Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Intimacy with Christ

What an amazing year this has been! I say that every year, at least it seems so, but this year bounded in with so much potential and yet great struggle. Why is that so? The world is in chaos, well, some don’t think so but we know that the world is in chaos, just look at the news. There are many interruptions in health, weather, finances, and even religion. Who is speaking to us today? We are hearing lots of voices and many are trying to sway us from our designated path of faith. They have some good arguments but they also promote lots of lies. The truth is not in them. The Lord told us that we would have many false teachers in the last days. Well, all that the Word has spoken about the last days is happening right now. On Friday mornings I am in a ladies Bible study and we are reading through the book of Isaiah. Oh my goodness how revealing this has been! Isaiah spoke as if he lived in this century, at this hour. He was speaking of Israel and all that the people of God were experiencing but you can see this country all through the message. I want to share some scriptures from that study and also encourage all of us to draw close to the Lord. That is where our strength, courage and great faith will abound because the days ahead will be challenging. We must develop an intimate relationship with Jesus. A deep abiding personal relationship where we hear Him and He hears us and we communicate on a deeper level than we have ever done. It is so needed for us to walk in victory through the last days. I am reminded of the need I had when I met Charley and we began talking about spending our lives together. I wanted to know him, his likes, his dislikes, his desires for the future, his goals, his hurts and his challenges. As we progressed in our relationship we began to see what made each other tick and how to interact with each other. After we married then we began to know each other in an intimate deep abiding and personal way. That has grown over 44 years of marriage, valleys and mountain tops and it continues to grow. How do you learn all of this? By communication! He talks and I listen. I talk and he listens. We share our deepest thoughts and ideas. That is how we have an intimate relationship with our Lord Jesus. We talk and He listens. He talks and we listen. We read His Word, His messages to us, from Genesis to Revelation, His message to us is powerful, cutting into our heart and taking out all the impurities and leaving us with refined silver and gold. That is how I see it and that is how it is with me. I want to have that purification process happen within my life. The scriptures I wanted to share are to encourage and bless you. Please go and read them for yourself. Time spent in God’s Word is never wasted time but so important for building the foundation that you will stand on for eternity. Praise God!!!

Isaiah 5:20-21 Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight!

And this passage that means so much to us!

Isaiah 6:1-8 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple. Above it stood seraphim; each one had six wings with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one cried to another and said: Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory!” And the posts of the door were shaken by the voice of him who cried out, and the house was filled with smoke. So I said: “Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.” Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a live coal which he had taken with the tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth with it, and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your iniquity is taken away, and your sin purged.” Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying: “Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?” Then I said, “Here am I! Send me.”

Isaiah 33:5-6 The Lord is exalted, for He dwells on high; He has filled Zion with justice and righteousness. Wisdom and knowledge will be the stability of your times, and the strength of salvation; the fear of the Lord is His treasure.

Isaiah 35:1-4 The wilderness and the wasteland shall be glad for them, and the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose; it shall blossom abundantly and rejoice, even with joy and singing. The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it, the excellence of Carmel and Sharon. They shall see the glory of the Lord, the excellency of our God. Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees. Say to those who are fearful-hearted, “Be strong, do not fear! Behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God; He will come and save you”.

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