Intimacy with God

"Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and clever in their own sight." Isaiah 5:21 "Therefore my people will go into exile for lack of understanding; their men of rank will die of hunger and their masses will be parched with thirst." Isaiah 5:13 "...for they have rejected the law of the LORD Almighty and spurned the word of the Holy One of Israel." Isaiah 5:24 

God is showing me today that when I leave Him and walk according to my own will, I bring suffering to my life... that I was not made to go on alone ... that I have a Father in Heaven who cares for me and wants me to depend on Him .. for EVERYTHING. That "If you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all.' " Isaiah 7:9 "Have faith in the LORD your God and you will be upheld; have faith in his prophets and you will be successful." II Chronicles 20:20

God is showing me that I am not to trust the counsel of men, before I counsel Him ... that I am to seek Him first, and hear His voice. "The LORD Almighty is the one you are to regard as holy, he is the one you are to fear, he is the one you are to dread, and he will be a sanctuary;" Isaiah 8:13-14 The psalmist describes how miserable his life was and how disturbed he was by trying to understand the things of this world that his mind just wouldn't conceive, until he finally approached God ... "All day long I have been plagued; I have been punished every morning" Psalm 73:14 "When I tried to understand all this, it was oppressive to me till I entered the sanctuary of God" (16,17) When my heart was grieved and my spirit embittered, I was senseless and ignorant; I was a brute beast before you. Yet I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand. You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will take me into glory. (21-24) God wants me to put my trust in Him, to make Him my refuge, my strong place, my hiding place. That I am to come to Him when I am anxious, or sad, or depressed with my surroundings ... when things don't go the way I think they should go .. when I feel rejected, taken for granted .. He wants me to come to Him ... where I will find comfort and peace ... where I will find healing ... and care ... and love ... He wants me to come to His sanctuary where I will find Him ... His promise is that I will find the heart of Father who loves me above all things ... who sees and feels my pain ... who understands my fears and struggles ... who sees my faults and imperfections and yet doesn't judge or reject me ... but instead, loves me .... in spite of me ... not because of me, but because of who He is ... God is love ... and not to love me would be Him going against His own nature ... I read in Psalm 27, 5: "For in the day of trouble he will keep me safe in his dwelling; he will hide me in the shelter of his tabernacle and set me high upon a rock." That rock is Jesus, the author and perfecter of my faith in Him. God wants me to say what the Psalmist says: "Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. Those who are far from you will perish; you destroy all who are unfaithful to you. But as for me, it is good to be near God. I have made the Sovereign LORD my refuge; I will tell of all your deeds." Psalm 73:25-28  

Not long after I met Jesus God showed me that my purpose as His daughter, is to get to know Him deeply and to proclaim his wonderful Truth to all men. He showed me that He was going to "take me to the desert", and that He would speak to my heart, and that "In that day," declares the LORD, "you will call me 'my husband'; you will no longer call me 'my master". Hosea 2:16. God wants intimacy with me, and oneness. He showed me that without Him I cannot do anything and that I am to stay close to Him. "Remain in me, and I will 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. I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing." John 15:4-5 That I am His light in the world, and that I am to live in such a way that people will see what I do and will be pointed out to Him: "In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven." Mathew 5:16 That He anointed me to "preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor." Luke 4:18-19 That I am to share about His love to the ones who are poor in Spirit by not knowing Him, to bring liberty to the ones who are trapped in themselves, in their own world, depressed, caught up by their own destructive thoughts, prisoners of the things of this world, in bondage, blind for the things of God, who live a life separated from God, their creator. To proclaim that Jesus our Savior and Lord will return to take us home. 

So today I told the Lord that I wanted to serve Him that way and that I am here for Him to do whatever He wants with me. And asked how He was going to use me in that way since I am so small, still so full of my own inadequacies and deficiencies, and struggles and weaknesses ... He told me that He wants me to walk by faith, that "without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. Hebrews 11:6. That "faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ. Romans 10:17 That Jesus is the author of my faith and that as I get close to Him I will see what my mind can't conceive. And that His power is made perfect in my weakness. It is all for His glory! He reminded me that His plans for my life are based on His love for me, and not on my conduct or person. He brought me to Jeremiah 29:11-12, a verse that I've shared with so many, and that today He wanted me to make it personal for my life: "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. ¹² Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. ¹³ You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. ¹⁴ I will be found by you," declares the LORD, "and will bring you back from captivity." Jeremiah 29:11-14 

How I long to know you more and to serve you better Oh Father. I pray as the Psalmist prayed: "Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting" Psalm 139: 23-24, so that your plans for my life can be fulfilled in you.