#Day156: 5 June 2016, Sunday

INTIMACY WITH GOD

By: Dr. Cicilia Gunawan
Praise & Worship by HITS

Psalm 84:1-8 about Intimacy with God

In our life, a lot of time when we had a long walk, slowly but sure we will be tired, exhausted, and slowling down and sometimes stop.

The same with our spiritual life. A lot of time we fell short and gets tired with all of the things we do, our serving, prayers, and worst, we stop.

But we know that we need to be at the opposite! We need to keep the same speed continuously! We need to continuously be fruitful.

There are 3 steps that we can do to achieve that:

1. Be near to God:

• Psalm 84:3,11 - 3. Even the sparrow finds a home, and the swallow builds her nest and raises her young at a place near your altar, O  Lord of Heaven’s Armies, my King and my God!  11. For the Lord God is our sun and our shield. He gives us grace and glory. The Lord will withhold no good thing from those who do what is right.
• In this era of living, outside Church or Sunday Service, we are far from God. We tend to be busy with our work, hobbies, gadgets. Very rare we think about His Words.
• A lot of us prefer to forget something else (i.e wallet, books, etc) rather than our mobile phones. If only we have similar urge not to miss our bible, His Words.
• God wants us to always be with Him. Near Him. And always remember at the end of days, we will be evaluate based on His Words not based on earthly law.
• John 15:5 - The vine and the branches. The branches need to always stick to the vine in order to grow.

2. In ALL circumstances, Give Thanks:

• Psalm 84:5 "What joy for those whose strength comes from the Lord..."
• Life is full of ups and downs. There is no such things that life will never give challenges. There will always be sadness, griefing, happiness, stress, joy, crisis, relationship challenge, etc. That is life!
• But the most important thing is, will you choose to rejoice in the Lord, always?
• 1 Tes 5:18 "Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus".
• James 1:2-4 "Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing"
• There is a physical as well as mental impact of not being able to give thanks (lack of gratitude). Stress will increase, health will reduce.
• The same for spiritual life, lack of gratitude will cause us withdrawn from Him.

3. Trust in the Lord - Always depend on Him

• Psalm 84:6-7 "When they walk through the Valley of Weeping, it will become a place of refreshing springs. The autumn rains will clothe it with blessings. They will continue to grow stronger, and each of them will appear before God in Jerusalem"
• We are limited, He is unlimited!! He is the true God the creator and owner of the universe.
• “But blessed are those who trust in the Lord and have made the Lord their hope and confidence" - Jeremiah 17:7
• Hagai 2:9 The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.

Are we ready? Do we want to continously ready?

Another day full of blessing.

#fgccmalaysia #uplifting #intimacywithgod