The Ultimate Joy

Week 1
The Pursuit

Intimacy—an affectionate, loving personal relationship with another person. The feeling of belonging together; having a detailed knowledge and deep understanding of one another. The absence of walls or fences.1

Day 1: Evaluating Our Pursuit

It was a January morning when the words fell clearly on my heart: the ultimate joy in life is found in intimacy with God. The words came after months (really years) of letting go. Letting go of a ministry role I dearly loved and thoroughly enjoyed. Letting go of things I wanted to be and to do. Letting go of what I wanted people to think of me. In letting go, I had made room for what I truly, though unknowingly, desired. It’s what you and I were made for: a relationship of intimacy with God.
We fill our lives with many things: people, places, work, church, ministry, sports, exercise, books, movies, television, endeavors, projects, meetings, appointments, engagements, commitments. We form groups and join clubs. We affiliate, congregate, and collect friends on social networks. We make money, spend money, fret over the lack of money, and spend time deciding how to invest and to whom we should leave our money.
We are busy! We keep busy, feel too busy, and don’t understand how life has become so busy. We perform, strive, go for it, and just do it. We compare and compete; we fail and succeed. We make plans, change plans, stick very closely to our plans, and dare anyone or anything to interfere with our plans.
A full calendar means a full life—right? Success means we are doing well in this life. Happiness is proof that we’ve done enough good things so we can enjoy life, right? Yet deep inside we are still full of longings. We long:

• To belong and to have purpose.
• To know be known.
• To understand and be understood.
• To accept and be accepted.
• To care and be cared for.
• To love and be loved.

What we long for is intimacy. We long for intimacy because we were made for intimacy. Yet we often pursue other things and miss the fact that our longings are finally and fully satisfied only in a relationship of intimacy with God. God designed us for it. He calls us to it. Jesus came and showed it to us and then made a way for us to have it.
God’s invitation to intimacy is a summons for you to know Him. Read the definition of intimacy on page one again. It’s a request to be in an affectionate, loving, unique, intimate relationship with Him. It’s a relationship that even exceeds a sense of belonging together! It grows into oneness as barriers come down through time spent together. The question is: Will you pursue it?

Do you desire it? Will you make room in your schedule and in your heart for it? In the days ahead, you will see God’s incredible pursuit of you, but for today, consider the nature of your pursuit of Him. A very precious promise is given in James 4:8: “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.” This New Testament verse is similar to an Old Testament promise given to the nation of Israel during a time when it had turned away from God. The heart of the promise is for us also, even if we have turned away from God: “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you” (Jer. 29:13–14a).
The best starting point for this study is for you to spend time sharing with God your thoughts on the intimacy or lack of intimacy you currently have with Him. Be honest with Him, for in doing so you are also being honest with yourself.

Use the space below and to the side to write a prayer to God.

Day 2
Making It the Main Event

At the Peachtree Road Race held every Fourth of July in Atlanta, Georgia, event planners strategically place water stations every mile along the 6.2-mile route. These stations are designed to assist runners in staying hydrated during the race. They often have not only water but a sports drink and even sports gels (that are gummy-like and full of carbohydrates) ready and waiting through the assistance of eager volunteers. These volunteers also spur you on through their cheers and encouraging words. The road race is the event; it’s why the participants are there. They don’t come for the water, the gels, or to hang out with the volunteers at the water station, though they are thankful for the assistance and encouragement. Imagine for a minute how odd the scene would be if runners chose to stop at a water station and spend the rest of the race there.

Spiritually speaking, is that what we have done? The things we fill our lives with could be compared to these water stations—even the Bible studies and church activities with which so many of us fill our time. They exist to assist, equip, encourage, and spur us on, but they are not the main event. God is to be our number-one pursuit. He is the main event!

In John 17:3, Jesus says, “This is eternal life: that they know You, the one true God, and Jesus Christ whom You sent.” Our specific journey is the way in which He has chosen for us to know and come into oneness with Him. The apostle Paul understood this. In Philippians 3, he shares part of his journey.

Read Philippians 3, and answer the questions below.

Describe Paul’s life when he put confidence in the flesh and sought to fill himself with earthly things (3:4–6):

Paul sought many things, some bad and some good, but in 3:8, he makes a very bold statement. Using verses 3:7–11, summarize Paul’s words:

Since God’s invitation to intimacy is an invitation to know Him, let’s take a deeper look at the word know. As in the English language, the word know in the Greek (the original language of the New Testament) and Hebrew (the original language of the Old Testament) spans a wide range of meanings. Just as knowing a person casually cannot compare to the knowledge (or knowing) you have of a spouse, family member, or dear friend, so it is in the Bible with the word know.

In Philippians 3:8, when Paul said, “What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord,” he used the Greek word gnosis, which means knowledge gleaned from first-hand (personal) experience, connecting theory to application through direct relationship.2 Think back to what Paul told us about himself in Philippians 3:4–7. He was loaded with head knowledge and accomplishments, but it was “a loss” or “rubbish” compared to the first-hand, personal experience of Jesus through a direct relationship.

Paul continued in 3:12–14 to say that he hadn’t arrived (my translation), but he “presses on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.” The “that” Paul is talking about is found in 3:10: “I want to know Christ and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in His suffering, becoming like Him in his death.” Paul deeply desired and pursued intimacy with God.

Are you, like Paul, pressing on to “take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of you” (intimacy), or have you gotten sidetracked at a water station? Reread Philippians 3, and then use the space below to share with God your thoughts about the priority pursuing intimacy with Him has in your life. Talk to Him about any water stations in your life. “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you” (James 4:8).

No matter where you are in your journey right now, God desires to take you further and walk with you into ever-increasing intimacy. Paul forgot his past and pressed on for the future. May we eagerly do the same!