From His Heart

Speaker 1

Today on From His Heart with Pastor Jeff Shreve, you'll learn the key to intimacy with God.

Speaker 2

I'm convinced that so many people who truly are born again know the Lord, but they don't have a close, intimate relationship with Him. Why is that? What's going on there?

Let me tell you something. The Bible says of God that He is a friend that sticks closer than a brother. Wouldn't it be great if you could be close, intimate friends with the God who spoke the worlds into existence?

Wouldn't you love to have a friend like that who's not just your friend, but He is your best friend with real love, real hope, from His heart?

Speaker 1

This is From His Heart with Pastor Jeff Shreve and today an inspiring message called the Key to Intimacy with God.

It's the fourth message in the eight lesson series, Roller Coaster, Facing the ups and downs of life. And we'll be in it for the rest of the month.

And Pastor, for those who have just joined us for this series, tell us what Roller Coaster is all about.

Speaker 2

Well, Larry, the Roller Coaster series is a series on the psalms, on selected psalms. And I've always loved the book of Psalms because Psalms is so true to life. It's just so raw. It just shows what the human emotion really is like when you go through times of exhilaration and times of darkness and terror and where are you, God?

So many of the Psalms were written by David, and David just pours it out there. He just lets you see what life was like for him and the struggles that he had with his emotions. But in all his struggles, he knew that God was faithful to him and God was going to be there for him and he was never going to leave him and never going to forsake him. Even at times it felt like God was far away from him.

And so I hope that our listeners will be encouraged by these messages, will see their own struggles through the life of David and the psalmists, other psalmists, and just know that there is an answer for them. And the Lord is near, even when he feels far off. And God is faithful and God does come through and he's totally and completely trustworthy.

Speaker 1

Well, today we're going to learn how to have the most trustworthy friend in Jesus. Open your Bible to Psalm chapter 62 as Pastor Jeff begins to reveal the key to intimacy with God.

Speaker 2

When Debbie and I first got married, we got married in March of 1986. We went on our honeymoon. We actually got two honeymoons. We went to Galveston for a couple of days right after we got married. Then Debbie had to go back and teach school for one week, and then she had spring break. So we went on our bigger honeymoon. After a week of being married, and after about three months of being married, my parents had a condo on Lake Conroe. They gave us the key and said, "Here, go to the lake for a little getaway weekend." I was pretty excited. I finished up work on Friday, and we got our suitcases packed and drove out. It was about 45 minutes to get from our apartment to the condo at Lake Conroe.

When we got there, I was so excited, but it dawned on me: I forgot the key. That's a bad feeling when you forget the key because it's not like somebody else has the key. This is a condominium. I had to drive all the way back, 45 minutes, to get the key and then drive another 45 minutes back. So the exciting weekend started out a little rocky because Debbie was kind, but she wasn't too nice about her new husband being such a forgetful dope. But, you know, it's really important to remember the key.

We want to talk today on this subject: the key to intimacy with God. I'm convinced that so many people who truly are born again, who have given their hearts and lives to Christ, know the Lord, but they don't have a close, intimate relationship with Him. There's just some distance there. They come to church, say their prayers, and read their Bible, but there's just not that close connection with God. Now, why is that? What's going on there?

Let me tell you something. The Bible says of God that He is a friend that sticks closer than a brother. Wouldn't it be great if you could be best friends with the King of Kings and Lord of Lords? Wouldn't it be awesome if you could be close, intimate friends with the God who spoke the worlds into existence? Wouldn't you love to have a friend like that who's not just your friend, but your best friend? The Lord doesn't have any favorites, but He does have intimates. You can be an intimate, and I can be an intimate. The Lord wants us to be close to Him.

So we want to look today at Psalm 62, a Psalm of David. Now, David was a man who was very intimate with the Lord. He had that close relationship with God. He's the only person in the Bible to be described this way: a man after God's own heart. That's a pretty cool moniker to have. "Who are you, David?" "I'm a man after God's own heart." How did David become a man after God's own heart? He grew very close and very intimately acquainted with God. He tells us in Psalm 62, and he gives us the key to becoming close, best friends with God, to becoming intimate with Him.

