Thursday, January 27, 2011
END TIMES READING PLAN: Matthew 13
also may be one in Us…the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be
one just as We are one…that they may be made perfect in one…
Most people live with a devastating sense of loneliness in this life. Tragically, many peopleEND TIMES READING PLAN: Matthew 13
SCRIPTURE READING
John 17:21-23 That they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that theyalso may be one in Us…the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be
one just as We are one…that they may be made perfect in one…
live without sharing their joys and sorrows with anyone. This is not God’s plan for us.
God’s people are meant to have intimacy and unity with each other, because the Father
has permitted Jesus to pour His glory out on us now in part, and in fullness in the age to
come. Because of Jesus we can have no fear of being left to experience the mysteries and
the ups and downs of life alone.
The human heart longs for intimacy and the enemy exploits it by bringing people down
roads of false intimacy that lead to shame. God longs to be intimately connected to
broken people. It seems unimaginable that such a Great God feels this way. He trusts us
with the deep things of His heart. Intimacy is so much more than physical union; it is the
empowering confidence people have in one another that allow them to share the deepest
parts of their hearts – their hopes and dreams, their fears and failures, their feelings
and frustrations. Most people hold back in these areas because they have experienced
betrayal. Nothing hurts like intimacy exposed.
We can be sure that intimacy with Jesus is safe, He will not betray us, He will embrace us.
He will keep our secrets. Intimacy with Jesus is not one-sided, He has secrets of His own
– His plans, feelings and emotions that involve us. Psalm 25:14 The secret of the Lord is
with those who fear Him…
God has walked with us through every sin in our lives. He forgives us, feels our pain
during failure, and protects us by not disclosing the vast majority of our sin. He knows our
shameful deeds, yet believes in us and treats us with the honor we have not deserved or
earned. Now that is intimacy!
PRAYER and MEDITATION
1. Have you accepted God’s desire to have intimacy with you? Do you trust that intimacywith Jesus is safe?
2. Ask God to reveal to you things that have happened in your life that have prevented you
from feeling intimacy with Him. Ask Him to show you the truth about what happened,
where He was and how He feels about you in spite of that circumstance.
3. Thank God for His forgiveness and that He treats us well, in ways that we don’t deserve.
