Psalm 118, 24 says, This is a day the Lord has
made. I will rejoice. I will rejoice and be glad
in it. It's just an honor to be here. I want
to thank the pastor, the leadership, for allowing
me this time with you to break open the Word
of God. It's my honor, my privilege to be here.
And this morning, I want to talk about something
that's very close and dear to my heart. And it's
what the title of my message is called, Intimacy
with God, An Intimate Relationship. Intimacy
with God. See, there's a real big difference
between a relationship and an intimate relationship.
And so with that, I want to begin with the...
Just a few definitions. They're going to be kind
of sterile, but then I'm going to get to the
good one. This is a definition of a relationship,
a connection, association, or a bond between
two or more individuals. That's kind of sterile,
isn't it? Well, how about the word intimate we
put in front of that? Well, the word intimate
means a close... and deeply familiar association,
feeling or connection. It's deeper, but to me
it still feels very sterile. So that's kind of
the world's definition. What is the biblical
definition of intimacy? Now listen to this. I'm
going to say it twice because it's so important.
Fully knowing and being known. with complete
openness and trust. That's the biblical view
of intimacy. Fully knowing and being fully known
with complete openness and trust. The Hebrew
word for intimacy is yada. The Greek word is
ganasko. And they both translate to this, to
know. To know. This implies a deep... experiential
and active relationship rather than just factual
knowledge. I want to give you two examples about
this idea of relationship and intimate relationship.
You know there are 24 hours in a day and there
are seven days in a week. So that's 168 hours
that we have in a week. Now, if we give God,
we come to church, and we give God two hours
of that 168 hours, this amounts to 1 .190 % of
the time that we give to God. 1 .190 % of the
entire week. I'm going to give you a quick example.
Hey, Danny. That's it. That's it. That's about
one second, right? Hey, Danny. Hey, Mike. That's
a relationship. Danny and I have a relationship.
Danny and I have a connection. But do we give
God that? Do we show up on Sunday morning and
go, hey, God, I fulfilled my weekly obligation
to God, and I can go do my thing. I'm very fearful.
We are becoming a society that we feel very good
about ourselves when we enter church, and we
spend a couple of hours in church singing praises,
slapping each other on the back, and just loving
on each other. There's nothing wrong with that,
and I'm not trying to diminish that. But what
I'm saying is, are we just giving God a connection?
A 1 .190 % of our week just so that we can feel
good about our relationship with God. Now let's
look at this word intimate and put in front of
it, I mean behind it, relationship. An intimate
relationship. Now for this example, I'm going
to use my wife and I. In two weeks, August 2nd,
my wife and I will be married 57 years. Of course,
we were both 12 years old when we married. But
as I look at our, you know, when Candy and I
started, we had a connection, right? But then
year after year after year after year. That relationship
became very intimate. We began to know each other.
You know why? Because we spent so much time together.
In fact, we have a joke. Candy laughs about it,
but she never can remember how many years we're
married. And so when she asks me, she'll say,
Honey, how long have we been married? And I'll
go, Oh, forever. Of course, I'm joking with her,
but the other day I was getting a haircut, and
she likes to do this. And so her and my haircutter,
they were talking and all, and she looked at
me, and I saw a little side of her mouth go up.
And she said, Honey, how long have we been married?
And I didn't even look at her. I went, Oh, forever.
And I heard laughing behind me. There were two
guys sitting behind me. They were in line. And
I heard one guy say to the other guy, he was
laughing. He said, Forever. But that's become
a joke. But you know what? That's what intimacy
is all about. We're very open with each other.
We trust each other. And that didn't just happen
overnight. That happened after all this time
we've spent together. And that's really my point
is you and I as believers need to be developing
this intimate relationship. You know why? Because...
Intimacy changes the dynamics of a relationship.
Won't you agree with that? Sure, I think everybody
will agree with that. Well, in order for us to
really look, I want to use a foundational scripture
when we look at this thing called intimacy with
God. And I want to look at Matthew chapter 22.
You all know this area of scripture very well.
