INTIMACY

INTIMACY

Intimacy in relationships are not built

By things done in rote

But by time together

Sharing in actions and feelings felt

 

Intimacy grows

By wrapping the heart

Around shared goals

Standing together, at times toe to toe

 

Intimacy is sharing the plow

Not in the past

Or in the future to come

But in the life that is NOW

 

Intimacy intensifies life

For it thrives

In the sharing

Of both joy and strife

 

Intimacy seeks to embrace

Hand in hand

Heart to heart

For it is the fruit of GRACE

by tl jarbeaux

 

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Prayer

Prayer is powerful without making us powerful.  Prayer moves us into a position to partner with God in what He is doing or about to do.

Prayer does not manipulate, or intimidate God to do anything that He has not already decided to do.

God is POWERFUL.  He invites us to join with Him in what He is about.  The means of joining Him is through Oneness with Jesus and from that intimate relationship to speak with Him on the basis of Our Oneness.

Prayer does a lot, because it places us into a partnership with Jesus, Father and Spirit so that we can take part in what He is doing and with what He is planning on doing.

Prayer is more than ‘words’, greater than communication and more encompassing than a list of wishes or wants.  Prayer is the process God uses to move our heart and our mind into the life stream of His heart and His mind.  Prayer – Speaking to Father, Son and Spirit squelches the flesh and clothes us with Christ.  Prayer shifts our focus to Christ centered pursuits.  Prayer opens the eyes of our heart to see from Jesus’ perspective.

Prayer is the heart and soul of our intimacy with Jesus, prayer proceeds obedience, influences understanding of His will, and builds trust in His Leadership.  Prayer fans the flame of love for Jesus and at the same time adds fuel to increase love’s intensity.

Prayer is not meant to move God to our desired ends, but to move us, to end our fleshly  desires, so that we might embrace Him as a Person and to bring us into conformity to His desires.

Prayer that settles for just wants and wishes, prayer that settles for simply asking for things and accomplishments is flesh-centered and self-promoting.

Prayer is our speaking to Him and Him speaking to us, it is a two way conversation.

Prayer is the means He and I use to embrace our mutual Oneness.

PERFECT LOVE CASTS OUT FEAR

1 John 4:

¹⁵ Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. ¹⁶ We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. ¹⁷ By this, love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment; because as He is, so also are we in this world. ¹⁸ There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love. ¹⁹ We love, because He first loved us. ²⁰ If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen. ²¹ And this commandment we have from Him, that the one who loves God should love his brother also.

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I cannot live in the LOVE of Christ for others until I first LIVE in the LOVE of Christ, for me, with HIM.  I cannot express His love for others if I do not embrace His love for me; for it is through our intimacy He wants to express Himself so We (Jesus and I) must share intimately with each other, for it is from this intimacy We (Jesus and I) share His love.

THY WILL BE DONE ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN

Mathew 6:

⁹ “This, then, is how you should pray:

“‘Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
¹⁰ your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
¹¹ Give us today our daily bread.
¹² And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
¹³ And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.’

What is going on in heaven reveals His will?

Could it be that what is going on is: praise, worship, love, joy, adoration, relational intimacy, etc?

If this is the case – then what should I be doing here on earth?

I am certainly NOT going to be fighting sin in heaven!  Father wants me to implement, by His grace, what is going on in heaven here on earth.

MEASURE OF …

Ephesians 4

⁷ But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift.

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I could not find a translation that agreed with me on this – but as I read and read this verse in light of the passage my mind went to the explanation of seed meaning Christ for it did not say seeds.  My spirit responded the same here – it says gift not gifts, which it says a couple of verses later.

“the measure of Christ’s gift.” I hear Spirit saying this grace I have been given is Christ Himself.  Christ is the gift, the Oneness He offers, the intimacy I can have with Father, Son and Spirit – Jesus made this gift possible by becoming assessable through faith.  He is MY GIFT OF GRACE, HIMSELF IN FULNESS IN ME AND I IN HIM.  He is available to EACH OF US.

