Tweet

I was reflecting this week on intimacy with God. I have noticed that often when my intimacy with God goes to a deeper level there are two things that happen around that time.

First, there is often a new purging or cleansing that precedes the new level of intimacy. Hebrews 12:14 says, “Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see The Lord.” Matthew 5:8, Jesus said, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” Purification precedes perception. Sin clouds are vision of God. As I track my spiritual journey I can see that the times I have experienced new depths of intimacy almost always involve deeper works of purification. Ironically, right before the new level of intimacy comes, we often feel like we are losing ground spiritually. We are living in heightened awareness of our impure motives and selfish and sinful actions. But, if we allow the Holy Spirit to move conviction to brokenness and contrition, He will do a deeper work of cleansing in us. And this new work will lead us to new depths with Jesus. The key is to embrace the new work of purification. The one indispensable quality of a passionate lover of God is brokenness. Brokenness removes the obstructions and barriers that keep our hearts from God. When our hearts are broken and contrite before The Lord we give Him unrestricted access to our hearts.

Second, there is often a need to change our rhythm in order to advance in intimacy. Sometimes to get to a new level of intimacy we have to change our rules of engagement – we have to change our approach to God. Psalm 63:1, David says, “O God, you are my God, earnestly i seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water.”. David is in a desert place longing for God. He is spiritually thirsty. Verse 6, David says, “I think of you through the watches of the night.” David stays up at night to pursue God’s face because of his passion to know God. Sometimes I need to go on a fast to break through that pattern of sin that obstructs my heart from God. Sometimes I carve out time with God in the middle of the night to seek His face like David. Sometimes I need to shift my approach to God from singing along with worship to sitting in silence. But often before I break through to a new depth with God I feel stuck, plateaued or even declining (because of a new awareness of sin) and I need to change my approach to break through. I establish a new rhythm with God and I enter into new intimate depths with Him.

If we are going to get to new depths of intimacy with God, we will often enter a season of purging – you may feel worse, but take heart, change your approach and pursue that next level!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:Longwood Ave,Brookline,United States