Now, he wrote Psalm 62, and we're not 100% sure what was going on, but many Bible commentators believe that he wrote this psalm when he was being chased from the kingdom by his own son Absalom. If you remember the story, David's third-born son Absalom, after David had committed adultery with Bathsheba and brought devastation into his own family, caused a series of tragic events. After that sin, there was rape in David's family. David's oldest son raped one of his daughters, who was Absalom's full-blooded sister. Absalom began to hate his brother Amnon, who raped his sister, and he ended up killing him. Things just started spiraling out of control in David's family to the point where Absalom went against his father to take away the kingdom from him. David found himself on the run.

David's life was kind of a story of being on the run because early in his life, King Saul was always trying to kill him. David went from about the time he was 20 until he was 30 on the run from Saul. Now, here he is, established as king, and he has to take flight again because his own son is coming to kill him. David writes this: "My soul waits in silence for God only; from Him is my salvation. He only is my rock and my salvation, my stronghold. I shall not be greatly shaken."

"How long will you assail a man that you may murder him? All of you? Like a leaning wall, like a tottering fence, they have counseled only to thrust him down from his high position. They delight in falsehood; they bless with their mouth, but inwardly they curse. Selah. My soul, wait in silence for God only, for my hope is from Him. He only is my rock and my salvation, my stronghold; I shall not be shaken. On God, my salvation and my glory rest, the rock of my strength. My refuge is in God. Trust in Him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before Him. God is a refuge for us. Selah."

"Men of low degree are only vanity, and men of rank are a lie in the balances. They go up; they are together lighter than breath. Do not trust in oppression and do not vainly hope in robbery. If riches increase, do not set your heart upon them. Once God has spoken; twice I have heard this: that power belongs to God, and loving kindness is Thine, O Lord, for Thou dost recompense a man according to his work."

What is the key to an intimate, close relationship with God? I want to share with you the key, and it comes in two parts. This is very, very simple, but it's very, very profound. If you will insert the key in the door, so to speak, you will enter into a deeper relationship with the Lord than you've ever experienced before. What is the key? Part one: The key to intimacy with God is time with God.

David was facing danger. His third-born son, Absalom, was coming to Jerusalem to kill him. David had to leave and flee. If you read the story about David leaving Jerusalem, he leaves the city barefoot and weeping as he goes out to escape his son. Can you imagine your son coming to kill you, coming to steal the kingdom away from you? It's horrible. In the midst of his danger, in the midst of trouble, David takes time to linger in God's presence. He takes time to be with the Lord.

You may have heard it said, kids spell love T-I-M-E. Kids don't want things from their parents as much as they want time with their parents. Well, God wants time with His children. The King of Kings and Lord of Lords wants to spend time with you. David here is spending time with God. Look at verse one again: "My soul waits in silence for God only; from Him is my salvation." And then verse five: "My soul waits in silence for God only; for my hope is from Him."

When it says in verse five to wait in silence for God, that means to be still, to quit moving, to quit squirming, to just be still, my soul, as I wait for the Lord. You know that famous verse, Psalm 46:10, in the King James says, "Be still and know that I am God." Cease striving, let go. Just relax and know that I am God. My soul, relax. Quit moving, quit squirming. Just be still for God.

Now, we call that in the Christian life this time where you come before the Lord and you're just still and quiet. We call that a quiet time. It's quiet time before the Lord. This time that we have together to worship is called corporate time. We come together as the church to worship the Lord, to praise the Lord, to sing His praises, to study His Word. That's critical time. That's important time. The Bible tells us in Hebrews chapter 10, "Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another all the more as you see the day of Christ's return approaching."

In the days in which we live, people really need to be coming to church because the Lord is coming soon. We need to encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called today. We need corporate time, time with one another. And then we need quiet time, alone time—just you and God. Just you and God. That is critical.

Now, when you come before the Lord in quiet time to hear from God, to read His Word, that's how you hear from God. God speaks primarily through His Word. When we pray, that's how we talk to God, and there's a conversation going on. There are some key things that God is looking for, key things that you can give Him. First of all, you can give Him your undivided attention.

