Christian Writers Circle

Intimacy with Christ through Love
by Judy Hitson

I Corinthians 13:13 NASB But now abide faith, hope and love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

Let us refresh our faith in Christ, our Blessed Hope and bask in the greatest of these, love. Consider love as a Person for God is love (I John 4:8, 16) and receive as a personal word to you, John 15:9 NKJV Jesus said, “As the Father has loved Me, I also have loved you. Abide in My love.” Soak these words into the depths of your being. Selah….. Think slowly on these things.

Pause….. Think of “Jesus Loves Me” as a song written just for you. With child-like faith, ponder the lyrics a moment and be drawn into His love for you.”Jesus loves me! This I know, for the Bible tells me so”…

As we learn to receive God’s love, we learn to love Him because He first loved us, I John 4:19. My first understanding that God loves me, came as a revelation while I was pregnant reading, “The Child Within” by Mari Hanes. To tell you the truth, it brought me to tears. There I was a grown woman who came to the Lord late, active in Bible studies, busy as a church volunteer and finally understood God’s love for me. How about you? Is the love of God shed abroad in your heart? (Romans 5:5)

Intimacy with Christ through love helps us mature in Christ. We have an inner desire to be with the Lord and find the Spirit woos us to come into His presence and experience the depths of His love. Deep calls to deep.

Through the Scriptures on love, we learn God’s perspective. Romans 8:35 NKJV Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36 As it is written: “For your sake we are killed all day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.” 37 “Yet through all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us 38 for I am persuaded that neither death or life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present , nor things to come, 39 nor height, nor depth, nor any created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

   When we understand God’s love, that nothing can separate us from His love, we are better able to persevere in the tests, trials and tribulations of life. The Lord has much to say on love in His word. As we experience intimacy with Christ through love, we are able to love others with the love of God.

In closing, let us heed Paul’s charge to us in Ephesians 5: 1-2 NIV Be IMITATORS of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.  

Intimacy with Christ through Wisdom

by Judy Hitson

Psalm 90:12 NASB So teach us to number our days, That we may present to Thee a heart of wisdom.

Do you relate to the LORD in intimate conversation as we read of the Psalmist here? That is a wow factor to me. How about you? This verse reveals the significance for us to gain wisdom in our daily lives. We don’t know the number of our days on earth. Only God does. Our times are in His hands, Ps. 30:15. May we learn how to live each day of our lives from a heart of wisdom as we prepare to meet our God.

We gain a heart of wisdom as we learn and understand wisdom. Who better to teach us than God Himself and what better source do we have than His word, the Bible? There is none. Take note of the beginning of wisdom: Proverbs 9:10 NASB The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. So let us look to the LORD with awe and reverence; to know and understand Him, the Holy One.   

We also learn Godly wisdom from others who know the Lord and walk in His ways. Who comes to mind that has taught you wisdom of God through their lives?

Are you gaining a heart of wisdom through the word of God and through wise men and women of God? Are you growing in intimacy with Christ through wisdom?

Some say the book of Proverbs in the Bible is the book of Wisdom. There we find a contrast of the wise and foolish, of the righteous and wicked and see the contrast of these lifestyles.

In the letters to the Corinthians, Paul writes on the wisdom of God, the wisdom of the world and human or fleshly wisdom. He prays in Ephesians 1:17 for the Ephesians to be given a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him (Jesus Christ).

What is wisdom?

First, I think of wisdom as a Person, Jesus Christ. Consider Paul writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit that Christ is the wisdom of God and is the wisdom of God to us, 1Cor. 1:24, 30. Selah….. think slowly on this.

The revelation of wisdom in the person of Jesus Christ came to me as I learned about Him and from Him through the New Testament and discovered Him in the Old Testament. For example, through the book of Proverbs, I began to see Him as Wisdom.

After prayer and searching to understand wisdom, I have come to the conclusion from a Biblical viewpoint that wisdom is walking in an intimate love relationship with Jesus Christ by the Spirit in right living that honors Him.

Phil. 2:6-7  we find although He existed in the form of God that He emptied Himself in the form of a man. The Deity of Jesus Christ is a crucial revelation for us Christians to understand and walk in wisdom.

Intimacy with Christ through Limitations by Judy Hitson

2 Corinthians 4:16 NKJV Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day.

Can you think of limitations in your life? For me, it is through aging. The time of life when we slow down and cannot perform as we did at the prime of our life in our thoughts or actions. Disabilities cause limitations whether young or old. Whatever the situation, let us consider renewing our inner man and not let restrictions of the outer man weigh heavy on our mind or keep us from what God has in store for us. There are eternal benefits when we see from God’s perspective.

