Category Archives: Intimacy with God

The Romans Challenge: Bigger, Bigger, and Bigger God

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“Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.”
‭‭Romans‬ ‭11‬:‭33‬, ‭36‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Since I am a Missouri Girl, it means one thing with regard to the ocean. I don’t get to see it that much… Every once in a blue moon, my husband and I take a trip to the coast and I find myself standing there staring at the ocean. It is amazing to me how BIG it is. Looking at a globe, seeing pictures, or even seeing it from a distance, cannot compare to standing there with your toes in sand as the waves are crashing on your ankles, gazing straight out to sea.

This is how it is in my relationship with God. When I have only heard about Him, maybe read a few Scriptures or heard a good sermon, He seems somewhat large, BUT when I am experiencing Him by hearing Him speak, seeing His miracles, or watching Him do things I could never do, He becomes bigger and bigger, until His greatness just blows me away!

Have You ever dove into the ocean of God’s great Word and explored knowing Him? Have You ever thought about the depths of His love or the vastness of His goodness? These are “the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God!”

Years ago, I was reading a Bible story to my kids and I stopped to tell them that God was like the ocean, He wants us to dive in and explore and grow in our knowledge of Him. Then I distinctly heard the Holy Spirit say, “Yes, and you are content to sit on the shore dangling your toes on the edge…”.

We were created for the adventure of KNOWING Him! “For from Him” God made all of creation to show us Himself. “For through Him”… God is the One who sustains us and everything around us. We cannot do anything without Him. “For to Him”… God is to be glorified in our lives. This life is not about you or me. It is all about Him! If we try to make it anything less, we will live outside of His purpose and we will be discontented, discouraged, and eventually destroyed by our pursuit of “self” and selfish ways.

Where are You in relating to God. As you experience Him in a relationship, is He becoming BIGGER and BIGGER and BIGGER in your life. Or is He simply an occasional thought? Are you like I was years ago, “dangling your toes on the edge” of His vastness? You and I are meant for more! Dive in! Let the adventure begin!

The Romans Challenge: The Kindness and Severity of God

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“Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God’s kindness to you, provided you continue in his kindness. Otherwise you too will be cut off.”
‭‭Romans‬ ‭11‬:‭22‬ ‭ESV‬

When we think about God and use the words “Kindness” and “Severity” to describe Him, it seems like we are contradicting ourselves. How can the two exist in a perfect and complete person? The very thought of a severe God or a God of judgement makes many cringe. “God is love.” How can a God who is perfect in love judge and punish?

What we tend to forget is the destructiveness of sin. Sin destroys! It brings nothing but death, darkness, and destruction into our lives. It separates us from God. God knows this. He is perfect, or complete, or Holy. He cannot have imperfection within Himself. He cannot have sin.

God’s deepest desire if for us to experience Him in relationship. He wants for us to be connected to Him and intimate with Him. His desire is for our good. He wants us to be happy in Him. BUT He also knows that sin will keep us from all of this, because sin keeps us from Him.

God’s severity is against sin. He HATES sin! Because He is completely holy (perfect in every way), He must be completely just (upright, honest, true, etc…) The same God who is love and acts only from love also is just and acts only with justice. This justice is exact or “severe.” However, even in judgement God is always working good and He is always judging out of love. His judgements and severity are against the very things that will destroy us. They are against the very things that separate us from Him.

There is a place where God’s kindness and His severity meet — the Cross of Jesus. It was there that Jesus took the punishment we deserve in order for God to be completely just. It was on the Cross that God’s complete kindness towards us was displayed. When Jesus took our punishment, it was so we could experience all of God’s goodness towards us. What is required of us? TO BELIEVE. It is faith in Jesus that gives us the right standing with God.

Jesus we thank You for paying the price for our sin. Thank You for the Cross you bore and the punishment You took for us. Thank You for providing the way for us to receive Your great gift of salvation by faith alone. You did it all! Your kindness and severity have met and we are free when we come to You! We love You! In Jesus Name!

The Romans Challenge: Grafted In

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“If some of the branches have been broken off, and you, though a wild olive shoot, have been grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing sap from the olive root, do not consider yourself to be superior to those other branches. If you do, consider this: You do not support the root, but the root supports you.”
‭‭Romans‬ ‭11‬:‭17‬-‭18‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Long ago Abraham received a promise from God of an everlasting covenant. “I will…be your God.” (Genesis 17:7) God established relationship with him and his descendants forever. God chose His people. God also promised Abraham that “all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” (Genesis 12:3)

You and I (as non Jewish believers) are like a “wild olive shoot” that has been attached or grafted in to the true olive tree which is that same promise/ covenant that God made to Abraham.

