Intimacy

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Exodus 33:13     If you are pleased with me, teach me your ways so I may know you and continue to find favor with you.  Remember that this nation is your people.

Deuteronomy 21:22-23     And if a man has committed a crime punishable by death and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree, his body shall not remain all night on the tree, but you shall bury him the same day, for a hanged man is cursed by God.

Jeremiah 29:13     You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.

Jeremiah 33:3     ‘Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.’

Job 28:28     And he said to the human race, :The fear of the LORD — that is wisdom, and to shun evil is understanding.”

Job 32:8-9      But it is the spirit in a person, the breath of the Almighty, that gives them understanding.  It is not only the old who are wise, not only the aged who understand what is right.

Psalm 63:1     O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek  you; my soul thirsts for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.

Psalm 119:105     Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.

John 15:4     Remain in me, as I also remain in you.  No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine.  Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.

Romans 4:20     Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.                       

Romans 8:5-8     Those who live according to the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.  The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace.  The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so.  Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God.

Ephesians 4:29     Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.  And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 

Hebrews 8:10     This is the covenant I will establish with the people of Israel after that time, declares the LORD.  I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts.  I will be their God, and they will be my people.     

James 4:8     Come near to God and he will come near to you.

 

FIRST, APOLOGIES THAT BLOG DID NOT GO OUT THIS PAST THURSDAY.  ALTHOUGH MOST WAS WRITTEN, IT WAS NOT EDITED AND REVIEWED AND SCHEDULED.

     

Once one has been chosen by God, and begins to learn about him and his ways, his love, his mercy and grace, one wants to know more, deepen the relationship, the knowledge and the joy.  God knows us through and through.  He designed us, created us, each individual and unique from any other.  He knows our selfish, arrogant thoughts, our judgmental attitudes, our impatience, and all the rest.  There is NO hiding from God as he is omniscient, omnipresent, and since he knows and is aware of ALL our failures, it is better for our minds, our souls to confess them and ask for help in NOT repeating them again.  But those who are chosen also want to learn about him.  And it’s humbling and takes time.

One needs to chat with him, being truthful and real.  After all he already KNOWS you.  But he yearns for us to know him better.  There are many ways to delve deeper into learning about who he is, and how he guides us, forgives us, answers prayers, and is grace and love abounding.  The ways we come to know him better is to read the bible.  And I must confess, when I accepted his invitation, I did not have any support–there were no bible studies I don’t think at that small town church, I lived about 20-25 miles from that town so had no access to others on a regular basis to have a mentor.

I had a bible, but in all truth did not like much in the Old Testament–oh, I like reading about David and his development and growth, two of my favorite histories of him were his meeting of Lady Abigail, married to a dreadful man named Nabal.  He was selfish, and although David and his men had taken good care of him, his servants, when David asked for food, Nabal refused.  This caused David and his men to be furious, wanting to strike and attack Nabal and his property.  But when Abigail had heard what her husband had done, she quickly ordered servants to gather food and pack on a couple of mules, and she rode out to meet David and his men.

When she saw him and his men approaching, she quickly got off the mule and greeted him and offered the men the food she’d brought for them.  The next day, when she told her husband what she had done, he had some health event that killed him a few days later.  When David heard, he returned and offered her marriage, which she accepted.

My next favorite story was when David was moving the Ark back into Jerusalem from the barn it had been kept in, thrilled, happy, dancing almost naked with full thankfulness and joy.  David had married King Saul’s daughter, Michal, several years before.  While David was running from Saul, she was given to another man, by her father, whom she came to love, to further spite David.  However, David went back and retrieved his wife, who now was in love with the second man, and she was angry at David, despising him in her heart.   She let loose her fury seeing him dancing, carrying on, and singing and being exuberant, and made it clear to him.  She then was tucked away in another home, and not visited by David again.  But I loved his exuberance and openness to show how pleased and happy he was to be bringing the Ark back.

Knowing that many believed in God, creator, but did not obey, did not fear him or have faith–all without knowing the Messiah and all He did for us.  Willingly, He came to earth, knowing He would be would be sacrificed for OUR sins.  I’m sure it would have not been much comfort, but if He was being sacrificed as the goats, rams, and cattle with a quick sharp knife across His throat, but His suffering would last for several hours–just being beaten and shunned by people who had known and followed Him.  But then, after the severe beating and whipping, He was nailed to a cross.  Deuteronomy 21:22-23 states “being hung on a tree is cursed, and declares that an executed criminal declares that a executed criminal hung on a tree is under God’s curse.   How much more awful for Jesus!  Even as a human, Jesus had prayer and communication with HIs father, but during the hours He hung, He was separated.  But He finished the task, defeating the devil by His death for all who believe in Jesus, His death, and His resurrection to save us.

We have every reason to be thankful, joyful and happy as David was, once we choose to follow Jesus with our entire heart, to develop a closer relationship with Him, to be led and guided by the Holy Spirit.  I am so thankful that I know what Jesus, but for those who followed God by faith, how blessed.  I am sure, I would not be obedient.  My tendency is to be a brat.

But I am thankful for the OT, and certainly for the NT where I get to “hear” His words and teachings and learn better who I need to strive to be.

Lord, You have blessed me, even when my progress has been slow, You have corrected the same mistakes to bring me better into obedience and knowledge of You.  You have sacrificed and loved me and ‘mybellaviews.’