Intimacy with God

Intimacy with God: The Journey of love - Dr Khoo Kay Hup

At FGA this Sunday, we were privileged to have Dr Khoo Kay Hup speak on “Intimacy with God – The journey of love” based on Jeremiah 9:23-24.

Thus says the LORD: “ Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, Let not the mighty man glory in his might, Nor let the rich man glory in his riches; But let him who glories glory in this, That he understands and knows Me, That I am the LORD, exercising lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth. For in these I delight,” says the LORD.

Starting off his message, Dr Khoo explained to us that the word “know”, called “Yada” in Hebrew was the same word used to describe Adam “knowing” Eve in Genesis. Our whole purpose in life ultimately finds its meaning in knowing the Lord intimately.

If we walk closely with God, we will grow to learn and appreciate more and more, day by day the great love, justice, and righteousness of God! The apostle Paul, in describing the wonderful love of God beautifully illustrates this in Romans 8:35-39:-

35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36 As it is written: “ For Your sake we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.”37 Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. 38 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, 39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

If we were to truly know and experience the depth and passion of God’s love for us, we would be completely secure in His salvation, trusting in His goodness and kindness no matter what we face in life.

In our journey to know God and His precious love, Dr.Khoo highlights three important steps.

1. The 4 Non-Negotiables

-         Quiet Time and Prayer (Start with at least 7 minutes Bible Reading and Prayer and move on from there)

-         Sunday Worship (Always set aside time to worship God on Sundays)

-         Weekly Fellowship (Be accountable to each other in a life care group)

-         Tithes and Offerings (Set your heart to put God first in financial matters)

These important practices form the basic foundation for us as we go along our journey to know God!

2. Live in truth with God and in love

Especially inspired by the 1^st letter of John, Dr.Khoo exhorts us to live truthfully before God and love our neighbors. Love is the hallmark of God the Father and our Lord Jesus, so all who claim to follow the Lord must also show love for others in our daily living.

3. Maintain purity of heart

1 John 2:15-17 Do not love the world or the things of the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world, the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires will pass away but the man who does the will of God lives forever.

Thirdly, we must maintain the purity of our hearts, turning our eyes away from the temptations of the world and seeking first the kingdom of God! In an age of rampant immorality, it is so important for us to maintain our holiness, for without holiness, no one will see God. Dr.Khoo especially warned at this point against pre-marital and extra-marital relations, pornography, video game addictions and all other bad addictive behavior.

In closing, Dr.Khoo shared three crucial steps to freedom that we need to take if we need to break free from any sinful addiction.

(i)                  Recognize what you did is wrong – The first step must be admittance. Denial will get us nowhere. Once we recognize our sin, we can then look for forgiveness.

(ii)                Confess each specific sin – We need to name each specific sin that binds us so that God.

(iii)               Prayer of repentance and renunciation – Then, we need to ask God for forgiveness, and renounce each sin in Jesus name.

(iv)              Breaking wrong soul tie – Then, we need to declare in Jesus name, that any wrong soul tie arising from the sin be broken.

May the Lord help us be disciplined in the four non-negotiables, walk in truth and love before God and man, and maintain the holiness of God in a sinful world as we continue our journey to know the Lord and His precious love.  

God bless,

Jason