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There are many ways in which we can approach the Christ-Child and the Christmas story in general.

Many of us approach it through the lens of the movie, The Nativity, where we “fall in love” with Joseph. The reproach of the birth of Christ captures our hearts. Why would God choose a scenario that would bring dispute and shame upon the birth of the Son of the Highest? Why does God choose a betrothed young maiden? Why not a single girl living in Bethlehem? Why a girl from Nazareth with the suspicion of fornication? The reproach and sting of Mary and Joseph losing their reputations are intertwined with the Christ-Child. This reproach would follow Jesus for the rest of His life (John 8:39 – 41).

Many of us fell in love with Joseph. We fell in love with a man who would lay all things down for love. He would lose his reputation, his honor, his safety, and his control for the love of Mary, the love of God, and the love of the Child – Israel’s only hope. In this way Joseph becomes the perfect model for the Son of the Highest who would lay all things down for love – His reputation, His honor, His safety, and His control. Only the inward satisfaction of pleasing the Father would comfort both Joseph and Jesus. Joseph puts pressure on us all to love to the depths and to love at all times.

A Theological Lens

We can also approach the Mystery of the Incarnation through a theological lens by analyzing its significance to the overall purpose of redemption. The Incarnation has much theological significance and only eternity is long enough to explore the depths of what God has done in Christ Jesus.

The Incarnation secured and guaranteed the Christian revelation of God. Whoever sees the Son sees the Father. Stanley Jones, a famous missionary to India stated, “The Incarnation is the Great Divide.” For in Christianity, the Word became flesh. Other religions speculate about what God is like.

The Incarnation revealed the passionate, zealous, pursuing heart of God. If He will take on the human form and become a man, to what other lengths will He go? The Incarnation demonstrates the unrestrained love of Yahweh.

It secured and guaranteed Christian redemption. “God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself” (2 Corinthians 5:19). When God took on flesh, He was making an emphatic statement that He would redeem humanity.

It secured and guaranteed the possibility of our regeneration and participation in the divine life. When Christ came into the world, eternal life became embodied in human form and became a fountain of life for all who would receive Him.

The Incarnation alone secured Christian fellowship. The Body of Christ is connected by one mutually shared life. We have One Head, the same Brother. The Church is that place where someone chose Jesus and got one another.

It secured and guaranteed the Christian meaning and final outcome of history. The Incarnation makes possible a linear understanding of history. The Incarnation is the center of all history. From the sacred point of the Incarnation, faith could look forward and backward through all of human experience matters. History is not cyclical. Time is moving us somewhere. Time moved us to the Incarnation of Jesus and it will move us towards His return.

The Incarnation once again re-established human dominion and government on the Earth. What was lost in the Garden of Eden has now been restored by and through the person of Jesus. A human King came through Judah’s line from the House of David, and will have an everlasting dominion. The image bearers are restored to their created place in the Incarnation.

Advent

However, besides exploring the theological depth of the Incarnation, we must do something more holy and sacred. We must do something more earthly and tangible. We must join in and do what Mary, Joseph, the angels, the shepherds, and the magi did. We must ponder who this Child is and lift Him up in our arms like Simeon and weep like the shepherds who could not figure out why the angels came to them and not the Sanhedrin. We must feel grace!

The implications of Jesus’ life are always impacting us in various seasons. In fact, the church calendar is set up precisely so that the life of Jesus will ever be before us. Yes, if you are a believer, you commune with Him always by the indwelling Spirit, but His actual life instructs us on the great truths of God, ourselves, and of redemption.

Jesus’ ministry reveals His Father’s true nature, and His passion for the Father’s plan and for the freedom of humans from the oppression of sin, sickness, and devils. Passion Week and Good Friday remind us of God’s commitment to judge sin, crush His Son, and offer us a free gift that we do not deserve.

But the advent and the birth of Christ do something quite different. Christmas beckons us to come closer and join in the mystery where God is close enough and small enough to get around.

For Luke 2:1 – 20 says,

“And it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This census first took place while Quirinius was governing Syria. So all went to be registered, everyone to his own city. Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed wife, who was with child.

So it was, that while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. Glory in the Highest Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid.

Then the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.’ And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying: ‘Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!’

So it was, when the angels had gone away from them into heaven, that the shepherds said to one another, ‘Let us now go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us.’ And they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the Babe lying in a manger. Now when they had seen Him, they made widely known the saying which was told them concerning this Child. And all those who heard it marveled at those things which were told them by the shepherds.

But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart. Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told them.”

In the birth of Jesus, God comes near. He is no longer distant. On Christmas morning God is not making a list and checking it twice. He is lying in a manger wrapped in swaddling clothes. Angels are telling shepherds of good tidings of great joy, announcing the birth of Christ the Lord, a King who happens to be the Lord Himself. Multitudes of angels burst in praise, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men!” Christmas is the most popular holiday because it celebrates the generosity and approachability of God.

God is Emmanuel! God with us! For the Word became flesh!

Standing in awe of God is one thing. Loving Him is quite another. We can go through life obedient and struck by His awesomeness, but it’s quite another thing to be struck by His tenderness and to be tender towards Him in return. When we know His humanity and tender acquaintance with our frame, our hearts feel safe to move towards Him and ask questions we normally would not ask. Sheer joy is to engage with our Brother in dialogue and in worship, free to love Him with our particular personality. This is joy – to be safe enough to enjoy ourselves enjoying Him.

St. Alphonsus Ligouri says in The Practice of Loving Jesus,

“When the Son of God became man for our sake, He could have come on earth as an adult man from the first moment of His human existence. But the sight of little children draws us with an especial attraction to love them, Jesus chose to make His first appearance on earth as a little infant.

God wished to be born as a little baby in order that he might teach us to love and not to fear Him.

The prophet Isaiah had long before foretold that the Son of God was to be born as an infant and thus give Himself to us on account of the love He bore us: ‘A child is born to us, a son is given to us…’

My Jesus, supreme and true God! What has drawn Him from heaven to be born in a cold stable, if not the love which He has for men? What has allured Him from the bosom of His Father, to a hard manger? What has brought Him from His throne above the stars to lay down on a little straw? What has led Him from the midst of the nine choirs of angels, to set Himself between two animals? He who set the stars in the sky in motion, now cannot move unless others carry Him in their arms! He who gives men and beasts their food, has need now of a little milk to sustain His life! He who is the joy of heaven, but now whimper and cry in suffering! Tell me, who has reduced Him to such misery?”

The Great Mystery of the Incarnation

The Incarnation is more than just a doctrine; it is an object for contemplation. It is the place where angels and humans alike stare at a mystery as deep as the Almighty Himself. As soon as understanding enters your mind, cognition loses its grip and recedes into the abyss of non-comprehension. This is true joy – to ponder that which cannot be fully fathomed.

Paul emphatically stated that the greatness of the mystery of godliness was a non-controversial issue. Paul was not speaking as one uninformed. 2 Corinthians 12 tells us that Paul had been to the third heaven. He had seen the Lord. Yet Paul emphatically proclaimed that there was no room for debate around the magnitude of God becoming a man. No one gets it. Paul proclaims that both heaven and earth are in agreement concerning the God-Man, Jesus Christ. Angels are baffled and long to look into such things (1 Peter 1:12) and humans cannot fathom that which God has done.

