. 

We acknowledge our need for Him to work out of us, whatever is not of Him, from Him or like Him. This process of spiritual cleansing is important before we can progress into deeper realms of intimacy with our Lord. We want to progress from the outer court (the brazen laver), into the Most Holy Place (beyond the veil)!  

At the brazen laver, in the outer courts, we ask the Lord to take away anything and everything that is not like Him, of Him, or from Him. We invite our Lord to search our hearts and to rid it of the lesser loves of this world: (1) the lust of the flesh, (2) the lust of the eyes, and (3) the pride of life. As we confess our sins to Him, He cleanses (purifies) our hearts before Him. As, we ask Him to remove our old, filthy garments, He replaces them with His robes of righteousness. 

We continue to ascend into higher realms of glory by telling the Lord how beautiful He is, how powerful, and how worthy of praise He is. Not because we want anything from Him, except Himself, but because that is who He is. The Lord is altogether Lovely, the fairest of ten thousands, the city that is set upon a hill... We sing love songs to Him that are all about how wonderful and how Matchless and Majestic He is, because that is exactly who He is. 

Matters of The Heart

During this season, the Father is seeking those who will worship Him, in Spirit and in truth. Are you one of those, beloved child of God? Are you one who will go beyond doing “church” to being a member of Christ’s body? Have you forsaken “churchianity” to be led by the Holy Spirit of the True and Living God? Are you willing to forsake your will for the Lord’s plan and purpose for your life?

The consecrated life is more than periodic fasts from food, or one’s favorite form of worldly entertainment. Everyday should be one of consecration to our God. We cannot focus on all of the distractions of this life and keep our minds stayed (fixed) on Jesus. The consecrated life is a surrendered life. A life of devotion to the only One who truly matters.

The consecrated life is all about God’s will prevailing over our own. To live this life we need to be attuned to the gentle nudges and whispers of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit leads us into all truth. Are you listening? He is speaking!

“For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also!” Take a moment to consider what you love most in this world. What, if anything, can keep you from making time for that cherished relationship, or whatever else it may be that has possession of your heart?!? The Lord is not asking anyone of us to stop caring for other people or possessions. He is asking us to prioritize what’s most important in our lives.

“Seek first God’s kingdom and His righteousness...” and the Lord will take care of everything else that may concern us (such as food, clothing, and shelter). Our concerns about how we will live in this world, leave us anxious. Anxiety distracts us and hinders us from living our lives for Christ as we attempt to “climb the ladder” of (worldly) success to take care of ourselves. Unless Holy Spirit is leading you to do what you do to survive, your striving is in vain. We can abort the Father’s plan for our lives by insisting on pursuing our own plan.

“Be anxious for nothing...” the Lord will keep His children in perfect peace, as we keep our minds fixed on Him. God is our Source. Not our relationships, our careers, our degrees, or our possessions. Your “heart” is wherever you spend the majority  of your time, talent, or treasure. If your heart is fixated on relationship with another person, if that relationship causes you to do anything that displeases our Lord, it is an idol. Idolatry is a sin. Sin separates us from intimate relationship with God. We cannot live life our way and God’s way, too.

Do you want to know what the Father’s plans are for your life? Surrender! Pray and ask the Lord to reveal His will concerning every aspect of your life. Invite Him to take complete control of your life: to rid your life of anything and/or anyone that He has not sovereignly placed into your life. Pray for grace to endure any separations that He May allow, during this season. Then ask the Lord to replace whatever, or whoever, is displaced with whatever He intends for you. Our ultimate goal is to find ourselves right “smack dab” in the middle of God’s will; the safest place on earth for anyone of us to be. The most dangerous prayer that you and I will ever pray is, “Not my will but Thine...”