Chapter 3
Intimacy
with God
In
the early 1990's, the Lord brought key people into my life to teach me about
intimacy with the Lord. I had not really received any teaching on this prior to
that time, although I had always loved the Lord and cherished His Presence
since being a child.
I
was ripe to hear the message about intimacy with Jesus, and I soaked it all in
like a sponge. I was in my mid 20's, very lonely, wanting to be married sooooo
bad. I thought that a man could fill the empty places of my soul and then I
would feel complete, but came to learn that only Jesus can meet my deepest
desires and complete me.
As
I received the message on intimacy with the Lord, little by little I began to
allow Him access into the secret chambers of my heart and sharing with Him all
my secrets, my heartaches, my dreams ... everything. The Lord did promise me a
husband, and that he would be a tremendous blessing to my life. But he would
not be my source for meeting all of my needs. Only the Lord can meet every
need.
One
of the key people God used to teach me about intimacy with God is Rev. Pat Chen.
She was a member of Shiloh Christian Fellowship in Oakland, California at the
time (two years later God led me to begin attending Shiloh) and occasionally
would come and minister to the women's group at Family Worship Center in
Concord, California (now called Harvest Church). In 1995, Rev. Pat Chen came on
pastoral staff at Harvest Church.
Below
are notes that I took on April 30, 1993 when Rev. Pat Chen spoke on intimacy
with God:
|
A. |
Levels of Closeness |
|
1. Walking side by side with God 2. Face to face with Jesus 3. Intertwined with the Lord 4. One with God |
|
|
B. |
Intimacy = Entering into innermost character. Knowing someone to the very fiber of their being. Intrinsic = inherent, innate, inbuilt, real, genuine, central, native,
natural, inborn. |
|
C. |
God wants us to be as crushed powder, crushed to be poured out as a
fragrance. He wants us to be broken before Him so that we are pliable as fine
soil. It’s the only way we are going to reach full intimacy with Christ. |
|
D. |
Intercession = Praying on someone else’s behalf. Standing in the gap.
Partnering with God to see His will done. But there’s more: we need to touch
the heart of God. It’s not enough to say the right words. Silence before God
is a form of communion and prayer before God. Prayer means to ask earnestly, to seek the favor of, to entreat, to
make His face pleasant (to delight God and to be delighted), to fall upon, to
cry out, to ask, to worship, to supplicate, to beseech or request, to give
thanks, to share thoughts, ideas and everything. |
E. |
A = Adoration C = Confession T = Thanksgiving S = Supplication |
|
F. |
R = Retreat (get alone with God) R = Relate (share your heart) R = Read (take in the Word of God) R = Record (write down what He shares with you) |
|
G. |
Jealous = demanding exclusive loyalty; protective of us. God is a
Jealous God (Exodus 34:14). |
|
H. |
Communion = interchange of thoughts, agreement, fellowship, mutual
union, giving and receiving. |
|
I. |
Why do we pray? Because God wants us to. God is love and wants fellowship with us. He
is Almighty, with eternal love. It’s to please God. It satisfies God. |
|
J. |
The greatest form of spiritual warfare is having intimacy with God. To
kiss Him. His kiss is as equipping us with weapons. This is the other side of
spiritual warfare. |
|
K. |
God does the work. He just wants us to pray, trust and be in His
Presence. He does the work through us. Enjoy God and watch Him do the work. When we are with Him, He fills us with all the power we need when it
comes time to be used by God. Don’t underestimate God. He’s too small in our
eyes. We put Him in a box. When we struggle with believing for something,
then He’s too small in our eyes. The only struggle we should have is travailing in prayer. Praying in
tongues is very important. Be prayed up and be an open channel. Be a step
ahead of what the devil is attempting to do. Satan is afraid of prayer.
That’s why he tries to get us to slack off. Through prayer, you bring power and changes to situations, and it
saves the lost. |
|
L. |
Sitting Before the Lord. Luke 10:38 – Mary was continually listening to Jesus. She was
concentrating on Him. This word of “sitting” means to be established at
Jesus’ feet, to be quiet, to listen, to humble yourself, to wait, to gaze
upon. Second Samuel 7:18 talks about sitting and meditating upon the Lord. |
|
M. |
Meditation The activity of calling to mind the various things that God has done.
