Tag: union with Christ

Jesus is an Intimacy Junkie

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Jesus is an intimacy junkie. That is my latest discovery. [Written 2-6-2009.] I have been studying a lot on love lately: Pastor Eric Vernelson’s Song of Songs series, The Shulammite by Michael Walsh, Unquenchable Fire by Teresa Eklund, Basilea Schlink’s “Bridal Love” and “Jesus Christ: The True Bridegroom” and currently Love – the Law of the Angels by Gwen Shaw. Then there is the very deep one: The Song of Songs A Mystical Exposition by Father Juan Arintero. I am finding a Savior who doesn’t just tell us to “pour out our longings” for our sake. No, Jesus craves the deep sharing of the human heart. He so wants us to come to Him with all that is in us: our desires, our dreams, what we do understand or don’t, what pains us, our struggles, the intricacies of our relationships, our successes, our failures, our victorious abiding, our sin. He delights, even burns, to know us at the most transparent level. When you begin to see this, you will run to Him as no human relationship compares with the intimate union that is available in Christ. It is so worth investing the hours alone with Jesus to know and be known by Him. As we give Him more of ourselves (the communication of our hearts), He reveals more of Himself (His heart). Truly, this is what fires passion. Truly, this is where the treasure is.

Psalms 142:2 (TPT)

I spill out my heart to you and tell you all my troubles.

Psalms 34:17 (TPT)

Yet when holy lovers of God cry out to him with all their hearts, the Lord will hear them and come to rescue them from all their troubles.

Psalms 62:8 (TPT)

Trust only in God every moment! Tell him all your troubles and pour out your heart-longings to him. Believe me when I tell you—he will help you! Pause in his presence

Psalms 62:2 (TPT)

He alone is my safe place; his wraparound presence always protects me. For he is my champion defender; there’s no risk of failure with God. So why would I let worry paralyze me, even when troubles multiply around me?

Psalms 9:9 (TPT)

All who are oppressed may come to Yahweh as a high shelter in the time of trouble, a perfect hiding place.

INTIMACY or “into me You see” is a key part of the way out! Thus, and as we obey Him: “into Thee we see” in turn. The gaining of Christ is the Prize of prizes.

Amplified Bible Heb. 4:15-16

15 For we do not have a High Priest who is unable to sympathize and understand our weaknesses and temptations, but One who has been tempted [knowing exactly how it feels to be human] in every respect as we are, yet without [committing any] sin. 16 Therefore let us [with privilege] approach the throne of grace [that is, the throne of God’s gracious favor] with confidence and without fear, so that we may receive mercy [for our failures] and find [His amazing] grace to help in time of need [an appropriate blessing, coming just at the right moment].

The Vantage Point of God: the Key to Operating from the Heart of God

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“God looks at us differently than when we look at us. His love isn’t just what saves us; it’s how God sees us. We see what we are and what we’ve done. He sees what He intended and what we can become if we’ll surrender to Him.” 

—Zack Hensley from his sermon notes, “Rediscovering Abiding Love,” (forerunnerchurch.com)

So I give you a new commandment: Love each other just as much as I have loved you. For when you demonstrate the same love I have for you by loving one another, everyone will know that you are My true followers. (John 13:34-35 TPT)

It’s noteworthy that Brian Simmons in his Passion Translation uses the phrase “my old identity” when writing of what was co-crucified on the cross with Jesus such that we can live as new moral creatures in Christ. The verse reads, “My old identity has been crucified with Christ and no longer lives. And now the essence of this new life is no longer mine, for the Anointed One lives his life through me—we live in union as one! My new life is empowered by the faith of the Son of God who loves me so much that he gave himself for me, dispensing His life into mine!” (Galatians 2:20 TPT) Right identity or thinking of ourselves and others in terms of God’s whole new creation reality is key to flowing in an unrestricted way from the loving heart of God. Holding to God’s vantage point is vital to experiencing the freedom to love with agape or charity as the King James words it. 

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