Opening Prayer

Heavenly Father,

Thank You for giving us the privilege to draw near to You. As we study Your Word, open our hearts and minds. Help us not only to know about You, but to know You personally and intimately.

Give us a heart like Paul, David, and Moses—a heart that desires You above everything else. Speak to us today and draw us closer to You.

In Jesus’ name,

Amen.

JAMES 4:8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you…

James gives us both a command and an invitation, and at the same time, a promise. God commands us to draw near to Him, but He also invites us into a relationship with Him. And when we respond to that invitation, He promises, “He will draw near to you.” The Christian life is not simply about knowing facts about God, following religious practices, or receiving blessings from God. At the heart of the Christian life is a relationship with God Himself. God desires that we know Him, love Him, walk with Him, and experience His presence. The question is not simply, “What can God give me?” but, “Do I desire God Himself?”

This desire to know God can be seen clearly in the lives of three men in Scripture: Paul, David, and Moses. Their circumstances were different, their personalities were different, and their seasons of life were different, but they shared one great pursuit—the pursuit of knowing God intimately.

1. APOSTLE PAUL.

PHILIPPIANS 3:13 Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

Paul understood that the Christian life is a life of progress. He says, “I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet.” Paul was an apostle, a mature believer, a man greatly used by God, but he did not think that he had already arrived. He was still growing. He was still learning. He was still pressing forward.

That is important for us because sometimes we become satisfied with where we are spiritually. We may say, “I have been a Christian for many years. I already know these things.” But spiritual maturity is not measured merely by how long we have been Christians. The Christian life is a continuing pursuit of Christ.

Paul says, “One thing I do.” He had a primary pursuit. He was not allowing his past to control his future. “Forgetting what lies behind” does not mean pretending that the past never happened. It means refusing to allow past failures, past accomplishments, or even the mistakes of other people to keep us from moving forward with God. We learn from the past, but we do not live in the past. We repent of our sins, receive God's grace, forgive others, and continue moving forward.

Paul then says, “I press on toward the goal.” There is a direction to the Christian life. God does not merely want us to become successful, comfortable, or religious. He wants us to become more like Christ and to know Christ more deeply. Whatever other goals we may have in life, they must remain secondary to this primary pursuit.

PHILIPPIANS 3:8 More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ,

Paul had experienced success according to human standards. He had position, education, religious credentials, recognition, and influence. Yet he discovered that all these things were of lesser value compared with knowing Christ. He says that he counts all things as loss because of “the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.”

Paul was not saying that everything in life has no value. He was saying that nothing compares with the value of knowing Jesus. His position could not compare with Christ. His reputation could not compare with Christ. His accomplishments could not compare with Christ. Even the things he had lost for the sake of Christ were insignificant compared with what he had gained in Christ.

This brings us to a very important question: What is the greatest treasure in our lives? If knowing Jesus is truly the greatest treasure, then intimacy with Him will become our greatest pursuit.

PHILIPPIANS 3:10 that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death;

Notice Paul's words: “That I may know Him.” This is more than knowing information about Jesus. Paul desired to know Christ personally and experientially—to know His resurrection power and even to experience fellowship with Him in suffering.

There are things about Jesus that we can know from Scripture, but there is also a deeper experiential knowledge that comes as we walk with Him. We experience His faithfulness when we trust Him. We experience His comfort when we suffer. We experience His strength when we are weak. We experience His grace when we fail. We experience His presence when we walk through difficult circumstances.

Sometimes God allows us to go through suffering, not because He has abandoned us, but because suffering can deepen our experience of His presence and faithfulness. In those moments, we discover that Jesus is not merely someone we have read about. He is someone who walks with us.

To know Jesus intimately also means surrendering our self-will. The more we know Him, the more we desire what He desires. We begin to understand that obedience is not merely following rules; it is responding to the One we love.

JOHN 17:3 This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.

Jesus defines eternal life in relational terms: to know God and to know Jesus Christ whom He sent. Christianity is therefore not merely about escaping judgment or receiving blessings. Eternal life is knowing God.

When we truly encounter Christ, our desires begin to change. We develop a spiritual appetite. We begin to desire God's Word. We want to pray. We want to worship. We want to spend time with Him. We begin to desire the things that please Him.

