Unlocking Intimacy
Darin talks with Aimee about a question a person asked him while he was in Mississippi. The person asked how we get an intimate relationship with God? What do we have to do to establish intimacy with Him? Darin and Aimee discuss this question and how there really is no one-size-fits-all answer for it. Each one of us must find our own way to reach the heart of God. There isn’t a principal that we can all follow that will bring us to an intimate relationship with Him. Contrary to what most of us have beenn told in Church, God isn’t a vending machine. He has something different with each one of us and we all must find Him on our own. Part of the Christian walk is discovering how He speaks to you personally. You’ll enjoy this discussion.
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I told myself I wouldn't post all the time...sometimes people get tired of the same old commentators. However, I can't help but share how this talk helped in a very personal way...a hard day on my end here. Basically obsessing over an unresolved relationship issue...reasoning...doing everything in my mind BUT waiting/resting....one of those times when your soul gets too damn noisy to hear OR believe that small, still voice....asking for wisdom and help- looking here and there all day. I did not have this insight until the end of this podcast. It was nailed at the end of your talk: surrender IS the door. Thanks for the reminder! Something broke. Self sufficiency can be so destructive and it definitely blocks intimacy.... We're OK and we're on our way....Blessings to you guys this Christmas season!
OK.....i'm not doing so good waiting/resting. I want to figure it all out NOW. This time of year (Christmas) I get a little crazy. I used to sing at the Christmas Eve service, I used to hold a candle and sing "Silent Night" with all my fellow church members. Now that I'm out of the church building, what do I do? SO, I stopped by today to talk to the pastor where I used to attend. Perhaps i can go back and try again (memories of abusive relationships). In the conversation she mentioned that she believes the Bible means what it says. That Jesus is the only way to the Father. I can no longer believe that. I told her I can't imagine a loving Father burning us in hell for all eternity. She said she thinks my conflict comes in that I haven't figured out who Jesus is or something like that. So I guess I won't be attending Christmas services there. I'll sit quietly on my back porch and listen.
Audrey I happen to believe your pastor, but I don't believe it in the same spirit as your pastor. I think there will be many people who get to the father without necessarily knowing Jesus in the way we Christians understand knowing Jesus. I think when they get to heaven they're going to all find out that it was because of Jesus that they were able to get there. Whether they are of a different religion or not. I personally think that the Dalai Lama will make it to heaven. Iv'e seen him interviewed and I truly feel he knows LOVE. When he gets there he's gonna find out that it was because of what Jesus did on the cross. He may not know it now but Jesus provided the way for him to access the Father. Does that make sense? (I'm sure people will hate me for saying that but that's how I feel)
Darin,I'm trying real hard to understand what you are saying. Are you saying that Jesus had to die for us to have access to the Father? I really want to understand, but I guess my little pea brain just doesn't get it.
Darin,I'm trying real hard to understand what you are saying. Are you saying that Jesus had to die for us to have access to the Father? I really want to understand, but I guess my little pea brain just doesn't get it.
We were owned by sin because of the choice that Adam and Eve made. Christ took on sin and won us back. He saved us from sin (Not from the wrath of God against us like most of us were taught). I'm saying that anyone who reaches God, did so because Christ made it possible by winning us back from sin. Most Churches will tell you that unless you specifically use the name of Jesus you can never get to God. I don't necessarily see it that way. I believe that the only way to the Father is through Jesus. I just don't think it works like modern day Christianity says.
I was reading this today in Ephesians 4, a cool description of intimacy: 1 In light of all this, here's what I want you to do. While I'm locked up here, a prisoner for the Master, I want you to get out there and walk - better yet, run! - on the road God called you to travel. I don't want any of you sitting around on your hands. I don't want anyone strolling off, down some path that goes nowhere. 2 And mark that you do this with humility and discipline - not in fits and starts, but steadily, pouring yourselves out for each other in acts of love, 3 alert at noticing differences and quick at mending fences. 4 You were all called to travel on the same road and in the same direction, so stay together, both outwardly and inwardly. 5 You have one Master, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all, who rules over all, works through all, and is present in all. Everything you are and think and do is permeated with Oneness. 7 But that doesn't mean you should all look and speak and act the same. Out of the generosity of Christ, each of us is given his own gift.
On a lighter note: It was the coldest winter ever. Many animals died because of the cold. The porcupines, realizing the situation, decided to group together to keep warm. This way they covered & protected themselves; but the quills of each 1 wounded their closest companions. After a while, they decided to distance themselves 1 from the other & they began to die, alone and frozen. So they had to make a choice: either accept the quills of their companions or disappear from the Earth. Wisely, they decided to go back to being together. They learned to live with the little wounds caused by the close relationship with their companions in order to receive the heat that came from the others. This way they were able to survive. The best relationship is not the one that brings together perfect people, but when each individual learns to live with the imperfections of others & can admire the other person's good qualities. In a nutshell: Just learn to live with the Pricks in your life!
i think friendship cannot be one sided, one person cannot always do all the effort to reach out to others to be there friend, http://youtu.be/p4MwwP5iAq4
Brother Lawrence a 17th century Monk commented that while working in the kitchen he fully enjoying the presence of God and when the call to prayer came he would leave this enjoyment to pray with the other monks and return to it when the pray time was over.
How many time do we do this and not realize what we are doing.
We need to stay focused on Him.
Our human relationships to spouse, children, parents, relatives, friends, pets, and generally to everything around us, is a taste of what our relationship with God can become.
Relationship is from the heart not the head. By the sheer volume of books written on Marriage and Parenting, we can see that one size does not fit all.
Relationship became a religion when the Head people convinced the Heart people that they were doing it wrong and that they, the Head had the How to knowledge.
This podcast was firing on all cylinders for me! Wow! I was recently thinking of how each and every one of us has a unique, very personal and individualistic relationship with God. God custom tailor's the relationship to you and Him. No one else has the same relationship with Him as you have. That is why you have to figure it out on your own. You cannot be taught a formula or program on how it is done. I can totally relate to trying to obtain a relationship with God via what I was taught, or what I witnessed others doing, and countless times it did not work for me (and I have doubts it was working for others, but they sure put on a good show). I remember the pastor trying to lead everyone to do things they were not comfortable with, such as raising of hands, or dancing, as if that was the way it was to be done. I do still struggle with the whole "clique" thing. In the church, I didn't see it as a relational thing as much as I saw it as a "we're in, and you're not"...
...in other words, "We're the leaders of the men's ministry. If we don't like you, you're not getting in." That's how I saw the clique's at the church. I could be wrong. On the other side I can see how a clique is a group of people that just gravitate towards one another and it sort of happens. I'm ok with that.
Great discussion. Aimee loved the point of relationship being a constant unfolding evolution. :)