Chapter 2: Growth Intimacy with God Intimacy: A feeling of being intimate and belonging together Explained by WordWeb: http://wordweb.

com I will described being intimate with God, so be warned! There are so many books describing ways to be intimate with God; giving teachings and guidance, explaining from Biblical perspective etc. What I want to recount is what God has taught me, and how I have experienced intimate times with God. I dont want you to copy what I am doing, but perhaps it can add towards your relationship with God, how you experience Him. Just as I cannot tell you how to love your wife, or a family member, a boyfriend or a lady friend, I dont and neither should you let anyone TELL you how to love God. Love, as in any relationship should come from the heart. If you feel like loving God by yelling you go Jesus then you do that! God looks at our heart, and at what is sincere and flowing from our heart. The most intimate time I have had with God via the Holy Spirit, needs to be precede by and explanation of my personal view of God! In and during my life (as if its over) Ive looked at situations and happenings, trying to equate them to my spiritual walk. I normally do this with a thought of God, how does this show me you or how is this relevant in understanding you or me or our relationship or how can this strengthen my faith or walk with God etc. You know what I mean. So, looking at my family (I wish to have) and equating that to my spiritual life, I have derived the following: God as: Father = each one of us has a father or is a father. It doesnt matter whether our views of our earthly dads are good or bad, God as a Father is good! Son (Jesus) = us as children to God the Father or our brothers and sisters in our direct family. Holy Spirit = our spouse; whether wife or husband. He is God with us; Gods presence with us. For the sake of intimacy, he is the opposite sex than you. Remember, this is my view of God, not exclusive and not my only view of God, as God is never ending, so my view of Him is also not fixed in definition.

One evening, as I finished showering, just before going to bed, I was toweling myself and saw my deodorant. I was already busy talking with God the Father and the Holy Spirit, and thought of all I would do to impressed a lady, if I were finishing a shower to go on a date. This thought popped into my head: If I were to use deodorant to impress a lady; to show that I take care of myself, and part of my wooing arsenal, is there any reason I should not do the same for the Holy Spirit? Hey, you are the temple of the Holy Spirit, and golly, you love the Holy Spirit, so, come-on man, make this an expression of Love. Needless to say, I sprayed some deodorant on (keeping in mind my heart attitude was Holy Spirit, I am doing this because of my Love for you. I WANT to do this, I could fall on my knees to show my Love, I could lift my hands to show my Love, but this is what You are to me a beautiful fragrance, I want to be a beautiful fragrance to you to. From there, my thoughts just spoke intimate words to the Spirit of God in me, as though He was my wife. I caressed the Spirit with words of beauty, telling Him how wonderful He is to me, like a dove, soft and pleasant to my soul. How precious the Spirit is to me, that I Love Him, and my desire is to have no other. I want my soul to be flooded with His presence I used words of love, endearment, thankfulness to invite more of Gods Spirit to flood my soul. On other occasions, I have experienced the intimacy of God when sharing food with a security guard, or buying a cool drink or a snack to the petrol tenant. Ive read the word in the mornings, and went outside in the garden and just prayed the word, or allowed my spirit to dwell on God. Ive prayed in the spirit and would get a word or revelation and would just expand on that. Intimate times were also when sharing a testimony or word of encouragement. There are times which are most special to me; times where God worked through me in the lives of others. I need to precede this with the following: Please bring to mind Proud vs. Pride and a more recent revelation straight from scripture. (Psa 77:11 ESV) I will remember the deeds of the LORD; yes, I will remember your wonders of old. Exo.13:3-10 and Deu.16:1 Moses puts in place a day of celebration by the command of God (Passover); celebrating the day God brought them from Egypt. This to be celebrated once every year as a testimony of what God has done! God reminds us to NOT FORGET what He has done in and through us. I will list some references: Deu.4:9,23,31, 6:12, 8:11,14, 2Ki.17:38 and

(Psa 78:5 ESV) He established a testimony in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers to teach to their children, (Psa 78:6 ESV) that the next generation might know them, the children yet unborn, and arise and tell them to their children, (Psa 78:7 ESV) so that they should set their hope in God and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments; There are more scriptures but this verse in Ps. Says what I want to say: We must give testimony of Gods work in us, and not be hindered by fear or any other principality. I am going to share things which God has done in my life. I never wanted to share for I was scared of PRIDE, not knowing I can be PROUD of what God has done, but I must be watchful of Pride. I believe my testimony will show Gods Power, Strength, Love and Ultimate Power over evil! Glory to God for using us. The one I have shared with a select few shows Gods Power over Evil the best for me. I received a vision. It was a dragon, as you would see in pictures of eastern philosophy: The long neck, snake-like tongue, 4 dragon legs and long talons at the end of its claws, and a strong, thick, long tail. I saw this dragon on someones back. It had its claws hooked on that person! Think of a Fish Eagle smashing its claws into a fishthe fish has no chance of escape. This is what I saw. I prayed over the vision, I prayed for who it was, but had no answer. Time lapsed and I would forget the image. I would be reminded of it over months just to forget it again. One evening, we were at home group when a lady shared about all her past beliefs and different religions she tried. She would share of eastern philosophy and other weird beliefs. My picture was brought to mind as she shared and I was certain that the picture pertained to her spiritual life. I was unsure what to do next, but had a clear idea of what God wanted. I was also unsure if it was my imagination or actually from God. Sitting there in silence, one of the other people shared a scripture which was the answer I was looking for! I shared my vision with the people, and suggested that we stand around her, holding hands and praying Gods release for her from this dragon. We prayed until all prayers were said. People started greeting, all the whilst I still had this sense that it wasnt finished, I had no peace, and also had a new vision of what had happened. I saw the dragon still, its front claws hanging loose in the air, but still clinging to the ladies back by its hind claws. After everyone left, I went to the home group leader and share my vision and lack of peace with him and that I felt we needed to pray more. With my hands I took hold of the dragon by the scruff of its neck, and ripped it off in the name of Jesus. As we prayed in faith, I acted out physically, until release and peace came. We prayed for healing by the Holy Spirit for the tears in her spirit made by the talons.

