Truth is the Highway to Intimate Relationship
Roads that we travel on any journey are not nearly as important as the destination itself. Many highways, paved roads, or less beaten paths can be different routes to the very same place. There are express highways and scenic routes. This is also true of the journeys we take into intimacy with God.
It has become very apparent to me that whichever route we choose to encounter the Living God in a personal way, the road we travel must be paved with truth. No matter what our truth is on any given day, that is the requirement to achieve true intimacy. Without truth there simply cannot be intimacy. Intimacy requires willingness to be known as we truly are, without the covering of any fig leaf or facade. It requires vulnerability. It requires risk. There is another word for risk and that word is faith.
Faith is the currency of the heavenly kingdom of which we are citizens. If we are short on faith, we simply need to ask for the gift of faith necessary, to allow us to embark on this journey toward knowing the very heart of our God.
Joshua 1:5~~"As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you or forsake you."
Moses was known by God and Moses knew God intimately. He was honest with God and did not hide himself. We all long both to be known as we truly are, and to be accepted for who we are. Who could be safer to enter into absolute honest relationship with than the kind and loving God, who is quick to forgive us and promises never to forsake us, and to never condemn us? Who could be safer that the very One who daily exchanges our sin for His righteousness and intercedes for us before the throne of the Father continually?
Romans 8:1~~"There is now no condemnation for for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the spirit of sin and death."
He loves you, because He loves you, because He loves you, not because you have a perfect thought life, perfect motives, or behavior. He loves you because He is love by His very nature. That is what He does and that is who He always was and always will be. His love is unconditional. His love will not diminish because you discuss your most shameful secret with Him, nor will it increase because of some outstanding achievement, service, or behavior. So intimacy requires disclosing your personal truth to the One who loves you unconditionally.
The Express Route to Find the Heart of God
Relationship requires dialogue, divulging one's hopes, dreams, thoughts, opinions and in turn listening to another's hopes, dreams, opinions and perspectives. Without listening, one is limited to a monologue and merely talking at "at" another. That is not dialogue at all and therefore not relational, for it only involves self.
Entering into a true relationship with God is no different. Dialogue is the key to growing in friendship. Dialogue is how we come to know another and become known. Yes, it feels risky. It means that we must become vulnerable to possible rejection or possibly making a mistake.
What if God doesn't speak to me? What if He doesn't like what I have to say? What if I think I'm hearing God but it is only my imagination? Or worse yet, what if I'm hearing a demon? These are legitimate concerns.
Let me assure you, right now, that demons never, never, ever, glorify Jesus. You can be certain of that. If you are drawn closer to Jesus and the Father, you are on the right frequency. It has to be God.
Our Radical Relational God
Many years ago a dear brother, Jack Deere, taught on this relational nature of God in a prayer group I was attending. He spoke about the Holy Spirit just wanting to hang out with us and have companionship. Taking this message seriously I committed to give God a few minutes each day by setting time aside just to build this relationship, feeling somehow that I owed God that. Prayer was a familiar discipline especially when I needed or wanted something but just hanging out and building a relationship with God was another matter entirely.
Not knowing quite how to do this "relational thing" with a God that I had always viewed as distant and aloof, I approached this rather clumsily at first. I would imagine Jesus sitting on a chair in the room and speak to Him as though I were speaking to my best friend. Talking about whatever was going on in my day, my thoughts and opinions, I would spend a few minutes and soon get very distracted. It became a little easier to stay focused if I spoke aloud during these times. Feeling awkward during this unfamiliar exercise in the beginning, it was merely a discipline that I had committed to, whether or not the awkwardness ever diminished. My rational mind continually reminded me how foolish I appeared, sitting in a room alone talking to the air. However foolish I might have felt, I had reconciled to continue. If this was what God wanted, He certainly deserved that I show up to visit feeling foolish or not.
Much to my amazement, a few weeks into this commitment, I began feeling a "presence" in the room with me at these times. It felt warm, and as though I were surrounded by affection and so safe. I began to look forward to these times of fellowship, just sharing my heart with a God who truly did love me and apparently did desire my companionship. These meetings became the high point of my entire day before long.
