JANUARY 6: “INTIMACY WITH GOD A MATTER OF OPENNESS”

If two people are truly going to be intimate they must be willing to open up to one another. This is also known as vulnerability or transparency. Being open before God can mean honestly expressing your feelings to God, recognising His presence everywhere you are, and being readily receptive of His love. It is a great thing to know that God is ever willing to make Himself known to His covenant people.

Right from the beginning in Eden, God began to make Himself known to Adam and Eve as He often came to be with them in the garden, this gave them the opportunity to recognise both His presence and His voice Gen 3:8-10. They also knew He would be disappointed with them when they disobeyed His word, so they hid in shame and fear. He had revealed to them His pleasure and displeasure and when they did wrong, He did not hide His feelings from them

Though the fall of man affected God’s readiness to continue to make Himself known to mankind under the old covenant, but in Jesus, God decided to fully reveal Himself to us. Jesus said to Philip, whoever has seen me has seen the father, John 14:8-10. Paul says that God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Jesus, Col 1:20; that the fullness of the Godhead dwells in Him bodily Col 2:10; in Hebrews 1:3, Jesus is said to be the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His being. All of these speak to how much God is willing to make Himself known to us.

To have an open intimate relationship with God, learn to see Him as He truly is – know His character. You must also learn to see yourself the way He sees you and be willing to accept His invitation to father you. Knowing that God is all-knowing should be a good incentive to make you open to Him since you can’t hide anything from Him. He even knows you more than you know yourself Psalm 139:1-6. Therefore, when you sin, you need to confess it to Him and plead for His mercy because He saw you when you did whatever you did Prov. 28:13; 1 John 1:9

PRAYER: Pour your heart completely to the Lord, whatever wrong you have done, whatever pain you are suffering, whatever frustration you are going through, whatever joy you have, and whatever requests you have, this is intimacy with God.