A Practical Guide for Transformative Growth Part 3Sample

Intimacy with God

Relationship with God is the beginning of our journey toward maturity. It is here that we first awaken to God’s desire for a personal and tangible relationship with us. It is here that God moves from being a concept, some being out there or up there, to a person right here and right now who is communicating with us, caring for us, and loving us. It is here that we begin to know God and not just believe in Him.

In other words, we need to have an ongoing and deepening experience of God in our lives.

After moving from belief to relationship, growing in intimacy is about learning to trust God and be dependent on Him for life.

Biblical faith is a relational phenomenon. By faith, we mean that we are trusting in the heart of God to be for us, no matter how circumstances look otherwise. We are trusting God that the unknown, or what looks and feels bad for us, is actually working for our good because He is working everything out for our good. We are trusting that He is willing and able to do good toward us. This is what ‘we walk by faith, not by sight’ means.

As we progress in our intimacy with God, we also begin to engage more with the reality of the triune nature of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. What is most striking and relevant for us is that part of the intrinsic nature of our God is relationship. This is remarkable! To be intimate with God is to enter into an eternal divine fellowship that has been going on before the world was created! We have been invited into eternal, joyful, love-fellowship with Father, Son, and Holy Spirit! We have been invited into the reality of an eternal pre-existent Divine Fellowship!