The Intimate God of Love!

The depth of God’s love is revealed by His intimacy and familiarity

It has been said that the healthiest relationships are the ones that are the most intimate. A relationship where a couple finishes each other’s sentences and knows what the other is thinking before it is even uttered. The intimacy is so obvious to those around and so natural to those involved. We look at a twin and are almost confounded as to the closeness between them, marveling at the phenomena of how they almost seem to be one person. As great as all that is, think about God and how close He is to His creation. His love is more intimate than any two human beings could ever experience. God’s love is displayed throughout the Word from Genesis to Revelation and He cares so deeply for His own that He never slumber nor sleep (Psalm 121:4). God is so intimate with man that He breathed His very life into him. That love was expressed in the Person of His Son Jesus Christ.

We can never truly understand or fully explain God and His ways, but let us take a moment and see how familiar God is with us that He knows us better than we know ourselves.

Look first at how He takes care of other creatures. The birds of the air, according to Matthew 10:29, are so cheap you can hardly put a price on them. One is worth a farthing, which in today’s money is like less than two pennies and five are worth two farthings. By all rights these birds are so useless who should worry about them? Yet, the  Word says God looks after these birds everyday. Not one time we see birds on the ground do they
look worried. They know they will be taken care of. Even in places where the signs say, ‘do not feed the birds’ there is always someone who will still bring a bag of bread or food for the birds. God has put systems in place so that all of His creations are taken care of. Birds are fed and flowers are maintained throughout their life span.

Think a little deeper about this: birds don’t ever look depressed. We don’t see them walking around hanging their heads wondering how they are going to eat today or where they will sleep tonight. The law of sowing and reaping means that when we plant we can expect a harvest and when we give we can expect to reap a blessing. Yet, the Word says these birds neither sow, nor reap and still their heavenly Father looks after them. Not one of them falls to the ground without God’s knowledge. He is such a caring God that He puts value on the valueless by taking good care of them. How much more are you worth than a farthing? Compare yourself to one of those two-penny birds that you see picking around the car park or on the back porch of your house. Do you honestly believe it when the Word says that you are worth much more than they? If you do, then know God will take care of you. God is very much aware of these birds and lilies of the field and He is committed to caring for them, so what about us?

Let’s have a quick look at the lilies: (Luke 12:27) they neither toil, spin, nor weave and I am sure they don’t take time to beautify themselves, yet when we see them they are so gorgeous. God provides water and nourishment so that their beauty is displayed gloriously even though they contribute nothing. They don’t work up a sweat to grow beautiful and pretty nor do they stay around for a long time, still He takes time to clothe them in beauty. What about you? What about you whom He created in His very image? What about you that He fearfully and wonderfully made? Would He so carefully and intricately form us then leave or abandon us? Search deep and compare yourself to the lilies. Are you worth more then they? Roses and orchids are favorite flowers all around the world and people spend millions buying them, but aren’t you more valuable than a rose or an orchid, as beautiful as they are?

God loved His creation so much that He didn’t send a substitute when we needed a Savior. He sent His one and only beloved Son Jesus to die for us and promised that He would send a Comforter after Jesus went back to heaven. He kept His word. He promised to look after us and will not go back on that promise. Our job here on earth is to build God’s kingdom and God’s job in heaven is to look after us. He looks after His own and we belong to Him. What a great sense of security that should bring us.

Matthew 10:30 tells us the very hairs of our head are numbered. I have always had short hair so it has never been much of a problem to maintain. I see others with very long hair and I think to myself, it looks beautiful on them but I just wouldn’t want that much hair. However, as short as my hair is in comparison to others I still could never count the hairs of my head. Not my husband or one of my children could count the hairs on my head. To even try to think of it and start to do such a thing they would have to spend plenty of time with me. Still then I doubt they could get it done. God is an intimate God. He is so close to us that He knows how much hair each of us have on our head. Have you stopped and meditated on that? It’s either mind-blowing or hair-raising, just to think of it :).

I think that we read something like that and don’t take it literally but the bible never said it was a parable. It is a fact. God knows how many hundreds of thousands of strands of hair you have on your head and with my short hair He knows how many hundreds of strands I have. He doesn’t work in mass production. God knows each of us intimately.

As objects of His love there is no place we can go that He doesn’t know of, nor a word that comes from our mouths that He isn’t aware of even before we speak it. His omniscience is not something to overwhelm us when we think about it, but a sign of His protection and evidence of His love and care.

With this view in mind we ought to spend more time praising and thanking God rather than worrying about what we will eat, where we will sleep or what we will wear. To have the God of the universe so actively and intimately involve in our daily lives should be enough to cause us to sleep like babies at night. As christians we should be the most cheerful people around because we know that we have a God who is so familiar with every facet of our lives. His Word says that while the pagan world is greedily seeking after these things like shelter and clothing, our Father already knows that we need them (Luke 12:30) and provides them.

I want to encourage you today to take the Word and personalize it. Make it real to you. It is great to know that God is working in other people’s lives and we cheer them on for that, but isn’t it time that the applause was for you? Jesus says to YOU, “Do not be seized with alarm and struck with fear, little flock, for it is the Father’s good pleasure to give you the Kingdom.” Take this now word that Jesus gave over 2000 years ago and stand on it today. Meditate on it so that it will be as real to you as the very breath you breathe. Life is much more than the physical that we see everyday. True life is found in Christ. As you seek Him out and draw close to Him, for sure He will draw close to you. He is so intimate that your face is indelibly imprinted on the palm of each of His hands (Isaiah 49:16). He breathed His very breath into you. Can He get any closer?

PAUSE and PONDER

Have you been feeling unloved lately? Take some time today to reflect on the fact that God cares for you. His love for you is not based on your performance but on what Jesus did. Don’t go by what you feel. Your feelings many times are a reflection of the questions inside you and they are not always reliable. Relate to God by faith, take Him at His Word and allow Him to reveal His love for you.

PRAYER

Father in heaven, thank You so much for sending Your Son Jesus. Thank You for revealing Your love for me today and showing me how much You care. Holy Spirit help me to open my heart and receive the love that God so freely gives. Lord, thank You for loving me so deeply and so unconditional, in Jesus name. Amen

Blessings and thank you for reading.

Vickie