Intimacy with God - 4

                                                                    Intimacy with God - 4

Subject – Having a Determined Purpose is not Easy

By Rick Welborne

Philippians 3:10 AMP                                                                                                                                         [For my determined purpose is] that I may know Him—that I may progressively become more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him, perceiving and recognizing and understanding [the wonders of His person] more strongly and more clearly. And that I may in the same way come to know the power outflowing from His resurrection [the power it exerts over believers]; and that I may so share His sufferings as to be continually transformed [in spirit into His likeness even] to His death.   

--Today let’s look at two more essential decisions, each related to a discipline (we are disciples), that will help us develop an in-depth intimacy with Christ and Holy Spirit. 

--If you are serious about becoming more deeply and intimately acquainted with God, you will find these two decisions will help you in that process. 

--Last week we looked at these two disciplines and they had ouch written all over them. It only gets tougher.

Reordering One’s Private World: The Discipline of Simplicity

--Everything we encounter in this world works against reordering and simplifying our lives. Yes, everything. Our world is cluttered with junk and is extremely complicated. 

Ecclesiastes 7:29 (TEV)                                                                                                                                        29 God made us plain and simple, but we have made ourselves very complicated.

--Solomon was definitely right…We have made ourselves very complicated. Not only do we acquire more stuff, we accumulate more and more and run out of room to keep it. 

2 Corinthians 11:3 (NKJV)
³  But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.

Being Still: The Discipline of Silence

--I have almost found in my own personal life that this challenge is insurmountable. Another family crisis, another funeral, Covid, and just life keeps us from the times of silence. But listen to the Psalmist:

Psalm 46:10 (NKJV) 

¹⁰  Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth! 

Swindoll – Noise and words and frenzied, hectic schedules dull our senses, closing our ears to His still small voice and making us numb to His touch.

--Intimacy with Jesus calls for disciplines that are no longer valued or emulated by our society. We must begin with simplicity which allows us to re-order our private world. 

--After this, there must be silence…Be still and know that I am God. This silence and stillness allows us to be able to hear from God and allow for the closeness we so desperately need. 

--All of us can testify, God does not speak to a hurried, worried mind. It takes time alone with Him and His word before we can expect our spiritual strength to recover. Let’s look at two more disciplines today.

1. Cultivating Serenity: The Discipline of Solitude

--We all understand (hopefully) the value of companionship to enable us to be encouraged, accountable, and challenged. But please do not miss the value of the discipline of solitude where we cultivate serenity.

Serenity – the state of being calm, peaceful, and untroubled. 

--Solitude has been called the “furnace of transformation.” Not just a quick-stop of privacy where we gain just enough strength to keep going. It becomes an oasis of the soul.

--It is where we see ourselves, others, and especially our God in new ways. It is where the clutter of our lives is identified and exterminated. Soul surgery transpires as serenity replaces anxiety.

Swindoll – In solitude, struggles occur that no one else knows about. Inner battles are fought here that seldom become fodder for sermons or illustrations for books. God, Who probes our deepest thoughts during protracted segments of solitude, opens our eyes to things that need attention. It is here He makes us aware of those things we try to hide from others. 

--Henri Nouwen describes solitude as a place to get rid of scaffolding that holds us up: no friends to talk to, no telephones, no meetings, not even music, no books except the Bible.

--Just us, naked, vulnerable, weak, sinful, deprived, broken, nothing. It is in this nothingness that I have to face my solitude. So much nothingness that all I want to do is run to my friends, work, my phone. It hurts.

--As we stay in our solitude we have confusing thoughts, disturbing images, wild fantasies, and weird thoughts attack my mind like wild monkeys in a banana tree. Anger and greed show up. 

--Wow, Pastor Rick, that sounds terrible. Our task is to persevere in solitude, to stay in our isolation, until the monkeys (demons) decide to leave. Most of us resist this kind of soul searching because it is too severe.

--We think; life is way too short for this kind of scrutiny. My religious show must continue! No, the point of the discipline of solitude is to stop the show. Listen to the Psalmist inviting this examination.

Psalm 139:1-4, 23 -24 (NKJV)
¹  O LORD, You have searched me and known me.
²  You know my sitting down and my rising up; You understand my thought afar off.
³  You comprehend my path and my lying down, And are acquainted with all my ways.
⁴  For there is not a word on my tongue, But behold, O LORD, You know it altogether.
²³  Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me, and know my anxieties;
²⁴  And see if there is any wicked way in me, And lead me in the way everlasting. 

--The Apostle Paul sees the church at Corinth abusing the wonderful Lord’s supper so he corrects them. He tells not to neglect those who are hungry. Don’t get drunk. Listen to his instruction to examine themselves:

1 Corinthians 11:28-31 (NKJV)
²⁸  But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup.
²⁹  For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord's body.
³⁰  For this reason many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep.
³¹  For if we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged.

--If we refuse to take these times of solitude we find ourselves continuing busy with no hope of serenity.

--Let’s face it, it is time for judgment to begin and to begin at the house of God. God never intended His church to become a place of empty, endless chatter. Self-examination is necessary if we will grow up in the Lord.

--Listen to Jesus’ admonishment to His disciples after a time of ministry to the people. 

Mark 6:30-32 (NKJV)
³⁰  Then the apostles gathered to Jesus and told Him all things, both what they had done and what they had taught.
³¹  And He said to them, "Come aside by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while." For there were many coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat.
³²  So they departed to a deserted place in the boat by themselves.

--Sadly the people chased them down before they could rest but Jesus’ words still resonate with us for solitude. Swindoll strongly encourages us to keep a journal of these times of solitude. Easy to forget what you heard.

2. Trusting the Lord Completely: The Discipline of Surrender

--I am well aware that all of us have heard how “trusting in the Lord” is not a new concept or a new revelation to the church. Just a few days ago someone said the verses about trusting in the Lord were their life verses.

Proverbs 3:5-6 (NKJV)
⁵  Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding;
⁶  In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths. 

--Though it has been used and re-used the fact remains that God is inviting us in all of our ways, in everything we are doing or hoping to do, that we should trust Him with all of hearts. Easy to say but hard to do.

--If we have a determined purpose, like Paul, to become more deeply and intimately acquainted with Jesus, we cannot do our own thing or try to work out the details of our own lives. We must trust Him fully.

--This generation, thanks to us who have raised them, pretty much cannot stand the word “surrender” so the discipline of surrender sounds ridiculous. No one surrenders anything now days.

--For the most part, our kids have never had to learn to trust God because we have taught them to trust us more than God. Thus, we raise kids who become adults not knowing how to trust God with all their hearts.

--They want it, we get it. They do not have to work for it or change anything about their lives and we oblige to serve them. They don’t appreciate it and then, they want more and more. We give it. Remember working?

--Sadly, we have been cheating this generation out of trusting and surrender. Too bad, since it is in trusting and surrender that some of God’s greatest treasures are found. Listen to Swindoll talk about trusting God:

Swindoll – I’m finally learning that His sovereign plan is the best plan. That whatever I entrust to Him, He can take care of better than I. That nothing under His control can ever be out of control. That everything I need, He knows about in every detail. When I keep my hands out of things, His will is accomplished. His Name is exalted, and His glory is magnified. 

--I hope we are learning that surrendering to our sovereign Lord, leaving the details of our future in His hands, is the most responsible act of obedience we can do. Find solitude, learn to trust, and find intimacy. 

--Trusting will make me a deeper person passionately loving Him with all my heart. Intimacy!