Intimacy With God

...and when this cometh
ye shall know that I
am the Lord God.
Ezekiel 24:24b

In these lazy, hazy (and hot) days of summer, it's so easy for any of us to become lax in our spiritual habits (not a good word) and practices. Our spiritual walk can seem slow and belabored. I can't tell you how I have longed lately to have more intimacy with God, coming to know Jesus in a deeper way than ever before. I have recently done a personal search into things I know are holding me back from being the seeker God would have me be. I have given up a major church position as it has gotten to where it isn't a “builder” for me but a “drainer.” I, bottom line, just want more of Jesus in my life's walk than ever before...an intimacy I find myself longing for.

There are times as I prepare a Sunday school lesson for my ladies that a lesson especially strikes me in the heart of my spiritual being more than some others might. This was one of those weeks that challenged me beyond words. I realize that Christian books have been written and have almost exhausted the subject of being intimate with God and I don't intend to add anything that others haven't stated. I can only express what the Lord has put on my own heart.

Ezekiel, one of God's prophets was put to a test most of us would never be called upon to endure. He was to serve as a special example to God's people who had fallen into idolatry. Ezekiel was to tell the people in God's words that judgment was coming. Not only were they to go into captivity but their beloved temple would be destroyed. They loved the temple like they loved the dearest of people on earth to them. However God didn't want the people to mourn the loss of the temple. He wanted them to mourn their sin.

Ezekiel's wife was to die in this process and he was given strict instructions as to how he was NOT to mourn. I'm sure it came as a great shock to the people when Ezekiel didn't carry out the mourning procedures that were a part of the culture of that day. In all of this, God wanted His people to not only acknowledge their sin problem of idolatry but their problem of priority in their lives. They would grieve the loss of the temple, but not grieve the reason for the loss of it. God wasn't even in the thoughts of most of the people.

Many of God's people of that day, I'm sure, felt they had been doing all of the right things even though idolatry had taken over the life of their nation. Many, I'm sure were still serving God as best they could despite others disregard for the commands of God. However, for the majority, they had gone through certain spiritual rituals, even making idolatry a part of them, but their knowledge of and regard for God Himself was lost. In our day, we can find ourselves very busy with God's work...usher, nursery worker, teacher, preacher, choir member, instrumentalist, children's worker, etc. We may do one or many of those things in our churches with never a regard for God or even His will in our lives. All of our service though, means very little if our relationship with God has very little meaning.

So in reading all of this, I asked myself as I was preparing the lesson from this Scripture (that you can find in Ezekiel 24), “How well do I really KNOW God right now?” There are several meanings of that word in Scripture. It is used with reference to Adam and Eve coming together in that intimate, physical relationship of marriage. However, in our Scripture verse, written above, that word doesn't refer to a physical act but it does refer to having a deep and personal, intimate relationship with God. When all was said and done, God wanted the people in the entire process of what they were about to go through to KNOW that He was the Lord God. God longed for His people on an individual basis to really know Him in the very depths of their spirits with nothing in between Him and them. You see, anything that comes between me and God is an idol. Let me add that God is in the business of tearing down idols, so beware! There is to be nothing or no one more important in your life and mine than God Himself. I know that it may not seem fair, but our loving Father has every right to demand that kind of love and loyalty from us.

Things for the Israelites were going to get tough. There was going to be loss in abundance, inconvenience, hurt, death and every negative I could mention. In it all, God's purpose and desire was for His people to know Him like never before. When hard times do come, if we haven't kept in close and right relationship with God, we won't understand what He's doing....we won't really KNOW Him well enough to trust Him. All things in our lives are expendable when it comes to being in a personal and intimate relationship with Him.

I want that kind of relationship. I want to know Him so much better than I do at the present time. I want to view my circumstances through His eyes as best I can knowing that He is in control of all things and will never allow anything in my life that isn't for my good and His glory. The tough times are going to come, but the better I know Him, the stronger my trust will be, assured that God won't allow anything to touch my life until it first comes to His attention.

Paul speaks in Philippians 3:10:

That I may KNOW Him,
and the power of His resurrection,
and the fellowship of His sufferings,
being made conformable to His death.

I love that wonderful power in my life made possible through the Holy Spirit. Being in fellowship with Jesus in sufferings will be a part of it all and in the entire process, there's a lot of dying to self that will be required of me. No matter how difficult, I really do want to KNOW Him more personally and intimately than ever before. It will require my time and attention, with eyes off of other things I might think to be important. God has given us responsibilities and loved ones. He's more aware of that than you and I are, but we still must be aware of Him being our top priority, willing to yield to whatever He desires and allows in our lives. He will empower us through His love to handle whatever comes our way and believe it or not, we will love Him all the more intimately in it all.

Dear Father...I thank You for Your patience with me. I need Your strength to keep my priorities in proper order. I want You at the top of my list, learning to love You more. I want to know You better and to trust You more than ever. In Jesus' precious name....Amen