In-To-Me-See

Our God is a God of intimacy! I heard Bishop TD Jakes say intimacy is In-to-me-see. This is so accurate. The God that created us sees us all as He did in the Garden of Eden, naked. There is nothing about us that is hidden, nothing left to His imagination, we are fully exposed, no matter how we dress it, suppress it or bury it. The Word of the Lord declares in Psalm 139:1-18 from the Amplified Classic:

Psalm 139 – To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.

¹ O Lord, you have searched me [thoroughly] and have known me. ² You know my downsitting and my uprising; You understand my thought afar off. ³ You sift and search out my path and my lying down, and You are acquainted with all my ways. ⁴ For there is not a word in my tongue [still unuttered], but, behold, O Lord, You know it altogether. ⁵ You have beset me and shut me in—behind and before, and You have laid Your hand upon me. ⁶ Your [infinite] knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high above me, I cannot reach it. ⁷ Where could I go from Your Spirit? Or where could I flee from Your presence? ⁸ If I ascend up into heaven, You are there; if I make my bed in Sheol (the place of the dead), behold, You are there. ⁹ If I take the wings of the morning or dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, ¹⁰ Even there shall Your hand lead me, and Your right hand shall hold me. ¹¹ If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me and the night shall be [the only] light about me, ¹² Even the darkness hides nothing from You, but the night shines as the day; the darkness and the light are both alike to You. ¹³ For You did form my inward parts; You did knit me together in my mother’s womb. ¹⁴ I will confess and praise You for You are fearful and wonderful and for the awful wonder of my birth! Wonderful are Your works, and that my inner self knows right well. ¹⁵ My frame was not hidden from You when I was being formed in secret [and] intricately and curiously wrought [as if embroidered with various colors] in the depths of the earth [a region of darkness and mystery]. ¹⁶ Your eyes saw my unformed substance, and in Your book all the days [of my life] were written before ever they took shape, when as yet there was none of them. ¹⁷ How precious and weighty also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How vast is the sum of them! ¹⁸ If I could count them, they would be more in number than the sand. When I awoke, [could I count to the end] I would still be with You.

Not even in the secrecy of a womb are we hidden! Hell’s intense darkness is insufficient to conceal us. My God, what a God! Sin causes us to want to hide from an all-seeing God instantly. But we have to remember He sees all. Although He sees our mess and despises it, His desire is to do a work as He hates distance between Himself and His children. Sometimes we feel that God is angry when sometimes what is being felt is His grief because of our choice to separate from Him. God’s heart is very tender towards His children and finds pleasure in being intimate. Life’s challenges, disappointments, traumas, sin often cause walls to be erected between us and God. Even though He can see, the systems of operation He sets up is that we have to invite Him or respond in the affirmative to His invitation for relationship to be built. He craves intimacy.

True intimacy is not:

• True intimacy is not necessarily the amount of time you spend in prayer. Matthew 23:14 AMPC says “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, pretenders (hypocrites)! For you swallow up widows’ houses and for a pretense to cover it up make long prayers; therefore you will receive the greater condemnation and the heavier sentence.” Some long prayers are vain and repetitious.
• It’s not necessarily how loud you pray. Ezekiel 8:18 AMPC says, “Therefore I will deal in wrath; My eye will not spare, nor will I have pity; and though they cry in My ears with a loud voice, yet will I not hear them.” Intimacy cannot be accomplished if one party is not listening. Loudness does not equate to genuineness.
• It’s not necessarily how often you speak in tongues, nor how long you speak in tongues. The fact that this is a language it can be rehearsed and lack the unction from the Spirit of God. 1 Corinthians 13:1 says, “Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.” Tongues do not always equate to deep spirituality.
• It’s not necessarily about the fact that you pray until you sweat. Some people have a high metabolic rate, and this can contribute to the ease of generating sweat. Or the time may simply be hot.
• It’s not about how hard you cry in His presence, remember Esau. Hebrews 12: 16-17 AMPC says “16That no one may become guilty of sexual vice, or become a profane (godless and sacrilegious) person as Esau did, who sold his own birthright for a single meal. 17For you understand that later on, when he wanted [to regain title to] his inheritance of the blessing, he was rejected (disqualified and set aside), for he could find no opportunity to repair by repentance [what he had done, no chance to recall the choice he had made], although he sought for it carefully with [bitter] tears.” Crying to regain a lost promise doesn’t mean you are interested in the Promise Keeper. Even sometimes the tears shed in repentance is not out of Godly sorrow but because we got caught and we want God to take away the shame caused.

True Intimacy is:

• It’s about how much of your heart you have surrendered to God. (Matt. 22:37)
• It’s how submissive you are to His will. (James 4:7)
• It’s how you treat with His presence. Ephesians 3:14-15 says, “For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15 Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named,” Worship, respect, love, honor praise is due.
• It’s the sincerity of your love, honor and respect for Him, the things that pertain to Him and His people. (Isa. 29:13)
• It’s about your decision to stay on the potter’s wheel so He can keep making you into another vessel after you have been marred. (Jer. 18:1-6)
• It’s about reverencing Him sufficiently that you never become too familiar with Him.
• It’s about being inspired by Him that you are continually awed by Him and express gratitude. (Luke 17:18)
• It’s about being concerned about what He is concerned about.
• It’s about real interest in Him, interest in knowing His mind and His heart.
• It’s about hating what He hates and loving what He loves. (1John 4:20)
• It’s about studying Him and learning His way and not stopping at just experiencing His acts. The children of Israel knew Gods acts, but Moses His ways. (Ps. 103:7)

He said that there are some persons that are seeing manifestations of power because you are making the effort, you are doing the work, you are spending the time and so you will see manifestations of His power at work through you because you are honoring the principle of diligence. Where that is expected and commendable and appreciated by God, – Matthew 7:21-23 KJV says, “²¹ Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. ²² Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? ²³ And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.” He said He would rather have all of you, all of your heart. He wants to make your unholy desires Holy, He wants to stir up a hunger within you for true holiness and righteousness but you are stuck on works, impressed with manifestations and swelling revelations. He said several persons are stuck and are still lacking real depth because of His standard of quality regarding relationship with Him.

Some of us love to preach certain messages and don’t allow our own messages to search us and so even the revelations that are meant to bring conviction and ultimate transformation is not received as such because of the weight of your own glory that you put on it to just leave people in awe of you and not in awe of Him.