SEEKING INTIMACY WITH GOD

1. Imagine a man who moves to Elkhart county. He arrives and then keeps his presence a secret.

2. He needs employment but he never fills out a job application. He never submits a resume.

3. He never checks with a job placement agency or opens a newspaper to see what jobs may be available.

4. He sits at home day after day thinking some will knock on his door and ask him to go to work.

IF THIS WERE TO OCCUR, THE MAN WOULD MOST ASSUREDLY NEVER FIND EMPLOYMENT.

a) If someone wants a job, some form of effort goes into the process.

b) Akin to getting a job is having and sustaining a relationship with God.

c) Last week we established that God desires a relationship with mankind.

d) Today we explore how that relationship is formed.

e) Do we sit back and do nothing to create a relationship with deity? Do we let God “do it all”?

f) Is there some activity required on our part? If so, what is it?

2) A good place to find answers to our questions is in the Old Testament, the 42^nd Psalm.

3) This is a relatively short Psalm; it has only 11 verses.

a) The writer opens the text with the image of a deer that needs water; it is panting.

b) Man or beast can be so thirsty that it wants to literally gulp large amounts of water.

c) This is the image in Ps. 42:1.

d) Perhaps the thought is a deer that has been chased by dogs or hunters.

e) We need to imagine a deer that feels like it will die unless it can drink.

4) Ps. 42:1 – READ.

a) This single verse gives us some insight about David’s spiritual life.

b) His view of faith or religion was such that he regarded it as absolutely essential.

c) That is, if he did not have a relationship with God, he had no life.

5) Most people could take virtually all they have, lose it, and still get along reasonably well.

a) The little town of Millersburg, IN made the national news a few days ago.

b) A man in that community lost a leg and townspeople helped him get a new one that cost $43,000.

c) We may lose a body part but we can still survive.

d) We may lose our house and all our possessions in a disaster but we can continue.

e) People we care about may perish but we can still manage.

6) In Ps. 42:1 David was so forceful it was as if he meant, “I need God in my daily life or I will die.”

7) If we want intimacy with God, this verse introduces us to a foundational truth.

8) We cannot have closeness unless God is viewed as absolutely essential to our well-being.

a) God must be as important to us as food or water.

b) To us He must be regarded as just as critical as blood and oxygen are to the body.

c) If a Christian is cut off from God, it must feel like he is being smothered.

d) Limited contact with God is like sucking the life force out of the body.

e) For many it seems a relationship with God is something like a fire insurance policy.

f) Pay the premium once a year and hope you don’t have to hear from the agent too often.

g) This type of thinking will not result in a close relationship with God, and probably no relationship with Him.

h) Notice too from Ps. 42:1 the word “soul.”

i) It was from inside the deepest part of David that he had a yearning for God.

9) Our world often talks about “core values” or “core beliefs.”

10) Intimacy with God will require us to have God at the very center of our lives.

11) God and His word will literally govern every facet of our existence.

12) People have said politics and religion do not mix. David didn’t believe that.

13) Religion governed his politics.

14) We are told that religion has no place in matters such as science and education.

15) The world isn’t stupid; it realizes that religion can be a governing force that literally guides people.

16) You may or may not approve of President Bush but this leader has said his faith guides him.

17) There are people who hear those words and they want to choke him because of this decision.

18) If we are going to have an intimate relationship with God, God is our guiding force in all things.

a) When children learn and apply this principle, they obey mom and dad.

b) They obey mom and dad because that is the will of God.

c) Adults abiding by this principle obey the boss in the workplace because that is also God’s will.

19) David further commented on his intimacy in verse 2, especially 2a – READ.

a) It is interesting that the writer used the word “thirst” instead of hunger.

b) Hunger is something that can usually be satisfied fairly quickly.

c) Food can be stuffed in the mouth fast enough so people soon say, “enough.”

d) Some of us have faced times when we literally said, “I can’t seem to get enough to drink.”

e) Sometimes a literal thirst is hard to quench.

20) This is what David said concerning God; his innermost part thirsted for God.

a) Here is a second point about closeness with God.

b) There must be a desire on our part to know God and do what His will is.

c) We must have a thirst--a craving and longing to be a person who pleases God and knows God.

d) If we take the approach of the man described at the beginning of this lesson, we will fail.

e) Intimacy with God requires work and effort on our part.

f) We cannot sit back and let someone do the work for us.

g) We must think, study, pray, meditate, worship, serve, and live out a faithful Christian life.

h) Too many desire intimacy with God on their own terms.

i) Closeness with God will cost us some things.

21) We do not live under the testament (covenant) David lived under.

22) Yet, the principles about intimacy in Ps. 42 still apply.