There's a pharisaical lawyer that's going to
come and try to test Jesus Christ. And so he
says there in verse 36, Teacher, what is the
great commandment in the law? And he, Jesus,
said to him, You shall love the Lord your God
with all of your heart, with all of your soul,
with all of your mind. This is the great and
foremost commandment. And a second is like it.
You shall love your neighbor as yourself. And
then Jesus said this, on these two commandments
depend the whole law and the prophets. So as
we look at loving the Lord our God with all of
our heart, soul, and mind, I want you to pay
attention to one word. That word in verse 37,
it says, you shall, you shall. There's no word
in the Greek. that there's a definition of shall.
Basically, it's loosely interpreted as an obligation.
So we are obligated, Jesus says, to love the
Lord our God with all of our heart, soul, mind,
strength, everything that we are. That is one
of our duties. That's one of our obligations.
And as we go deeper and deeper and deeper with
the Lord, we begin to learn that it's all about
having an intimate relationship with him in our
lives. So I want to give you, and I know you're
going to go, I'm a point guy. So I've got seven
building blocks of intimacy that I want to go
over with you. And don't worry, we won't be here
for the rest of the day. I'll move through here
pretty quickly. But I think we need to understand
that we need to move much deeper in our relationship
with the Lord. We feel good when we come to church,
don't we? I mean, come on, don't you feel good?
Don't you feel like you've satisfied your duty
and obligation when you come to church? Our intimacy
with God should be a lifestyle, not a day that
we give two or three hours to the Lord. It should
be who we are. It should be our life. And so
let's look at these building blocks of actually...
having intimacy with God. First building block
is daily commitment. Daily commitment. Now look
at this. This requires radical honesty and vulnerability
with God. Radical honesty and vulnerability.
You know, Candy and I have spent so much of life
together. That we fall in, we're radically honest
with each other. I don't keep secrets from her.
She doesn't keep secrets from me. There's nobody
in this world that I trust more than my wife.
Why? Because of our intimate relationship. So
we commit ourselves to each other daily. Now
that doesn't mean that we don't have an argument
every now and then. I mean, she can't help it
when she's wrong. I'm teasing, dear. But there's
this discourse, you know, and we do talk things
out. You know, when we were younger, we used
to get mad a lot. Now we don't get mad very much.
We just kind of get aggravated at each other.
But we wake up with a daily commitment. We're
daily committed. I'm as committed to her as she
is to me. That's why we trust each other so much,
because of this commitment we have with each
other. In fact... In Scripture, in Psalm 139,
in verses 3 and 4, David says this, You intimately
are acquainted with all my ways, even before
there is a word on my tongue, you know it, you
know it all. So, as we look at what David says,
we have to understand that God knows us intimately,
very intimately. And it's our job then to reciprocate,
to begin to know him. And I want to read something
from a man that I highly respect. His name is
Angus Buckham. I don't know if you've ever heard
of him. Faith Like Potatoes, they made a movie.
In fact, this is one of my devotionals that I
use. And this is what he had to say about this
loving the Lord your God, this intimate relationship.
He says this, the basic fundamental cornerstone
of the Christian life is to love the Lord your
God with all your heart, with all your soul,
with all your might. Then you can love God with
all your heart and live like you want to, as
St. Augustine said. You see, if you love God,
you will be a godly person and live according
to godly principles. Now he goes on to say this.
Listen to this. If the Lord Jesus Christ is not
the greatest love in your heart, then it doesn't
matter if you can speak with other tongues or
if you have a healing ministry, how well you
can preach the gospel is of no avail and there
will be no lasting fruit. Make sure that your
personal relationship, I'm going to change it
to intimate relationship with the Lord Jesus
Christ, is foremost in your life. have good times
of prayer and reading the Word of God, and all
these other things shall be added unto you. And
then he ends saying this, we must get back to
basics. The church must get back to basics. What
are the basics? We love, we shall, we have an
obligation to love the Lord our God with all
of our heart. in all of our soul, in all of our
might, in all of our strength, in all that we
are. That's fundamentally what God wants from
us. So, we've got to daily commit ourselves.
