Intimacy: Outline, Quotes

"O God, you are my God; I earnestly search for you. My soul thirsts for you; my whole body longs for you..." (Ps 63:1, NLT). [I is for Intimacy.]

Theme: God created us for intimacy. No one can truly live happily without it. Jesus was the happiest man who ever lived, because of his unbroken intimacy with the One who loved him.

"Some of us know at times what it is to be almost too happy to live! The love of God has been so overpoweringly experienced by us on some occasions, that we have almost had to ask for a stay of the delight because we could not endure any more. If the glory had not been veiled a little, we should have died of excess of rapture, or happiness." Charles Spurgeon.

How To Have Intimacy

1. A true knowledge of God and of ourselves (John Calvin, Institutes, Chap. 1, Sec. 1,2). "There is no deep knowing of God without a deep knowing of self and no deep knowing of self without a deep knowing of God."

How To Have Intimacy

Theme: God created us for intimacy. No one can truly live happily without it. Jesus was the happiest man who ever lived, because of his unbroken intimacy with One who loved him.

Have you ever experienced being too happy? Charles Spurgeon, the Prince of Preachers, preached a sermon entitled Prodigal Love for the Prodigal Son (or Many Kisses for Returning Sinners). The verse he based it on is "...and kissed him." (Lk 15:20). In his sermon Spurgeon said, "Some of us know at times what it is to be almost too happy to live! The love of God has been so overpoweringly experienced by us on some occasions, that we have almost had to ask for a stay of the delight because we could not endure any more. If the glory had not been veiled a little, we should have died of excess of rapture, or happiness."

As a Christian, how does one find intimacy? We need to know the following about God and man (ourselves):

Intimacy

Psalm 63:1-8; Ps 63:1, NLT

"O God, you are my God; I earnestly search for you. My soul thirsts for you; my whole body longs for you..."

Quotes for reflection: "Intimacy begins with oneself. It does no good to try to find intimacy with friends, lovers, and family if you are starting out from alienation and division within yourself." Thomas Moore (author, former Catholic monk), Care of the Soul.

“It is hard to hear God, but it is even harder not to hear God. The pain one brings upon oneself by living outside of evident reality is a greater and longer-lasting pain than the brief pain of facing it head on.” Richard Rohr.

"The dominant characteristic of an authentic spiritual life is the gratitude that flows from trust - not only for all the gifts that I receive from God, but gratitude for all the suffering. Because in that purifying experience, suffering has often been the shortest path to intimacy with God." Brennan Manning.