Intimacy with God: Building a Deeply Personal Relationship with Your Father

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.

Matthew 22 · chapter mention

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

Psalms 119:105

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.