This is why knowing Jesus is so important. The more we know Him, the more we desire Him; and the more we desire Him, the more we want to draw near to Him.

1 TIMOTHY 4:7 … discipline (gymnazo) yourself for the purpose of godliness; 8 for bodily discipline is only of little profit, but godliness is profitable for all things, since it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.

Paul tells Timothy that godliness requires discipline. The word translated “discipline” carries the idea of training or exercising oneself. Just as physical strength develops through repeated exercise, spiritual maturity develops through intentional spiritual training.

Nobody can exercise on our behalf. Nobody can read the Bible for us. Nobody can pray for us in our place. Nobody can surrender our will for us. Other people can encourage us, teach us, and pray for us, but there must come a point when we personally choose to pursue God.

Discipline requires effort. It requires saying no to something we desire now because we want something better. Spiritual discipline means repeatedly choosing what draws us closer to God. We develop practices such as prayer, studying God's Word, worship, confession, fellowship, serving, and obedience—not as a way of earning God's love, but as ways of responding to His grace and cultivating intimacy with Him.

Before coming to Christ, we developed patterns of thinking and behavior that were contrary to God's will. Now, by God's grace, those patterns must be replaced with new patterns. One passion can replace another passion. As our love for Christ grows, our desire for the things that dishonor Him should diminish.

The purpose of discipline is not discipline itself. The purpose is godliness. And godliness is becoming increasingly like Christ. We discipline ourselves because we want to know Him, love Him, and reflect Him.

2. DAVID

PSALM 27:4 One thing I have asked from the Lord, that I shall seek: That I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, To behold the beauty of the Lord And to meditate in His temple.

David gives us another picture of intimacy with God. His circumstances were difficult. He was surrounded by enemies and faced danger, yet his greatest request was not simply for protection, victory, or restoration of his position.

His request was “one thing.” He wanted to dwell in the presence of God. He wanted to behold the beauty of the Lord. He wanted to meditate upon Him.

David understood something that we often forget: God's presence is greater than God's presents. The greatest blessing is not what God gives us; the greatest blessing is God Himself.

PSALM 73:25 Whom have I in heaven but You? And besides You, I desire nothing on earth... 28 But as for me, the nearness of God is my good; I have made the Lord God my refuge, That I may tell of all Your works.

These verses express the heart of intimacy with God. Asaph realized that nothing in heaven or earth could compare with God Himself. He did not merely say, “God gives me good things.” He said, “The nearness of God is my good.”

That changes the way we understand blessing. We can enjoy God's gifts without making those gifts our god. The danger is that we can become more excited about the blessing than about the Blesser. We can love God's provision more than God's presence.

But David and Asaph teach us that the greatest good is not having everything we want. The greatest good is having God.

3. MOSES

EXODUS 33

2 I will send an angel before you and I will drive out the Canaanite, the Amorite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Hivite and the Jebusite. 3 Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey; for I will not go up in your midst, because you are an obstinate people, and I might destroy you on the way.”

God promised Israel the Promised Land, but He told Moses that His presence would not accompany them in the same way because of their stubbornness.

Think about that. They could have the land without experiencing God's immediate presence. They could receive the promise without enjoying the fullness of fellowship with the Promiser.

For Moses, that was unacceptable.

11 Thus the Lord used to speak to Moses face to face, just as a man speaks to his friend…

Moses enjoyed an extraordinary relationship with God. He spoke with God intimately, like a person speaking with a friend. This does not mean Moses was equal to God. It describes the extraordinary closeness and openness of their relationship.

And Jesus gives His followers an even more remarkable privilege.

13 Now therefore, I pray You, if I have found favor in Your sight, let me know Your ways that I may know You, so that I may find favor in Your sight. Consider too, that this nation is Your people.”

Moses did not merely want God's blessings. He wanted to know God's ways because he wanted to know God Himself.

There is a difference between knowing what God does and knowing who God is. We may know God's answers to prayer, His provision, His protection, and His blessings, yet God invites us to go deeper—to know His character, His heart, His ways.

14 And He said, “My presence shall go with you, and I will give you rest.” 15 Then he said to Him, “If Your presence does not go with us, do not lead us up from here.

Moses understood the value of God's presence. God offered the land, but Moses essentially said, “The land is not enough. If Your presence does not go with us, we do not want to go.”

