TRANSFORMNIG INTIMACY (GOD IS YOUR CAREGIVER, PART 4)

BUY "TRANSFORMING LOVE" ON KINDLE OR IN PAPERBACK HERE!

TRANSFORMING INTIMACY

GOD IS YOUR CAREGIVER

“…that they might KNOW…..the only true God and Jesus Christ…” (John 17:3)

ONE SPIRIT WITH GOD

The role of the caregiver(s) is learned through God’s role as caregiver to his children. As God’s child, you are already attached to God, the ultimate caregiver, and “One Spirit” with him (1 Corinthians 6:17). Therefore, the relationship with God won’t shape or form you for future intimate relationships where bonding is meant to take, but you are already transformed to have intimate relationships “in” Christ.  

God, the caregiver, is attached to you through Christ and is now “One Spirit” with you, which is the ultimate and purest attachment relationship possible (1 Corinthians 6:17). God is attached to you through “love...the perfect BOND of unity.” (Colossians 3:14 NASB). You and God, the ultimate caregiver, are in an attached relationship, where bonding takes place when “....you are joined unto the Lord [and become] …one spirit [with him.]” (1 Corinthians 6:17 KJV).

A baby is born with God-given attachment abilities to stimulate (or draw) a respond from their caregivers. Your God-given attachment abilities are restored when you are born again (John 3:7) However, the attachment process changes with God. You don’t “stimulate or draw a response” from God, but he draws you. “…I … will draw all men unto me…” (John 12:32 KJV).  God, the caregiver, changes the entire attachment process.

The infant “stimulates or draws a response,” from their human caregiver(s), out of “need;” God draws a response, from you, out of “desire.” God “wants” YOU and purposely attracts you and attaches you to himself. Your original God-given attachment skills have been destroyed by sin. Therefore, no one can come to God unless God draws them (John 6:64).

HEAR AND LEARN

God wants you, and will “stimulate or draw a response” from you in order to attract you to himself. God does that by talking to you, so you can hear him, and by teaching you, so you can learn from him. Everyone “who hears” and “learns” about God, will come to him (John 6:45).

By listening to and learning from God, through his Word; it will draw you to God. "It is written in the prophets, 'AND THEY SHALL ALL BE TAUGHT OF GOD.' Every one that hath heard and hath learned of the Father, cometh to me (John 6:45 KJV).

An infant must use their God-given attachment abilities over and over to “stimulate or draw a response” from their  human caregiver(s) in order to get their needs met.

However,  when  “....you are joined unto the Lord [and become] …one spirit [with him]; …God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory BY Christ Jesus” (1 Corinthians 6:17 & Philippian 4:19 KJV). The supply of needs is given to those who are in union or attached (one spirit) to God through Christ.

An infant “stimulates or draws a response” from human caregiver(s) to get their needs met. The bible says God will “..supply  ALL [our needs] according to his riches in glory..” (Philippians 4:19). Ideally, a human caregiver(s) is rich in their ability to love, to provide for the child, and to guide their development.

God is rich in love, rich in character, rich in ownership of all creation, rich in grace and mercy, rich in goodness, and therefore is able to richly supply the spiritual needs of his children. God richly loves, provides, and guides his children into an abundant life to enjoy and prosper.

God richly (elaborately) supplied your salvation, through Jesus, and it was extremely costly. In addition, God richly delivered you from sin and darkness and all its affects and consequences. The “good news” of the gospel is Jesus Christ and all you have to do is “…believe on the Lord Jesus, and thou shall be saved” (Acts 16:31KJV).

JOHN 6:45

When God “stimulates or draws a response,” from you; you respond in return by exercising your God-given faith via (listening & learning) about the “good news” (Ephesians 2:8).

The wonderful thing about God, the caregiver, is that he not only draws you to respond to him, but he gives you “the measure of faith” in order “to” respond period. Remember faith COMES (appears) when it hears the “good news.”

Faith comes to support you in fully experiencing the ‘…power of God unto salvation…” and to ensure “...you are joined unto the Lord [and become] …one spirit [with him.]” (1 Corinthians 6:17 & Romans 1:16 KJV).   Earlier, I wrote that an infant initially “needs and depends” on the human caregiver, which develops into “needs and wants (desires)” the human caregiver.

When an infant moves from total dependence to willful desire; a deeper mutuality, with the human caregiver(s), transpires. Some dependence is still necessary, but it decreases as the infant develops over the lifespan and willful desire, for the attachment relationship, ideally increases. In other words, the infant “wants” the attachment relationship with the caregiver, by choice, not simply dependence, and the caregiver “wants” the infant. Continual and long lasting mutuality is the goal.

Mutuality with God is also the ultimate goal where the shared “desire” to interactively love another is prominent, continual, and long lasting (eternal).  Mutuality is a conglomeration of reciprocal behaviors of love and affection. In mutuality there are relational benefits, relational growth and development, relational gains, relational commonality, and relational sharing.

The mutual relationship with God provides an opportunity to grow and develop into the image of Christ. The mutuality with God, therefore, offers purpose and fulfillment to one’s life. The quality of intimate interaction with God is reflected in the mutual love and affection between Christ and the believer.

 In this mutual exchange God is impacted by the believer and the believer is impacted by God. In other words, the believer gives his or herself over to God and God, through Christ, has given himself over, through his death, to the believer. The believer is therefore, opened to God’s influence and lordship and is transformed by responding to and being affected by God’s word.

God is receptive to the believer’s prayers, is emotionally available to their needs, and is influenced by his or her worship. God appreciates the believer and the believer appreciates God; they are actively interested in one another. Even though there are serious differences, God understands the believer’s plight with sin and the believer values God’s standards of holiness.

Respect and honor flows in order to demonstrate the responsiveness that God and the believer have for one another, which helps affirm them within the relational dyad. The prominent purpose for the mutuality, in the relationship with God, is to provide a safe, secure, protected, and intimate place for fellowship, affection, and love for the believer. 

 EXCERPT FROM THE  CHAPTER 

"GOD IS YOUR CAREGIVER" FROM 

BOOK "TRANSFORMING INTIMACY

BY PENSACOLA H JEFFERSON

ALSO BUY "TRANSFORMING LOVE" HERE!