Insert for April 26 Sermon
Genuine loving intimacy with God takes time and it takes intentionality. It doesn’t just happen, we have to make it happen. We have to choose to spend time with the Lord every day and throughout each day. This is a reminder to keep first things first.
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- To grow in our love for God we need to have a proper fear and reverence for the Lord. This is the beginning of wisdom. Deuteronomy 10:12-13 shows us how the fear, and love of God, along with the our obedience to the Lord are all interconnected, “12 And now, O Israel, what does the LORD your God ask of you but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all His ways, to love Him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, 13 and to observe the LORD's commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good? Psa 25:12-14; 34:9; 111:10; Isa 33:5-6; Heb 12:28-29
- To grow in our love for God we must renounce the world’s conceptions of love and accept God’s standard of Christ-like love revealed in the Scriptures. 1 John 4:10 says, “10This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.” Therefore, we must renounce all self-sufficiency and pride because Christ-like love finds its source in God alone. 1 John 4:19 says, “We love because He first loved us.” We need to humbly surrender and place ourselves under God’s mighty hand and ask Him to press His love into our lives through His Holy Spirit whose fruit is love. Rom 5:5b says, “For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.” Gal 5:22-23.
- As we seek the Lord, we must keep our purpose clear. The purpose of seeking God’s presence is not just to receive His blessings. James 4:8a,“8Come near to God and He will come near to you.” We can begin with adoration and worship, but we must also be still and quiet as we meditate and listen for His voice. Only after you have spent significant time in God’s presence should you begin to make requests. Jer 23:12-14a, “12Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. 13You will seek Me and find Me when you seek Me with all your heart. 14I will be found by you,” declares the LORD,” Luke 14:33, Psa 27:8; 46:10
- Meditate on and pray the Scriptures. Begin to fill this time with God’s Word. Read portions of Scripture and ask God to reveal Himself and His activity to us. Wait on Him, expect God to speak as we listen for the Shepherd’s voice. Exodus 24:15-16 tells us that Moses waited 6 days for the Lord to speak. Jesus told us, John 10:27 says, “27My sheep hear My voice they listen to it; I know them, and they follow Me.” Josh 1:8; Psalm 1; 48:9; Prov 2:1-11; John 8:47; 10:27; Col 3:16.
- Remember, that this time is all about God and not about us; therefore, we must be ready to adjust our lives to God’s activity and call. In John 12 Jesus says, “Whoever serves Me must follow Me; and where I am, My servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves Me.” John 12:26; 15:17, 19-20.
- Establish a regular unhurried time and place to give God our undivided attention. Have a Bible, journal, pencil or pen, etc. and take the necessary time with the Lord. Psa 27:8; Mat 6:6a, “But when you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father in private.”
- Also, we must recognize that to truly love God we must take up our cross daily and follow Jesus. That means we must surrender our lives to Jesus Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit so that Christ is formed in us and lives in and through us (Gal 4:19). In Luke 9:23-24 Jesus said, ““If anyone would come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me. 24For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for Me will save it.” Luke 9:23; Eph 5:18; Gal 5:22-23.
Genuine loving intimacy with God takes time and it takes intentionality. It doesn’t just happen, we have to make it happen. We have to choose to spend time with the Lord every day and throughout each day. This is a reminder to keep first things first.
Go back to the sermon