That means we're radically honest. We're honest
with our Lord. We're honest and we're vulnerable.
You know, I don't like to be criticized any more
than you do, but it depends on who criticizes
me. If my wife criticizes me on something, I
might get a little agitated and aggravated, but
I know she's not doing it out of spite or meanness
to tear me down. She's doing it to build me up
because I do have blind spots. I do have weak
areas in my life, so we must be vulnerable to
that. All right, number two. What's the second
building block? This one's very important. They're
all important, but this one's really important.
Immersive scripture reading. Immersive scripture.
I didn't say read your Bible. I said immersive
scripture reading. That word immersive means
to plunge into, to dive into. Psalm 119, 111
says, I hide thy word. In my heart, why? So that
I won't sin against you. Folks, and I know Pastor
Jesse and every pastor you've ever heard talks
about this. This is the most important book in
your life. This is the most important book that
you will ever read. This book will bring you
life and keep you from death. So we must be reading
it daily. Daily immersing ourselves in this.
You want to have an intimate relationship with
God? How can you have an intimate relationship
with God if you don't read his love letter to
you? Why do we depend on preachers and teachers
to teach us this word? In fact, in 1 John it
says to test the spirits. whether to see whether
they're from God or not. How are you going to
test it if you don't know what to test it to?
So we must begin to be really, really, what's
the word I'm looking for? We must be willing
to every day commit ourselves to the reading
of God's Word. also in psalms 119 verse 105 it
says your word is a lamp to my feet and a light
for my path immersive screen and that that's
not just reading it as i said that's meditating
and memorizing you know meditation uh years ago
in the church uh in our our forefathers they
used to not only immerse their self in Scripture,
but they would visualize Scripture. That's become
kind of a dirty word now because of all the New
Age stuff going on, but they would literally
immerse themselves and visualize and get into
and meditate on the Word. Not just read it, but
look at it and meditate on it and pray over it.
And God, what are you saying to me in this Scripture?
That is so important. If you want to have intimacy
with God, you've got to really dive into his
word and know what you're reading. And you know
why? It's the primary way to understand the character
and the plans of God. How can I understand God's
character and his plans for my life if I don't
ever read this book? And it needs to be a habit.
Let me tell you what my habit is. And I'm not
saying this is your habit. Let me tell you what
my habit is. I get up in the morning. I lay out
all our meds that we take. When you get our age,
you take a lot of meds and a lot of vitamins.
So I lay all our meds out. I let the dogs out.
I go make me a cup of coffee. Sometimes I have
those little white donuts. I sit down at my desk.
I open up my Bible, and I read. And then I open
up my devotional, and I read. And then I spend
the next few minutes in my quiet time with the
Lord. Now, that's what I do. I'm not saying it's
what you have to do, but that's my daily routine.
And if I vary from that, and I do sometimes,
I feel like something's off. But it needs to
become a habit. It needs to be something that
we long to do and we yearn to do. In fact, my
daughter's favorite Scripture verse was Jeremiah
29, 11. For I know the plans I have for you,
declares the Lord, plans to prosper you, not
to harm you, plans to give you a future and to
give you a hope. That's what God's plans are
for you. But if you never delve into his word,
how do you know? How do you know? All right,
number three. Open and honest prayer. Consistent
communication. Now, let me preface with this.
I love the King James Version. I read the King
James Version. But you don't have to pray in
the King James Version. Oh Lord, I thank thee
for all that thou hast given. Now, I'm making
fun. Most of my memory work is done in the King
James Version. But what I'm saying is, people
are scared to pray out loud. Because they say,
In fact, when I was pastoring, there were several
people, and I'll never forget it. I'd say, okay,
brother or sister, would you please lead us in
prayer? And I'd look up, and they'd be going,
they'd be shaking their head. And I'd talk to
them, and I'd say, why didn't you pray? Well,
I really don't, I can't pray publicly. I just,
you know, I just can't pray. And my thought is,
I never said this. But my thought was, well,
you can talk, can't you? We can talk, can't we?