Great is the mystery of godliness! Have we ever wondered, “What is it about the human frame that pleased Him so much that the One who made all things could dwell in flesh?” Jesus is not only your divine King and Maker. Now He’s your Brother. What has God done in His Son?

What is this desire of God which resulted in the taking on of humanity for all eternity to govern as a human king? Where is the origin in the mind of God of such a scheme as the Incarnation? How did it begin? How did it grow? What was the dialogue among the Trinity when, before the foundation of the world, a Lamb was slain in the heart of the Majesty of heaven?

How mysterious is this plan that was birthed in the pure heart of the infinite, holy God, a perfect plan begotten by a perfect God – to have the God-Man sitting on the throne in government. Have we ever thought of that right now, that within the Trinity, there is a human body? Oh, what a great mystery! At the center of the throne dwells, a descendant of David, born from the loins of a young Jewish maiden.

This is a great mystery that is designed to bring us to worship, not just to comprehension; it’s the ecstasy of non-comprehension. This mystery has been the object of great affection throughout church history. God became man. He took on our frame for the love of us. The Church is unable to explain its depths.

The birth of the God-Man has the highest mystical elements surrounding it. Angel Gabriel announces it to Mary that the Holy Spirit come upon her and the power of the Highest will overshadow her and she will conceive a child who is the Holy One, the Son of the Living God. He ends His announcement with the most wonderful words, “For with God nothing will be impossible.” A barren woman is pregnant with John and a virgin is pregnant with God. Angels sing, shepherds marvel, and Mary ponders. Look at Luke 2:19.

Jesus Grew

The Gospel of Luke goes on to tell us that Jesus was not only born with a human body. In fact, He grew up. The pondering continues. I love to imagine this. What did Jesus’ awkward seasons look like? Can you imagine the time when His ears had outgrown His head and he sat through two more years of rabbinical school before His head caught up? Have you ever thought about that? He was just like you, except without sin. What did it look like when Jesus lost His first tooth and had his first haircut? What was it like when Jesus as a boy had awkwardness in each of His stages? What was it like? Luke says that the child grew and that Mary was amazed again and again. This is all we know about Jesus until we find Him at age 12 in the temple. He simply grew. He was confined to human weaknesses.

Jesus also grew in the Spirit, was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon Him. He grew mentally and spiritually. He grew. What was it like as He slowly discovered that He was the unique God-Man? What was it like when His capacity mentally and spiritually got to the point where He began to have remembrance of the throne room? What was it like for Him as a human to read the Word in all His Diety and start to remember it? What was it like for Him growing up when He could see all the angels around everybody else? What was it like on the day when the Father decided that Jesus was ready to see spiritual realities? I think of His first angelic encounter. Trembling with fascination.

This is reality. This is your God, and this is your King, and this is your Brother and your Groom! You can fall in love with Him! Did you know that? You really can fall in love with Him for this. We’ve been robbed of Jesus for far too long. It is time to ponder. It is time to enjoy the depths of His mystery and the richness of His shared life.

We have so many unfilled blanks. All we know from the Scripture is that He grew (Luke 2). He was fully God, yet He grew. He is fully man. Mary pondered these mysteries (Luke 2:19).

Max Lucado’s Twenty Five Questions For Mary says,

“What was it like watching Jesus pray? How did He respond when He saw other kids giggling during the service at synagogue? When He saw a rainbow, did He ever mention a flood? Did you ever feel awkward teaching Him how He created the world?

When He saw a lamb being led to the slaughter, did He act differently? Did you ever see Him with a distant look on His face as if He was listening to someone you couldn’t hear? How did He act at funerals? Did the thought ever occur to you that the God to whom you were praying was asleep under your own roof?

Did you ever try to count the stars with Him and succeed? Did He ever come home with a black eye? How did He act when He got His first haircut? Did He have any friends by the name of Judas? Did He do well in school? Did you ever scold Him? Did He ever have to ask a question about Scripture? What do you think He thought when He saw a prostitute offering to the highest bidder the body He made?

Did He ever get angry when someone was dishonest with Him? Did you ever catch Him pensively looking at the flesh on His own arm while holding a clod of dirt? Did He ever wake up afraid? Who was His best friend? When someone referred to Satan, how did He act? Did you ever accidentally call Him Father? What did he and His cousin John talk about as kids? Did His other brothers and sisters understand what was happening? Did you ever think, ‘that’s God eating my soup?’”

Jesus is the Hope

Luke 2:10 – 14 says,

“Then the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.’ And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying: ‘Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men!’”

This Child has much wrapped up in Him. He is the promised seed. The One prophesied about from the first moment of our fall. The hope of all the ages rests on this One. Behold, the One destined to free His people from sin and to crush the head of the serpent. The One to ransom Adam’s fallen seed and usher in a Kingdom of everlasting righteousness.

Today we stand post-Crucifixion and post-Easter – forgiven and filled – but the manger beckons us to come look again. It is the place where we first hoped. That God in all of His kindness could stoop so low and cast His lot in with us. The manger is the first glimpse where we believed God could take us in. The humility of it all causes us to bow but it is the tiny fingers of the King that allows our hearts to reach. If He can become like me, then just maybe He will make a way for me to become like Him. Maybe this will be good news after all – just as the angel said.

At the manger, we will lose our crankiness and our religious hardness that is built up from defending righteousness. At the manger, we will soften and begin to commune with a God who dared to come for us all. In that tender exchange He invites to dream with Him for all those who have never heard.

When Jesus taught on the subject of End-Times, He warned us to beware of false teachers who could gain a large following, thus starting new cults. A cult is a group or community of people with an unusual devotion to one leader and his set of beliefs that are not found in Scripture. Jesus said in Matthew 24:4 – 5, 11, 24,

“Take heed that no one deceives you. For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many… Many false prophets will rise up and deceive many… False christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.”

The ultimate conflict in the End-Times will be a battle for truth. Satan’s weapon will be deception and our defense will be love for the truth. This battle will focus on defining who Jesus is and how we are to love Him. We must love God on His terms. Our love for God must be expressed in allegiance to Jesus and the Bible.

There will be three truths about Jesus that will offend humanists. These truths are:

1. Jesus is the only true God and therefore, He has the right as God to establish absolute standards to which the nations will be held accountable to Him for.

2. Jesus is the only way of salvation.

3. Jesus possesses the wisdom and love to judge sin in time and eternity.

Paul warns us of a falling away in the End-Times in 2 Thessalonians 2:3 that can be avoided by loving the truth which he emphasized in 2 Thessalonians 2:10.

“Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin (Antichrist) is revealed… according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, 10 and with unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth.” (2 Thes. 2:3, 9, 10)

Love for the truth is more than adherence to it. Love for the truth means that we will take a firm stand for it regardless of what it costs us. Loving truth requires that we commit to accept any new ideas as long as they are substantiated in the Scripture regardless of how different they are from our religious background.

