Praise the Lord for God's eternal purpose. God has been processed through incarnation, human living, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension. Now He is the life-giving Spirit (1 Cor 15:45b), that He may give life to us(John 3:16, John 10:10), and that we may live by His life (Gal 2:20). Here are some ways we can have an intimate relationship with God that I'd like to share. If anyone would like to add to the list that'd be great, we can all encourage one another to take such a way to enjoy God in a full, deep, high, and rich way. 1. Exercise the spirit. Man is made of 3 parts - body, soul and spirit (1 Thes 5:23). When we are regenerated by the Spirit of God, He indwells our human spirit. The human spirit is the unique "organ" to contact God, receive God, contain God, and enjoy God. The Divine Spirit, and the human spirit are joined to become one, that everything we do would be in the mingled spirit.

2. Call on the name of the Lord When Enosh realised the weakness of man, He began to call upon the name of the Lord. Romans 10:13 tells us that whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. This is not a once for all matter but should be our day by day experience. Romans 8:15 Says that we have not received a spirit of bondage again to fear but a spirit of sonship by which we cry Abba Father ! To call on the name of the Lord is one of the easiest ways to turn to the Lord and touch Him in our spirit. When a child is hungry or thirsty, they call for their parents, and the parent comes immediately to supply their need. Likewise, whatever our situation or need, we can call upon the name of the Lord and He is ready to supply us with Himself.

3. Set aside time for prayer The Lord Jesus showed us a model in Himself of praying to God. Often He would retreat to a quiet place to speak with the Father. Prayer is our means to live the Christian life practically. When we pray we ask the Lord for Him to supply us, to strengthen us, to reveal Himself and His will to us, and to guard us from the evil one. My personal experience is that I often find it easy to do my own things, but find it difficult to diligently pray before the Lord, so it is good to set up a fixed time. If it seems difficult at first, try just a few minutes at a time. As you deepen your relationship with the Lord, He will draw you to Himself even more. 4. Pray-read the word of God The bible is a book of prayer. When you read the bible, you can pray over the verses. Sometimes, spiritually speaking, when we read we "swallow" the word, and don't savour the taste to enjoy it. But we can pray over verses, over sentences, even over words themselves. This can help the Word to be more enjoyable and written upon our hearts. e.g. "Gen 1:1 - In the beginning, God created the Heavens and the Earth. Thank you Lord, you were in the beginning. Lord you are the very beginning of everything in this universe. I love you, you are the source of all things. You are the source of blessing. I treasure you as my very beginning. Lord I thankyou for your creation. Lord it was in your very heart to create. I praise you for your creation. The creation is the masterpiece of your hands. You were in the beginning. You created. Lord you created the heavens and the Earth. Thankyou for the heavens. Praise the Lord for the Earth. The heavens are for the Earth, the Earth is for me, and I am for you Lord. Amen"

There are many wonderful verses we can take in such a way and pray over them. It will cause us to build up a deep appreciation for God's word.

5. Find a spiritual companion It's often difficult to live the Christian life when we face things day by day without a spiritual companion. We may have Christ as life in our spirit, but when we are alone, we often don't turn to our spirit. But it is much easier to be preserved and to enjoy the Lord when you have a spiritual companion. To have such a one helps us in our Christian walk. We can pray together, read the Word together, fellowship, and encourage one another.

6. Keep a clear sky It is important in being able to go on steadily in the Christian life to daily confess our sins before the Lord. Keep nothing from Him. To open up ourselves to Him frees us from all the feelings of condemnation within. When we exercise to have a clear conscience we can go on boldly and pray with power. In order to have a clear sky with God, it is also important to have a clear conscience before man. Let us confess before those whom we have offended, and forgive those who have offended us.

7. Have a good, regular church life It is important to have a healthy church life. This age is the age of the church, the age of the body. We must remember that all of God's children are the members of His body. Thus our mouth should be tamed and our actions controlled, for if we attack our brothers and sisters, we are attacking Christ Himself. We should endeavour to encourage those who have not been meeting regularly to do so not in a condemning way, but in a cherishing way, to lead them to the flock and enjoy the corporate blessing of the church life. When we have a good church life, it will enhance our private relationship with God, and vice versa.

8. Give all things to God We toil with much anxiety but God takes care of His children. He knows how to fulfill our needs. The earthly things we enjoy are temporary, but our hope is set on the heavenly things which await us.

9. Look away unto Jesus We are all sinners. We all fall short of His glory, but don't feel down and out. There is one who lives in you and His life is tremendous. He is the unique one who has overcome satan, sin, death, darkness, the old creation, the old man, adam, the self, the flesh, the lusts, the lukewarmness, the faithlessness. All these things He has terminated on the cross, and we can experience the surpassing power of this life within us when we exercise our spirit, turn to Him and trust in Him.

10. Run the race Pursue Christ, lay hold of Christ, gain Christ, experience Christ, enjoy Christ, Obtain Christ.

-- Oliver Fischer (spicenut@excite.com), May 19, 2004

Answers

bump!

-- Oliver Fischer (spicenut@excite.com), May 19, 2004.

Great advice Oliver!

Something else that has helped me is to remember that Jesus is constantly present in our lives. I try to remember that when I drive or when I deal with others. If Jesus were sitting next to me on the couch, would I be watching that TV show I'm watching now? That certainly affects my outlook on life.

Another thing I've heard about is making all our daily actions a prayer to God. I think this fits in well with your list. It's telling to take stock in where our minds are throughout the day. How much time is spent in idle and selfish thougths, and how much on Christ and the will of God?

-- Andy S ("aszmere@earthlink.net"), May 19, 2004.