Intimacy, dependency, obedience (1) - All The Word for Today Daily Devotionals for 2026

The Word for Today - Wednesday, February 12, 2025
by Bob and Debby Gass

Details

Intimacy, dependency, obedience (1)

‘For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does.’ John 5:20 NIV

These three things define the relationship Jesus had with His Father, and they are a blueprint for the kind of relationship you need to build with God: intimacy, dependency, obedience.

First: let’s look at intimacy. Jesus said, ‘For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. …’ (John 5:20 NIV). You only reveal yourself, including your innermost thoughts and secrets, to someone with whom you are intimate. And when you become intimate with God, He will share with you things that others are not privy to. David’s greatest passion was to know God intimately. In Psalm 25:4 he writes: ‘Show me your ways, Lord, teach me your paths’ (NIV). Then he follows up by saying, ‘The Lord confides in those who fear [honour] him; …’ (Psalm 25:14 NIV). Having an intimate relationship with God involves three things: a) Desire. The truth is that you are as close to God right now as you desire to be; otherwise, you would rearrange your priorities to make it happen. b) Discipline. This calls for spending time alone with God in prayer and Bible reading each day. When you pray, you’re talking to God. When you read the Bible, God is talking to you. c) Delight. ‘Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart’ (Psalm 37:4 NKJV). Something wonderful happens when you ‘delight yourself in the Lord’. His desires become ‘the desires of your heart’, so He can trust you with them. Do you want a more intimate relationship with the Lord? If you are willing to pursue it, you can have it.

SoulFood: Gen 32-34 Luke 9:46-56 Ps 145:14-21 Pro 4:23-24

More From Our Daily Devotional Archives

Open Heavens
for Tuesday, December 3, 2013
by Pastor E.A Adeboye

OFFENDED IN CHRIST?

The Christian race must be run with lots of patience or else it will be bungled midway. If you are inpatient with Gods timing, you will not only get into trouble but may not be able to finish the race. A good number of backsliders derailed from their heavenly track because of impatience. In Matthew 11:6 Jesus...More

The LORD is near
for Monday, December 9, 2013
by Jacob Redekop, Brian Reynolds, John van Dijk, Eugene P. Vedder Jr

Jehovah appeared to him by the oaks of Mamre. And...

Jehovah appeared to him by the oaks of Mamre. And he sat at the tent-door in the heat of the day. And he lifted up his eyes and saw, and behold, three men standing near him.
(Genesis 18:1)

The spiritual elevation of Abraham in Genesis 18 and 19 is something very peculiar. He seems...More

Open Heavens
for Thursday, December 19, 2013
by Pastor E.A Adeboye

THE HOLY SPIRIT

It is one thing to receive the anointing and another to keep growing on it. There are people who had the anointing, but today, everything has virtually ebbed out. It is possible to connect with the Holy Spirit and to continue to flow in the power of the anointing even at increasing levels. If this is your desire,...More

Open Heavens
for Friday, February 28, 2014
by Pastor E.A Adeboye

BEFORE YOU GET ANGRY

Yesterday we learnt it is not right for us to get angry with God or to take offence against Him, even if we experience the deferment of our hopes. The example of John the Baptist who earlier acknowledged Jesus as the Messiah, but later doubted Him because of his painful experience of incarceration is a warning...More