Because of Jesus, we belong to God. We are attached to Him! We receive from Him all that we need to live life as God’s people. We are “grafted in” to Him. To be “grafted in” is to be inserted into a body to which it did not originally belong. (Websters 1828) All of us were separated from God. But He has taken us and attached us to Himself. We now live our lives not on our own, but supported by Him.

I love this imagery. It teaches us a truth. “Without Jesus, we can do nothing.” We need to live our lives attached and connected to Him, depending on Him for everything! When we do we will experience relationship with Him and we will live in His blessing.

Father, help us to know what it truly is to live connected to You… “grafted in.” We know that Jesus came so we could experience a relationship of oneness with You — attached, united, connected, indivisible, and inseparable from You. Your desire is for us to receive Your “nourishment” and to be supported by You. We are not meant to live apart from You. This connected relationship is new to us. It’s not something we understand because all we have known in our lives is the separation that sin caused. But we desire to know You and experience You in this relationship You have provided for us more and more each day. In Jesus name!

The Romans Challenge: The Plan

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“But if their transgression means riches for the world, and their loss means riches for the Gentiles, how much greater riches will their full inclusion bring!”
‭‭Romans‬ ‭11‬:‭12‬ ‭NIV‬‬

God always has a plan! We may not see where all the things in our lives are going, but He does. He is sovereign. He is over all. He is in control.

Everything this happened to Jesus when He walked here on earth was no surprise to God at all. The reaction of the Jewish leaders and the rejection of Jesus were all a part of God’s plan. We know this because there is prophecy after prophecy in the Old Testament that told us exactly what would happen. In fact the Jewish people of Jesus’s time “transgression (sin of rejecting Jesus) means riches for the world…” heavenly ones for us! Had Jesus not been rejected and crucified, resurrection would not have occurred and salvation would not have been provided for us all!

Although I do not understand the full impact of this statement, I know a time is coming that God will do a great work in His people the Jews. And we will all be blessed by the “greater riches … their full inclusion (will) bring!” In Jesus, we will all be one!

God is at work in all things according to His plan!

This is a source of comfort to me in my life. When everything seems to be going sideways in my own personal life, I can know God has been, is now, and forever will be in control! He is working all things according to His will. He started His plan before the creation of the world. He knew how it would go and will go. He cares about the smallest of details. I can trust Him!

The Romans Challenge: The Word is Near

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“But the righteousness that is by faith says: “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’ ” (that is, to bring Christ down) “or ‘Who will descend into the deep?’ ” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). But what does it say? “The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,” that is, the message concerning faith that we proclaim:”
‭‭Romans‬ ‭10‬:‭6‬-‭8‬ ‭NIV‬‬

In 1987, the Rock band U2 recorded a song “I Still Haven’t Found what I’m Lookin For.” Its lyrics remind of this verse.

“I have climbed highest mountains
I have run through the fields
Only to be with you
Only to be with you
I have run
I have crawled
I have scaled these city walls
These city walls
Only to be with you.

But I still haven’t found what I’m looking for…”.

People are looking for truth. They are looking for peace. They are looking for the connection to someone greater… God. The problem is we feel like if we “ascend into heaven” or “descend into the deep”, we will somehow be able to make that connection. Or as U2’s song speaks of, doing all these great feats, we will finally achieve the goal. But, somehow we end up empty realizing, that we “still haven’t found what I’m looking for…” or EMPTY!

God is not like that. He says, “The Word is near you…” The Word is intimate, united in close ties of affection… as a close friend (Websters 1828)

John 1:1 tells us that Jesus is the Word of God made flesh. The Word is an expression that shows what is in the heart. What we speak reveals what is in us. God spoke when He sent His Word, Jesus, to show us what was in His heart toward us. This very Word made flesh, Jesus, is near us. He is intimate. He desires to be tied to us with great affection as a close friend.

We do not have to wander around looking for some truth or temporary joy to fill us. We can find what we are looking for in Jesus. We can receive God’s communication of Himself, His Word — Jesus, into our lives by faith. We can KNOW that He is near and that He is intimately acquainted with us as a Friend.

“The Word is near” us. May we receive Him by faith, and KNOW Him by pursuing a relationship with Him. This is His desire. It is what we were made for.