23) Consider one of the greatest sermons every preached, the Sermon on the Mount (Mt. 5-7).

24) What do we find Jesus saying in that presentation?

a) “Blessed are the poor in spirit” (Mt. 5:3).

b) Blessed are those who mourn over sin” (Mt. 5:4).

c) “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness” (Mt. 5:6).

d) Why are people “blessed” (happy, well-off, fortunate) when the do these kinds of things?

25) It is because they are like a deer panting for water.

26) People have recognized their need for God and they seek him with their whole heart.

27) It is truly “seeking first the Kingdom of God” (Mt. 6:33).

WHAT WE FIND DESCRIBED BY DAVID IN PSALM 42 AND WHAT JESUS DESCRIBED IN THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT IS ALL BROUGHT TOGETHER IN THE 3^RD CHAPTER OF PHILIPPIANS.

a) This is the next reference I will be reading from.

b) One of the things we know about Paul was his desire for intimacy with God.

c) Paul not only desired this, he found it. The apostle did not have some special technique.

d) Neither did being an apostle give him a relationship with God that we cannot have.

e) Our role will be different than his, but closeness and intimacy are just as attainable.

2) Paul achieved what Jesus and David described.

3) Let’s start with verse 5 of Phil. 3 - READ.

a) Paul didn’t have much control over what happened when he was eight days old.

b) He did go through a procedure for Jewish males and then other things followed.

c) In his life we find another valuable principle.

d) Parents can help their children develop an intimate relationship with God.

e) It is possible for mothers and fathers to head their children off in the right direction.

f) We can start seeking intimacy with God in our adult years and find it.

g) Like most other things, the earlier in life something is begun, the better off we are.

h) Parents do a great service to their children by helping them become close to God early in life.

4) Helping children in this regard means more than bringing them to services.

5) That is part of the process, but much more is needed.

6) We teach them how to pray, study the Bible, apply the Bible, and live as a Christian.

7) Children should see in their parents Christians who are seeking God in every way they can.

8) They should see saved people who have a relationship with God.

9) In Phil. 3:6 we find the word “zeal.”

10) If there is no zeal for God, we should not expect to find much in the area of intimacy.

a) Just as we need fuel for an automobile, so there must be something that spurs us on to find closeness with God.

b) A passion for intimacy means will avail ourselves in every way to learn more about our heavenly Father.

c) Whether it is good or bad, I rarely touch on the subject of attendance.

d) Here is one reason for that.

e) If people understand some basic Bible truths, they will attend. It is that plain and simple.

f) One of these simple truths is intimacy with God. What happens if Christians are close with God?

g) They will be actively involved in their local congregation in every way.

h) When people are truly committed to an idea or organization, they support it.

i) Support comes from money, time, skills, and whatever else people possess.

j) People will use the type of fervor we see in Phil. 3:6 to make something work.

k) Intimacy with God is related to involving ourselves in the work of God.

l) If we are not involved in His works, how can we expect to be close to Him?

m) If we are lax in our worship and service, how can we expect to be truly near to Him?

11) Closeness to Him also means we will be willing to say “no” to some other things.

12) Phil. 3:7 – READ.

a) Paul was involved in a life (a religious way of life) that did not please God.

b) It was like he had achieved a whole room full of Jewish trophies and plaques.

c) He had come very far in the Jewish faith.

d) He finally realized he could not serve God with the Jewish faith; Christianity had replaced it.

e) Because he wanted intimacy with God, he renounced what had cost him much effort and time.

f) We may never be required to give up much for the Lord.

g) What are we ready to stand by and relinquish so we can have intimacy with God?

13) Is there anything we would take over closeness with Christ?

14) Verse 8 of Phil. 3 – READ.

15) Paul said he had lost “all things” for the sake of Jesus.

16) Sometimes intimacy with Christ means losing or leaving what is near and dear.

17) Why would someone make this choice? Is closeness with God really worth leaving something?

18) Let’s also look at verse 10 – READ.

a) “That I may know him.”

b) This may be one of the greatest verses in the New Testament.

c) Sometimes people look at someone and say, “I would like to have his signature.”

d) Or, they might tell us, “I would like to meet him.”

e) “It would be fun to spend a few hours with that person.”

f) Paul said he could “know” the Son of God.

g) He wanted intimacy with God, just like David of old.

19) Did it cost this man something? Yes, and the cost was high.

20) Paul said he had to leave behind all things. Closeness with God will also cost us some things.

21) If we were asked to give all we had for this one thing, closeness with God, would we?

22) If we must pay a much lower cost, will we do that too, and will we not be grateful?

23) Does not gratitude mean we do our best to come to know and selflessly serve Him all our days?

24) Is this how we are living?