Intimacy with Jesus

I know one person better than any other human being in the world. That person is me. I know me. I know the thoughts and desires that no other human knows but me. I know that what others see in me is not always what is on the inside.

Knowing me like I do and also knowing that Jesus knows all the things about me that I know (Jesus really knows more about me than I know), I am in total amazement at the desire Jesus has for a relationship with me.

The most amazing thing about the relationship that Jesus wants with me is the intimacy that He wants in that relationship.

There are many verses that show us the intimate relationship that Jesus desires with us. I want to focus on four.

Romans 5:6-8

For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person – through perhaps for a good person one would dare to die – but God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Jesus died for us while we were ungodly sinners.

Jesus didn’t wait for us to realize we were ungodly sinners. He died for us while we were still under the control of sin and not even aware of our condition.

We might be willing to do something nice for really good people.

Jesus died for us as really bad people.

I know the idea that, without Jesus, we are bad does not go along with the values this world teaches. The Word of God makes it clear that Jesus is the only good one and that every human being is unrighteous, does not do good, and has no respect or love for God naturally.

Jesus gave His life while I was in absolute rebellion against Jesus and His authority.

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is acknowledging that, apart from Jesus, we have nothing good or righteous in us.

Luke 19:10

Jesus came for the lost.

Jesus came to seek the lost. He did not wait for the lost to come seeking Him. He took the initiative to go and find the lost. Jesus spent His three years of ministry going out to where lost people were and inviting them to enter into a relationship with Him.

Jesus did not act as the offended party, even though we had offended Him with our sin. He sought to reconcile us, as His human creation, with Him, our Creator and Lord.

I don’t seek out people who have offended me. I tend to wait for the person who has hurt me to come and ask for forgiveness, and then I will forgive him.

Jesus went looking for people to forgive them.

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is knowing that Jesus reached out to me when I was lost.

Mark 2:16-17

And the scribes and the Pharisees, when they saw that He was eating with sinners and tax collectors, said to His disciples, “Why does He eat with tax collectors and sinners?” And when Jesus heard it, He said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”

When I tell God that I am ok without Him, that I don’t need Him, it breaks His heart, but He will abide by my wishes and stay out of my life.

When I admit my sin, Jesus says that I am the kind of person that He came to call into a relationship with Himself and the Father and the Holy Spirit.

Jesus knew that people who considered themselves righteous were not desiring a relationship with Him. Jesus also knew that a person who knew he was a sinner was desiring a relationship with Him.

In Luke 18 Jesus tells the story of two men who went to the temple to pray. One was a Pharisee who prayed out of a heart of pride and self-righteousness. The other was a tax collector who prayed out of a heart of humility and repentance and confession of his sin. Jesus said that the tax collector went away justified. He was justified because he acknowledged his sin, asked for forgiveness, and desired a relationship with God.

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is acknowledging our need for Jesus and receiving His forgiveness and establishing a relationship with Him.

Matthew 11:28-30

Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

Jesus invites people who are weary, tired, ready to quit, to come to Him.

Jesus invites people who are carrying heavy burdens, who are bent over with the weight of what they are having to carry, to come to Him.

Jesus promises that when the weary, heavy burdened come to Him, He will give them what they need – rest.

Life wears us down and what we need many times is rest. We need rest that goes beyond the physical. We need a rest in which we know that, no matter what circumstance we are facing in this life, we will get through it because Jesus is with us through it all.

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is experiencing rest in our relationship with Jesus.

Jesus invites weary, ungodly sinners to surrender their lives to Him.

Jesus will give these weary, ungodly sinners – rest, forgiveness, love, grace, and mercy. The greatest thing that Jesus gives us is an intimate relationship with Him, the Father, and the Holy Spirit.

I am overwhelmed that Jesus even wants a relationship. I am more than overwhelmed at the intimacy that Jesus wants with me in that relationship. I am truly grateful for a God that loves me that much.

In Great Intimacy with Jesus Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls,

                                                   Joe