# Recovering Jellyfish Question



## turmeric (Jul 2, 2004)

Hi, I'm Meg, and I'm a jellyfish...

I was thinking this morning about an old chorus we sang at the Assemblies of God when I was a whippersnapper, and how it was like a lot of the others we sang. I've been making the generalization that these folks are just out for an experience, who cares what as long as it's intense, but I seem to recall their teaching that one of the things that their &quot;sanctification crisis&quot; would impart was a deeper intimacy with Christ. It occurs to me that their singing their &quot;oh, I love Jesus so much&quot; songs were providing a chance for &quot;those who were spiritual&quot; to enjoy this intimacy, which they obviously felt that they had.

Question; What is [b:2e4578ce74]true[/b:2e4578ce74] intimacy with Christ? Does it reach the affections? What fosters it, and is it anything like what these folks experienced? (I'm rejecting their idea of how they get to it entirely.)


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## blhowes (Jul 2, 2004)

Meg,
I think one's relationship with the Lord definitely touches every part of us, including our affections. A while ago, we started reading a book that Jonathan Edwards wrote called [u:e6691ec6ea]&quot;A Treatise Concerning Religious Affections&quot;[/u:e6691ec6ea] that you may be interested in reading sometime. We never finished it as a group, but what we did cover was very good - and very soul searching. I highly recommend it.
Bob


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## JohnV (Jul 2, 2004)

Hi Meg:

For me intimacy with my Saviour has nothing to do with the emotions. Rather, it's the other way around; the emotions have to do with the relationship. They indicate not much more than my smallness, my being overwhelmed by His goodness and greatness, His love and constancy. But my emotions are not indicators of His presence or nearness. Other things are.

I like to compare it to any other relationship, in that it's two way: I read His Word as His Word, and pray to the Father through His name, and I wait for His answers. But He too speaks back to me in truth. Whenever I see anything that is true, pure, lovely, honourable, excellent, or worthy of praise, I see it as His expression of Himself to me in the things that are made, in the truth that all people live by, some more than others, and some truth that only His people live by. He reveals so much to us that we regularly miss. But the closer I am to Him through His Word, the more it is that I am open to those things which I am prone to miss. And that indicates to me His presence and nearness. I try to control my emotions, so that His truth can have better attention from me.


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## Scott (Jul 2, 2004)

Emotions are an important part of a healthy relationship with God.


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## Scott (Jul 2, 2004)

This is a good quote from an article on the Puritan practice of meditation:

[quote:27be7eef8a]
For the Puritans, meditation exercised both the mind and the heart; he who meditates approaches a subject with his intellect as well as his affections. Thomas Watson defined meditation as "a holy exercise of the mind whereby we bring the truths of God to remembrance, and do seriously ponder upon them and apply them to ourselves."

Edmund Calamy wrote, "A true meditation is when a man doth so meditate of Christ as to get his heart inflamed with the love of Christ; so meditate of the truths of God, as to be transformed into them; and so meditate of sin as to get his heart to hate sin." Calamy went on to say that to do good, meditation must enter three doors: the door of understanding, the door of the heart and affections, and the door of practical living. "Thou must so meditate of God as to walk as God walks; and so to meditate of Christ as to prize Him, and live in obedience to Him," Calamy said.
[/quote:27be7eef8a]

Anyway, we see allot of emotion in the Bible. The psalms, which we should use to model our prayers and songs after, display every emotion known to man and pours these emotions out to God.

For the full article, see:
http://www.sdgbooks.com/free_beeke.html


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