This is one of the greatest lessons about intimacy with God: the blessing is never greater than the One who gives the blessing.

The Promised Land without God would not satisfy Moses. Success without God would not satisfy him. Achievement without God would not satisfy him.

And sometimes the greatest obstacle to intimacy with God is not suffering but blessing. When God blesses us, we can become so occupied with the blessing that we forget the Blesser. We can become satisfied with what God gives instead of seeking God Himself.

16 For how then can it be known that I have found favor in Your sight, I and Your people? Is it not by Your going with us, so that we, I and Your people, may be distinguished from all the other people who are upon the face of the earth?” 17 The Lord said to Moses, “I will also do this thing of which you have spoken; for you have found favor in My sight and I have known you by name.” 18 Then Moses said, “I pray You, show me Your glory!”

Moses understood that God's presence was what distinguished God's people from everyone else. The evidence of God's presence should become visible in the way we live.

Then something beautiful happens. Moses asks God, “Show me Your glory!” Why would Moses ask for more after already experiencing so much of God? Because intimacy with God creates a desire for greater intimacy with God.

The more we know Him, the more we want to know Him. The more we experience His presence, the more we desire His presence. The closer we draw to Him, the more we realize that there is still more of God to know.

19 And He said, “I Myself will make all My goodness pass before you, and will proclaim the name of the Lord before you; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show compassion on whom I will show compassion.”

When Moses asked to see God's glory, God answered by revealing His goodness. God's glory is not merely about His power or greatness. His glory is also revealed in His character—His goodness, grace, compassion, lovingkindness, truth, holiness, and justice.

God is powerful, but His glory is not simply His power. God is omniscient and omnipotent, but when He reveals Himself to Moses, He emphasizes His character.

EXODUS 34

5 The Lord descended in the cloud and stood there with him as he called upon the name of the Lord. 6 Then the Lord passed by in front of him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth; 7 who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin; yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, visiting the iniquity of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations.”

Here God reveals His character. He is compassionate and gracious. He is slow to anger. He abounds in lovingkindness and truth. He forgives sin, yet He does not simply ignore guilt.

God is both merciful and just. His grace does not cancel His holiness, and His justice does not cancel His compassion. And this leads us directly to Jesus Christ.

JOHN 1:14 And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.

The glory that Moses desired to see is ultimately revealed in Jesus Christ. John says, “We saw His glory.” Jesus is the clearest revelation of who God is. In Christ, we see God's grace and truth perfectly revealed. God's glory is not merely an abstract theological concept. God's glory has been revealed in a Person. Jesus came into the world so that we could know God. He did not merely teach us about God; He revealed the Father to us.

JOHN 1:17 For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him.

Moses brought the Law, but Jesus revealed the fullness of grace and truth. The Law reveals God's standard, but Jesus reveals God's heart and accomplishes salvation for us.

At the cross, God's justice and mercy meet. God does not simply overlook our sin. The penalty of sin is dealt with through Christ's sacrificial death. Jesus took our place, bearing the judgment our sin deserved, so that God's justice would be satisfied and God's mercy could be extended to us.

Therefore, if we want to draw near to God, we come through Jesus Christ. We do not approach God on the basis of our own goodness. We approach Him because Jesus has made the way. We do not earn intimacy with God through religious performance. We receive access to God through Christ and then respond to His grace by pursuing Him.

Closing Prayer

Heavenly Father,

Thank You for reminding us that You are our greatest treasure and that Your presence is our greatest blessing. Help us to seek You above everything else and to keep growing in our relationship with Jesus.

May we draw near to You every day, know You more deeply, and reflect Your character in our lives.

In Jesus’ name,

Amen.

The content of this article is adapted from the source below:

Pursue Intimacy with God Through Discipline

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By God’s grace, this website, The Message of God, was created to share His Word, encourage others in their faith, and lead people to a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. God has uniquely designed and equipped every believer to take part in His work, and this website is one small expression of that calling.

All glory, honor, and praise belong to God alone. I am deeply grateful to Christ’s Commission Fellowship (CCF)—God’s instrument in helping me know Jesus personally and grow in a deeper, more intimate relationship with Him. The messages shared here are inspired by past CCF sermons, which have greatly influenced my walk with the Lord.

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