HelpFinder Bible - Flipbook - Page 187
page A185
joys with each other. Then there is physical intimacy, reserved only for marriage, where
a man and woman, through their sexual relationship, reach new heights of vulnerability
that should allow them to communicate at the most profound level. And finally, there is
intimacy with God, where we learn to understand the very heart of God. As we do this,
all other intimacy takes on new and even greater meaning. God created us for intimacy;
we are lonely people longing for relationship. The risks are worth the rewards.
What does it mean to have intimacy with God?
• PSA L M 1 :2 | But they delight in the law of the Lord, meditating on it day and night. (See
note on page 481.)
Spending a great deal of time with God leads to intimacy.
• PSA L M 1 0 3 :1 1 | For his unfailing love . . . is as great as the height of the heavens above
the earth.
This whole psalm describes how you can have an intimate relationship with God.
• H O SE A 2 :1 6 -2 0 | “When that day comes,” says the Lord, “you will call me ‘my husband’
instead of ‘my master.’ . . . I will make you my wife forever, showing you righteousness and
justice, unfailing love and compassion. I will be faithful to you and make you mine, and
you will finally know me as the Lord.” (See note on page 788.)
God reaches out to you, offering an intimate relationship—as intimate as husband and
wife or father and child—a commitment that is forever, a love relationship such as we have
never known before.
I
• 1 J O H N 3 :1 | See how very much our Father loves us, for he calls us his children.
Intimacy involves coming to God with a clean heart and pure motives.
• Z E PH A NI A H 3 :1 7 | “For the Lord your God is living among you. . . . He will rejoice over you
with joyful songs.” (See note on page 838.)
The Lord God, Creator of the universe, is singing songs about you! What a portrait of a
loving, intimate God.
• G E NE SI S 2 8 :1 5 | “I am with you, and I will protect you wherever you go. One day I will
bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have finished giving you everything
I have promised you.”
• E X O DU S 3 3 :1 4 | The Lord replied, “I will personally go with you.”
• PSA L M 2 3 :1 | “The Lord is my shepherd . . .” (See note on page 491.)
• MAT T H E W 2 8 :2 0 | “And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
The Lord is with you, as close as you want him to be, as long as you let him be, until the
end of life. These are vows of permanent intimacy with you.
What is the basis for true and lasting intimacy in marriage?
• PR O VE R B S 5 :1 5 -1 9 | Drink water from your own well—share your love only with your wife.
. . . May you always be captivated by her love. (See note on page 563.)
• PR O VE R B S 1 8 :2 2 | The man who finds a wife finds a treasure.
• PR O VE R B S 3 1 :1 0 -1 1 | Who can find a virtuous and capable wife? She is more precious
than rubies. Her husband can trust her, and she will greatly enrich his life.
• 1 C O R I NT H I A NS 7 :3 | The husband should fulfill his wife’s sexual needs, and the wife should
fulfill her husband’s needs.
• E PH E SI A NS 5 :2 4 -2 5 | As the church submits to Christ, so you wives should submit to your
husbands. . . . For husbands, this means love your wives, just as Christ loved the church. He
gave up his life for her.
True and lasting intimacy in marriage is based upon the following: (1) faithfulness; (2) rejoicing in one another; (3) letting each satisfy the other in love and sexuality; (4) accepting
one’s spouse as a blessing from the Lord; (5) recognizing the great value of one’s spouse;
(6) recognizing how much one’s spouse can truly bring delight and satisfaction; (7) living
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• MAT T H E W 5 :8 | “God blesses those whose hearts are pure, for they will see God.”