Lesson 1, Topic 3
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Being Rooted in our Intimacy with God

Ryan Rhoden 01/16/2022
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A tragedy doesn’t have to be spun as good or okay for the outcome to be good or redemptive.

Jesus is near, Jesus is powerful, Jesus has not left us or forsaken us – these are not just platitudes that help us get through the day – they are the bedrock we must build our lives on, especially in hard times.

Jesus will be proven true, even in ______________ . 

He is with us, He is watching over us, and even when tragic things happen – He is at work, bringing about our good and His Glory. 

Participatory Understanding of Rom. 8:28

Rom. 8:28 – “And we know that in all things God works together with those who love him and are called according to His purposes to bring about what is good…”

When you study it in context (which is the believer’s relationship with God’s Spirit), this verse IS NOT ABOUT THINGS ALWAYS WORKING OUT, but us working WITH God’s Spirit!

“In all things God works WITH THOSE who love Him/called according to His purpose – to bring about what is good”

Romans 8:28 is an invitation to presence, process, to journey, to PARTNERSHIP and UNITY WITH GOD to change the end of the story without having to change the beginning of the story. That’s INTIMACY that is TANGIBLE and PRACTICAL. 

God doesn’t want to REVISE our story, He wants to REDEEM our story. 

The pain we have walked through will never be good. The loss, the betrayal, the mistakes, the hatred and discrimination, the abuse we’ve suffered, broken relationships, a child going their own way, a miscarriage, or death of someone you love – these things will never be good.

I WILL NEVER TELL YOU TO THANK GOD FOR THESE THINGS…but I will challenge you to give those to Him, and allow Him to meet you, and love you, and heal you, and WALK OUT THE REDEMPTIVE story with you – that you would “…remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.” (Psalm 27:13)

Here’s the truth as we engage the topic of INTIMACY – Hard times don’t create intimacy/oneness/unity…they reveal it, or they reveal our lack of it. 

Being Empty is an Invitation to be Filled

Heb. 14:6 – “Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”

Did you know that God doesn’t see “empty” as  a failure, but an invitation? 

  • Would you rather appear before the world as okay, or before Him as desperate? 

Psalm 42:1-2 –  “As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul longs after You, O God. 2 My soul thirsts for God, the living God…”

The lie of self reliance kills our desperation for God, it denies our emptiness (that He alone can fill), and it diminishes our desperation. “My soul thirsts for God…”

Intimacy begs the question – Is my life built and rooted on the rock of Jesus, or built on the shifting sands of outcomes and circumstances?