Do you have reoccurring thoughts that can cause you to lose heart? One I have is, “I’m too old. It’s too late. I’ve missed it.” This was a constant, harassing thought until I discerned it was from the enemy. I learned to refuse it in the name of Jesus Christ and stand on promises from God’s word. For example, “our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed.”

With limitations in your life, do you draw near to the Lord or do you lose heart? When we draw near to God, He draws near to us and we cultivate an intimate love relationship with Him. He reveals His ways for us to fulfill our God-given destiny. As I contemplate limitations people are faced with, I recall caring for an accident victim as a young nurse. It was overwhelming to see a young, beautiful woman paralyzed from the neck down after a tragic fall from a horse. Her life was forever changed. Hopes and dreams were shattered. I don’t know the outcome of her life but the memory of her hospital stay remains fresh in my mind. The Lord helped me understand when a person loses their physical ability, they can still have a full life in Christ. You may know about Joni Erickson Tada who became a paraplegic following a diving accident. Yet through her devastating limitations, she grew in the Lord as a global minister to others with physical disabilities and she is blessed in a marriage relationship to Ken Tada.

When struggling with limitations on earth, let us surrender to the Lord in intimate fellowship with Him and with people of God, staying attune to His Spirit guiding us. In this way, earthly limitations cannot hinder our intimacy with Christ. As we hear His voice, He speaks words of life that matter for eternity. Let us refuse harassing thoughts of enemies of our flesh, the world and the devil. God is with us. Let us find rest in His everlasting arms of love, be still, soak in His presence and receive fullness of joy. He understands our earthly struggles with limitations. He will fulfill hopes and dreams for us. When disappointment or discouragement come, let us look to the living God, receive His appointment for our lives and be encouraged to enjoy life in Him through Christ who gives us strength.

Prayer: Praise and thanksgiving to You Father in heaven, for sending Your Son to earth and leaving Your Holy Spirit who gives us life, to live in the Spirit and not be hindered by limitations on earth. Strengthen our inner man to persevere to the end. Amen.

Intimacy in The Desert Places

by

Kathleen Shore

As I listen all around me, I hear the sound of a grave condition…. no, not the moans of painful suffering within earthly circumstances. But the condition of a generation of people who are so unaware of Father God’s intentions within their desert places. And so, they live like prey to circling vultures, unplugged from their power source, full of confusion, vacant of joy, and blindfolded from the hope set before us; our Lord Jesus Christ.

They live tossed about like a wave of the sea…. one moment full of excitement in believing His Sovereign Lordship while boldly praying, “Your will be done!” And the next, running from difficult places God’s hand of providence has led them to because it didn’t feel good or it wasn’t what they thought it should be.

But scripture continues to pave the Way of the Lord into our hearts and minds through the joy of His fellowship, in suffering.

Isaiah 43 NET

(vs. 19) “Look, I am about to do something new. Now it begins to happen! Do you not recognize it? Yes, I will make a road in the desert and paths in the wilderness.”

Why would he ask us, “Do you not recognize it?”

I believe it is because God’s ways are not our ways, and our thoughts are not His thoughts. He is steering us to see Father’s intentions within the painful desert places when all we can think about is what we see with our natural eyes.

But if we would simply live captivated by His love of us, we wouldn’t care what our earthly circumstances “felt” like. If we would fully surrender and trust that He is doing a new thing, we would begin to know Him as our Oasis in our painful circumstances, right here and now.

Isaiah 35 NIV

(vs. 1)The desert and the parched land will be glad. (vs. 7) The burning sand will become a pool, the thirsty ground, bubbling springs. In the haunts where jackals once lay, grass and reeds and papyrus will grow. (vs. 8) And a highway will be there; it will be called the Way of Holiness. (vs. 10)….only the redeemed will walk there.

You see God’s highway of holiness, which is the likeness of His son Jesus – The Way is being paved in us through our desert places.

This treasure was delivered to me through the darkness of severe physical pain when the Neurologist diagnosed me with Multiple Sclerosis.

I remember a few months later on a lighthearted Saturday morning with the family, while working hard to regain my normal routine, I came to the end of being able to hold it together through the pain and gave way to tears. Melting to the kitchen floor while scratching at my skin I prayed aloud to God, “Please Father, make it stop! You are my Healer and my relief! Oh Jesus, I need You….” And there He was. The Great Rider mounted upon His horse as my Prince of Peace, just waiting to hear me say, “I need You.” And in that moment, clearer than the visible scars on my MRI, Father’s words seared my heart.