Do you know that's what prayer is? Pure and simple.
It's talking to God. Do you talk to God all the
time? I find it a habit for me to talk to God
all the time. If I'm going down South Main and
I hit all the green lights at once, I say, thank
you, God. Or if something menial happens, I say,
thank you, God. God, would you help me with this?
Breath prayers. You do it in a breath. Thank
you, God. I love you, God. But we must be people
of prayer. And if you want an intimate relationship
with the Holy Spirit of the living God, then
we need to have open and honest prayer with our
Heavenly Father. And it needs to be a conversation
is what it needs to be. 1 Thessalonians 5 .17
says this. Pray without ceasing. How do I do
that, God? How do I pray without ceasing? You
just talk. You just talk to God. Do you ever
walk outside and just seeing a beautiful sunrise
or a beautiful sunset? And you're just overwhelmed
with the beauty? God did that. Can't we just
thank him for that? God, I thank you for that.
And don't expect all your prayers to be answered
the way you want your prayers to be answered.
God knows what's best for us. We don't pray so
that we can get what we want when we're praying.
But God knows what we need. God knows what we
want. And so we must understand that this communication
It's with a caveat. Your children come to you
asking you for stuff. I mean, Sam's a young man.
I'm not going to call you up here. His eyes got
about that big around. But if Sam came to me
and said, Pastor Mike, I need to run down to
Albertsons and get me a six -pack of Cokes. Could
I have your car keys? I'm going to say, Sam,
have you lost your mind? No, you can't drive
my car. Sometimes God says, Sorry, no. I'm going
to answer your prayer, but it's not going to
be the way you would like to see me answer your
prayer. Open, honest communication with the Father,
and then receiving whatever he says is part of
this intimate relationship with God. All right,
the fourth thing. Practice gratitude. Have an
appreciative heart. Practice gratitude. You know,
there's a huge difference between being positive
and being negative. Don't you hate being around
negative people? I don't know about you, but
we're supposed to love them all. We may love
them, but we sure don't like being around them.
Why? Why? Because nobody likes this negativity.
We must have a... Do you know... that if you
live here, either born here or you came here
and you're now in the United States of America,
did you know that you've already hit the lottery?
When you look at the rest of the world, we've
got all these teams, y 'all got all these teams
out across the world. Katie and I have been on
the mission field to a lot of different countries.
And I can tell you, there is not a country that
even comes close to the United States of America.
We're in countries where people have nothing.
And I'm saying nothing. And we have everything.
Shouldn't we have an appreciative heart? Yeah.
No, we want that new car. We want that new boat.
We want that new house. We want that new watch.
We want all this new stuff. We need to have a
very grateful heart. Everything we had is God
-given. So if we cultivate this... appreciative
and grateful heart it changes our perspective
and you know what it's good for our mental well
-being when i i worked uh in several jobs before
i became a pastor in fact i worked most of my
life working in the in the in the workforce and
i was just a happy guy and i would walk around
whistling And I can't tell you how many people
would come up to me and say, Mike, why are you
so happy? What are you whistling about? It would
give me an opportunity to share who I am and
my love of Christ. It was a way for me to witness
because I basically am a pretty happy guy. The
joy of the Lord is my strength and the joy of
the Lord lives in my heart. So you're not going
to see me be a negative. I'm going to be a positive
person, but a person that is very appreciative
of all he has. You know, I realized a long time
ago, the farm we live on, the house we have,
the vehicles we have, the blah, blah, blah, blah,
blah, blah, blah, all this stuff that we have,
I shouldn't have it. I really shouldn't have
it. It's a blessing of God that I've got it.
And so I'm going to give God praise and I'm going
to be grateful for everything that I've got.
I'm not going to worry about what I don't have.
I'm going to be grateful for what I do have.
