Exodus 24:15-18
15 When Moses went up on the mountain, the cloud covered it, 16 and the glory of the Lord settled on Mount Sinai. For six days the cloud covered the mountain, and on the seventh day the Lord called to Moses from within the cloud. 17 To the Israelites the glory of the Lord looked like a consuming fire on top of the mountain. 18 Then Moses entered the cloud as he went on up the mountain. And he stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights.
I have been pondering on a certain passage from Exodus 24. This passage describes Moses going to the top of the mountain. Then waiting there for the Lord. As he is waiting suddenly the Lord appears in a cloud and then calls Moses into the cloud. I have been really sensing the Lord calling me up higher. He’s calling me into a deeper place of intimacy. This passage is so awesome to me because I so desire to be like Moses and Like Jesus. To have such intimacy with the Lord. To hear him call my name like he called Moses. I want to step into that cloud and listening to all he has to say to me..
This is a devotional from the You Version daily Bible reading titled, “How to develop intimacy with God”.
“The life and ministry of the American pastor, John Wimber, has had a great influence on my own life, our church and many other churches around the world.
He said, ‘The ability to hear what God is saying, to see what God is doing, and to move in the realm of the miraculous comes as an individual develops the same intimacy, with and dependence upon the Father [as Jesus had]. How did Jesus do what he did? The answer is found in his relationship with the Father. How will we do the ‘greater things than these’ which Jesus promised (John 14:12)? By discovering the same relationship of intimacy, simplicity and obedience.
God loves you with an intimacy that surpasses all your dreams. He wants you to have a close, personal relationship with him of intimacy, simplicity and obedience. This is an extraordinary honour and privilege. Moses, David and, of course, Jesus had an intimate relationship with God. But how do you develop intimacy with God?
One way is to:
STAND STILL AND LISTEN
You cannot develop an intimate relationship with God without setting aside time to communicate with him. ‘When Moses entered the Tent of Meeting to speak with the Lord, he heard the voice speaking to him… and he spoke with him. The Lord said to Moses…God spoke to Moses Num.8:1; 9:1. Moses spoke with God (7:89). It was a two-way conversation. God spoke to Moses face-to-face, as a person speaks with a friend (12:8) – talking and listening at the same time, watching for each other’s reaction. In the age of the Holy Spirit you are in an even better position than Moses. You no longer have to go to a particular place, like Moses did, but can be with God wherever you are. By the Spirit of adoption you are brought into an intimate and eternal conversation with God the Father (Romans 8:15–17,26–27). This was the pattern: ‘The Lord spoke to Moses… So Moses told the Israelites… The Israelites did everything just as the Lord commanded Moses’ (Numbers 9:1–5). The Israelites’ whole way of life was built upon obedience to what God had said to Moses in the place of intimacy. Your intimacy with God needs to overflow into the way in which you live your life. Put into practice the things that God shows you in the place of intimacy.”
Eugene Peterson translates, The Amplified Bible says, ‘Stand still and I will hear what the Lord will command concerning you.’ In the busyness of life stand still and listen to what God wants you to do.
God is speaking. Are you listening? He is speaking in that place of intimacy. He wants intimacy with you today. Will you take the time to stop long enough to step into the cloud of His glory in that secret place, that place of intimacy. If you do, that is where you will find everything you need. I want more. What about you?