Paul prophesized in 1 Timothy 4:1 – 2 that some believers will fall away in the End-Times as people pay attention to doctrines inspired by demons. He also spoke about false teaches who would start cults by drawing people after themselves. He admonished the elders to be alert to this in 1 Timothy 1:3 – 11; 4:1 – 8; 6:2 – 7, 20 – 21 and 2 Timothy 3:1 – 17.

Peter also warned of the dangers of false teachers in 2 Peter 2:1 – 18 who deny the main tenets of our faith. They can be detected most easily by their covetousness and immorality (2 Peter 2:9 – 14; Jude 8 – 10).

Who are the False Teachers?

False teachers do not hold to the main and plain doctrines of Scripture. They pervert the teaching about the grace of God by either legalism or lewdness. Legalism seeks to earn the grace of God. Lewdness reduces the message of grace to receiving forgiveness without turning from our sin. The true grace message should inspire us to deny lust and empowers us to walk godly (Titus 2:11 – 12)

We must accept the main historical Christian doctrines which include:

1. Jesus as God’s only son who is fully God and fully man, born of virgin birth, without sin.

2. Jesus’ death and bodily resurrection and ascension to the Father’s right hand.

3. The one true God exists in three Persons (Trinity) as Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

4. Salvation is by faith alone, through grace alone and in Christ alone.

5. The infallibility of Scripture as our final authority for all matters of faith and practice.

6. The unity and diversity of the Body of Christ.

Seven Characteristics of Cults

Any group that embraces one of the following seven characteristics is likely to be a cult or have cult tendencies.

1. They oppose critical thinking

Cults teach:

Their members must accept what they believe without challenging their doctrines. They do not want their members to think critically for themselves.

The Bible teaches:

We must all challenge each teaching that we hear by the light of Scripture. Loyalty to a ministry involves challenging it with humility. Do not believe a teaching that you cannot see with your eyes in your Bible. Think for yourself and do not quickly accept ideas. Do not say, “Our leaders say…” but rather say, “The Bible says…”

Test all things; hold fast what is good. (1 Thes. 5:21)

They received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so. (Acts 17:10 – 11)

2. They penalize people for leaving their community

Cults teach:

People will be judged by God or will lose God’s best if they leave. Rejection, shunning and warnings of judgment are given. People are taught to make lifelong commitments to the group and/or to seek permission to join another ministry.

The Bible teaches:

The first concern of a leader is for what is good for the people under them. Therefore, leaders are to help them succeed as they seek to follow God’s will for their life, regardless if it means joining another ministry. The foundational value is that God owns the people, not the leader or the group in which they serve.

3. They emphasize special doctrines outside of Scripture

Cults teach:

Cults emphasize the special revelations of their “anointed” leader who presents himself as having unique insights that no one else has.

The Bible teaches:

We must emphasize supremacy and infallibility of Scripture as the final authority of truth. We must emphasize the main and plain themes of Scripture as the love Jesus, the Sermon on the Mount lifestyle, prayer, reading the word, winning the lost, healing the sick and serving others, etc.

4. They seek inappropriate loyalty to their leaders

Cults teach:

Cults require loyalty to the leaders instead of to Jesus. Faithfulness is defined as supporting the leader instead of obeying Jesus. This loyalty is expressed in forbidding them to correct the leader who does not freely admit his faults or errors. They warn the people to “not touch God’s anointed”.

The Bible teaches:

Our first loyalty and connection is to Jesus. We serve together with weak and broken leaders who do not have all the answers and who are in need of insight and correction from others.

5. They dishonor the family unit

Cults teach:

The children are taught to be more loyal to the leaders than to their parents. The women are taught to be more loyal to the leaders than to their husbands and the husbands are taught to accept this as normal behavior.

The Bible teaches:

The first relational priority of commitment is to one’s marriage, children and parents. The sanctity and identity one’s family is far more important than the ministry in which they are involved.

6. Lack of biblical boundaries in behavior

Cults teach:

Cults emphasize special revelations that especially allow their leaders to cross biblical boundaries in areas of immorality. They usually insist on owning the money and property of their members who “join the community”.

The Bible teaches:

Sexual purity and private ownership of finances and property. In Acts 4, the disciples laid their money and property at the apostle’s feet as a one-time free will offering, not as a permanent economic arrangement.

7. Separation from the Church rather than promoting a culture of honor towards the whole Church

Cults teach:

Cults criticize and exclude the larger Body of Christ and claim to be the only ones truly saved. They separate from the wider Church with an elite spirit.

The Bible teaches:

We love God by loving the whole Church that is so dear to Him. We are to cultivate a culture of honor in our midst that emphasizes blessing other ministries without criticism and a spirit of inclusion without elitism.

How to Discern a False Prophet or Teacher

In Matthew 7:15 – 20, Jesus compared false teachers to wolves because they are dangerous in their effect on people and deceptive in how they influence people. A wolf is a natural enemy of sheep who can not defend themselves. A wolf disguises himself as a sheep by claiming to uphold the Scripture. Then Jesus changed his metaphor from wolves among sheep to fruit on trees.

We may not immediately discern a wolf, but it is clear if edible fruit is on a tree. We must know or test fruit in a teacher’s life. There is a moral and a doctrinal test. Sound doctrine and holy living are the sure fruit of a good leader. It is not possible to examine fruit from a distance. Thus, Jesus is not exhorting us to become critical of others as a self appointed “heresy-hunter”.

How to Avoid Deception

Colossians 2:19 says this,

“Holding fast to the Head, from whom all the body, nourished and knit together by joints and ligaments, grows with the increase that is from God.”

Therefore, We can all avoid deception by doing the followings:

1. Loving the truth. (2 Thes. 2:10)

2. Growing in our relationship to Jesus as we regularly read the Bible and set our heart to obey it.

3. Staying in relationship with others with a teachable spirit that receives the truth without defensiveness.

4. Serving the truth by witnessing to unbelievers as well as ministering to the needs of others.

How do we yield to the Holy Spirit so that we may walk in the intimacy and power that the NT Church walked in? Part of the answer is to embrace the fasted lifestyle. This speaks of walking in the spirit of fasting in food, finances, use of our time, our words, and our energy.

What is Fasting?

Fasting includes the restraining of our natural pleasures or strengths with the purpose of positioning ourselves to receive freely from the Holy Spirit. Many fear fasting. However, the fear of fasting is worse than fasting itself. It is a lie that the demands of our modern pace of life make fasting impractical for today’s Christian.

Fasting is part of the normal Christian life. But it is often thought of as an optional discipline. Jesus said in Matthew 6:17,

“But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face…”

The verse implies that fasting occurred in the regular course of a disciple’s life.

In Matthew 6:16 – 18, Jesus also emphasized that the Father will reward fasting. His proclamation makes fasting important. Jesus called us to fast because He knows that its rewards will far outweigh its difficulties. Some of the rewards are external, as our circumstances are touched by God’s power. Some of our rewards are internal, as our hearts encounter Him.