“Intimacy with Me in your desert places.”

The Prince of Peace moved all over me like a river, and calmed my body as my eyes became fixed on the vision He set before me.

Hosea 2:14, 15 NIV

I am now going to allure her; I will lead her into the desert and speak tenderly to her. There I will give her back her vineyards, and will make the Valley of Achor (The Valley of Trouble) a door of hope.

O love of His very life, God’s intimate presence is alluring us into places so that we would know Him more distinctly and most intimately. He is divinely fashioning circumstances just to draw our attention back to His passionate love of us. And all we want is for Him to make it stop….

Have we not had enough of seeking His hand and not His face?

After being turned to the nearness of my Lord through that moment of conviction on the kitchen floor, I spoke to my children who were at my side with love and concern for their mom. More than teaching them something, I needed to hear the answer to my question from little voices outside of my own head, and I knew they would give it to me.

“Just because we don’t like a particular circumstance,” I spoke slowly to them, “Does that mean that it’s not from God?” I knew the exact moment the answer entered their minds by the look upon their faces. “No….” They quietly spoke back to me with wide eyes and reverent fear.

Prayer:

Father, I bow my knee to You and repent for wanting Your presence but only when its how I like it. I say again, that You are trustworthy and I want what You have for me. I want to be a vessel of Your presence that is used for Your pleasure, no matter what that looks like. I’m all Yours. Amen

May we come to live with one singular desire….

May we seek to have no other reward….

May we be found consumed with His love of us.

Intimacy with Christ through Forgiveness
by Judy Hitson

Matthew 6: 14-15 ESV For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

Finding myself unable to relate to a person that I formerly looked forward to seeing, presented an awkward situation, not only for me, but for all who gathered for dinner at the restaurant. Her negativity disturbed me. Was her heart hardened? Can she hear God’s voice? Or is it unforgiveness in my own heart? The astounding reality hit when the Lord revealed my need to get the log out of my own eye before trying to get the speck out of hers. This process must start with forgiveness in my heart.

Though this loved one knows the Lord, the complaining and gossip made me angry. I wanted to say as a mother to a child, “Enough! No more!” Instead I didn’t want to talk. I was angry wanting to shake some sense into her that she would see her sin; missing my own.

The Lord spoke two words to me. I received them for her. It is a good thing I kept them to myself because another sister in Christ confronted me saying, “We don’t think you want to be with us.” She was right. I did not. I admitted I was having a difficult time with the complaining and gossip and didn’t want to hear it anymore. The confronter said, “The Lord showed me she is like the Israelites right now with complaining. My concern for you, Judy, is not wanting you to get bitter. I was in that state with someone. When I forgave and went to see her, I got rid of that evil spirit and never want to be in that state again.” I was thankful to hear her testimony of forgiveness and deliverance from bondage of a bitter spirit.

The Lord convicted me of my need of change. I thought I had gotten the log out of my own eye, only to discover I was in the midst of the process. It was not time to confront the woman I was angry with, knowing God prepares our heart to confront with truth in love, not anger.

The Lord also revealed that the measure I judged came back on me, Matt. 7:2, and if I was offended by a brother to go to that brother. I thought I had, but failed to see unforgiveness in my heart. In the past, the Lord blessed me to forgive from the heart after a time of bondage with tormentors in my mind. I experienced being like the unmerciful servant, Matt.18: 21-35, and never want to be in that state again. The Lord delivered me and I am grateful.

Prayer: Lord fill me with Your forgiveness in my heart towards my sister.

In the present situation, I take time to confess my sins, 1John1:9, find rest in the Lord, Matt.11:28-30; Ps. 37:7 and wait patiently to hear Him. He will instruct me and teach me in the way I should go; He will guide me with His eye, Ps. 32:8. I taste and see the Lord is good, Ps. 34:8.

The two words I heard from the Lord was first a hymn, “We shall Overcome.” The second was a word Joyce Meyer spoke in regards to the Israelites, “Complain and remain or praise and be raised.” Yes the Lord spoke those words to me and for me. Thankful for being confronted with my sin that I may be free to love and forgive. Getting angry like Moses is a trap I’ve been in before. Praise God for conviction of sin to draw close to the Lord and walk in true repentance.

 Intimacy

by Brenda D. Flowers

In the quiet moments,

Now, My Savior comes to me

To meet me and refresh me

In my deepest longings.