I come before the Lord to have time with Him, and what does God want from me? He wants my undivided attention. He wants my full attention. You know, we don't like it when we're trying to talk to somebody and they're multitasking. My wife hates it when she's trying to talk to me and I'm trying to listen while I read email, while I watch TV, while I pull out my phone. Have you noticed how these things can be such a distraction? They go off all the time. Every time you get a text message, ding! You get somebody doing something on Facebook, they send you a message, bing! It's just going off all the time.

Debbie just goes bonkers when she starts hearing this thing bing. She just immediately has to turn it off. I can't stand to hear it bing because this thing bings, and then your iPad bings, and they go back and forth. They're just binging all the time. So she just wants, when she's talking to me, for me to put everything down. She has a sixth sense. She gets this from the Lord. If I'm calling her from the church, from my office at the church, and I'll call her and ask her about this or that during the day, she knows if I'm reading a letter or if I'm reading an email or something like that.

It's just like she waits, and if there's too long a pause, she knows I'm not really in the conversation. So she'd be like, "Are you reading your email?" I plead the Fifth on grounds that it might incriminate me. I don't want to answer that. Why are you asking me that? Maybe let's just move on, you know? But listen, God knows when you're multitasking and you're coming into His presence and you're reading other things and you're just kind of giving Him one eye while you have the other eye on all the other things. The Lord's like, "You know what? We're not really going to get close here when you're so distracted. I need your undivided attention."

It says in Psalm 123, verses 1 and 2: "O Lord and our God, I turn my eyes to you. On your throne in heaven, servants look to their master, but we will look to you until you have mercy on us." We're going to look to you. It says in Hebrews that we're to be fixing our eyes on the author and perfecter of faith, the Lord Jesus Christ. That means to set your eyes on Him and don't look at anything else. You just keep your eyes on Him.

Jehoshaphat, when he was facing all the armies coming against him to wipe out Jerusalem, said, "God, we don't know what to do, but our eyes are on you." God wants your undivided attention. When you have quiet time, give Him your undivided attention.

Secondly, you want to have not only undivided attention, but God wants you to give Him your unhurried attention. "My soul, wait in silence for God only; wait for God." See, it's quiet time, still time, and waiting time. We don't like to wait. Who in here enjoys waiting? Anyone like to wait? "Oh, you know, I love going to the doctor where you have to wait for hours. That's just so fun." Nobody likes to wait.

When we set a doctor's appointment, we just expect, "Hey, I'm here, it's 2:00. Where's the doctor?" He's got other people he's got to see, you know? Sometimes it's hard for the doctors because they have cases that go over. Contrary to what some people think, those guys and ladies are busy, and they are taking care of people and saving lives. Sometimes you have to wait on them.

We don't like to wait on God. It's not that God is too busy and saying, "Hey, I've got tons of stuff to do. You're just going to have to wait." It's not like that with God. But God still has us wait for Him. You're like, "Yeah, why is that? I mean, if He's God, why do I have to wait? Why am I always waiting on God? Why is God so slow?" You ever thought that?

Probably don't verbalize it, but you probably thought it. We have to wait on God because God is working on us. So much of the time, we want God to do things, and God says, "Well, I can't do that because you're not ready for me to do that." The things you're asking me to do, you're not ready for, and I'm working something great in you, and it's not done yet.

As I've shared with you before, it takes time for God to do something great in our lives. David, who wrote nearly half the Psalms, was promised the kingdom when he was just a kid, 12, 13, or 14 years old, but he didn't become king of all Israel until he was 37. It took time. God was growing him, and God was working in him. David could have said, "Lord, I'm 15 now. I'm ready to take the kingdom." No, you're not, David. You're not ready. I have to work through you, and I have to put you in some hard times and some tough times. I have to put you in the fire so you can grow, and we can skim off the scum and the dross out of your life.

