The Seven Longings of the Human Heart by Mike Bickle; Deborah Hiebert

Author:Mike Bickle; Deborah Hiebert
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: Anthropology, Religion, Christian Life, Christian Theology
ISBN: 9780977673841
Publisher: Forerunner Media
Published: 2006-07-21T22:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER FIVE

The Longing for Intimacy without Shame

Before the beginning of time, the Father burned with the desire to have a family, to know them and be known by them in a deep and profound way. That is why He fashioned the human heart to long for intimacy with Him and with others. God's dream has always been to share His heart with us in a way far surpassing anything we know or can imagine now. God created us with a profound desire to fully know and to be fully known without shame. Consider that the One who created everything knows every movement of our hearts and He wants to share His heart with us. Our value to Him compels Him to invite us into this mysterious realm of nearness to Him. God satisfies this longing by revealing His heart to us and by communicating how much He truly does know us. We only enjoy a down payment of this reality in the current age, but we'll experience the fullness of it in the age to come.

For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known. (1 Corinthians 13:12)

This mutual sharing is an expression of God's affection for us. Without this, our lives would be exceedingly lonely. Henry

David Thoreau said, "The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation." Most people live with a devastating sense of loneliness in this life. Tragically, they live without sharing their joys and sorrows with anyone. We were created in such a way that loneliness severely breaks and bruises us. This is not God's plan for us. Rather, God's people are meant to have intimacy and unity with each another, because the Father has permitted Jesus to pour His glory out on us now in part, and in fullness in the age to come.

That they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us.the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one.that they may be made perfect in one.

(John 17:21-23)

Because of Jesus, we can have no fear of being left to experience the mysteries and the ups and downs of life alone. This longing for companionship will be answered partially in this age and fully in the age to come. The Father is the one who first observed that loneliness is not good for the human spirit, remarking in Genesis 2:18 how "it is not good that man should be alone." This truth was not communicated as a criticism of solitude in seeking after God in private, but regarding loneliness. There is a huge difference. The human heart craves intimacy, therefore, the enemy seeks to exploit this by bringing us down many avenues that offer a counterfeit intimacy which in turn brings shame. The irony is that when we accept what the

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