Intimacy with Jesus
Are you experiencing what you have in Jesus?
If you have placed your faith in Him for salvation, you are in union with Him. He lives in you and you in Him. You are plugged into a spiritual oneness with Him and able to experience an intimate relationship now that you couldn’t before.
So, are you experiencing intimacy with Jesus?
Trading Intimacy For Spiritual Checklists
When I was a freshman in high school, I remember hearing about spiritual disciplines for the first time. It felt like these are the things that Christians are just supposed to do. To do these things was to live the Christian life.
Things like Bible reading, Bible study, Bible memorization, prayer, confession, journaling, fasting, solitude, etc.
My flesh loved this. I love to-do lists. So, I remember seeing this list of things that I was supposed to be doing, and honestly, I was like, “Yes! Finally, something I can do. Something I can measure to know that I am doing what I am supposed to be doing as a Christian.”
Now others of you are the exact opposite. You hate the lists. You just like to go with the flow. You don’t plan things. You just get up in the morning and go wherever life takes you.
So, when you hear about a spiritual discipline checklist, you are probably thinking, “Ugh! A list, seriously? I mean that’s not really appealing to me, but if that’s what I’m supposed to do as a Christian, then I guess I should try. I mean, I don’t want God to be mad at me.”
And you do try. You work at it. Maybe you even find a way to make it work, to just get it done. Or maybe you don’t, and you’ve felt like the biggest failure in the Christian life because you can’t stay disciplined enough to read your bible, pray, memorize scripture, and on and on and on.
Now the truth is that even those of us who are list makers, we eventually begin to feel dissatisfied with the spiritual discipline checklist too. While it feels good to have done something and checked it off our list, we don’t experience any lasting satisfaction. It doesn’t really feel like the abundant life that Jesus said He came to give.
And the reason we feel that way is because the abundant life that Jesus came to give us wasn’t supposed to be found in a checklist or through a bunch of religious duties we perform.
Jesus is the abundant life. He told Martha in John 11:25, “I am the resurrection and the life!” And He told Thomas and the disciples, “I am the way, the truth, and the life!”
Abundant life is found in Jesus and through an intimate relationship with Him, and a lot of us unfortunately, have traded intimacy for a checklist.
Now, I’m not saying that spiritual disciplines are bad, but spiritual disciplines are meant to be a means to an end, not the end themselves.
Many of us have made spiritual disciplines the end. “I did that thing on my list, check…done!”
But the spiritual disciplines are there to lead us to intimacy with Christ. They are meant to be used to lead us deeper into the fellowship and relationship we can have with Him!
Intimacy With Jesus Is Possible
Deeper fellowship, relationship, and intimacy with Jesus is possible. When we begin to understand the reality of our union with Jesus, become aware of His constant presence in our lives, and approach things like the spiritual disciplines in the right way, we can experience intimacy with Him.
The apostle John wrote about this in the opening lines of 1 John 1…
From the very first day, we were there, taking it all in—we heard it with our own ears, saw it with our own eyes, verified it with our own hands. The Word of Life appeared right before our eyes; we saw it happen! And now we’re telling you in most sober prose that what we witnessed was, incredibly, this: The infinite Life of God himself took shape before us. We saw it, we heard it, and now we’re telling you so you can experience it along with us, this experience of communion with the Father and his Son, Jesus Christ. Our motive for writing is simply this: We want you to enjoy this, too. (1 Jn 1:1-4)
Now, John and His disciples experienced a relationship with the human Jesus while He was here on earth, but John is writing this after Jesus’ death, resurrection, and ascension. In other words, he believed it was still possible to experience intimacy with Jesus after he was gone. He didn’t just believe it though. He experienced it, and he wants all of us to experience it too!
So…this is what the Christian life is: an intimate relationship with Jesus.
Here’s what author John Eldredge says about this…
“If you do not experience Jesus intimately, daily… if you do not know the comfort of his actual presence, do not hear his voice speaking to you personally – you have been robbed. If you do not know the power of his indwelling life in you, shaping your personality, healing your brokenness, enabling you to live as he did – you have been plundered.”
(John Eldredge, Beautiful Outlaw)
If we don’t experience Jesus intimately on a daily basis, Satan has robbed us of experiencing the abundant life that we have in our spiritual union with Jesus.
How To Experience Intimacy With Jesus
If we want to experience intimacy with Jesus, it involves at least two things. First, we approach the spiritual disciplines (or rhythms of grace as I like to call them) as a means to intimacy. Second, we live with an awareness of Jesus’ presence and an expectation for Him to interact in relationship with us.
Rhythms of Grace
The spiritual disciplines are like rhythms of grace that the Spirit leads us into in order to turn our attention away from the chaos and distractions of the world and toward our union with Jesus.
As we pause and focus on words of Scripture, pray, and turn the people and things in our lives over to Him, we are reorienting our souls (mind, emotions, will) toward Jesus and all that we have in Him.
Satan is constantly scheming to disrupt our lives. He uses the material things of this world, our busy-ness, social media, sin, and more to distract us away from our inner union with Jesus. He sows uncertainty, fear, loneliness, insecurity, and all kinds of negativity as we turn our attention toward his activity.
If we don’t intentionally pause and reorient our attention toward Jesus, then we won’t experience intimacy with Him. Allowing the Spirit to lead us into this rhythm in the morning, evening, and even throughout the day, will lead us back into experiencing the life we have in Christ.
Awareness of Jesus’ Presence
For most people, it’s easier to be aware of Jesus’ presence at church or when they are at home in a quiet place, reading Scripture and praying to Him. However, Jesus is present with us everywhere we go, at all times!
When we believe He is always with us and have an expectation of Him desiring a relationship with us, we will start looking for Him to speak to us. Jesus is speaking to us every day in many different ways. He’s speaking through nature, music, other people, situations at work, school, the gym, and even in traffic. The question is: Are we looking and listening for Him to do so?
He desires intimacy with you in all places and at all times. If you want to experience intimacy with Jesus, start looking for Him to speak to you throughout your day and engage with Him when He does. You are made for relationship with Him.
Intimacy with Jesus
Most people settle for way less than what is available to them through Jesus. If you are in Christ, you are one with Him (1 Corinthians 6:17) at the core of your being. Intimacy with Jesus is possible. It’s what you were made for.
Spend time cultivating the union you have with Him. Prepare for your day by setting your heart and mind on your inner union with Him. Renew your mind to biblical truth. Give everything in your life over to Him.
Then as you go throughout your day, remember Jesus is always present with you. Expect Him to speak to you. Look and listen for Him. When you notice Him, interact with Him. Live in relationship with Him. Experience intimacy with Jesus.
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