And let me tell you something, ladies and gentlemen,
when you make that change mentally, it's going
to change your whole perspective of life. Be
happy. Be happy. We're living in a day and age
and a culture that is so negative and so driven.
by stuff that we're just not happy. We're not
happy with our mates. My wife made me mad. I'm
going to get rid of her and I'm going to get
me another one. But she's going to make you mad
too. I don't like this car. I don't like that
car. Okay. Next one's not going to make you any
happier. We need to have this appreciative heart.
And let me tell you something else that an appreciative
and grateful heart does. A appreciative and a
grateful heart shares with others. And I'm talking
about your stuff. If any of you in here are Dave
Ramsey fans, and I don't know if you are, but
he's a big guru on how to spend money and saving
and no credit cards and all this kind of stuff.
But he said one of the principal things that
you must do is to give. Give to others. You know,
the Bible talks about tithes and offerings. We
all give our tithes. You know what those offerings
are? Those offerings are everything outside of
the tithe. You see somebody in need and you've
got the resources, give them the resources. We
hold on to stuff, don't we? It's mine, it's mine,
it's mine. But a grateful heart, if I'm grateful
to God, in fact, God tells me that I'm supposed
to share what I've got with others. Now, I'm
not supposed to share so much it puts me in the
poorhouse. God says, you know, God gives us a
brain. But I'm to share with you. How many of
you have... I've seen somebody at Walmart in
a parking lot or an eating establishment, and
they're out there just panhandling. They're giving.
You know, they're without their handout. I listen
for the Holy Spirit before I give. And let me
tell you what, when you do give, please don't
ask them what they're going to use it for. That's
not your responsibility. If the Holy Spirit says,
give that joker 10 bucks, Give him $10 and don't
say, I don't go buy any liquor or drugs with
that because the Holy Spirit has quickened you.
Or go buy him a meal or do something. But have
this, you know, part of this intimacy with God,
he's given us so much and so he expects us to
share what he's given us with others. And so
that's part of this intimacy with God, becoming
that positive person that loves. to give uh first
uh thessalonians 5 18 says give thanks in all
circumstances for this is the will of god and
jesus christ for you ephesians 5 20 says always
giving thanks to god the father for everything
within in the name of our lord jesus christ so
basically have an attitude of gratitude that's
an old saying but it's isn't it true have an
attitude of gratitude be thankful in all things
Well, now, wait a minute, preacher. Am I supposed
to be happy that my car exploded or that this
happened or that happened? It didn't say be happy
in the circumstances. God will take care of that.
It said be happy in all things. I had a nursing
home ministry for a number of years, and I remember
a lady. She said, now wait a minute. She said,
here in James it says, consider it all joy when
you encounter diverse circumstances. Am I supposed
to be happy about being in this place? And I
said, no ma 'am, you're not. And I feel what
you're saying. But I said, you can be happy in
the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what we're to be
happy in. Not in our circumstances. But in our
Savior. Danny put it so eloquently and so greatly
when we were taking the Lord's Supper. Christ
died for you. So that you would have life and
have it abundantly. And you wouldn't have to
spend eternity away from him. So, it should be
a lifestyle. And here's another one. Valerie,
I'm going to pick on you and the praise team.
Authentic worship. That's number five. We want
an intimate relationship. How about authentic
worship? Now, this goes beyond Sunday morning
music. It literally should be our lifestyle.
There's nobody that loves to sing more than I
do. I love to sing. Anybody that knows me knows
I love to sing. But my lifestyle should be one
of joy. That means... that I am worshiping my
God in authentic worship, and it's not just the
music. It's who I am. Everything that I do should
be worship. Everything that I do should be in
the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Everything
that I do should be lifting up my Lord and Savior.
I've got here, it is one of love and adoration
for God the Father, God the Son, and God the
Holy Spirit, the triune God. In fact, I put down
here, I have a pattern that I go by when I pray,
and it's the acronym ACTS, A -C -T -S. A lot
of you know it, a lot of you have heard of it.
ACTS, A is for adoration, C is for confession.