What an amazing discovery to learn that God wanted to hang out with me despite all of my weakness and flaws and propensity to sin. This incredible revelation of His approachable nature made me love Jesus even more and to want to know more and more about this pursuing and friendly God. Sin has become less and less appealing as I have continued in this experiential relationship with Him.
Relational Highways and Byways
Prayer, song, praise, dance, painting, sculpting, writing are all types of communication and each treasured by the God who loves to commune with His people. These are all routes toward God's heart when we use them to express our hearts to Him through these avenues. The Holy Spirit can lead us into wonderful encounters with Him when we use the arts to express our hearts to Him. It is wise to remain open to hearing or sensing His response and interaction when we are seeking to commune with Him this way.
Writing happens to be my favorite method of communing with God and has become both an expressway and a scenic route in this journey. My journal has become a wonderful open door of two-way communication between me and the Lord. Each of His children have our own unique way of expressing as He has created us each to be unique for His pleasure.
Prophetic journaling, which is my unique expression, is not as mystical as it may sound. It is simply writing to the Lord and listening for His response and recording what you hear.
According to the scriptures, God speaks to His friends. This is what friends do, share their hearts with one another. So, anyone can be prophetic if you are willing to enter into intimate relationship with Him. The desire of His heart is that all would be prophetic, meaning that all would enter into this intimacy of deep friendship. He really seems to enjoy speaking to His people if they are willing to listen. Granted, this does require some degree of risk. He is, however, very faithful to confirm Himself when we dare to began risking.
God Initiates a Detour
This prophetic type of journaling was not something I simply decided to do. On the contrary!
Journaling was a discipline for me when I was involved in a recovery group many years ago. God just happened to break in on me as I was processing my thoughts on the pages of my journal one day.
Writing about the inner conflict and exposing it on paper helps the writer to own the truth within, rather than to ignore the truth or pretend that all is well when it is not. Denial is the common term for this practice of ignoring and pretending. This discipline of journaling for me was to break a pattern of denial in my life, so that I could make healthier decision for myself and break some cycles of compulsive behavior.
Having poured out my heart to myself in the journal one afternoon, I paused to listen for my own thoughts for options or possible resolutions. I began to record what I expected to be my own thoughts. However, the comfort and love and wisdom which I began to record on those pages, was so profound, that I realized that this was not my own inner voice at all. It was the still, small voice of the Father speaking to me. It was quite astounding to say the least.
In the days to follow I began addressing the Lord with my journal entries inviting him to return and speak to me again. It began to happen a little here and there, little by little, and always kind. In fact He was far kinder to me that I was to myself which convinced me that this must indeed be God. He was never condemning, always encouraging, and very gentle. However, it was somewhat perplexing since I had never heard of anyone having had this experience prior to my own experience.
Fruit Inspection
Following the Scripture's admonition to judge the tree by its fruit, I committed to weighing these communications with the written word of God in the scriptures.
Never were these dictations contrary to the Scripture. Sometimes, they were a whole new perspective and fresh understanding of the Scriptures. Another method of fruit inspection which I employed was to consider if this strange new communication with this small inner voice would draw me closer to Jesus or would it not.
Oh, it certainly drew me closer as I couldn't wait for these special times together! I would rush home from work just to hang out and meet with this loving God who desired my company. It didn't seem to matter what mood I brought to this meeting place; He was apparently glad to see me each and every time.
There were times when I felt a distance as though He had taken a vacation and left me alone. Sometimes for days, sometimes for weeks. However, He began to show me that these were times when I was withholding my own truth from Him. Avoiding some issue about which I felt shame or guilt seemed to erect a barrier between us. The barrier would quickly dissolve once I faced the matter and trusted Him with my truth whether it was good, bad or even ugly. He always restored me, always encouraged me, always melted away my shame and made my heart tender once again.
He taught me that there just are no detours from truthful dialogue if I wanted intimacy. Withholding truth is refusing to have relationship, I was to learn.
