Intimate and Personal

As I was going online the other morning, so I could send a birthday gift card to our second granddaughter… I’m kind of embarrassed to say that… I had to stop and think about exactly which birthday she was going to be celebrating this year.  But it didn’t take long for it to dawn on me that she was going to be sixteen years old… and with that revelation… I was overcome with all kinds of happy (and emotional) memories of the very young, sixteen-year-old Piper Canevari, complete with her engaging smile and bubbling personality, that I was first introduced to and got to know, less than a month after her sixteenth birthday, on that first day of eleventh grade English in September of 1969!

And… WHEW… Who knew what a life-changing impact that that smile, those cute freckles and her contagious laughter would have upon that much older (Ha… five months to the day older!) 100% Italian boy who, because they were alphabetically placed, sat directly in front of her!

While being lost in the countless memories of our high school years together, I began to realize that after we actually started dating, one year later on the very first day of our senior year, that our relationship was all about trust, honor and respect.  We quickly became a team that selflessly looked out for the best in and for each other… as we literally spent hours each day getting to really know and understand each other! 

We enjoyed an ever-increasing trust and respect for one another and found ourselves being comfortable to share just about anything.  I guess that you could say, that as far as our conversations, discussions and the personal things we talked about went, we quickly developed a deeply PERSONAL and INTIMATE relationship between us… something that only increased throughout every day of the following 48 years that we had together.

I noticed today as I reviewed all my hand written Scripture notes from my daily Bible study, or as I refer to it as my “Coffee Time” with the Lord, that I had a lot of “I’s,” “YOU’s” and “ME’s” written on the 5.5” X 7” note page.  Out of the eight different verses and notes, those words were written at least 22 times!  I also became aware that the word “KNOW” was quite common within those same verses as well... and that got me to thinking…

It turned out that every time the word “KNOW” was used, it was translated from the same Greek word “ginosko” which according to the online Bible study resource “Equip God’s People”* means “to know intimately, to get acquainted with and figuratively: to have sexual intercourse with”** (ginosko is used 223 times in the New Testament)

Well… it didn’t take a rocket being shot off outside my study window in the cul-de-sac for me to rapidly ascertain that God was clearly showing me the importance of Christians having an ever-increasing intimate and deeply personal relationship with God and the truth of His Word… and as a specific and definitive example… he flashed all the memories of Piper’s and my very personal, budding relationship in high school and then the disciplined and diligent… and QUITE ENJOYABLE, I might add, relationship that she and I continued to develop over the many years of our union!

I’ve told before, of how when Piper got to the point in her battle against Alzheimer’s, where she couldn’t verbally communicate anymore, of how our INTIMATELY close and PERSONAL relationship came in handy.  You see, I knew the things she liked, the things that pleased her, as well as what her answers would be to most questions, how she would respond to different stimuli and I was also well in tune to her physical changes and needs.

It was both confusing and difficult for me to see how some folks, by their words and actions, who were close in family relationship to her… actually knew VERY little about her.

Over the past 53 years of my life, I have diligently pursued my relationship with the Lord through His Word, through prayer and through fellowship with other believers.  But the INTIMACY and PERSONAL depth of that relationship was revealed to me, when – in 2008 while preparing for a sermon for school- the Lord began to show me how intimately He both “KNEW’ and “LOVED” Piper and I.  (And looking back today, I can see that it was in preparation for what we were to face with the attack of Alzheimer’s).  At that time, He led me to Ephesians 3:19 and told me that in the days to come that:

“You will KNOW (ginosko) Christ's love, which goes far beyond any knowledge. I am praying this so that you may be completely filled with God.” (God’s Word ©) 

The next ten years was a time of great trial but also a time of great learning, as I began to systematically look at my faith and personalize it to the point that I KNEW that God loved me as INTIMATELY as I loved Piper… and as I did for her… stay true to His Word for us… as He promised Joshua before the battles for the Promised Land by declaring,

“No one will be able to oppose you (insert your name here) successfully as long as you live. I will be with you as I was with Moses. I will never neglect you or abandon you.” (Joshua 1:5 – God’s Word ©) 

My challenge to my readers today, would be to ask you how PERSONALLY you believe that God intimately “KNOWS” and “LOVES” you!  When you read and study the Word, is it as if the Lord is speaking directly to you from a place that is deeply PERSONAL and INTIMATE to you?  And is that the same way that you “KNOW” and “LOVE” Him?

It was the way that I eventually began to “KNOW” and “LOVE” that sixteen-year-old that I met as a Junior in high school… It is also the way that I increasingly came to “KNOW” and “LOVE” my Father God and the truth of His Word… even when the circumstances around me didn’t agree with His Word… Afterall… He “KNEW” and “LOVED” me better than anyone else (yes, even more than Piper!)… How could I possibly disbelieve Him!

Have a great rest of your week, and as you do... Keep EXPECTING God’s BEST which is the way that He INTIMATELY and PERSONALLY “KNOWS” and “LOVES” you! 

We’re chilling at a lovely 107+ here, with a lightly overcast sky and a southernly wind… So, all is good – PTL! 

 

*https://www.equipgodspeople.com/

**https://www.equipgodspeople.com/lexicons-word-study/new-testament-greek/strongs-g1097