A God Date: Growing and Sustaining Spiritual Intimacy With Our Lord

Author

Introduction

Dating Dilemma

If anyone were to ever ask you about your first date, what would you say? Would you say that it was one of those experiences that left you floating on cloud nine for weeks on end? Was it, what is often referred to as, the Dream Date? Does the very memory of that first date still leave you tingling with warm, fuzzy emotions that bring an instant smile to your face, or a gaze of true fantasy, along with the desire to experience it once again? Was it the kind of date that started a love affair that led to marriage, children, a dog, and the house with the white picket fence? Perhaps you are one of those people who would describe their first date as the kind of date they dreamed of and longed for when they considered being with someone they could admire, want to get to know better, and possibly build a future with.

If not, perhaps your first date experience was horrid, to say the least. Most likely, many more would fall into this scenario before getting to the Dream Date experience. These are the dates that left you feeling drained, unappreciated, and misunderstood. Did your first date give you the impression of being picked over, like a piece of produce in the grocery store? Did he or she make you feel that they were looking to find a better option to fulfill their appetite of desire? Unlike the Dream Date the thought of it is not the fuzziest of feelings. However it surely brings back a wave of emotions. But these emotions are the kind that have to be prayed away, in order for you to stay in a place where you are willing to try again with hopes of experiencing the ultimate dream date.

There are many different ranges in between the two dating responses presented here. There’s the first date experience that left many feeling extremely blessed, others, that demonstrated the hope of finding true love, and some, that caused people to ward off dating, with a sword and shield, daring anything remotely close to a date to beware of my frustrations.

Personally, as a single person who has dated occasionally, been in love – for real - at least once, accepted a marriage proposal but never married, dated again, and eventually just grabbed my own sword and shield to fight against the potential emotional dangers that came with the territory, I have to say that through all of those experiences I have never experienced anything like The Dream Date. There are so many expectations that we place on others, and ourselves, when it comes to dating. The very thought of it is exhausting for numerous singles; and an adventure for others, who are up for the possibilities that come with sharing and discovering the many personalities that dating may bring. Either way, engaging another person’s personality as a potential mate is work you must prepare to meet with openness, along with caution, to either ride a wave of pure enjoyment if it works out. Or, crash into the sea with many other fish swimming, having to explore other prospects of dating if all possibilities lead to failure.

I could go on and on about the many adventures of dating and how it can either change your life for the better, or make you seek therapy to overcome the damage caused by dating disasters. Dating is an opportunity to get to know someone that you desire to know better. It is the avenue we have use to connect with someone in a romantic manner, and determine if there is a chance for something deeper and long lasting. Even after two people find their way, to the place of commitment and marriage, dating is the coming together of people to build intimacy that has nothing to do with physical engagement or sexual interaction. Dating can build the kind of intimacy that comes with simply spending time together and developing the need to stay connected mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. It is building a relationship foundation that is sustainable, no matter what potential challenges may present itself over time.

Just as you entered and traversed the world of dating those you are attracted to or interested in, I desire to introduce you to another understanding of dating. I want to introduce a type of date that will never leave you disappointed, feeling rejected, or plant seeds of doubt that eventually make you second guess yourself. This is the type of date will leave you floating beyond any clouds you could ever reached on a human perspective. It is the type of date that will leave you with peace, and the feeling of love that fills you to the point of overflow and willingness to share with others. I am speaking of a date so amazing that you will just want everyone to feel what you feel. It is the type of date that no man, no woman, no place, no thing, no time, or anything else can compare to. In and of itself, it will give you the pureness of joy. It is A God Date.

It is my prayer that you will take this time to discover a way to grow and sustain your relationship with God. Like any relationship you engage in, there are times of great joy, heartbreak, belly-busting laughter, sorrowful tears, traumatic blows, amazing adventure, misunderstanding, and love that is life changing.

In your human experience, how much you love a person, determines what you will do to keep the relationship healthy and thriving, regardless of challenge – even when you know it is not the best relationship for you. You can go through the same experiences in your relationship with God.

The Bible is filled with people who had their share of amazing, memorable moments with God, and times when people did not even want to speak God’s name. However, those who continued to seek God, call out to God, and love God, in obedience, were the ones God drew nearer to His Holy Presence. His Holy Presence is the place that allows you to commune with Him. You can take on the posture of David, wherein God proclaimed that David was a man after His own heart (1 Samuel 13:14, Acts 13:22).

When you consider your relationship with God, would you place yourself in the company of David to be one after God’s own heart? I believe to seek after God’s heart is a matter of choice. To choose how intimate of a relationship you really desire to have with God. It is reaching the place of desire in our hearts that we follow in the footsteps of Mary and have the Lord look upon us and say that we have chosen what is better (Luke 10:42). When you meditate on your relationship with God, are you choosing like Mary and posturing like David? Making a choice to seek after God with your whole heart? How available are you when God calls you up to spend quality time alone to grow together in a deeper relationship? Our response determines the depth of the relationship. Just as your pursue and invest in a human relationship, the same time and consideration must be given to your relationship with God.

