Advancement Through Intimacy

     I am going to start this post off with a statement that I want you to internalize. Jesus can use anyone or anything, but it is only those who wholeheartedly yield themselves to Him in covenant relationship that He can manifest Himself through.  We are called to a higher purpose than to just be used.  We are called to be representatives of the kingdom of God.

     Jesus made an interesting series of statements in the book of Matthew chapter 7:13-23. In this section of scripture He is specifically dealing with the true verses the false.  He then boils it down to something very simple in vs. 23 in saying, “I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; Depart from me, you who practice lawlessness.’”  It is pretty heavy if you sit back and think about it for a moment. We could spend our days working for God and doing things without ever having an intimate relationship with Him. What I am attempting to do for you in this series of post is to help you be grounded in intimate fellowship first with our Father, then with one another since it is the only pathway to true kingdom development.

     Intimacy is the pathway by which we attain advancement in the kingdom of God. You may advance in this world in a number of ways, but it is not the foundation of the kingdom. True lasting purpose is established in intimacy and advancement comes out of that foundational relationship.

     It is through the gospel of John that we glimpse into the heart of the Father found in the ministry of Christ.  John uses many word pictures to describe the intimate relationship that our Father wants us to have with Him. We are pictured as sheep that intimately know His voice (John 10:27). The gospel of John gives us a visible picture of the intimacy Christ had with His disciples, calling them His friends (John 15:15). They ate together, served together, laughed together, prayed together, and worshipped together. John himself reclined his head upon Christ’s chest at one point during the Last Supper (John 13:23).

     In John chapter 14 we see the role of the Spirit in teaching, guiding, empowering and living in us. In John chapter 15 we then see the correlation between obedient abiding in Him and the power of spiritual growth produced by that life.  It is expansion by abiding.  It is then in John chapter 17 that we see the highest order of intimacy and that is oneness. 

     Have you ever been around a couple that have been married for many years and have actually worked at covenant relationship?  If you have then you have witnessed their oneness.  A couple of this maturity will display the oneness that cannot be accomplished any other way, but through long-term intimacy.  In the same way we are to be intertwined with the nature of Christ so that we are not working for Him, but simply manifesting the nature within us.  Our lives simply become an overflow of our relationship with Him.  If we build on any other foundation, then one day, we will find ourselves working for something other than the kingdom of God.  Our primary purpose must be intimacy and everything else is simply the overflow of divine love.

     Practicing lawlessness is a result of pursuing purpose without intimacy. It is trying to fulfill our calling in our own way and using our gifts with selfish-ambition.  We are doing the work, but we have forgotten the Lord over the work.  Desiring to succeed is an ambition we should have, however it is not for ambitions sake alone, but to accomplish the will of the Father. When we keep the focus of our lives to be in intimate relationship with our Father then we will find our motives and desires coming into alignment with His will.  Simple obedience will be our hearts desire. Intimacy will enable you to:

• Align to the purpose of God.
• Keep your motives pure.
• Work for the right reasons.
• Have the proper type of ambition and motivation.

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