TOPIC: BECOMING INTIMATE WITH GOD II
MEMORISE:
All things are lawful for me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but all things edify not.
1 Corinthians 10:23
READ: Psalms 26:1-8
1 Judge me, O LORD; for I have walked in mine integrity: I have trusted also in the LORD; therefore I shall not slide.
2 Examine me, O LORD, and prove me; try my reins and my heart.
3 For thy lovingkindness is before mine eyes: and I have walked in thy truth.
4 I have not sat with vain persons, neither will I go in with dissemblers.
5 I have hated the congregation of evildoers; and will not sit with the wicked.
6 I will wash mine hands in innocency: so will I compass thine altar, O LORD:
7 That I may publish with the voice of thanksgiving, and tell of all thy wondrous works.
8 LORD, I have loved the habitation of thy house, and the place where thine honour dwelleth.
MESSAGE
Those who want to be intimate with God must love what He loves and hate what He hates. If you want to get close to God, you must know things that He hates and stay far away from them (I Thessalonians 5:22). Anywhere you see something that looks like sin, flee! Whenever l hear people trying to justify something sinful, l get irritated because c!early, this is something to stay away from. Apostle Paul said:
All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but l will not be brought under the power of any.
I Corinthians 6:12
If you really want to be intimate with God, you will stay away from even things that, though lawful, would have a negative impact on your relationship with Him. In Daniel 1:3-8, Daniel decided not to eat the king’s meat. It was lawful but he knew that it would defile him, so he refused. It is lawful to be intimate with your legally married spouse or eat three times a day. There is no sin in that at all, but those who want to be intimate with God know that they must fast often. They know that there is a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing so that they can give themselves wholly to God (Ecclesiastes 3:5-1 Corinthians 7:4-5). Apostle Paul – a man who desperately wanted to be intimate with God, refused to marry so that there would be absolutely nothing to distract him in his journey of intimacy with God.
The question to you now is: do you really want to be intimate with God? If you do, then there are some things you have to stay away from because they are impediments to the flow of the Spirit of God in a person’s life. You know them yourself; they make you feel filthy and draw you far from the Lord. Stay away from them. In turn, spend your time basking in the presence of God and just fellowshipping with true brethren. As you do this and get closer to God, you would begin to realise that you are becoming more and more like Him, and you will even begin to carry His power to work miracles.
KEY POINT
Even some lawful things may have to be avoided in order to get closer to God.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Acts 6-7
AUTHOR: PASTOR E. A ADEBOYE
HYMN 4: BE GLAD IN THE LORD AND REJOICE
1 Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice,
All ye that are upright in heart;
And ye that have made Him your choice,
Bid sadness and sorrow depart.
Refrain:
Rejoice, rejoice!
Be glad in the Lord and rejoice!
Rejoice, rejoice!
Be glad in the Lord and rejoice!
2 Be joyful, for He is the Lord,
On earth and in heaven supreme;
He fashions and rules by His word;
The Mighty and Strong to redeem.
3 What though in the conflict for right
Your enemies almost prevail!
God’s armies, just hid from your sight,
Are more than the foes which assail.
4 Though darkness surround you by day,
Your sky by the night be o’er-cast,
Let nothing your spirit dismay,
But trust till the danger is past.
6 Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice,
His praises proclaiming in song;
With harp, and with organ, and voice,
The loud hallelujahs prolong!
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