T is for thanksgiving, and S is for supplication
or praying for others. But the first thing in
Acts is adoration. Adoration. When I lay my head
down on my pillow at night, you know what I start
out with? Adoration. I don't start out asking
him for stuff. Oh, God, help me through this.
We kind of do that, don't we? We go pray and
we just kind of ask God, well, I need this and
I need that. No, we need to start our prayer
with authentic worship and just tell him how
much you love him, how much you worship him,
how much you adore him, how much he means to
you. Can you imagine, and I don't do this enough
with my wife, but can you imagine? If we told
our spouses, I just love you. You know, I just
adore you. I'll tell you this about her. You
know, men and women are a little different. But
she will be driving in the car or will be someplace.
And she'll look at me and she'll go, do you know
how much I really love you? She'll go, you know
what that does to my heart? I may not always
respond affectionately like men sometimes don't.
But to have your spouse look at you and say,
do you know how much I really love you? I'm going
to go back to my original definition. To know.
To know. Wow. That's authentic worship. When
we fall down on our faces before God and not
ask Him for anything and just pour out our love
and our devotion, folks, that's authentic worship.
This is wonderful. I love it. But authentic worship
is what we should be doing all the time to our
Father in everything that we do, lifting Him
up, telling Him how much we love Him and how
much He means to us. In fact, Psalm 118, 24,
this is the day the Lord has made. I will rejoice
and be glad in it. Why am I going to rejoice
today about my Heavenly Father? Because I want
to worship Him, because He's so good to me. So
I just love Him. Wouldn't it be something if
one day you just looked up toward the sky and
looked right into the face of God and said, you
really know how much I love you. I love you.
Now, he already knows it. But wouldn't it be
nice to say it? Wouldn't it be nice to say that?
Authentic worship. In fact, let me read something
real quick in two different psalms. I'm just
going to read one verse. Psalm 106 says this.
Praise the Lord. Oh, give thanks to the Lord,
for he is good, for his loving kindness is everlasting.
And then Psalm 107 says this. Oh, give thanks
to the Lord, for he is good, for his loving kindness
is everlasting. Now look at this. Let the redeemed
of the Lord say so. Amen. Praise the Lord. Let
the redeemed of the Lord say so. There's even
a song that says that in it. Right, Chris? Yeah.
Yeah. Let the redeemed of the Lord. Say so. Praise
the Lord. Worship him. You know, I'm an old Lutheran.
I grew up in the Lutheran church. I was confirmed
in the Lutheran church. So I know all about the
liturgical, and I love the liturgical. I know
all about it. And then I was a Southern Baptist.
My wife was a, what we called, hard trial Baptist
when we married. She didn't like my church. I
didn't like hers. So we decided on Southern Baptist.
So hers was fundamental, and I couldn't do fundamental.
Mine was Lutheran. She said, I think I'm going
to a funeral when I go to your church. So we
kind of worked it out, you know, through the
years. We just kind of worked it out. And ended
up, I ended up being a Southern Baptist minister
for a number of years. And then we went non -denominational,
which is the denomination. Non -denomination,
just, you know. It should be interdenominational
because it's everybody. You know what I found
out through that whole experience? God doesn't
care what I am. I can be a Lutheran. I can be
Episcopalian. I can be a Methodist. I got a bunch
of friends, pastor friends. They're from all
these different faiths. And you know what I found
out? We all love the Lord the same. So our lives
should be built on this authentic worship of
him every day. All right, number six. We're counting
them down. Number six, obedience and trust. Obedience
and trust. This is a big one. True intimacy and
closeness with God leads to a desire to please
Him. Do you want to please God in everything
that you do? Are you mindful of that in all of
your actions? Are you mindful that those actions
either please or displease God? Trust in God.
creates a confident and loving bond with him.
You know, I think about the, when I look at obedience
and trust, I think about the patriarchs in the
Old Testament, you know, Abraham, Moses, David,
Job, all those guys, they trusted him. In fact,
and I've shared this, if you've been here, you
know me and you know our story. But back in 2012,
we lost our... 37 -year -old daughter to alcoholism.
