Tuesday, February 1, 2011

The Cost of Intimacy: A Devotional from Leslie Ludy


We cannot expect an intimate, passionate daily relationship with Christ if we are not willing to seek Him with all our heart, soul, mind and strength.  When we are preoccupied with pop-culture and the pursuit of our own selfish pleasure, we cannot truly know Him or hear His voice.  But when we, like Mary of Bethany, are willing to pour out everything we hold dear upon the precious head of our beloved without reserve, we will experience firsthand that “in His presence is fullness of joy and in His right hand are pleasures forevermore.”

Whenever God pinpoints something in our life that is standing in the way of intimacy with Himself, our flesh (that selfish, sinful side of our being) immediately starts kicking and screaming in protest, telling you how unnecessary all of this is.  “You can have a close walk with God and enjoy the pleasures of this world!” or “If you lay down all these things, you’ll look like a ‘holier-than-thou’ bigot!” or “All the other Christians I know do all of these things!  What’s the big deal?”
    
But what is the Spirit of Christ whispering to your soul?

He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him. (John 14:21 NKJV)

If you want to personally experience the fullness of all that Christ is then it’s time to tune out the voice of your flesh and follow the example of Paul:  

But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him…that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death… (Phil 3:7-10 NKJV)

Yes, there will be protests when we embrace Christ’s call – both from our flesh and from the outside world.  But instead of complaining about His narrow path or giving into self-pity, let us delight in the jealous love that He has for us.  Let us remember the staggering sacrifice He made on our behalf.  And let us revel in the privilege of laying our all at His feet in gratitude. Let us yield to the supernatural, transforming, purifying work of Christ’s Spirit as He makes us into His holy temple.  Let us allow Him to change us from the selfish, cowering closet-Christians we are into the valiant, valorous, virtuous example of set-apart femininity that God has called us to be.  And let the world stand back in wonder.

He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also. If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honor. (John 12:25-26 NKJV)




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