Intimacy with God is above all internal, far within, deep-seated. Ephesians 3:16 speaks about allowing the Spirit to strengthen us in our inner man so that Christ may dwell in our hearts through faith. So what is our inner man and what does it have to do with intimacy with God? It is because “inner man” literally means the inside point reached or entered as well as the countenance or the expression of who we are. This inside most basic region of our soul is the only place where spiritual intimacy truly can take root and begin to grow.
The world also recognizes this dimensional aspect of our humanity. Proxemics, the study of informal space, calls the zero to eighteen inches around us the “intimate zone.” This is the place that as humans we do not like to have violated by those we do not trust. It is a place we feel we own and in the world have learned to protect. Well below this intimate zone, lies the inner man. This is where we hide the possessive seeds of our past, the place where our fears accumulate, the place where we tuck away our private sins. It is the place where we curl around ourselves and the place where the world and those around us cannot see the extent of our own kingship in our lives. But God sees. That’s why the inner, the inmost places of man must be released and cleaned out so that Christ may dwell deep within us. But it is contrary to everything we know as humans. The idea of allowing anyone into our inner man is foreign and frightful for us. It is the place of the last stand.
The world also recognizes this dimensional aspect of our humanity. Proxemics, the study of informal space, calls the zero to eighteen inches around us the “intimate zone.” This is the place that as humans we do not like to have violated by those we do not trust. It is a place we feel we own and in the world have learned to protect. Well below this intimate zone, lies the inner man. This is where we hide the possessive seeds of our past, the place where our fears accumulate, the place where we tuck away our private sins. It is the place where we curl around ourselves and the place where the world and those around us cannot see the extent of our own kingship in our lives. But God sees. That’s why the inner, the inmost places of man must be released and cleaned out so that Christ may dwell deep within us. But it is contrary to everything we know as humans. The idea of allowing anyone into our inner man is foreign and frightful for us. It is the place of the last stand.
Well, intimacy with God begins well beneath the zero to eighteen-inch barrier, deep within us. No wonder as humans we are uncomfortable with this and are resistant to it. Our natural tendency is to keep everything on the surface because it is more comfortable that way, reducing everything to an outward experience instead of an inward encounter. We often even view our salvation as an experience, something that happens “to” us, not “in” us.
So the first step to understanding the depth of our own spiritual intimacy is to identify whether we have compromised the integrity of our inner man.
Lord, when I think about allowing you into my “inner man,” I feel…
The reason I might feel this way is because…
So the first step to understanding the depth of our own spiritual intimacy is to identify whether we have compromised the integrity of our inner man.
Lord, when I think about allowing you into my “inner man,” I feel…
The reason I might feel this way is because…
Father, I invite you to dwell deep within me, to take up residence in the most vulnerable areas of my heart, and to heal my inner brokenness.
Check out: Eph. 3:16-19
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