Terrible time, terrible. In Job, Job 13, 15 said
this, Yea, though he slay me, yet will I trust
him. We held on, I held on to that scripture
very tightly because I felt like I'd been slain.
Felt like my heart was ripped out of my body.
And I'm not saying that to try to draw emotion
out of you. I'm just saying our obedience and
our trust should not depend upon our circumstances.
I'm going to tell you something. My wife and
I made it through that awful time, and you know
how we made it through there? It was because
of our relationship with Jesus Christ. Because
I know of a number of couples that lost children,
and they didn't make it. They didn't have a rock
to stand on. Candy and I stayed together. We
clung to each other during that time. You know
why? Because we clung to our Lord. We stayed
obedient to Him. We trusted in Him, knowing that
one day we'll see her again. She was a believer.
She just couldn't kick the addiction. But we'll
see her again. So our hope, our faith, our trust
is in God. It's a temporary separation. Although
it still hurts deeply, it's temporary. And so
we've got to learn, if we're going to have an
intimate relationship with our Lord and Savior
Jesus Christ, that even though things happen
that we hate, that's out of our control, that
we don't understand, we've still got to hold
on and cling on to God. Because he loves us and
he wants the best for us. And our obedience to
God is not a rigid burden, but a joyful expression
of our faith and our trust in him. Yea, though
he slay me, Job cried out, yet will I trust him.
He lost all of his family. He lost all of his
possessions. And his wife just told him, why
don't you just die? So he didn't have a lot of
encouragement during that time. But he trusted
God. He had an intimate relationship with God.
And he knew, he knew that God would see him through
this. In fact, when that was over, you know the
story. He had a bunch more kids. In fact, his
two daughters were the most beautiful, Scripture
says, in the land. And he doubled everything
that he had. Now, I know he wouldn't have given
up what he had for that, but that's how God repaid
his obedience and his trust in him. John 14,
15 says, Jesus said, If you love me, you will
keep my commandments. Now, who in here loves
God? Look at all the hands going up. Yes, I know
you love God. You're here. You're worshiping.
I know you love God. Jesus said, if you love
me, you'll keep my commandments. You'll trust
me. You'll be obedient to my commandments. In
verse 23, it says, if anyone loves me, he will
keep my words. My Father will love him. We will
come to him and make our abode with him. He will
be in our life. We say yes to Jesus Christ. The
Holy Spirit does enter us, does it not? Holy
Spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ, he enters us
and he changes us. He made his life with us.
He's part of us. I see families in here. You
know, we got a bunch of families in here. We
got a few kids left, but the families are sitting
together. We're all part of the family of God,
and you're part of God's family. And you have
an intimate relationship with your family members.
That's what God wants with you. And the final
one, number seven. Compassionate service. Compassionate
service. This is demonstrated through your love
for others. And can I tell you this? Family and
friends don't count. I mean, they do. But come
on. Scripture says even those that don't know
God love their families. So when we're talking,
I mean, you're going to be compassionate and
serve your families, but you're going to as we
grow intimate with God, it's going to be demonstrated
as you give your love to others. That's not part
of your family unit. That's not part of your
close friends. Here again, we come back to that
deal of service. Service, being part of somebody
else's life and helping them. Galatians 5 .14
says, For the whole law is fulfilled in one word
of this statement. You shall love your neighbor
as yourself. That's what Jesus said in Matthew
22, which he got from the Old Testament, which
came from the Old Testament. Romans 13 .10 says,
Love does no wrong to a neighbor. Love, therefore,
is the fulfillment of the law. It's really easy
for me to love my wife and my family. Some of
you are not so easy to love. But I'm commanded
to love you. And you know what? If I love you,
that'll probably be receptive. You'll probably
start to love me. I remember there was a guy,
we had a Kairos ministry for many years, and
there was a guy in there, and we probably have
some Yankees in here, and I love the Yankees,
but this guy was a Yankee. I mean, from the top
of his head to the bottom of his toe, and when
I first got around him, I didn't like him. He
was fresh. He was loud. He'll get in your face.