The grace I have been given is the measure of Christ’s gift which is the fullness of Himself – He in me and I in Him.  Each individual believer has been given grace according to the measure of Christ Jesus Himself.

THE ONE WHO WON

Ephesians 4

¹ … walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called

⁴ … just as also you were called …

My calling flows out of Y’all are called.  I am corporately called which affects me individually.  I am not greater than the whole yet find the significance of my calling in Christ by being related to the whole.

⁴ There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling; ⁵ one Lord, one faith, one baptism, ⁶ one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all.

⁷ But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift.

There is One Body (of Christ in this world)

There is One Spirit (that draws us into His Body)

There is One hope of our calling (a calling to relational Oneness with Jesus)

There is One Jesus (Who indwells in Oneness)

There is One faith (which resides in Christ Jesus)

There is One baptism (into Christ Jesus – His death and His resurrection to LIFE)

There is One God and Father – (THREE YET ONE-Father, Son, Spirit)

AND YOU’RE OVER ALL-(MASTER) AND THROUGH ALL-(PRESENT) AND IN ALL – (AFFECTS)

YOU ARE THE GIVER OF LIFE, THE LIGHT OF LIFE, AND THE MEANING OF LIFE

 

OUR LIFE

Today, holds the expectancy of my Father’s promises, and is as promising as Jesus’ presence and is full of surprises, to be uncovered by the Spirit’s revelations.  Today has been appointed and filled by Him with Divine Appointments.  JUST AS THE DAY HAS BEEN PREPARED FOR ME; SO I, TOO, HAVE BEEN PREPARED FOR IT.

Faith claims, the Father, Son and Spirit are at work today and I am right there with them.  Hallelujah, it is His Life I Enjoy For He Makes It Our Life.

THE CALLING WITH WHICH YOU HAVE BEEN CALLED

Ephesians 4

¹ Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called…

NOTE: The calling WITH which I have been called – not the calling TO which I have been called.  The two are worlds apart.  Here the emphasis is on the origin of my calling and the connection I have to the One calling.

My calling is intrinsically connected to the Person and purpose of the One Calling and has all of His authority, support, and power woven into it.  To fulfill His calling I must rest in His presence not in any innate talents, abilities, or intelligence found in my flesh.  He may well use those talents, abilities and intelligence but the fulfilling of His Calling flows from intimacy and dependency on Him; Who is the origin of my CALLING – Father, Jesus, Spirit.

His Word, His Light, His Involvement

Ephesians 3

¹⁷ … Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; … ¹⁹ and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, … ²⁰ Now to Him … the power that works within us…

Praise to You, my Father &  Gift Giver, to Jesus, my Savior & Brother, and to Spirit, my Guide & Reveal-er. 

Today is only as promising as Father’s word, only as bright as Jesus’ light, and only as certain as Spirit’s involvement.

What a great day it is going to be!

 

FUN WITH TODAY AND TIME

Today is gradually moving into history, which means I am making history with each breath I take.  Today is also increasing my memory banks with rich, colorful and meaningful recollections; musings for myself and others in the days, weeks, months and years to come.

Today does not rest individually on its own, it is here because of yesterday and it is here for tomorrow, it does not exist simply for itself but for the accumulation of time. 

Today is pivotal in that it is the culmination of what has happened in the past and at the same time prepares tomorrow for what is going to happen.

Today has the power to alter the past and create the future.

Yesterday, today and tomorrow are expressions of time.  Time; I can’t live without it and if I ignore it, it will just keep on ticking along.  I can’t escape it, if I run from it, it is always present – time the best use of it is to invest it into the lives of those I love and the acquaintances I meet.

By the use of time today I will create my past and my future.  Today allows me to determine who and what will fill my memory banks and create expectancy and anticipation concerning tomorrow. 

WOW!  TODAY IS THE MOST IMPORTANT DAY OF MY LIFE.