Intimacy, Love, and Power

We often hear about operating in the Power of God, and the Power of the Holy Spirit, and the Power gifts.  These are all great, but one must be able to have intimacy with God in order to be able to have the greatest power flow though our words and hands.  What is intimacy?  It is the state of knowing someone or something.  It does not mean getting physical, it only means to get to know someone or something well.  For example, a math teacher is intimate with math, he or she knows math well and as a result loves math.  It is from that love and intimacy that the math teacher gains the power to teach others about math and use it correctly. 

In the same way, when we are intimae with God, we get to know Him.  We learn to love Him for who He is and what He did for us.  It is out of that knowing that the true power comes.  It doesn’t come by forcing it, it doesn’t come by wishing it or studying it.  It comes from knowing.  Moses went to the mountain and spent 40 days with God.  He did not go up the mountain to get the power of God in his life, he went to the mountain to gain intimacy with God and out of that intimacy flowed love and out of that love flowed power. 

It is the same with us.  Intimacy is power, it is knowing, it is being able to hear and understand.  There is a reason that Paul says in 1 Corinthians 13:13: “And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.”  Love cannot be obtained without intimacy and faith for power cannot be obtained without love.  They are all connected.  It is the reason why Paul first says in 1 Corinthians 13:1-3 that “If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.  If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.  If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.”   

To put it in a more clear way, no one cares how much power you have and will not want your power (or the power that comes from God) unless you have love.  We cannot truly love others until we Love God and know him intimately.  It is out of that relationship that we learn to love Him and to love others and even ourselves.  It is out of that love that the Power of God flowing through us is most effective and has the capacity to change the world and others lives.  If we do not have that love and intimacy for God, we are just a loud brassy person that comes across as uncaring and arrogant.  But with that relationship built out of love and not fear, we can affectively change hearts and see the power of God flow into others' lives and see the healing they so desire.   

Jesus healed others out of compassion and out of the intimate relationship he had with his Father.  If he had to have that intimate relationship with the Father to be able to see the power for healing and power to change lives and the power to preach the truth, then how much more do we need it. 

Here is the hard part.  All of us have at least a small bit of fear, some have nothing but fear.  That fear is going to block the true love and intimacy that God desires and our spirit desires to have with God.  But how do we get past the fear?  We open up our heart to others (not everyone of course) that we feel at least a little trust.  We have to be willing to be hurt.  It will surprise you how much love and intimacy flows out of you once you open your heart and allow that fear out.  Intimacy brings strength and confidence in ourselves as well as the other person, not to mention God Almighty.  What God desires most from us is our love and intimacy with Him.  Start being honest about your fear and other shortcomings.  God the Father knows how to take all of that and make it something powerful.  Trust Him to take you from fear to Intimacy and then to Love and Power.  All that garbage from your past is just garbage.  But it holds you back from having true love and power flowing in your life.  Be willing to turn it all over to God and just see what He will do.  I guarantee it will be much more than you could ever ask or thing or even imagine.  Just trust Him to do in you what He promised He would do and see how much freedom you can gain by trusting, and becoming intimate with the one who made you.