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Let me suggest that "intimacy with God" is a newer term for an old concept. "Walking with God," "dependence on God," "believing or trusting God," "communing with God" – all have varying shades of meaning, but they all suggest, at least in part, the essence of intimacy. In an intimate relationship with God, I am privileged to share deeply of myself with God, and He shares deeply of Himself with me. In human relationships such an intimacy allows us a growing knowledge and understanding of another person. Since God already has a knowledge of me beyond my own understanding, the goal or purpose of my having an intimate relationship with Him is that I would know or understand Him. My intimacy with God then becomes God-centered rather than self-centered. If God is my Father, I have all the privileges of a child, and I can pour out my heart to Him or I can sit quietly in His presence. I have access to the riches of His provisions, and I delight in His care, but if intimacy is only "me receiving" then the focus is on self and not on God. Oswald Chambers challenges us by saying, "My goal is God Himself, not joy nor peace, nor even blessing, but Himself, my God."
While I am deepening my intimate relationship with God, I am in a process. If I am actively engaged in that process, at each step of the way, whether I realize it or not, I am learning more about God. The process continues whether I am immersed in the very ordinary or the very difficult, whether I am trudging through the mundane or being stretched by the stressful. It continues through frustrations, temptations, joys, successes, or tears. The process continues, that is, as long as I look in God’s direction. I may sometimes wonder if He is really there. I may feel that my faith is very small. Neither really matters. What does matter is that I continue to call out to Him, and believe that somehow, some way, He will reveal Himself. At no point along the way will He stop me to ask, "How successful are you?", but He will stop me to ask, "What are you learning about Me?" It is the process God is most concerned about. As we experience God, we will know Him. We will be intimate with Him. We will know His Friendship and His Fatherhood.
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