My Lover of my soul

Amazes me as He speaks.

Continually I am

Yearning for Him to lead.

Intimacy with Christ through Relationships
by Judy Hitson

Once we know the Lord and grow in a love relationship with Him, we enjoy intimate times with Him. This is key to experience intimacy with Him through relationships. Once we establish a relationship with Jesus Christ, we can better relate to others, bear one another’s burdens and fulfill the law of Christ. (Gal. 6: 2)

As we walk in the Spirit and in love, we experience intimacy with Christ and intimate fellowship with those of like mind in the Spirit. God places people in our lives to come alongside us or for us to come alongside them. He fills us with His love and compassion to walk on this earth as it is in heaven.

We may discern those who know Christ but choose to walk like Lot, according to this world with human desires and lusts of the world and flesh. Others we discern do not know Christ, who walk according to the world, flesh and devil. Our desire is for them to choose Christ and His ways rather than their own ways and ways of the world. In our circles of life, God puts people on our heart to carry them in prayer to respond to the light and walk in the light as He is in the light. Is it not for the sake of love? When we realize God is love, that He loves us as no other, we are drawn to Him and learn to love because He first loved us. (1 John 4: 19)

Relationships can develop in intimacy through Christ in us the hope of glory, to love them into the Kingdom as we are led by the Spirit who gives us life. (Col.1:27, John 6:63; 2 Cor. 3: 6)

To whom much is given, much is required. We are not alone in this world when we know Christ, He is with us wherever we go. We have the privilege to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ,  to mature to the full measure of Christ, to walk in the Spirit and walk in love like Jesus. (Luke 12: 48, Josh. 1:9, 2 Peter 3: 18, Eph. 4: 13, Gal. 5: 25, Eph. 5:2)

When we come to know Christ through the second birth, born of the Spirit and baptized in the Spirit we have choices to make to grow in Christ and walk by faith or go our own way. We can do all things through Christ who strengthens us, but apart from Him we can do nothing. (John 3: 5, 1 Cor. 12: 13, Phil. 4: 13, John 15: 5b)

So let us grow in intimacy with Christ through relationships; being accountable to God and to man. There is a quote I’d like to share with you in closing that made an impact on my heart. Heidi Baker who has a ministry with her husband Rolland in Mozambique said, “If you know that you are loved, you are free to be intimate.” May the Lord reveal His great love for you and free you to be intimate in relationships with Him and others.

                                                                                             Power Transferred

                                                                                                by Brenda D. Flowers

Soaking you in like a solar panel so I can shine out.

Intimate time of warmth and pleasure

Light and Life are touching me.

Union. . . Oneness. . . Internal Life

Leading me anew to hope of Eternal Life.

I rest in these moments.  Refreshed . . .

Ready for daily tasks,

but not alone.

Holy Spirit, You are working in and through me.

Even when I am not aware . . .

You are here. You are there.

Alive in me and pouring out of me

through my touches and my smiles.

Intimate moments of quiet soaking.

These times are where the power is transferred.

Thank you, God, for guiding me to You.

You are my Source, my Lifeline.

An Encouraging Word

Given to Brenda Flowers to share with the Church March 2014

Focus on My Hope

Not on the circumstances.

Hope in Me.

Did I not say I am the author and the finisher of your faith?

I don’t write your life story and leave it hanging, unfinished.

By the way, I like happy endings just like you do.

So give your worries, fears, and doubts to Me.

I know how to handle them.

Powerful presence prepares perfectly the person who is pliable in my powerful palms.

Yes, I am molding and making you as you trust in Me.

I know it is not easy.

Didn’t I forgive David? The Samaritan woman? Rahab at Jericho? Saul who later became Paul? Peter? The thief? Those who hungered and thirsted for My Ways?

Stay soft and conditioned by the watering of My words.

I love you!

Intimacy with Christ through Fasting
by Judy Hitson

Matthew 17:21 NASB “But this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.”

This Bible verse is in reference to a boy with a demon It surprised me when I discovered this verse is not included in two translations I looked at, NIV and ESV. Why Lord, I asked? I don’t understand. I know there is no reason to fear the ministry of deliverance. If you experienced deliverance from bondage to freedom in Christ, you may be familiar with prayer and fasting. If not, may the following testimony of a personal struggle of mine shine a light of understanding to be helpful in your life.

Since I’ve come to know the Lord, He blesses me with times of deliverance and healing.  When I first heard of binding and casting out demons, it was foreign to me. I’d think of the movie, The Exorcist, which totally freaked me out. If you saw it, you know what I’m talking about.

