In Touch Daily Devotional
Intimacy With God
Don't miss the blessing of the deeply personal relationship God offers.
December 21, 2024
John 15:12-15
12 ``This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you.
13 ``Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.
14 ``You are My friends if you do what I command you.
15 ``No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you.
Does God ever seem far away? If so, we might wonder how involved in our life He actually is. At such times, we should rely on the truth of Scripture—and the Gospels are a good place to start.
Jesus’ life testifies to the divine desire for intimacy. He consistently reached out to strangers, inviting them to draw near to Him. He spoke words of encouragement to His followers. At the same time, He taught them the profound truths He’d received from His Father (John 7:16 So Jesus answered them and said, ``My teaching is not Mine, but His who sent Me.) and held them accountable for their actions. And Jesus invited certain people to accompany Him for deeply personal experiences, such as the transfiguration and His last prayer retreat in the garden of Gethsemane (Mark 9:2 Six days later, Jesus took with Him Peter and James and John, and brought them up on a high mountain by themselves. And He was transfigured before them; Matthew 26:36-37 36 Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and said to His disciples, ``Sit here while I go over there and pray."
37 And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be grieved and distressed.)
The Savior’s sacrificial choice—to die in our place—made it possible for us to join Him in God’s family. The Holy Spirit, each believer’s indwelling companion and guide, also witnesses to God’s closeness and detailed knowledge of those who are His.
Yes, God has made intimacy with Him possible. But all too often, we hold back. Distracted by earthly concerns, we put limits on His involvement in our life and set family and friends as higher priorities. Let’s commit to placing the Lord first and pursuing Him with our whole heart (Mark 12:30 AND YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND, AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH.'.