More importantly, we fast both to walk in more of God’s power to change the world and to encounter more of His heart to change our heart! For God will give us grace to fast and if we ask for grace to fast we will receive it. (2 Peter 1:2; 3:18)

Throughout history, men have fasted with a wrong spirit as they sought to earn God’s favor or man’s approval. Some embrace extreme self-debasements to try to prove their dedication to Him or to earn His favor. This is not what God is after. He delights in our pursuit to love Him and to believe His Word. We do not fast to prove anything to God or to deserve His favor.

Seven reasons to Fast in Scripture

There are seven biblical reasons to fast. They are:

1. We fast to experience the power of God in personal ministry.In Matthew 17:21, when the disciples could not set a demonized boy free, Jesus told them that kind of demon does not go out except by prayer and fasting. The power of John the Baptist’s preaching was connected to his fasted lifestyle (Matt. 11:18).

   Many who led the great revivals practiced regular fasting. Examples include John Wesley, George Whitefield, Jonathan Edwards, David Brainerd, and Charles Finney. John Wesley fasted on Wednesdays and Fridays each week. He said,

   “The man that never fasts is no more on the way to heaven than the man who never prays.”

   John G. Lake sought God with much prayer and fasting. God released powerful miracles through him. In South Africa, within a five-year period, he witnessed 500,000 healings.

2. We fast for prophetic revelation of the End-Times.Daniel sought God with fasting and prayer and received revelation of Israel’s End-Time destiny (Dan. 9:1 – 3, 20 – 23; 10:1 – 3, 12 – 14). After fasting for 21 days, an angel told him that his prayers were heard because he set his heart to understand (Dan. 10:12). As he sought the Lord, the angel Gabriel gave him “skill to understand” in Daniel 9:20 – 23.

   There will be an unprecedented release of prophetic revelation before Jesus returns (Acts 2:17 – 21). Daniel prophesied that in the End-Times God will raise up “people with prophetic understanding” who will teach multitudes (Dan. 11:33 – 35; 12:4, 10). These people will have mature understanding of what He will be doing in those days (Jer. 23:18 – 20). These people will live a fasted lifestyle like Daniel and John the Baptist.

3. We fast for the fulfillment of God’s promises to our city or nation.The LORD has prophetic plans and promises for each city and nation. God’s prophetic promises are invitations, not guarantees. We must actively seek the LORD for their fulfillment.

   Daniel prayed and fasted for the fulfillment of God’s promise to release Israel from captivity to return to their land (Dan. 9:1-3; 10:1 – 4). God answered Nehemiah after he fasted and prayed for God’s promises to his generation (Neh. 1:3 – 11; 9:32 – 38). After Cornelius fasted and prayed, his whole house was saved and a door of grace was opened for the Gentiles to be saved (Acts 10:1 – 4, 30 – 31).

4. We fast to stop a crisis (i.e. individual or national).Fasting to seek God for mercy during a personal crisis is seen throughout Scripture. Hannah, the mother of Samuel, being distressed by her barrenness, prayed with fasting. God answered her by giving her a son who grew up to become a prophet (1 Sam. 1:7).

   On many occasions, God reversed Israel’s desperate situation after they turned to Him in corporate prayer and fasting. Joel prophesied that God would judge Israel using locusts, and then later by an invasion by the Babylonian army (Joel 1:2 – 18; 2:1 – 9). On both occasions, Joel called Israel to turn to God in prayer and fasting (Joel 1:13 – 14; 2:12 – 15). When there is no human remedy for a nation, we must call a fast.

   Jonah warned the wicked city of Nineveh that God was going to destroy them. When Nineveh repented with fasting, the Lord showed mercy and spared the city (Jon. 3:3 – 9).

5. We fast for protection.Before Ezra led a group of Jews from Babylon back to Israel to help rebuild their nation, he fasted and prayed to God for protection on the journey because it was so dangerous (Ezra 8:21 – 23). Travel was dangerous in the ancient world because bands of thieves often attacked groups to take money and supplies.

   Esther called the Jews in Persia to fast for three days after Haman set into motion a plan to kill all the Jews (Esther 3:13; 4:7). Esther first needed protection because she was going to approach King Ahasuerus (i.e. Xerxes) without a royal summons (the penalty was death). Many cried out in prayer and fasting (Esther 4:3, 16; 5:1 – 6). The LORD spared Esther’s life and then reversed the situation among the Jews concerning Haman’s evil plans (Esther 9:1).

6. We fast for direction.Throughout the NT, the church fasted for supernatural direction. We fast for direction for our personal life, family, ministry or our assignment in the marketplace, etc.

   Paul and others fasted and prayed for direction for their ministry (Acts 13:1 -2) and before selecting and commissioning elders of the new Churches in Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch.

7. We fast to grow in intimacy with Jesus, which we refer to as the Bridegroom fast (Matt. 9:14 – 15).Being the Bride of Christ speaks of the position of privilege to experience God’s desire. As sons of God, we are in the position to experience the power of God’s throne. As the Bride of Christ, we are in the position to experience the desires of God’s heart.

Understanding the Bridegroom Fast (Matt. 9:14 – 15)

Jesus spoke of the Apostles fasting out of the desire to encounter Him in Matthew 9:14 – 15,

“Then the disciples of John came to Him, saying, ‘Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but Your disciples do not fast?’ And Jesus said to them, ‘Can the friends of the Bridegroom mourn as long as the Bridegroom is with them? But the days will come when the Bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast.’”

We call this the Bridegroom fast. It is motivated by desiring Jesus rather than by a desire for more power in ministry or to be delivered from a personal crisis, etc. This is a new paradigm of fasting.

For the disciples enjoyed Jesus’ presence, feeling loved by Him and rejoicing in their relationship with Him. Jesus told them that the joy they experienced in His nearness would manifest as mourning or longing when He was taken from them by His death. Yes, when the joy of His immediate presence had been taken from them, they would be heartsick. Then they would fast!

The disciples of John the Baptist came to Jesus with a sincere question. They were confused and troubled by the lack of fasting among Jesus’ disciples, because John taught his disciples to fast often. Jesus answered with a question,

“Can the friends of the Bridegroom mourn, as long as the Bridegroom is with them?”

Jesus was referring to His death on the cross when He said that the days were coming when He, as the Bridegroom God, would be taken from them. Then His disciples would fast with the same consistency and intensity that John’s disciples did. Their fasting would flow out of desire to encounter the Bridegroom God.

This is fasting for great intimacy with God and for spiritual renewal. We do not fast to motivate God to pay attention to us, but rather to receive the affection that He already has for us – it is not to move His heart, but to move our own. The Bridegroom fast causes our spiritual dullness to be diminished.

Jesus established the New Covenant by His death and resurrection, in which the Spirit would dwell in each believer. Then fasting would take on a whole new dimension because the depths of God would be revealed to His disciples by the indwelling Spirit (1 Cor. 2:10; Heb. 10:19 – 22).

