Intimacy with God

Intro: I have said many times that the O. T. was as important for us today as it was for those to whom it was written. It was written for our admonition. 1 Corinthians 10:11 (NLT)  These things happened to them as examples for us. They were written down to warn us who live at the end of the age.

1 Chronicles 28:9-10 (NLT)

V:9a “And Solomon, my son, learn to know the God of your ancestors intimately.” Some describe intimacy with the phrase "into me see." It’s more than just head knowledge. Even the demons have head knowledge of God and Jesus. James 2:19 (NLT)  You say you have faith, for you believe that there is one God. Good for you! Even the demons believe this, and they tremble in terror.

Intimacy with God means to know Him in depth, knowing many different aspects of His person, like trust, what He likes and dislikes, how He will respond in different situations, because of the many experiences you've shared with Him. Intimacy takes time to learn! It starts with a desire to really know Him more than just a surface relationship. It’s sharing your time and life with Him. Learn To like what He likes and do what He does. All saved people have not same closeness to God. Intimacy is work!

V:9b Worship and serve him with your whole heart and a willing mind. Intimacy with God involves worship- adoration, reverence, and respect for who He is! He’s not the old man upstairs!

This is one of the main reasons for church. Worship involves obedience! Worship must be with whole heart and willing mind, not forced or coerced. A. W. Tozer, once regarded as a prophet of the 20th century, said, “True worship is to be so personally and hopelessly in love with God, that the idea of a transfer of affection never even remotely exists.”

Exodus 20:3 (NKJV) You shall have no other gods before Me.

Intimacy with God involves service of some kind. There is some way we can all serve God. All of us can develop our willingness and ability to help. He has given each of us a gift with which to serve Him. Romans 12:4-8 (NKJV) 

⁴ For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function,
⁵ so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another.
⁶ Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith;
⁷ or ministry, let us use it in our ministering; he who teaches, in teaching;
⁸ he who exhorts, in exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.

Jesus gave us the command to pray to the Lord of the harvest for laborers to be sent forth into the fields. We can all pray for this church, prayer list and pastor. Pray For lost souls to be saved here in this place. Pray we would do God’s will. Must be done with your whole heart, no reservations, not halfway, and you must have a willing mind. Don’t serve God because you have to, but because you are willing to do what He says. Service for the Lord brings you closer to Him.

V:9b For the Lord sees every heart and knows every plan and thought.

God knows your attitude and motive for each thing you do. What does God see when He looks at your heart? Hebrews 4:13 (NLT)  Nothing in all creation is hidden from God. Everything is naked and exposed before His eyes, and He is the one to whom we are accountable. All will be judged! Not just on what we have done, but our attitude and reason for what we have done.

V:9c If you seek him, you will find him. But if you forsake him, he will reject you forever.
Intimacy with God involves putting Him first and seeking to know Him more than anything else. Philippians 3:8-11 (NLT) ⁸ Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ ⁹ and become one with him. Whole hearted commitment!

If you can reject Jesus and walk away from Him, then God will reject you forever.

V:10 So take this seriously. The Lord has chosen you to build a Temple as his sanctuary. Be strong, and do the work.” Solomon was to build God a place to dwell among His people. God now dwells in us.

All activities of building a temple should be to prepare for the reception of God's presence in all His glory. We are to be one with Him, He is to control our every thought, word, and action. Ephesians 2:20-22 (NLT) ²⁰ Together, we are his house, built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. And the cornerstone is Christ Jesus himself.

²¹ We are carefully joined together in him, becoming a holy temple for the Lord.
²² Through him you Gentiles are also being made part of this dwelling where God lives by his Spirit.

1 Corinthians 6:19 (NLT)  Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, ²⁰ for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body. We are to prepare our hearts for the fullness of God’s presence in our daily lives. It is a continual work until the day we die.

Invitation: How intimate are you with God? How much do you experience Him in your everyday life? Would you be willing to confess you don’t know God as much as you should? You are not as close to God as you want to be? God wants you to have the closest of relationships with you so He can reveal more of Himself to you. Are you willing to start seeking God as He wants you to?

You can never be close to God without asking Jesus God’s Son to forgive your sins and save you.