PRÉCIS ON THE DYNAMIC BETWEEN INTIMACY WITH GOD AND HEARING HIS TRUTH: INEXORABLE!

SCRIPTURE. “You are near, O Lord [nearer to me than my foes], and all Your commandments are truth.” – PSALM 119:151, AMPC

KEY TERM: “NEAR.” ‘Qarob’ [קָרוֹב]: “From a primitive root meaning, ‘To be close in place, kindred or time;’ allied with; [permitted to] approach; neighbor; come nigh; to be ‘at hand’ [ready to respond]; in close [intimate] relationship; breaking away from darkness (‘the light of their intimate friend shall not grow dark’); not distant in affection, support or assistance; present; ready; willing to aid.”

QUOTATION. “Safety comes in our nearness to God, not in our distance from our Enemies.” ― DILLON BURROUGHS,Hunger No More: A 1-Year Devotional Journey Through the Psalms, 2012; edited

COMMENTARY. “‘Thou art near, O Lord.’ – This was the comfort of the Psalmist, that though his enemies drew nigh with a mischievous design upon him, yet his God was also near, and nearer than they; He was near as to relation to him, being his God and Father; near as to union, the bond of which is his everlasting love, which can never be dissolved; near as to communion, which he admits all his people to at one time or another; so that they are said to be ‘a people near unto the Lord’ (Psalm 148:14); and near as to His gracious presence, and the Divine assistance He affords; He is a present help in time of need; He is nigh to all that call on Him in Truth, and in all things in which they do call upon Him for (Psalm 145:18).

‘And all thy commandments are truth.’ –  Not only the Precepts of the Word of God, but His Covenant, and the Promises of it; the Word which he has commanded to a thousand generations (Psalm 105:8); and even the whole Word of God, Doctrines and Duties (see John 17:17).” – JOHN GILL, An Exposition of the Old and New Testament, 9 vols., 1748-1763; edited

DK. I thought I had checked all the Boxes: Born again in 1979; Filled with the Spirit in 1981 (twice!); Began teaching Bible at universities in earnest from 1983 to 2016; Spoke my testimony all over the United States and even overseas in all that time; Saw miracles occur in the wake of my ministry.

But still, beloved, no real sense of Intimacy from the Lord. Selah.

Then, without all the gory details, God took me through THREE YEARS OF HELL here on the Earth with the loss of pretty much all I had labored for during that thirty-plus year swath I had cut for Christ. Much of the time it was something called:

‘Perfunctory:’ “Slight; careless; negligent; done only for the sake of getting rid of the duty.” What Christian musical artist CORY ASBURY derisively calls his “Civilized Salvation.” Safe. Conventional. Proper. ‘Appropriate.’

Beloved, without sounding too harsh (a tendency of mine given the slack condition of the American Church these days), I had gradually become somewhat ‘Indifferent’ about my walk, then ultimately, dangerously:

‘Recalcitrant:’ “Unwilling to obey orders or to do what should be done, or (as with an animal) refusing to be controlled.”

THE CHANGE. It is important to remind everyone that I was completely oblivious to my failure. I simply thought I was ‘punching those buttons’ so I had to be okay with the Lord, right? Wrong! Being lulled to Spiritual Sleep is one of Satan’s most effective tools, and he normally does so over a long span of time. Sort of like the classical frog in the lukewarm water, heated until it’s too late.

Selah.

It was only through those Three Years of Affliction designed perfectly ‘to awaken me’ (1 Cor. 10:13), that I began to see more and more clearly what was really taking place in my life, and the reasons for my morbid complacency. And the One Agent that stirred my First Love and Zeal for God back to life was this:

‘Reading and aggressively studying the Word of God every single day!’

This would usually start early in the morning until nearly lunch time. Since I am a teacher by habit (though then and still officially unemployed), I came across what I lovingly term:

THE DISCIPLINE OF ‘THE DEEP DIVE.’ I slowly found my approach to the Scriptures to follow a Pattern that I use to this to this very day.

• INVITATION. I first ask the Holy Spirit to guide my devotions for that day, beginning with a request for what or where He wants me to begin to study for that day. Following prayer, I then get very quiet to hear His response.

• IMPRECATION. I make sure to isolate myself under the Blood and Grace and Authority of Christ, binding and silencing all false leads and voices as I prepare to ‘dive in.’ Scriptures are quoted out loud (as Jesus did when in the Wilderness), with the command: “It is written, the enemies of God are bound!” (cf. Matthew 18:18; Luke 10:19).

• INVESTIGATION. I then go to in-depth study of the passage the Holy Spirit ordered me to examine: (1) The Context and Author; (2) The Key Term that seems to drive the entire Scripture with a close study of its original Hebrew or Greek renderings; (3) Run the Commentaries that seem to speak most clearly to the ideas under investigation.

• IMPLICATION. This then sets me up firmly for my own Commentary based on what I see in these first stages of study. Because of who I am and what I do, I give it a sense of relevance to my life and the lives of those around me in order to make it ‘fresh insight’ depending on those circumstances in which I am living.

• INFORMATION. I usually complete my Time of Prayer and Study with a close examination of the News Events occurring in the world closest to me – My City, My Nation, and most importantly, my Church. That’s right: I want to examine what is occurring in the American Christian Community on a daily basis – the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.

CODA. Now these are not hard and fast rules as much as a General Template for what has dramatically impacted TWO THINGS: My vastly richer understanding of the Word of God; and my degree of Intimacy of Knowing Him in a much deeper, profoundly more personal way. ‘Why?’

‘God comes very near to the one who takes Him this seriously, and reveals His Truth to only those, beloved. Only those.

All of this is powerfully mitigated by OUR MOTIVE: To Know Him and His Precepts, vs. to Gain Selfishly for position, power or reward.Jesus Himself has said it plain: “Blessed

[anticipating God’s presence, spiritually mature] are ‘the pure in heart’ [those with integrity, moral courage, and godly character], for [only] they will see God.” – MATTHEW 5:8, AMP

So, if you have been wondering why so many people who claim to be Christians are so far off the mark in today’s American Church, my guess your answer is found right here. May God confirm His Word to His House and all their Leaders.

While it is still Day.