Fasting that is centered on hunger and desire

A mourning heart is fiercely discontented and desperately hungry for God – this is the Bridegroom fast. We refuse to accept the current state of our spiritual barrenness and dullness. The Bridegroom fast is primarily centered on desire – both understanding God’s desire for us and awakening our own desire back toward Him. God imparts new desires to us. Once we taste the nearness of God’s presence, we cannot live without more of Him.

Fasting sets our hearts to be expanded as we encounter Jesus as our Bridegroom God. Our spiritual capacity to receive from God increases. Fasting before our Bridegroom God is a catalyst to speed up the depth and the measure in which we receive from the Lord. We receive greater measures of revelation at an accelerated pace, and with a deeper impact upon our hearts.

The idea that fasting changes us internally is a new idea to some. Fasting results in tenderizing our hearts. When this occurs, we make different choices, which lead to different outcomes in the places we go and the people we meet. When our values are different, it affects who we marry, how we raise children, how we spend our money, and what focus we have in ministry.

Our desire for God is His gift to us, both the sweet and painful sides of our desire. Our craving for Jesus causes joy and pain in our hearts. We are exhilarated and wounded in our love for Him. The painful longing has a divine purpose: spiritual hunger is a divine agent that leads us to greater love. It results in making room for love and purity to have their full way in our hearts.

Five Rewards of the Bridegroom Fast

Fasting restrains our physical pleasure, but it enhances our spiritual pleasure. Our greatest pleasure comes by feasting on the Person of Jesus. Fasting is an exchange where we abstain from certain things to “feast” on God’s word and prayer, whereby we experience more of His grace.

God rewards those who hunger for righteousness (Matt. 6:17) and there are five rewards of the Bridegroom Fast:

1. Fasting leads to tenderizing our hearts so that we feel God’s presence more.
2. Fasting leads to changing our desires and enlarging our desire for righteousness (Heb. 1:9).
3. Fasting leads to increasing our understanding of the Word and receiving prophetic dreams.
4. Fasting leads to making our body healthier and changing what we desire to eat and drink.
5. Fasting leads to strengthening our sense of identity as sons of God before the Father and as a bride before the Son. Our identity is rooted in the knowledge of God’s affection for us.

Embracing Voluntary Weakness

Fasting embraces voluntary weakness in order to experience more of God’s power and presence. It is a paradox that we become weak in the natural in order to receive more strength from the Spirit. Jesus revealed to Paul that the release of God’s power in his life was connected to his willingness to embrace weakness. This revelation is foundational to understanding fasting.

“My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Cor. 12:9)

This kind of weakness is not moral weakness, but voluntary weakness as a godly choice. This weakness includes prayer, fasting, giving, blessing our enemies, and enduring persecution. The “strength made perfect” refers to Paul experiencing more of God’s power. Many desire to walk in “perfected power,” but do not want to embrace the necessary weakness. The most challenging issue in fasting is the physical weakness it produces. We become physically weak and cannot function in the way we usually do (Ps. 109:24).

Five different types of food fasts

1. The regular fast is going without food and drinking only water.
2. The liquid fast is going without solid food and drinking only light liquids (like fruit juices).
3. The partial fast, or Daniel fast, abstains from tasty foods and consists of eating only vegetables or nuts, etc.
4. The “Benedict Fast” established by Saint Benedict (525 AD), consists of only one meal a day.
5. The absolute fast or “Esther Fast”, abstains from food and water (Esther 4:16). Exercise caution!

Conclusion

Fasting is a gift that we should embrace as part of our lifestyle. It is not meant to be used as a “shot in the arm” several times a year, but is designed to be a consistent part of our lives. All people who are healthy should fast at least one day a week.

Those with a forerunner messenger calling should seek to live a fasted lifestyle. For the Early Church fasted twice a week (i.e. Wednesdays and Fridays) and fasting was a regular part of Paul’s life (2 Cor. 6:5; 11:27; Acts 9:15; 22:21; 26:17 – 18).

Fasting is always voluntary. Though leaders may invite others to join in corporate fasting with a specific goal in mind and for a specific time, it can never be forced or mandated.

It is also a false notion that fasting is radical Christianity, and thus is optional to Christianity. Fasting is basic to the Christian life. We are called to fast regularly.

Points to Note:

There are obvious exceptions to fasting. People who are pregnant or have health problems should consult their doctors before fasting.

The level at which a person engages in fasting from food should be determined according to age and with regard to any physical limitations. Those with a known or suspected physical disability or illness, or with any history of an eating disorder should never fast except in consultation with, and under the supervision of, a qualified physician.

Minors are discouraged from fasting food and should never engage in even a partial fast without express parental consent and oversight. Minors who desire to fast are encouraged to consider non-food abstentions, such as TV programmes, movies, internet surfing, video games and other forms of entertainment. The Bible never speaks of or calls children to engage in fasting.

Participation in regular fasting as a lifestyle necessitates a healthy lifestyle on non-food fasting days and should include exercise and a proper diet. A “fasted lifestyle” is a disciplined lifestyle, in which we steward our bodies and time with wisdom and diligence.

What is God looking for?

God has everything! Yet, He is searching for something. What could God, who has everything, possibly want? One of the most important questions you and I can ask is, “What is God looking for?” When we discover what He wants, we then realise what we are looking for and understand life (John 4:23).

Jesus tells us what God is looking for – LOVE. He is looking for reciprocal love. He is looking for love responses from our heart. He is after our heart (not our talent or money, etc.). He desires voluntary wholehearted love from us. This love is fueled by the spirit of abandonment to God. He wants us to give our lives to Him. God created us for a specific purpose and designed us with longings to fulfill that purpose. (2 Chron. 16:9)

God desires that we love Him with all our heart and strength because He loves us that way. We can know the “why” behind the “what”. His glory is always the first reason for His actions in creation and redemption. However, YOU are also a significant reason. You are part of the “why” behind the “what”. He pours His love on us and receives it back from us. He does it all for love.

Our highest calling is to move God’s heart with our love. Our highest purpose is to love God. This comes ahead of seeking to make an impact or to be successful from man’s point of view. Many want to build a big ministry for God. But He wants our love first. It is the currency of heaven. My spiritual identity is that, “I’m loved by God and I am a lover of God and therefore I am successful”. This is who we are to God, for we are not defined by our accomplishments.

The Church of Ephesus was a great revival center in the early Church (Acts 19-20). Yet, they did not sustain the freshness in their love for Jesus. They became workers for God more than lovers of God. Lovers will always out work the workers. When we work without intimacy we work as a slave. A heart of a bride is refreshed as she labors. Service without the foundation of devotion leads to burn out, disappointment, and wounding. Thus, the service is not sustained over decades (Rev. 2:1-5).

The First and the Great Commandment (Matt. 22:37 – 38)

The Holy Spirit is restoring the first commandment to first place in the Church worldwide. First Commandment: loving God is the first priority to God. Jesus did not call it the first option for it is a commandment. Jesus makes it clear that cultivating wholehearted love for God is the highest and greatest lifestyle. Loving God is a glorious end in itself, however, it never ends with loving God but always overflows with loving ourselves and others (believers and unbelievers).