Holy thoughts consciously performed in the presence of God as a means of
communion with God. Sharing your heart with the Lord. The purpose of
meditation is that it clears one’s thoughts and mind. To ponder. To converse
with oneself. To mutter. Psalms 1:2, 119:48, 143:5; Joshua 1:8 |
|
N. |
Rest To colonize; abiding by the guidelines and meditations of God. Living
in the world, but abiding by God’s Word. |
|
O. |
Being careful with vows you make. Ecclesiastes 5:2 |
|
P. |
If you become disciplined in your prayer life, it will spill over and
carry over into other areas of your life. You will start to get more
disciplined in other areas. |
|
Q. |
Established To stand perpendicular; to make firm; to be prosperous; to render
sure. |
Bible
Study in Alamo/Danville, California
Kelli
is a nickname that my family has called me since birth, as well as long-time
friends. I go by “Kelli” most of the time. I go by my legal name Kathleen
outside of my family. Kelli means “warrior maiden” and Kathleen means “pure,
gentle” — what a combination of names!
Song
of Solomon 1:2-4 NIV
2
Let Him kiss me with the kisses of His mouth — for Your love is more delightful
than wine.
3
Pleasing is the fragrance of Your perfumes (fragrant ointment or oil); Your
name is like perfume poured out. No wonder the maidens love You!
4
Take me away with You — let us hurry! Let the King bring me into His chambers.
We rejoice and delight in You; we will praise Your love more than wine. How
right they are to adore You!
In
1993 I began attending a women’s Bible Study in the Alamo/Danville area of
Northern California. A woman from my church opened up her home. She had been
healed of lupus and got her life back after being sick for so long. She began
to teach Bible Studies in her home.
Women
from my church, as well as women from many other churches in the area were
drawn to this inter-denominational Bible Study. Usually anywhere from 30-50
women showed up. On a few occasions she hosted a major speaker, such as Barbara
Wentroble, and the house was packed like sardines with a lot of women and men,
around 100 people seated in folding chairs in the family room, living room,
kitchen, dining room, hallway, foyer (her husband owned a business and they had
a large home).
This
was my first experience to be in an environment where women of all economic
backgrounds worshiped together and became friends — from the poor college
student to the multi-millionaire, and those inbetween. I came to realize that
regardless of economic status, that we all shared common struggles — such as
health issues, dealing with family relationships, many women were in unhappy
marital situations or had problems with rebellious children. We all dealt with
similar “women’s issues” (insecurities, the longing to be loved, the myriad of
needs in a woman’s heart, shame from past failures, rejection issues, etc). Men
deal with these things too and have very tender hearts.
At
this Bible Study we studied the Word, prayed, and worshiped in song together,
but the primary focus was on learning about intimacy with Jesus Christ.
(That
is where I learned how to make a glory hoop … a glory hoop has glittery
streamers, and the purpose is for beauty to worship the Lord with, to dance
before the Lord with. I made mine with a rainbow pattern, to represent God’s covenant
and faithfulness in fulfilling His promises, especially for marriage and family.)
I
was in an atmosphere where we were all in one accord all wanting the same thing,
which is to know Jesus better and to know Him in a more intimate way. I’m
referring to intimacy in spirit and soul, because our marriage to Christ is
spiritual, not of this world (the flesh). Marriage of this earth is [intended
to be] a picture of Christ and the Church (Ephesians 5:21-33). The Apostle Paul
said it is a mystery … concerning Christ and the Church (Ephesians 5:32).
There
are levels of intimacy with Jesus: 1) Friendship with the Lord 2) Divine
romance with the King of kings and Lord of lords 3) Times of making love to the
Lord (I'm talking about in spirit, not flesh) … usually that 3rd level of
intimacy occurs during worship.
At
this Bible Study we learned about becoming that Bride that Jesus is looking
for, without spot or wrinkle. Revelation 19:7-9 (AMP) says:
7
Let us rejoice and shout for joy [exulting and triumphant]! Let us celebrate
and ascribe to Him glory and honor, for the marriage of the Lamb [at last] has
come, and His bride has prepared herself.
8
She has been permitted to dress in fine (radiant) linen, dazzling and white —
for the fine linen is (signifies, represents) the righteousness (the upright,
just, and godly living, deeds, and conduct, and right standing with God) of the
saints (God's holy people).
9
Then [the angel] said to me, Write this down: Blessed (happy, to be envied) are
those who are summoned (invited, called) to the marriage supper of the Lamb.
Revelation
22:17 (NKJV) says, “And the Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let him who
hears say, “Come!” And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take
the water of life freely.”
