Intimacy with God (XII) Still more on friendship with God

Continuing my quest to gain insight about intimacy with God from insight on the subject of human intimacy, I picked up the following quote from the internet “When we're experiencing healthy intimacy, we'll tend to feel accepted or accepting, known or more knowing, valued just as the people we are, not because we did something important or something that someone wanted…” And it struck me that for His part the Lord has already put in place everything that is needed here! So starting with acceptance He tells us that we are accepted in the Beloved (in Christ Ephesians 1:6), and also that “the Father … has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light” (Colossians 1:12). So then if we do not feel accepted, the problem is with us, and likely is related to the lies we have believed. In which case we need to replace the lies with the truth, and tell ourselves that we are accepted in the Beloved. And we need to tell ourselves over and over until we believe it, and then tell ourselves because we believe it!

About being known and knowing, the Psalmist declares “How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them, Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand" (Psalm 139:17,18). The omniscient all knowing God knows everything about us, the good the bad and the ugly and He loves us just the same. Concerning knowledge of our fascinating God, He desires that we seek and pursue Him with all that we are and have. As I have said before He hides for us, not from us, and we need to pray with Paul that He will give us the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him (Ephesians 1:17). When we seek Him with all our our hears, He delights to show Himself (Jeremiah 29:13). Bless His Holy name!

Concerning value, in monetary terms, the value a thing is precisely what someone is willing to pay for it. For you and I, we were bought with a price (1 Corinthians 6:20), and the price that was paid was the sacrificial death of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. At the store when I see a child in the shopping cart, I often ask the mother “How much is that one?” What I get back over and over is “Priceless.” But what has the child done to deserve this? Well it is not about what the child does or does not do, it is the fact that he or she is her child. And if a mother feels that way about her child, is it much of a stretch to believe that our Father feels the same way about you and I? No matter what the world may think of you, in His eyes you are priceless. As for me, when I am feeling rejected, I turn to Him and meditate on the fact that what He thinks about me trumps what you think about me every time!

Father, how precious indeed are Your thoughts towards me, and how affirming it is to bask in Your extravagant healing love, morning by morning as I come to You. And continuing Psalm 139:18 I know that “When I awake, I am still with You.” I know this for You have promised never to leave me nor forsake me (Hebrews 13:5). And I pray this morning Father, for all who are struggling to know and feel You in this way, and I want to affirm for them that You are far more willing to answer this prayer than they are to pray it. And I give You honour and glory and praise in Jesus Name Amen