Allow me this opportunity to introduce you to A God Date, the one date that can, very well, change your life, if you let it. There is no one specific formula or steps that I offer you in the coming pages. Just as you are uniquely designed by God, so is your relationship with God. Therefore, what I am offering is simply a guide. This guide is designed to help you continue to fall in love with the Lord, our God, over and over again, so that you will be open and ready to be obedient to serve the Lord without the bondage of feeling lost, awkward, and unloved.

I have been on God Dates that have literally changed my life, and the world as I saw it. These dates have made me fall so in love with God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, that I could just burst inside with complete joy. In my love and admiration for The Lord, I can hear Jesus saying to me, as He said to Peter in John 21:17, Do you love me? … Feed my sheep.

My purpose in writing this book, my testimony, is to share with you a love that is waiting for all of us to partake in. I cannot take exclusive possession of this love because it is not my right to do so. I can claim my experience and possess that as it is, but I am mandated to share with everyone who will listen to my testimony. As you read the evidence of my witness, I pray you are led to encounter the blessed experience of A God Date in some fashion. A God date experience is a love call from God. A call that will impact the world around you in a significant way. My response to my dates with God, is to be obedient to the Lord’s call for me to feed His sheep. Feeding with the truth of knowing how much God wants to draw nearer to you. Drawing nearer in a way that you can relate to, if you open your mind and heart with child-like faith to experience it.

This is my attempt to figuratively climb to the highest peak, in the most populated place, with massive speakers to proclaim to the world how much I love God and that God loves me. Even more so, to tell the world just how much in love God is with you. Even after all of the rejection, betrayal, denial, blasphemy, desertion, and sinning the world continues to display towards God. Isn’t that something? God still loves you through all of that and is taking it even further than the blood of Jesus that covers it all. God is now communicating to the generations of today and the ones to come, I love you and want to date you. The only question left after a testimony of love like this has been shared with you remains, will you say yes to God? My desire now is to encourage you to respond with a yes and help you prepare for a God Date. I joyfully share with you a love that never runs out. God’s love is just for me but it is also just for you and all who desire to treasure it in their hearts. God is asking you out right now, what will your answer be? By faith, just say yes to God and share in this love phenomenon. A love that will continue to catch fire the hearts of people all over the world as you date God and share with others this love that will encourage them to do the same.

This book is my act of love and obedience to feed those hungry for a deeper relationship with God through Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. If you are ready and willing, get ready to experience the love and joy of A God Date…. the ultimate Dream Date that seems to never end, and fills your life with a love that changes absolutely everything.

Chapter 1

God’s Design

It has always been God’s intent to dwell with us. When God created Adam and Eve, the account in Genesis demonstrates that it was God’s design to commune with them. Man was made in God’s image and was given dominion over all of which God created. Since the beginning, God has been actively pursuing a relationship with humanity through all that God created. Although man was the last of God’s created works, it was the one chosen to share the joy of what had been accomplished. If God wanted the seas to have dominion, would it not have been possible? If God wanted the trees to care for all that was created, with God would it not have been possible? The point being, that God had a special connection with humanity, made in Imago Dei that allowed a shared amount of power to care for creation.

Then God said, ‘Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground’

(Genesis 1:26).

This thought is amazing, in itself. God envisioned humanity to be like them, created humanity and took careful thought in following up to ensure what was best for humanity. In that follow up, God communed with humanity, imparted dominion to humanity, and saw that humanity needed relationship with each other. God has always intended to give us life and life abundantly since the beginning; this is brought about through a foundational relationship with Our Lord.

Relationship has been God’s design from the beginning. We look at the first relationship on earth as being between Adam and Eve. When we really explore the biblical account, the first relationship was between God and Adam. Before Eve showed up, God was spending time with Adam, speaking with Adam, teaching Adam, sharing with Adam, blessing Adam in ways that we all would desire if we truly comprehend the encounter God and Adam had before anyone else came on the scene.

Let us take a look at how this relationship was initiated and developed. The account in Genesis 2:7-9 tells us that God formed a man from the dust of the ground, breathed into him, and the man became a living being. Everything we witness God creating was done by speaking it into existence, but God goes an extra step with humanity by thinking of him as them, taking the special care to form him, and breathing into him with God’s own breath. There is a connection here that is so beautifully designed that it shows God’s love for us even in this display of creation. God did not only think of humanity or speak humanity into being, God actually touched humanity and formed humanity with intimacy that bonded God to humanity - ultimately into eternity.

God went even further by planting a garden for man, but also went above and beyond by making it visually stimulating with the provision of food to eat. God made sure that the garden would be sustained, by creating the four rivers flowing from Eden: Pishon, Gihon, Tigris, and Euphrates. It was great attention given to the details that would not only provide for man but would give man purpose and pleasure as he dwelt with God within God’s creation.

After God carefully formed the man into God’s image, we find in verses 15-17