The Romans Challenge: Checking Off Boxes

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“Brothers and sisters, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they may be saved. For I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge.”
‭‭Romans‬ ‭10‬:‭1‬-‭2‬ ‭NIV‬‬

It is possible to do all the right “religious” things and miss the most important thing… relationship.

The Jews of Paul’s time did just that. They were “zealous for God, but their zeal {was} not based on knowledge.” The word zeal in this verse suggests a firey passion. They worked very hard to do everything that they thought would please God, but they missed the most important thing… the condition of their spiritual hearts.

We are no different. We can spend our lifetime “checking off the boxes” in terms of religion. Attend church… check. Read the Bible… check. Pray a prayer… check. Do a good dead… check. ETC. BUT, Our hearts can be FAR from God.

The whole point of Jesus coming was to fulfill all the “religious” requirements. He came so we could have relationship. Performance… “checking the box”… is a cold and dead religion. Jesus wants us to experience a relationship that is alive. He wants us to KNOW Him! This kind of know is more intimate than what we can experience with our spouse. It is more loving than a mother with a child. It is deeply personal.

Being zealous for God is a good thing! It is a firey passion, but this firey passion is based off of relationship. If it is just for “checking the boxes”, legalism, pride, and death will be the result.

Are you “checking the box?” Or is your relationship with God ALIVE? God is not looking for dead religion. He wants our hearts!

The Romans Challenge: The Patience of God

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“What if God, although choosing to show his wrath and make his power known, bore with great patience the objects of his wrath—prepared for destruction? What if he did this to make the riches of his glory known to the objects of his mercy, whom he prepared in advance for glory— even us, whom he also called, not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles?”
‭‭Romans‬ ‭9‬:‭22‬-‭24‬ ‭NIV‬‬

For many years, I struggled with the concept of the wrath of God. It seemed like God was an angry God, and that He was looking for the perfect opportunity to throw some lightening bolts toward us for messing up. What a lie I believed! God is a patient God!

In order to understand God’s patience, it is helpful to truly understand the nature of sin. Sin divides and separate us from God. This is because God is holy. He cannot have sin within Himself. Sin is like a spiritual cancer. It destroys our lives and will eventually kill us. Sin brings nothing but death, darkness, and destruction to our lives. God hates sin! This is because sin keeps us from being in a relationship that is close and connected to Him. God will eventually eradicate sin from our world when He comes in His judgement. He will end the pain and suffering sin has produced. He will make all things new. But for now He is patient in His longing to destroy evil. Why? Because He wants “to make the riches of his glory known to the objects of his mercy…”

He wants us to know Him. He has patiently waited for us to come to Him so He can have the opportunity to reveal Himself to us. God’s glory is the sum total of His attributes. It is who He is. He wants us to know—experience intimately— who He is. He wants us to know His perfect love. He wants us to experience His complete joy. He wants us to be intimately acquainted with His perfect peace.

We are the “objects of His mercy.” God’s mercy — His tenderness of His heart, His benevolence, His willingness to overlook our offenses (forgive) — is directed towards us! His plan for us is for us to know Him and through that knowledge, we will become like Him. We will display Him to those around us. We will make Him known. This is what God desires for us and intends for us. This is why He patiently waits for us to come!

God is continually holding out the opportunity for us to KNOW Him! Jesus provided all that we needed to be able to come close to God through His death, burial, and resurrection. God has given us the Holy Spirit to dwell inside of us so we can experience Him every moment of every day. God has given us His Word so we can learn about His character, His desires, and who He is. He patiently waits for us to come to Him and experience His glory — who He is!

Thank You Father for Your patience. We know Your desire is to end the suffering that sin has brought, and You wait patiently to execute your just judgements. This is because You desire for everyone to KNOW You! Help us to truly desire to know You more and to make You known to everyone You place in or path! In Jesus name!

The Romans Challenge: The Children of the Promise

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“In other words, it is not the children by physical descent who are God’s children, but it is the children of the promise who are regarded as Abraham’s offspring.”
‭‭Romans‬ ‭9‬:‭8‬ ‭NIV‬‬

As my kids were growing up, my husband and I took them to church faithfully. We talked about God often. I read them Bible stories and worked with them on memorizing Scripture. In all of this, I told them. I can tell you about God, but I cannot give you a relationship with God. You MUST get that relationship on your own.

