Cultivating Intimacy With God

There are so many facets of God at times it seems as if we will never understand Him at all. What I have learned that in the love place that I am in with Him is that I need to cultivate oil with Him in order to remain in the place I am in and to move forward.  When I say cultivate oil I mean to stay in an intimate place with Him in His presence. He is the Omnipresent God and His very presence is always in the atmosphere. His presence to me is a flowing of constant love. His presence and love is there for us it is just a matter if we decide to tap ourselves into the spiritual realm to collect and acquire it. In this post I am going to discuss how to cultivate oil and why there is a need to.

Luke 10:39-42

39 And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus' feet and heard His word.

40 But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, "Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me."

41 And Jesus answered and said to her, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things.

42 But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her."

We need to learn how to slow ourselves down and make sure that we are not too busy to spend time with God. It is easy to get caught up in the business of life, and forget to sit at Jesus’s feet to hear what He has to say. We need to take time in our lives to lay our ear on His chest as John did in order to hear His heartbeat. His heart beats a melody, and at times we are out of sync with the beat that He wants us to walk to. The beat is a love place of communion with Him. His heart throbs out of a longing to have time with us where we sit and listen to what He has to say. Cultivating intimacy with Him is not about us going to Him with everything and crying out asking, “Why God? Why is the always happening to me? I need Your help.” Yes, it is not wrong to go to Him, but we need to learn a balance of talking and listening. Martha was mad because she was doing all this work and still was unable to find a resting place to hear His voice. If you are not hearing from God it may be cause by constant need to be busy, and talking instead of listening. I challenge those who read this to sit in be quite and for about 15 minutes a day and see if you do not hear from God. He is always speaking. It may not be in the loud thundering voice like we all want, but in the Word it also says that He speaks in a small still and quiet voice (1 Kings 19:12).

Psalms 46:10

10 Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!

Be still-Consume/Heal

Know- familiar friend

I am only focusing on the beginning of this scripture where God says, “Be still, and know that I am God.” To be still means to consume and to know means a familiar friend. Basically what God is saying is that we need to relax and consume Him, and understand that we friends of the Bridegroom. I have a very hard time sitting still, because I am a very social and active person. I am learning how to sit still and hear His voice. Through the few weeks that I have practiced this He has given me dreams and visions, and I have learned how to hear His voice more clearly. The act of consuming means to engage yourself fully in something. When we are quiet and listening to Him we are fully engaged in conversation of the spirit. Being quiet with God is one of the most intimate places you can ever be at. It is said that when you are comfortable and know somebody you can spend time with them without saying a word. The same goes for God. Maybe we are so uncomfortable with God that we must spend all of our time with Him talking, because we are afraid of what He might say. He is a loving God, and everything He has told me has been for the better for my life. He wants us to succeed and flourish as Brides. He wants us and burns for us to dwell in an intimate place with Him.

Matthew 25:1-13

25 "Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.

2 Now five of them were wise, and five were foolish.

3 Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them,

4 but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.

5 But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept.

6 "And at midnight a cry was heard: 'Behold, the bridegroom is coming; go out to meet him!'

7 Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps.

8 And the foolish said to the wise, 'Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.'

9 But the wise answered, saying, 'No, lest there should not be enough for us and you; but go rather to those who sell, and buy for yourselves.'

10 And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding; and the door was shut.

11 "Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, 'Lord, Lord, open to us!'

12 But he answered and said, 'Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you.'

13 "Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming.

A quick breakdown of what each thing and character are in this parable is the following:

Oil-Intimacy with God

Lamp- Our ministry or life

Virgins-The Brides or church

Bridegroom-Christ

If you notice the virgins that took no oil with them were considered foolish and were not allowed to the wedding. The wise virgins that brought the oil with them were allowed to the wedding, because Jesus the Bridegroom knew them intimately. Many people try to pursue their ministries before they pursue an intimate place with God which causes them to burn out and grow weary. Those who cultivate intimacy with Him are able to keep their ministries burning, because of the love place that they are in with Him. When Christ comes back for the wedding I do not want to be like one of the foolish virgins and not get let in the first day of the wedding, because of my lack of intimacy with God. This is not to say that the foolish virgins did not get to go to the wedding, but as Jewish custom is only the closest family gets to come to the first day of the wedding out of the seven days. These foolish virgins did not lose their salvation, or get rejected from the love of God. They just did not know God as closely as the wise virgins did, because they took the time to sit at His feet, to be still and know His voice, and took time in prayer and worship to pursue the knowledge of who He is. I got something about the oil from one of Mike Bickle’s teachings and it is pasted below. In fact many of the things about the Bridegroom that I have learned has come from some of his notes.

1. It tenderizes our heart, enabling us to feel more of God’s desire for us.

2. It enlarges our desire for Him by encountering His desire for us.

3. It illuminates our understanding with revelation of God’s beauty.

4. It imparts zeal for righteousness, which helps us in our struggle with besetting sins.

Intimacy with God does so much for our walk with God it really is one of the most important things to gain as we grow in Him. We can cultivate is through prayer, fasting, worship, reading His Word, meditating on His Word, or even simply saying “I Love You”.  There is no formula to creating intimacy with God, or how to pursue Him, it is really all about a relationship. Building a relationship with God allows you to get to know Him intimately. Each of us is going to know God differently, and see different facets of Him. I urge you in your desire for more of God. Keep digging and tapping in to all the wonderful beauty that He is. Allow yourselves to be overtaken by zeal for your love for Him and I promise you that He has even more zeal for you. He is the Bridegroom and we are His Brides. His eyes burn of fire to meet us in the intimate place, so that He can speak He love into your spiritual ears. I constantly remind God how much I love Him and how much He means to me. I thank the Holy Spirit for being my teacher, abiding in me, communicating what God is saying, and breathing fresh revelation and power into my spirit. Find your own ways of being intimate with God, and I promise you that you will in Him to a deeper level.  Be encouraged this relationship of Bride and Bridegroom is not only for me, but is for us all.