The Bible says, "Take away the dross from the silver, and there comes out a vessel for the smith." God was working that in David's life, skimming off the impurities so David would be a good king, a godly king. Joseph in the Old Testament was a man whom God gave a dream to, that all his brothers were going to bow down to him. Joseph was 17 when he had that dream, and it was 20-something years before that dream came to fruition. Joseph went from 17 to 30, spending those 13 years as either a slave in Egypt or a prisoner in Egypt because his master Potiphar's wife claimed that Joseph tried to rape her, which was a lie. That ended up getting Joseph put in prison in a slimy pit, and he spent years there.

"Oh God, why am I having to wait on you?" It's because I'm working on you, Joseph. I'm getting ready to elevate you to the number two man in all of Egypt. But there's still some impurity I have to skim off of your life, and you're not ready yet. Joseph enjoyed being prime minister of Egypt for 80 years, but he spent 13 years in the waiting room.

Hey, give God your undivided attention. Give God your unhurried attention. Because when we hurry in the presence of God, we miss out on so much. God knows, "Hey, you must have something more important than me. I'm the King of the universe, and I guess you found something more important than me. I guess something on Facebook is more important than me." God says, "Well, nothing is more important than God, but we act like it in the way we treat Him."

Unhurried time. And then give Him your undaunted time. Undaunted time, you say? "Jeff, what is undaunted time?" The word undaunted means this: not intimidated or discouraged by difficulty, danger, or disappointment. David had confidence in God that God was going to see him through even this terrible, horrible situation with his son Absalom coming to kill him.

Look at verse five again: "My soul waits in silence for God only; for my hope is from Him. He only is my rock and my salvation, my stronghold. I shall not be shaken. On God, my salvation and my glory rest, the rock of my strength. My refuge is in God." David had confidence. He was undaunted in giving his attention to God. It's like, "God, all these bad things are happening to me, but I trust you. You only are my rock. You only are the God who is going to deliver me. I look to you, and I trust you."

He says in Psalm 138, "O Lord, you will accomplish what concerns me." David was able to just rest and wait patiently for the Lord. What's the key to intimacy with God? Time with God.

Speaker 1

You're listening to From His Heart with Pastor Jeff Shreve. And today we're learning that David surely had a confidence in the Lord that was not discouraged by his difficulty, danger, or disappointment. Do you have that kind of assured confidence in the Lord? It all begins when you develop consistent quality time with the Lord each day. And that starts with prayer. That is the key to intimacy with God, and that's also the title of today's message, the fourth in this series.

Wouldn't we all like a friend who would listen to all of our cares, laugh with us in the good times, comfort us in the hard times, and love us despite all of our faults? Of course we would. That's why today's message is so timely and practical for everyone. This series of lessons that we're in now is based on special passages found in the Book of Psalms that show us how to bind that intimacy with God, especially when we're going through tough times, even desperate times.

You can get a copy of this eight-message series entitled "Roller Coaster: Facing the Ups and Downs of Life" on USB flash drive, CDs, DVDs, or mp3 download. Just go to fromhisheart.org and click the listen tab or call 866-40-BIBLE (866-40-BIBLE). When you do, we'd like to ask you to consider a gift to From His Heart this month to help us continue to sustain and grow this outreach to a lost and hurting world.

With your gift today of any amount, we'd like to say thank you by sending you Pastor Jeff's timely series "Nothing but the Truth" and his companion booklet "Sticks and Stones: What to Do When the Going Gets Tough." Both the series and the booklet are our gift to you to say thank you for your support this month. To make your gift today, simply go to fromhisheart.org or call 866-40-BIBLE (866-40-BIBLE) to request our thank you gift this month, the "Nothing but the Truth" series and the booklet "Sticks and Stones."

Well, I'm Larry Nobles, and thank you for joining us. Today on From His Heart, we'll have part two of this message, "The Key to Intimacy with God," this coming Monday. That's right here on From His Heart—There is Truth.

Speaker 2

The Truth will love you.

Speaker 1

From His Heart is the listener-supported broadcast ministry of Dr. Jeff Shreve, speaking the truth in love to a lost and hurting world.

Remember, no matter what, God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life.

Find out more at fromhisheart.org.