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Transcript

The Longing for Intimacy without Shame · First15 Devotional

• 0:04
  [SPEAKER_00]: In today's first 15, we're going to look at the longing we all share for intimacy without shame.
• 0:13
  [SPEAKER_00]: You and I were made to be fully known and fully loved, and pursuing that sense of knowledge and love from the world has left so many of us wounded.
• 0:26
  [SPEAKER_00]: But the good news is that God has a path for healing, relationship, and love that's void of shame.
• 0:35
  [SPEAKER_00]: And once the guide us down that path today, as we create space and follow him together, welcome to the first 15 podcast.
• 1:15
  [SPEAKER_00]: Our Scripture for today comes from Ephesians chapter 2 verses 4 through 5.
• 1:22
  [SPEAKER_00]: Scripture says, but God being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us.
• 1:32
  [SPEAKER_00]: Even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ.
• 1:42
  [SPEAKER_00]: all of humanity is in a constant search for intimacy.
• 1:48
  [SPEAKER_00]: We devote ourselves to earning the affections of others, whether it be a close friend or a stranger.
• 1:57
  [SPEAKER_00]: We longed to be loved for who we truly are, but we've also been burned by others in attempts to find acceptance.
• 2:07
  [SPEAKER_00]: We give our hearts to the world and hope others will satisfy our craving for acceptance for love.
• 2:17
  [SPEAKER_00]: And we've been rejected by the very people and systems in which we sought satisfaction.
• 2:24
  [SPEAKER_00]: Still, we press on.
• 2:27
  [SPEAKER_00]: We mold and reshape ourselves.
• 2:30
  [SPEAKER_00]: We change our image or personality.
• 2:34
  [SPEAKER_00]: We project who we think we should be instead of who we are.
• 2:40
  [SPEAKER_00]: We project who we feel others want us to be.
• 2:44
  [SPEAKER_00]: Believing the lie that who we really are isn't enough.
• 2:50
  [SPEAKER_00]: And all the while, we long to be fully known and accepted.
• 2:56
  [SPEAKER_00]: We long for intimacy without shame.
• 3:01
  [SPEAKER_00]: This depiction holds true for all of us, because all of us have been affected by Adam and Eve's original sin.
• 3:10
  [SPEAKER_00]: It was in perfection that they chose sin over unfettered, boundless relationship with the Father.
• 3:19
  [SPEAKER_00]: and Scripture says in Genesis 3 verse 8 that Adam and Eve heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day.
• 3:29
  [SPEAKER_00]: In the man and his wife hid themselves from the present of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.
• 3:41
  [SPEAKER_00]: After God calls out to Adam and Eve, Adam responds by saying, I heard the sound of you in the garden and I was afraid because I was naked and hid myself.
• 3:55
  [SPEAKER_00]: Sin immediately and tragically brought shame, separation, and destruction to perfect intimacy.
• 4:07
  [SPEAKER_00]: And so often, we live our lives as if scripture stopped with Genesis 3-10.
• 4:14
  [SPEAKER_00]: We live our lives apart from the revelation of God's unconditional love and affection for us.
• 4:22
  [SPEAKER_00]: Genesis 3-21 tells us, the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife, garments of skins and clothed them.
• 4:37
  [SPEAKER_00]: He met them in their weakness and provided for them and just as God covered Adam and Eve with garments to cover their shame, he's made away for us today.
• 4:52
  [SPEAKER_00]: In our weakness and shame, God meets us and calls us lovely.
• 4:59
  [SPEAKER_00]: He's clothed us with the perfect righteous nature of Christ.
• 5:06
  [SPEAKER_00]: our lives are perfectly hidden in his.
• 5:11
  [SPEAKER_00]: In his grace, he wraps his arms around us and tells us of his great love.
• 5:18
  [SPEAKER_00]: He speaks truth where lies have resounded.
• 5:21
  [SPEAKER_00]: He speaks life where there seemed to only be death.
• 5:28
  [SPEAKER_00]: He brings light to the darkest, most desolate places of our
• 5:35
  [SPEAKER_00]: Only his grace abounding could lead us back into the fold of his loving kindness.
• 5:43
  [SPEAKER_00]: Redemption and love fill the weak frame of man with the glory of God.
• 5:49
  [SPEAKER_00]: We are dust transformed into the very likeness of the living God.
• 5:58
  [SPEAKER_00]: Our destiny will always be intimacy without shame, to be fully loved and fully known by our perfect father.
• 6:08
  [SPEAKER_00]: Take time and guided prayer to assess your own heart.
• 6:13
  [SPEAKER_00]: In what ways are you still hiding from God as Adam and Eve did?
• 6:19
  [SPEAKER_00]: In what ways have you failed your heart as if God didn't already rip the veil, separating him from us into.
• 6:29
  [SPEAKER_00]: May your time and guided prayer be filled with new levels of intimacy, as you allow God to fully know you, and bring light to darkness.
• 7:07
  [SPEAKER_00]: As we begin, take time to acknowledge any shameful places in your life.
• 7:15
  [SPEAKER_00]: You've hidden from God and others.
• 7:19
  [SPEAKER_00]: In what ways are you veiling your heart?
• 7:24
  [SPEAKER_00]: What do you long to keep in darkness?
• 8:17
  [SPEAKER_00]: and next, meditate on God's love for you.
• 8:22
  [SPEAKER_00]: God loves you completely, no matter what you've done.
• 8:26
  [SPEAKER_00]: He longs to be with you, no matter how ashamed you might feel.
• 8:34
  [SPEAKER_00]: Ephesians 2 verses 4 through 5 says, but God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ.
• 9:42
  [SPEAKER_00]: in last, open your heart to God, talk to him about any shameful places in your life, receive a revelation of his unconditional love, allow him to bring his healing light to your heart as you rest in his love.
• 10:22
  [UNKNOWN]: You
• 10:53
  [SPEAKER_00]: allowing ourselves to be fully known is always scary.
• 10:58
  [SPEAKER_00]: We fear that if we are fully known and then rejected, we'll have nothing left to hold on to.
• 11:06
  [SPEAKER_00]: But until we allow ourselves to be fully known, it will be impossible to satisfy our longing to be fully loved.
• 11:16
  [SPEAKER_00]: Opening your heart, your past, your weaknesses, and your failures to God is the only path to healing and freedom.
• 11:28
  [SPEAKER_00]: Allowing God to reveal His unconditional love for you.
• 11:32
  [SPEAKER_00]: When you've opened up about your worst pain, thoughts, and sins, will fill you with love and security you never knew as possible.
• 11:44
  [SPEAKER_00]: open your heart to your loving Heavenly Father today.
• 11:47
  [SPEAKER_00]: An experience the love that can only come with being fully known.
• 12:07
  [SPEAKER_00]: Thank you for listening to today's podcast, the longing for intimacy without shame.
• 12:13
  [SPEAKER_00]: I'm Josh with 1st 15.
• 12:16
  [SPEAKER_00]: As you go about your day today, try and notice whenever you get a sense of shame.
• 12:22
  [SPEAKER_00]: And if you're able, take a moment to simply hand that shame over to God.
• 12:28
  [SPEAKER_00]: shame is so destructive and in union with the Spirit we have available to us a constant healer who wants to deliver us from the destruction shame produces.
• 12:42
  [SPEAKER_00]: Have a wonderful rest of your day and may God bless you as you seek him.