Her testimony when we spoke again is that she had the most wonderful rest that night and the next morning, it was as though a burden was lifted! Amazing what God can do through us, if He chooses! I am sad that this has not happened more through me, and it is definitely my fault for not putting myself more out-there. Fear is bad for all of us. God use me more to demonstrate Your Power and take back Your Kingdom and Your Children through Your release and miracle working power!

Secondly I have not shared as it is very intimate and all happened behind the scenes, as you will soon learn. My home group leaders wifes mother was in hospital dying from a very rare disease. It was so rare that they had doctors and students from abroad come check the patient as there wasnt much they could do. They prescribed some medicines but all to no avail. The husband and wife was at her side for weeks and weeks, trusting and praying for healing; all according to Gods will. I would pray with them and for them and for her, and would trust and wait on God for scriptures, and would sms these to them. It would be scriptures, pictures, words of encouragement anything to help them. Her mother was obviously kept in ICU, as the disease was contagious. One Wed. evening after prayer I felt to go with them to the hospital needless to say I was tired and didnt want to go, but went I did! I was shocked at what I saw. The lady was lying on her back, unconscious (I thought). It was the first time I visited someone so ill in hospital, and the first time I would pray for someone in hospital. The daughter asked me if I would come in with them, and after a scrub-down, gloves and a mask, I went in with them. That was my first night of many. Many nights I would visit with them, war faring, interceding, pleading, glorifying, and praisinganything for God to bring healing. We claimed that He can do it, He is all powerful, we searched scriptures, professed our faith but still no change in her diagnosis. This has happened quite a few years ago and my memory is a bit vague re all the details. The first picture I received one evening was of the mother sitting with a group of people, eating and laughing! I immediately shared this with her daughter and we agreed that there could be two meanings to this vision: God would heal her and they were eating in celebration, or she was going to heaven and feasting with God. At this point the daughter wasnt even sure of the mothers salvation. She shared quite a bit with me around her youth, upbringing, and experiences with her father, brothers and mother, on our trips and visits to her dying mother. Another evening I had a word or rather a knowing, that her mother was withholding forgiveness. Remember that her mother was still in a comatose state.

I asked the daughter to pray with her mother, leading her mother in a prayer of repentance and acceptance of Jesus. We would read the word over her, her daughter spending hours at her side would play praise and worship songs and sing to her. The last or second last evening, I had a series of visions/pictures. I was aware that it was for the mother as though she was walking in the valley of shadow and death or down a long black tunnel and we prayed for her to not fear, and for Jesus to be with her. More likely was the picture of a tunnel and together with it the scripture that we are not alone, not even in the valley of death. Finally, she came to a big, wide river, with a very strong current. On the other side was God, the saints and her final destination. We prayed that she should persevere through this river, and as she started, the current and depth decreased. We prayed that she would not turn back, but continue despite fear. She made it spiritually but not physically. We know that she was feasting with God and the saints! We thanked and praised God our Father for keeping her safe, for using each one of us to bring her into His kingdom. It was a miracle He did, I received words, insight and wisdom from His spirit, as I asked for wisdom according to His word, Father answered accordingly. It is a blessing and amazing to be used by God. I love you Father, Jesus and Holy Spirit! Above section was written in June 2008 and its now 27 Des09. There are so many ways God meets with us! Try to think of special things you like to do with a loved one, then, scheduling time with God, go and do that with Him e.g. taking a walk in a park whilst sharing your heart with God and just being quiet within your spirit with an attitude of I want to hear Your Thoughts Father. Sit and write a letter to yourself, starting with some scriptural truths about Gods view of you, then, write what is in your heart, what comes up, questions, answers, statements, believe it to be from God with again, and attitude of God, I want to hear from you.

Meet and pray with a friend in Christ, eat a snack devoted to God, drink a drink, watch a movie, do an ordinary, daily activity, but with a Godly attitude. PS. We should do everything we do with a Godly attitude; sometimes it probably just takes some effort for us to get back to that place of intimacy!

Something I learned from a sermon I listened to, which clarified for me why my times with God would be Up and Down, Up and Down, like a heart monitor: When we push into God, we find His presence; we live the rest of the day with His presence with us, almost tangible. But then, as we day draws to a close, something might pop up: we have a late night, poor sleep, early emergency at work, whatever, which cause us to not spend as much time with God, and slowly the away drift begins. What I learned from the sermon is that the initial push into God, though bringing me close to God, was idolatry! I worked my way into Gods presence. And if I have to work for it, to reach a state of/in God, then its about me and my feelings! We should rather realize, that whatever we do MUST flow from a heart of love for God! I always knew this as head knowledge, but never from the heart! STOP STRIVING FOR GODS ATTENTION OR EVEN HIS PRESENCE, KNOW THAT YOU ARE LOVED, SEATED IN CHRIST AND HIS SPIRIT DWELLS WITHIN YOU! SEEK HIS PRESENCE BECAUSE YOU LOVE HIM, WORSHIP HIM, BECAUSE YOU LOVE HIM, EAT, DRINK, DRIVE, LOVE, SING, WORK, FELLOWSHIP BECAUSE YOU LOVE HIM, AND EVEN THAT IS BECAUSE HE LOVED ME AND YOU FIRST!