The Jewish people thought they had the “in” with God. They were blood descendants with the Fathers of their faith. But they were missing something… relationship with God. This is not something they could receive as a physical inheritance. They had to receive the relationship by faith. “The children of the promise” are the ones who are “regarded as Abraham’s offspring.” 

“If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.”
‭‭Galatians‬ ‭3‬:‭29‬ ‭NIV‬‬

When we come to Christ and accept Him as our Savior, we enter into a relationship with God. We become His child. We receive His promise of salvation for those who believe. We are “the children of the promise.” Our relationship with God as His child is not through a human pedigree or our personal efforts to live the best we can. It is not our own doing at all (no jumping through hoops). It is not the result of our relationship with our mom, dad, grandpa, or grandma (we don’t have to be biologically related to the right person.) Relationship with God comes from a personal faith — one on one. We believe and then we simply receive what God promised to us!

The promise is simply this:

“If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”
‭‭Romans‬ ‭10‬:‭9‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Thank You God for the simplicity of Your Good News! Relationship with You is received through faith in Your promise!

The Romans Challenge: Child of God

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“The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.”
‭‭Romans‬ ‭8‬:‭15‬-‭16‬ ‭NIV‬‬

My grandchildren are precious to me. When they come over to my house and snuggle up on my lap for a time of being held, I am totally enamored with the feelings I experience. My love for them wells up inside of me. The conversations about what is important in their world — legos, “Sonic the Hedgehog”, and Dr. Seuss books — happen. It is beautiful to me. It is a reminder of all the times I had with my own kids as they were growing up, when my world revolved around their world.

God feels this way about us. When we received Jesus and His Holy Spirit came to live in us, we were adopted by God. We have the full rights of a child of God. We can approach Him, not as a lowly slave, but as His very own sons and daughters. In fact, the Holy Spirit enables us to cry out to our Heavenly Father as “Abba, Father” which in Hebrew means “Daddy.”

I have to admit that calling God “Daddy” almost seems scandalous to me. It feels a little awkward. That’s probably because of all the years I have lived not in full awareness of my new position in Christ. Instead of listening to the Holy Spirit testifying to my spirit that I am indeed God’s Girl”, I have lived identified with an identity as a slave to fear.

Fear is an uneasiness of mind that focuses on the thoughts of a future of evil that is likely to befall us. (Websters 1828 Dictionary) Living our lives focused on ourselves will lead us to nothing but fear. This is slavery… bondage. We were made for connection and focus, not on ourselves but on someone greater than us — God. We were made for relationship connected to Him by faith and love.

When we understand that we have been adopted by God, accepting this adoption by faith— believing and trusting what God has said is true — we will experience His love. We will see that all of God’s will is focused on our good. He desires to benefit and prosper us in everything. We will experience what my grandson does when he crawls up on my lap and tells me about all the little boy stuff that is important to him. We will see that God wants us to do the same. He is our Heavenly Daddy who wants us to crawl up on His lap and pour out our hearts to Him. (Psalm 62:8) He loves us and wants us to experience Him in close and intimate relationship.

God longs for us to come to Him like children — in total dependence upon Him. He desires for us to totally obey Him and submit to Him as our Daddy. He wants us to know that as Our Heavenly Daddy His plans for us will always be good. He will always be working things out for our good. Everything He does is good.

We do not have to dwell in slavery to fear of impending evil and doom. We have been adopted by God whose very nature is goodness and love. He holds us close. We are His children the ones He loves.

“I am no longer a slave to fear… I am a child of God”

The Romans Challenge: The New Life in Christ

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“Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death.”
‭‭Romans‬ ‭8‬:‭1‬-‭2‬ ‭NIV‬‬

The New Life we have been given by Jesus is a gift like no other! We can leave behind the old way we used to live and experience God in a deep and intimate relationship.

No condemnation! Such beautiful words! We have been set free! When we understand just how much we have been forgiven, we become overwhelmed with just how much this freedom from sin and death means!

Not only are we forgiven of a debt of sin we could never repay, we are taken from the position of a spiritual pauper to being positioned in a relationship with the God! Our position of being “in Christ” means we have been united with Him, which is being attached to Him and connected to Him. We are a part of Him!

He has given us His Spirit to dwell within us so we can live in victory over sin! This is as we walk “according to the Spirit.” We are guided by Holy Spirit’s counsels and His influence. (Websters 1828) When we live our lives in agreement with the Spirit, united to Him, we will experience His “life and peace.”

What we were we are no more! We are forgiven, alive, free, victorious, at peace, full of the Spirit… In Christ!