INTIMACY

Verse of the week: Psalm 100: 1-2;5

 Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth. Worship the Lod with gladness; come before him with joyful  songs…For the Lord is good and His love endures forever; His faithfulness continues through all generations.

How do you react when you hear the word intimacy? Is it something that scares you, or a comforting thought? While intimacy does include opening ourselves up to potential hurt, there’s also a deep connection that forms the foundation of what intimacy is.

While intimacy may be scary, it’s pros well outweigh its cons. And guess what? God desires intimacy with you.

This is made extremely clear in the Bible’s account of the Last Supper. This was the last time Jesus would gather with His disciples, fully knowing He would soon be going to His death (You can read the full account in John 13).

Jesus even comments on His betrayal at the dinner, and He still shows up with love. Even while He is experiencing betrayal, He actually learns into intimacy. He doesn’t isolate. Jesus loves everyone, but always has a way of making us feel like we’re the focus of His attention. He does this by inviting John to actually come over and rest on His chest – physical touch.

As a society, we need some serious rewiring around touch. Most people equate touch with romantic relationship, and so we shy away from any other form of touching. This actually causes us to want way too much romantic touch because we don’t receive enough appropriate familial touch. We end up in a very touch-deprived state.

But for those who have ever had a hand placed on their shoulder, or a nice warm hug, you know that touch brings peace. Now imagine the overwhelming peace when it’s Jesus inviting  you into His presence.

Now this is the “Worship” series, not the “Touch” series, so let’s dive into intimacy and worship, and how we can actually enter the peaceful presence of God. Psalm 100 tells us to, “make a joyful shout to the Lord.” This means that verbal action is required to step into the manifest presence of God – worship is required for intimacy.

John 15:14-15 shows Jesus’ challenge of His closest followers to intimacy. Jesus calls us friend, but requires obedience. Let’s be clear – God’s salvation is free – if you believe in Him, you will have eternal life in heaven. It’s not based on what you do. But intimacy is. If we want to get to intimacy with God, we need to plan an intentional path to lay ourselves down and surrender to Him.

See, hands-up heart-open worship is not a church style, it’s a Bible style. You need an intentional move to step into His presence, whether that be by lifting our voice, or physically lifting our hands. Otherwise, we can stay on the outside and miss His intimacy.

How are you making an intentional step into intimacy with God this week?

Make sure to check out the full message below!