Just has He has always done with me, He brought confirmation of the validity of this prophetic type of journaling after several months of risking, trusting and inspecting the fruit. It is typical of the Lord in my experience to faithfully confirm whatever He is teaching me only after He draws me into the lesson. He will do this with the scriptures, bible teachings, sermons or several witnesses. So it was with this journey. A few months into this ongoing dialogue, a friend brought me a book called Dialogue with God, by Mark Virkler, in which he discusses a similar journey of 2-way conversations with God in his journal. This is recommended reading if you are interested. In the Book of Psalms we also read some of David's journal in which there is this type of dialogue with the Creator. It is definitely not a new thing.
God is calling us to deeper intimacy in these times. He longs to reveal His heart to you and me.
A Treasure Chest of God's Words
God's personal words are like precious jewels, so priceless that they must be kept in a safe place. Yes, you can store them up in your heart. However, it amazes me how very quickly my memory can no longer bring back the treasures I have stored in my heart. When reviewing journal entries within just a few days of having recorded them, I am amazed that I have already forgotten some of the profound things God has spoken to me. It is a reminder of how valuable it is to have this treasure chest that I can reopen and be refreshed, and encouraged and even challenged again and again as I reread our conversations.
Jewels of the kingdom are meant to be shared. They cannot be depleted by passing them on to others but will be multiplied. Therefore, that which has been given to me, I am to freely give. The many encouragements and insights received in these divine dialogues are not just for me but are meant to be given to friends, and family and others that God has placed in my life. He is not a respecter of persons. Therefore when He pours out His love for me on the pages of my journal, there is no doubt in my mind that He feels exactly the same way about you as well. You will find these words straight from the heart of the Holy Spirit throughout this website, especially on the Daily Devotional page. My prayer is that these words will draw you deeper into the experiential knowledge of His love.
Tent of Meeting Outside the Camp
Prophetic journaling is not a formula with methods and rules. It is more a tent of meeting outside the camp where you can commune with the Lord and really listen to Him speak to your heart. It is a secret place where the exchanges between you and God are recorded to revisit at a later time. It requires no flowery language skills or King James English. It does require gut level honesty and sincere desire to hear the thoughts of the One who loves you passionately and without reservation.
Faith that you are His beloved and that He is willing to share His heart with you is important. However, if you need a little injection of faith for this, you simply have to ask. He is faithful to answer.
Romans10:17~~"Consequently, faith comes by hearing and hearing through the words of God."
Hearing the spoken word of God from God Himself speaking into your heart will increase your faith in an amazing way. This I know.
Remember that our God loves persistence. So if you if you don't hear any great conversations immediately don't be discouraged. Show up again regularly for a time and show Him that you are sincere about this. Jot down every thought during these times. You will be amazed at how willing He is to communicate with you. You will grow both in your faith and in your ability to hear.
Weigh the words you hear with the Scriptures and share them with someone with whom you are accountable. They must agree with the Scripture if it is truly God's quiet voice that you hear. His written word is always the measuring stick.
Inspect the fruit of this new communication. God's voice will draw you toward Him. No other spirit will do that. If it is any other spirit except the Spirit of the Living God that you hear, it will cause you to turn away from the Lord. It is just that simple to discern. Remember that Jesus is the Spirit of Prophecy.
You may enjoy this communication in your own unique way unlike anyone else. Some of my friends who journal like to draw, sketch, scrapbook, etc. to express their thoughts and feelings. Remember that expressing your truth and listening for His truth are two key components in this. The Holy Spirit will tutor you in everything else. He will draw close to you when you draw close to Him.
Having become curious about why the Lord seemed to enjoy this written communication so much, I once asked Him, "Why is this journaling so important to you, Lord?"
He answered, "Because I love to get love letters and I don't get many of them." This was enough to convince me to continue.
Your letters will also be precious to Him. He will store them as precious jewels once you begin this new journey into this wonderful intimacy with Jesus and the Father. Your love letters will be His treasure stored for eternity. You can trust the Holy Spirit to lead and guide and empower this intimate communion between you and Jesus and the Father. Teaching you the many ways of this divine intimacy, and empowering you in that, is truly the Heart of the Holy Spirit.
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