Great Commandment: loving God is the greatest impact of anything that we do. It is the only way to enter our greatest destiny because it has the greatest reward. Loving God always has a great impact on God’s heart, our heart and others. It is a dynamic means to an end.

We need revelation of the supremacy of the first commandment. It is the standard of evaluation at the Judgment Seat of Christ. In a desire to stay up with popular ministry trends, some regularly change directions in their ministry. We must not get our ministry focus from the latest trend, but from God’s Word.

Our primary goal in God’s will is to grow in love. God measures life differently than man because He has all the money, wisdom, fame, influence and time. Our greatest reward is to know and feel His love, to love Him and then to overflow in love for others.

God loves us in the same way that God loves God

The foundational truth that equips us to love God is to know and feel His affection for us. God loves us in the way that God loves God (John 15:9; 17:23). The Father feels the same intensity of love for us as He feels for Jesus. The Father has delighted in Jesus from all eternity. Do you know the way you move God’s heart? We are His greatest prize and the apple of His eye! (Ps. 17:7 – 8). When we know the King loves us, we are unmoved even when others overlook or mistreat us.

The measure of the Father’s love and affection for His Son Jesus is the measure of His love for all His sons and daughters. This is the ultimate revelation of our worth. This truth gives us the right to stand before God with confidence as one of “His favorites”. Our confession is, “Jesus, You love me like the Father loves You”. This makes our life great and meaningful.

Defining Wholehearted love for Jesus (Mark 12:30)

Love with all our heart means to love God with all our affection and emotions. We “set” our affections on anything we chose. We change our mind and God changes our emotions. Our emotions will follow whatever we set ourselves to pursue. We can set our heart to be filled with zeal for God. Lord, take the reigns of my heart to direct it into the ocean of Your love. Ask yourself, “Why not me?”

Love with all our soul means that our personality and being. Our personality and being is expressed most dynamically by our speech. Therefore, we must determine to express your personality by speaking and acting in a way that enhances and not diminishes love.

Love with all our mind means that we fill our minds with long and loving meditation on God’s Word and resist putting anything in our minds that diminishes love for Jesus and quenches the Holy Spirit.

Love with all our strength means that we give our resources (time, money, talents, reputation, and influence) unto the LORD.

How to love God?

All of God’s commands bring with them the promise of His supernatural enabling to obey them. However, we must actively cultivate extravagant devotion to Jesus. This takes time and effort. Love does not automatically grow. It diminishes unless we intentionally cultivate a responsive heart. There are four important principles in cultivating our love for God.

1. Determination

We must make a determined decision to love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength. Our love is expressed through our obedience. No one can give God all your love. Denying our lustful desires is the theatre God chose for us to express our love to Him. Each of us has a different struggle, thus, a different assignment from which we offer our gift of love to God (John 14:21).

People seeking extravagant love to Jesus ask, “What is the most that God will empower me to give to Him?” We are not content with the minimum requirement of salvation.

We must choose the good part as Mary did. No one can choose it for us (Luke 10:42).

David declared that he would love God. The intention of our heart is important to God (Ps. 18:1).

John leaned on Jesus’ heart or set his heart to love and be as near to Him as possible. John was saying, “I am one who leans on Jesus’ heart because I love Him”. (John 21:20b)

2. Revelation

Revelation of God’s love equips our heart to love Jesus. We love God with all our heart only as we see that He loves us with all His heart. He empowers us by revealing His love (1 John 4:19). We gain revelation of God’s love by mediating on it from God’s word. We position ourselves to receive from His heart by feeding on His Word.

We will sit long hours before God in His Word because we are hungry to understand the affections of His heart. We can behold or be attentive to how the Father feels about us by meditation on the Word. For Jesus gives His secrets to those who desire them enough to sit for hours before Him (Ps. 25:14).

3. Impartation

It takes God to love God. The Father will give us supernatural impartation to love Jesus. (John 17:26; Rom. 5:5; Eph. 3:18 – 19; Phil. 1:9)

4. Confession:

“Jesus, I am Your beloved, Your favorite one. I am a disciple You love. Your delight is in me. You feel about me as the Father feels about You. I belong to You and You are mine”. We confess, “I’m loved by God and I am a lover of God. Therefore I am successful”.

5. Fellowship

We receive much of God’s love in serving and sharing and in receiving it from others. God’s love is only seen in fullness when the whole Body functions together. Part of our inheritance and healing is in the hands of others who reveal and release God’s love to us. (1 John 1:7; Jas 5:16; Eph. 3:18 – 19)

Setting our heart to love Jesus

We must have a sustained vision to go deep in God. It takes focus and effort to go deep in God. Our soul prospers as we grow in the anointing to love. To walk in this requires that we must be focused on pursuing it more than gaining things and influence.

Satan’s first priority against the Church is to lead us astray from cultivating the ability to be responsive to God with wholehearted love and extravagant devotion. If Satan leads us astray from the purity of devotion to Jesus then our service and love for others will eventually fail (2 Cor 11:3).

Sustaining a fresh walk with God through decades is the definition of living radically before God. We are not radical because we do something unusual for a few weeks or months. David sustained his passion for God for decades that he referred to as “all” the days of his life (Ps. 27:4). Daniel sustained his prayer life with passion for decades – from about age 16 to 82 years old (Dan. 6:10).

What does it look like to love God with all our heart and mind?

God is Love that burns as an all consuming fire of jealousy. He wants to totally take over our life. He wants to consume us from the inside out by dominating our affections, thoughts and words. This is love that is not passive but passionate.

Love is loyalty to God’s Word. It stands up for truth. Do not allow any substitute for the real thing. We must not allow our experience to be reduced to just language about being extravagantly devoted.

What is going on behind our face? Each of us has a ‘universe in our inner thoughts’. This is where life really takes place. What are we day dreaming about? What do you wake up thinking about? The internal is more powerful than the external.

The End-Time Church will be anointed with a heart of spiritual violence (Mt. 11:12). With passion for God and spiritual violence we declare war on the inside. It is to burn from the inside out not just to dance in worship.

People in love are untouchable. True freedom is found in the yoke of Christ. People cannot really see the love that is growing in your heart. Eternal rewards will show forth the love you have now. The fire you have now on the inside will be worn openly in eternity.

We set our heart to live as extravagant lovers of God without getting trapped into bitterness because of those who mistreat us. We do not want to get caught up into making wealth and fame our primary goal in the Kingdom. We are in a race to win a prize of being a lover of Jesus. The more we seek to live for love the more broken we will be with true humility. You can be one of the greatest people in history simply by living in deep love for God which overflows in love for people. You will not be the most famous but can be one of the greatest.

The Lord values our journey to grow in love. The reach of our heart to love Him moves Him. If you do not quit then you win. We do not find our identity in our failure but in the fact that He loves us, in the gift of righteousness (2 Cor. 5:12) and in the cry of our spirit to love God.

Kay-Chong Yeo
Founder & Director
One Thing Ministries
International House of Prayer (Singapore)
20 August 2008

Many of us feel that God is like some mystical, distant and non-personal being. We have often wondered what we have to do to cultivate intimacy with God. We wish that the LORD would give us a 5-step list or formula to grow in intimacy with Him.