Most of us dream and hope of living happily ever after. As a child, I went to church every Sunday and attended a Christian school, but at home there was arguing and complaining with family, friends and neighbors. I grew up with religion but did not have a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ. When I came to a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, I was 36 years old and thought the spiritual baggage was gone; the wonderful life I dreamed of was complete. I was married, we had three children at the time, were members of a local church and I worked as a nurse. Learning to read and study the Bible was new to me and I couldn’t get enough of it. I was hungry for the Lord, His word and to be among people of God that knew Him and shared the mighty things He was doing in their lives. It was like utopia.

It wasn’t long until that bubble of utopia burst and I came face to face with tests, trials and tribulations of life, like a struggle I had with anger. It became a shouting match at home with my husband and children. I’d have quiet time in the living room in the early morning and be at peace with God. By the time I got to the kitchen is was like mayhem. The quiet, peaceful manner I longed for was lost in becoming a screaming Mom with the children and fussing with my husband at the breakfast table, hurrying them to be ready for school and work.

Unforgiveness was bound in my heart getting tangled with bitterness in my soul and generational sins. I needed help and asked for prayer with Bible study friends. As I learned about spiritual warfare, deliverance ministry and inner healing, it was scary to me. What I read and studied in the Bible to be a woman of God was not a reality for me. What was wrong with me that I’d get angry over little things and shout, yell, and scream in daily routines of life? I cried out to the Lord for help. At a friend’s house, a flyer from her church caught my eye, it was a Bible series on Spiritual warfare; just what I needed. Desperate for help and out of my comfort zone, I went in fear and trembling. The teacher said, the Lord helps us when we are desperate. At ministry time, I could not get to the altar fast enough for prayer. She prayed for me like she was reading my mail and took authority against religious, familiar and other spirits. This was my first experience with prayers of deliverance for which I am eternally grateful. Since then I’ve learned not to fear enemies of my soul but rather take authority in the name of Jesus Christ and the life of His Spirit to be free from areas of bondage.

Recently, when I heard, “This kind does not come out but by prayer and fasting,” I received it as a word from the Lord for me to overcome food idolatry and my struggle with weight gain.  To know the Lord, His word and life in the Spirit, I find it is like a treasure. To draw close to Him in an intimate love relationship, as first love, I come to Him about everything and anything. Spending time soaking in His presence, in prayer and His word, I hear what He has to say to me. When it comes to food, I’ve rebelled going my way rather than the way of the Lord. It is like another time around the mountain for me with the Lord in regards to this sin area of my life. I want to obey and follow Him to be free with food. A nudge came to fast a week from refined sugar, I obeyed. After the week, I couldn’t wait to indulge in my favorite sweets. Realizing that is not going to work, I sought the Lord for the next step. I love sugar but sugar doesn’t love me. It makes me lazy, sleepy and unproductive. It makes me feel unhealthy with aches and pains and poor circulation. Why do I consume food on my lust? It isn’t funny but sometimes I laugh when I share my cravings for sweets with someone. Taking it seriously, another nudge came for me to fast three days from refined sugars and starches, I obeyed. I confessed to the Lord, I couldn’t wait to eat the things I crave like candy, cakes, pies, breads, crackers, whatever. A  nudge came to fast three more days and add whole grains. I did not want to, but obeyed.

During a fast, I’ve learned we can go through the motions on a natural plane without needed results. Yet during times of prayer and fasting, I find deeper intimacy with the Lord to overcome battles by His Spirit who gives strength to heed His word and find victory in Jesus in the area of struggle. It is a process. The battle is the Lord’s. In the midst of this present battle, I trust the Lord to win it by His Spirit in me and stand on the promise of Ps. 32:8 NKJV I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will guide you with My eye.

As I shared my experience and present struggle, did it bring areas of needed victory in your life? Is it time for you to experience intimacy with Christ through prayer and fasting?

There are times we feel distant from the Lord. He reveals this is a battle between God’s calling on our life in the Spirit and our human desires. God wants us to see our need of change, be transformed by His Spirit to live Christ on earth as it is in heaven. God will cleanse us and transform us to walk in the Spirit and stop lusting after the flesh. The choice is up to us to follow the Lord or go our own way.

Prayer: Father help us mature in intimacy with Christ and discern times You call us to prayer and fasting. In Your name we pray, Lord Jesus Christ, and by Your Spirit who gives us life. Amen.

Post Note: There are many ways of fasting from food, time, negativity, activities, media, television, shopping, relationships to name a few.