intimacy with god
The Keys To Intimacy With God
The Keys To Intimacy With God
What are the keys to intimacy with God ? How can we have the closest possible and most intimate fellowship with God ? And oneness and unity with Him ? And a partnership with God in His kingdom work and mission ?
In this 3 part series of Bible study articles we will look at the keys to intimacy with God. In this article we will look at the first 2 keys to intimacy with God.
Remember that intimacy with God is all about having a restored and close relationship with God, and is not the same as a religion. Religion is very much different than having a restored relationship with God through His son Jesus Christ. Being that it is a relationship, the keys to intimacy with God are similar to some of the keys to have a good relationship.
The Keys To Intimacy With God
A Spiritual Marriage
There are many similarities between having a good marriage relationship with your spouse and having a good personal relationship with God. In the Bible, there is a lot of language that refers to marriage in describing a personal relationship with God. Those who receive and profess Jesus as their Lord & Savior are referred to as the “bride of Christ”.
In Jeremiah 2:2 God says “I remember the devotion of your youth, how as a bride you loved me and followed me through the desert”
Jeremiah 3:14 – God speaks to His people after they had left Him: “Return, faithless people, declares the Lord, for I am your husband.”
In Jeremiah 3:20: “But like a woman unfaithful to her husband, so you have been unfaithful to Me.”
We Are God’s First Love
We are God’s 1st love, and He wants to be our 1st love and have an intimate personal relationship with us.
“God who has called you into fellowship (“koinania”) with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord is faithful.” – 1 Corinthians 1:9
“Koinania” is the Greek word for fellowship. It means “the closest possible fellowship and intimacy with God. And complete oneness and unity with God. And a partnership with God in His kingdom work and mission.”
In order to have this type of intimacy with God, there are some vital keys to intimacy with God that we have to have. Here are the first 4 keys to intimacy with God.
Keys to Intimacy With God – #1 – Commitment & Faithfulness
Deuteronomy 5:7-9 “You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God…”
Revelation 2:4-5 “Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first. Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place.”
Psalm 100:5 “For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.”
1 Chronicles 28:9 “And you, my son Solomon, acknowledge the God of your father, and serve him with wholehearted devotion and with a willing mind, for the LORD searches every heart and understands every desire and every thought. If you seek him, he will be found by you; but if you forsake him, he will reject you forever.”
Fully Devoted To Jesus
Acts 2:42 “They devoted themselves to…”
The Greek word for devoted literally means to “latch on and refuse to let go”. They were not religious people devoted to a religion or a church or to doing religious things. The early disciples & church “latched on” to Jesus and fully committed themselves to Him. Even though they had to sacrifice much and even suffer for Him. And many of them died because they followed Jesus and did everything He commanded them to do. All of the apostles except John died following and obeying Jesus. And others like Steven and Paul died also.
God is fully devoted and committed and faithful to us. And His love is an unfailing, forever loyal love. He wants us to be fully devoted and committed to Him in return. And to love Him as He loves us. Would a marriage be very good if only 1 of the 2 people were totally committed to the other ? Our relationship with God will not be very good if we are not as committed to Him as He is to us
Keys to Intimacy With God – #2 – Love
Deuteronomy 6:5 says “Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.”
John 15:13 “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”
1 Timothy 1:12-14 “I thank Christ Jesus our LORD, who has given me strength, that he considered me trustworthy, appointing me to his service. Even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief. The grace of our LORD was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.”
2 Corinthians 5:9, 14-15 ” So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it… For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.”
Luke 9:23 “Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.”
Galatians 2:20 “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”
Love For God
1 John 5:3 “In fact, this is love for God: to keep his commands. And his commands are not burdensome.”
Psalm 91:14-16 “Because he loves me,” says the LORD, “I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name. He will call on me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him. With long life I will satisfy him and show him my salvation.”
The Greek word “agape” (New Testament) for Love means “unconditional & sacrificial love”, which Jesus demonstrated when He suffered and died on the cross to pay for the sins of the ones He loved. God wants us to love Him and others in the same way He loves us… sacrificially and unconditionally.
In Part 2 we will discover the next 3 keys to intimacy with God.
Pursuing Intimacy With God
Pursuing Intimacy With God is committed to helping you with the most important thing in your life… your intimacy with God , your fellowship with Him, and your partnership with God in His Kingdom work & mission.
There are hundreds of Bible verses and great truths & promises in the Pursuing Intimacy With God studies book
** New Expanded Edition of Pursuing Intimacy With God Bible Studies Book – 40% more material
Pursuing Intimacy With God ebook Kindle version
Salvation: The Requirements for True Salvation
More Links
Preview the Pursuing Intimacy With God Studies Book
Jesus Christ Is The Source of Abundant Life
Can You Personally Know God – Part 2
Hearing God’s Voice – Vital for Intimacy With God
Hinderances To Hearing God’s Voice
You Can Learn to Hear God’s Voice
What Is Prayer ? God’s Purpose For Prayer
The Desires of God’s Heart – Part 2
The Greatest Desire of God’s Heart
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