In Proverbs 2:1 – 5, the LORD has given us a “divine prescription” for deepening our relationship with Him. He gives us five conditions which we must fulfill in order to understand the fear of the LORD and to grow in our intimacy with Him.

Condition 1 – A Commitment to Obey God

“If you will receive my sayings…” (Prov. 2:1, NAS)

This verse simply means that we do not ignore nor cast away the commands of God but we must have the intention of obeying God and always setting our hearts to say “yes” to all His commands. Deliberate disobedience quenches the Holy Spirit. We know that the Spirit of God is the only One who can reveal Jesus to us (John 16:13 – 14; 1 Cor. 2:9 – 10), and if He is quenched and grieved, we will not receive the revelation of Jesus. We cannot offend the Holy Spirit yet still expect Him to reveal Jesus to our heart in a greater measure.

We can ask for the Spirit-filled revelation of God but if we are deliberately disobeying God, prayer will get us nowhere! Prayer is not a substitute for the intention to obey and if we want to know Jesus intimately, we must receive the sayings of Jesus in our heart without purposefully resisting the Holy Spirit!

Are there areas of deliberate disobedience in our life? We must consistently make a resolution to confess and resist sinful area in our lives. Furthermore, realizing that God looks at the sincerity of our motives to obey rather than at our actual attainment of spiritual maturity gives us confidence to run to Him when we sin.

Remember this: persisting in even one deliberate sin is fatal to the spiritual growth of our soul. Deliberate sin blocks spiritual progress and hinders our walk with the LORD. There is no substitute for a life of obedience!

Condition 2 – A Life of Meditation on the Word of God

“If you will…treasure my commandments within you…” (Prov. 2:1, NAS)

Notice that the Bible emphasizes the treasuring of God’s commandments and not the accumulation of knowledge. Knowledge, even Bible knowledge is not neutral. If we are not longing to please the LORD, and if we are driven by pride and our goals are simply to gain more knowledge of the Scriptures through intellectual exercises, we run the risk of ending up calloused and hardened like the Pharisees. Treasuring God’s commandments means conversing and interacting with the Person of Jesus who is the Author of those Words. We do that through meditating on the Scriptures.

It is difficult to grow in intimacy with Jesus without a commitment to regularly meditate on the Scriptures. We will not be adequately equipped to grow in the deep things of God (1 Cor. 2:9 – 10) if we do not treasure the Word of God in our hearts. The Word and the Spirit go together!

We need to see the value of meditating on the Word so that we will regularly schedule the time for it. Without this this spiritual discipline, we will never grow substantially. We must be serious in our use of time as anything else in our life. We must consider spending time with God as important and view it as a real appointment so that we will not neglect it. We must value the “appointment” with God and even consider it more important than any other appointment with people.

The Bible teaches that a lack of meditation on the Word of God eventually leads to both weak faith and weak obedience. Therefore, a life that prioritizes meditation on the Word is absolutely vital!

Condition 3 – A Teachable Spirit

“Incline your ear to wisdom, and apply your heart to understanding…” (Prov. 2:2, NKJV)

An inclined, attentive ear and an applied heart speak of a teachable spirit. Obedience and meditation are important if we want to experience intimacy with the LORD, but a teachable spirit is also essential!

There are many earnest people who have stubborn spirits and are not teachable before God or man. That is deadly because the absence of a teachable spirit will hinder us in our growth in the intimate knowledge of God. An unteachable, “know-it-all” spirit will quench the Holy Spirit and eventually our spirit hunger will wane and die out.

We are to be teachable and to have patient hearts of learners. Being teachable is actually a much greater challenge for many than being obedient or scheduling time to meditate. Isaiah 66:2 says this,

“…To this one will I look, to him who is humble and contrite of spirit, and who trembles at My Word.” (NAS)

The LORD is looking for the heart of a learner. If we have a teachable spirit, the LORD can bring us into any truth that we are lacking.

Condition 4 – Praying for Revelation of the Knowledge of God

“Yes, if you cry out for discernment, and lift up your voice for understanding…” (Prov. 2:3, NKJV)

Crying out in this way actually means praying to receive more wisdom and insight into the glory and splendor of God’s Personhood. We are exhorted many times in the Scriptures to cry out for a deeper revelation of the knowledge of God!

Apostle Paul’s first prayer in the great Ephesian Epistle was for the wisdom and revelation of the knowledge of God to fill the believers in Ephesus (Eph. 1:17). If it is something we really desire, we will not rest or stop crying out until we receive it. If you go without asking for it, you will end up living without it.

Condition 5 – An Abandoned Heart Searching for Divine Treasures

“If you seek her as silver, and search for her as for hidden treasures…” (Prov. 2:4, NKJV)

What if someone guaranteed you that a million-dollar cheque is hidden somewhere inside an abandoned house and it would be all yours if you find it? You would search and not leave any board or a brick unturned until you find it, no matter how long it would take. You would re-arrange your schedule. You would reset your priorities and make all sorts of sacrifices until you find the hidden treasure.

The same principle applies in our walk with God: Whatever we can live without in God, we may often go without. Whatever truth we decide that we cannot live without, we will eventually obtain. If there is a truth in God that we absolutely refuse to live without, we will have it in due time – whether it’s within one year or twenty years.

Many people spend eight, ten years or even more, laboring for university degrees and doctorates that become their prized possessions. Their dedication and perseverance are considered normal. If an individual with that degree of determination in God ever becomes insatiably hungry for Jesus, he or she will sacrifice everything to gain deeper knowledge of this “Pearl of great price”!

It is very valid to pray for spiritual passion, for consuming zeal, for a release of insatiable hunger in our hearts, for holy thoughts and godly desires. It is valid to pray that we will see and feel what the Father sees and feels when He beholds His dear Son. It is valid to cry out for intimacy with the Person, Jesus Christ! The Apostle Paul called Jesus Christ “the wisdom for…in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (1 Cor. 1:24; Col. 2:3).

Conclusion

When we pray, do we feel as if we are trying to communicate with some non-personal influence somewhere out in space? Begin talking to a real Person seated upon a real Throne in the heavenlies. Begin spending time in His presence and cultivating an intimate relationship with Him. Jesus is what we need – not religion, not power, not a greater ministry. Our answer is Jesus – the Source of all spiritual riches!

If we really want to know Jesus intimately, there are conditions to be met, and these are laid out in Proverbs 2:1 – 5. If we are willing to meet these conditions throughout the years and make each of them a life commitment, we will discover the Treasure of all treasures – the glorious Man Jesus Christ and an ever-deepening intimacy with Him!

What is God looking for? God wants an intimate relationship and He is looking for a friend. He wants to talk and to share the secrets of His heart with us (Psalm 25:14) like a friend. Unfortunately, we often look to Him as a means to an end – One who is able to “fix things” in our life. It’s not that the LORD is against “fixing things” because He actually enjoys blessing us and serving us (Luke 12:37). But God wants more than just to bless and serve us. He wants friendship with us.