And I didn't like that. I'm an old southern boy.
That's not the way I operate. I don't like that.
I don't like people that get in my face. And
when we were ministering to prisoners, and this
guy was just one of those kind of guys. And do
you know that after serving on two prison walks
with this man, I got to where I loved him. I
absolutely love this guy. This guy was as good
as gold. Outside, he was rough as a cob. Just
like sandpaper. He'd just get on your nerve just
being around him. But he was the sweetest guy.
And he and I got to where we hugged each other
and we laughed together and we talked, you know.
And that's part of what I'm talking about here,
about this compassionate service and loving and
getting to know one another. 1 John 2 .15 is
a warning. It says, if we love the world, then
the love of the Father is not in us. We've got
to love the world, folks. You've got to love
people that you may not like. Don't want to be
around. Don't want to be their best friend. But
you need to show them love. In fact, in 1 John
4, think it says the one that does not love does
not know God why because God is love so we must
love we must love and we must love others and
again that that melts back down into your service
area sharing your wealth sharing with others
sharing what you've got God loved, for God so
loved the world that he gave his only begotten
son, that whosoever believeth him should not
perish but have everlasting life. For God so
loved the world. That's our benchmark. If God
loved the world, we should love the world. Maybe
not like what they do, maybe not like what they
say, but love them because we're commanded. It's
an obligation. You shall. Love the Lord your
God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.
All right, so let me give you a quick recap.
Intimacy with God, having an intimate relationship,
number one, a daily commitment, radical honesty,
and vulnerability with God. Number two, immersive
scripture reading every day. Number three, open
and honest prayer, consistent communication with
God. Practicing gratitude, have an appreciative
heart, authentic worship. Number six, obedience
and trust. And finally, number seven, compassionate
service. And let me give you this encouragement.
Be patient. Developing intimacy with God takes
time. It takes time. It took... We're still working
on it. But 57 years, I've been with that woman
for 57 years. She's been with me 57 years. A
long time. A long time. But that's how intimacy
is created, folks. So be patient. Begin to do
those things that will bring you into this intimate
relationship with God. That's what he wants from
you. That's why he gave his son, Jesus Christ,
for you. For this intimate relationship. You
better get used to it, Christian. Because you're
going to spend eternity with him. So wouldn't
it be a good idea to start that intimacy right
now with him? I think so. I pray that you have
a great day today. Don't forget to pray for our
pastor and Brad and some others going with him.
A whole bunch going with him. From Pakistan,
be sure you pray for them and the other teams
that are on the ground right now and the ones
that are going. I mean, holy smoke, this church
is sending out people all over the world. That's
fantastic. So be sure you be in prayer for that.
Can I tell you that I love this congregation?
I love this church. I love what you stand for
and what you represent. I love your pastor with
an unbelievable love. I really do. I think he's
one of the truest example of what a man of God
should look like. He is so much wiser. In his
age. And I love him. Thank you for allowing me
to. Break open the bread of life with you. I'm
going to pray for you. And I'm going to end.
My prayer with a blessing. And so if you'd like
to receive that blessing. It's not from me. It's
from the Lord. If you'd like to receive that
blessing. Then just open your hands up. When
I begin it. And just receive that blessing from
the Lord. Again thank you for this opportunity.
Father God, I'm just so thankful to be here.
I'm so thankful for this congregation. Father,
for what they mean to you. And Father, I pray
that through the music, through the testimony
of the children, through the word, through the
fellowship with each other, Father, that the
love of Jesus Christ has been felt so strongly
in this place. Father, we desire an intimate,
a very close and personal relationship with you.
Help us, Father, as we work on that relationship.
Be with us, Father. Be with all who are here
this morning. Bless them. Let them have a great
day in you today. And now may the Lord bless
you and keep you. May the Lord make his face
to shine upon you and be gracious to you. And
may the Lord lift up his countenance upon you
and give you peace. In the name of the Father,
and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
God bless you. You're dismissed.