Grave mistake

One of the mistakes of the Church is the way we preach the Gospel. Often we offer Jesus to people solely on the basis that a salesman offers a product to customers. Come to Jesus and He will solve all your problems – save you from hell, fix your marriage, heal your diseases, bless you with wealth and with a good career, make you powerful, etc. Yes, Jesus certainly saves us from hell, He desires to bless us and He wants to set us free from our problems.

It is not entirely wrong to come to Jesus initially for what He can do for us. However, many never progress beyond this phase of our faith. What if Jesus doesn’t fix our marriage? What if Jesus doesn’t heal us? What if He allows us to become bankrupt? What if He allows us to go through trial and suffering? If our primary motive in coming to Jesus revolves around what He can do for us, we will be offended with Him or even leave Him when He “fails” to meet all of our “perceived” needs.

Unfortunately, many in the Body of Christ fail to get past this phase of coming to Jesus for what He can do for us. We are so fixated on what He can do for us or how He can provide for us that we fail to see the loveliness of this Person simply for who He is. Song 5:10, 16 says,

“My Beloved is dazzling and ruddy, chief among ten thousand… Yes, He is altogether lovely. This is my Beloved, and this is my Friend…” (NKJV)

Jesus is infinitely wonderful and He is infinitely lovely in Himself. He is worthy to be loved and adored even if He never does a single thing for us ever. It will be great injustice if we are to love Him any less and to offer Him any less than our all. For Jesus is simply worthy! (Rev. 5:12)

Real and true friendship

Real and true friendship can’t be forced. It must be chosen, pursued, cultivated and also purged of ulterior motives. Friends share secrets. As an understanding of each other grows, trust and appreciation of each other will also grow. When friendship deepens, we will love our friend for who they are and not for what they can do for you. In fact, real friends don’t need to do anything for each other because being with our friend is the highest joy. Yet the truth is that there is nothing we wouldn’t do for our friend and there is nothing our friend wouldn’t do for us!

Real and true friendship cannot be forced or manipulated but it has to be reciprocal. If it is being forced or manipulated, it will cease to be a friendship as the joy of friendship will eventually leave and become a burden.

Real friendship is love. And love must be given freely and it has to be reciprocal.

If we are primarily interested in a friendship for what we can get out of it or what a friend can do for us, we will never have a true and real friendship. Yes, a friendship can begin this way and then develop into true friendship but until all agendas and ulterior motives are removed, we will never have a real and true friendship. Yet it is our truest friends who will do anything and the most for us!

The paradox is that our friendship will never get to the stage of being real and true unless we are always free to reject one another. The moment we feel coerced into the relationship because of something that we need or something that our friend might do to us if we fail them, that will be the moment friendship will die.

It is the same in our friendship with God. We have to choose, pursue and cultivate our friendship with Him. It cannot be forced or manipulated but it has to be reciprocal.

Friend of God

Mary of Bethany gives us a powerful picture of the kind of friend that Jesus is looking for. Mary would rather sit at the feet of Jesus and listen to Him. She doesn’t want anything from Jesus other than being close to Him and knowing what is on His heart. Luke 10:39 says this,

“And she has a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus’ feet and heart His word.” (NKJV)

Many want to hear the voice of God so as to be prosperous or be famous. Many want to hear His voice in order to be anointed and successful in our ministry. Then some have a much purer motive – they want to hear the heart of God so that they can know the will of God and do it.

But Mary was beyond these motivations and she had the purest of all motivations. She had become like the lover in the Song of Songs who called to her Beloved in Song 5:8,

“If you find my Beloved, that you tell Him that I am lovesick!” (NKJV)

Mary wanted to hear the voice of Jesus simply because He was the One that she loved and Jesus was the joy of her heart. She wanted to see His face because it was the most lovely of all faces. She simply wanted Jesus and Jesus was enough for her, anything else was a “bonus”. Being with Him satisfied every one of her needs and desires. Simply put, she was His friend and He was her friend. Therefore, it was not difficult for Mary to waste it all on Jesus in Mark 13:3 – 9 because Jesus was the very one thing that she has chosen (Luke 10:42)!

John the Baptist shared the very same heartbeat as Mary. The ultimate desire of John was not being the voice of God but being the friend of Jesus. John defined himself as the friend of the Bridegroom and hearing the voice of Jesus was his greatest joy and his exceedingly great reward in life. For John said this in John 3:29,

“He who has the bride is the Bridegroom; but the friend of the Bridegroom, who stands and hears Him, rejoices greatly because of the Bridegroom’s voice. Therefore this joy of mine is fulfilled.” (NKJV)

No wonder John was being described as great in the sight of the Lord in Luke 1:15 and Jesus called him as the greatest man ever born of women in Matthew 11:11!

Friendship with God

It is the desire of God to share the secret of His heart with His friends (Psalm 25:14; Amos 3:7). Abraham was God’s friend and he was the only man being mentioned as the friend of God three times in the Bible (2 Chronicles 20:7; Isaiah 41:8; James 2:23)! Therefore, the Lord delighted in sharing the secrets of His heart with Abraham. When God was about to destroy Sodom, He said this in Genesis 18:17,

“Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do?” (NKJV)

What a profound statement! For God had to share with Abraham what He was about to do. God wasn’t asking Abraham for his permission but simply wanted to share His plan with him. Why? Because Abraham was His friend! It was the same with Moses in Exodus 33:11 because Moses was also God’s friend.

Jesus said this to His disciples in John 15:15,

“No longer do I called servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing, but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you.” (NKJV)

The reward of being a friend of Jesus is to know what is in the heart of the Father and in the heart of Jesus! It is the desire and delight of God to trust us with His secrets and plans. He is looking for a friend like Abraham and Moses who were more concerned about God than what they can get out of Him. To be a friend of God, He must not be a means to an end but God has to be the end of all things. For this is what hinders our friendship with God.

Again, Jesus said this in John 14:21,

“He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.” (NKJV)

What a promise to be His friend! For Jesus promises more than a truth or a revelation, He promises Himself and His nearness to us! Who wouldn’t want Jesus to be near to them?

The great mystery

There are times when God makes it easy for us to reject Him because He wants us to choose Him for Him alone. It is one of the greatest mysteries of the universe that God wants a friendship with us. He will not force Himself on us but we have to choose Him as our Friend. We are also to pursue Him all the days of our lives if we want that friendship to grow. Proverbs 25:2 says this,

“It is the glory of God to conceal a matter, but the glory of kings to search out a matter.” (NKJV)

The Lord has not hidden the mysteries of God (i.e. the secrets of His heart) FROM us but He has intentionally hidden the mysteries of God FOR us! The desire and delight of God is for us to search it out like a friend. What are You thinking, O Lord and what are You feeling? Would You allow me to know?

May we be like Apostle John (the best friend of Jesus), who leaned on the bosom of Jesus to hear His heart (John 21:20).

May we make Jeremiah 9:23 – 24 the pursuit and prayer of our life.

“Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom or the strong man boast of his strength or the rich man boast of his riches, but let him who boasts boast about this: that he understands and knows Me…” (NIV)