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Becoming a Christian, even though it may have happened many years ago for you, is a profound experience. Some people who aren’t yet believers struggle so much with feelings of inadequacy and condemnation that they don’t really believe they can become Christians. They wonder, “How could Jesus love me?” And “Why would Jesus want a relationship with me?” Many people feel overwhelmed when they discover God loves them so much he sent Jesus to die on the cross as a substitute for them. They are astounded, in light of their sinfulness and shortcomings, that they can have a relationship with God—and more than that, an intimate one with him.
When God was ready to reveal himself fully, he came as a person. He didn’t send an angel to tell us more about himself; he became a person. He didn’t set up a website or tell an Instagram story. He showed up with skin on. God came in the person of Jesus. He wanted us to know him personally but also intimately.
Jesus came to be among people, not aloof from them. He walked, talked, laughed, and prayed with people. He slept in the homes of friends, visited their sick relatives, went to funerals, and attended dinner parties. Jesus was not a distant deity demanding homage or respect. He was a flesh-and-blood person who lived among his followers.
Despite how unworthy you may feel, here is an astounding reality: through Jesus, God wants more than a token connection with you. He wants an intimate relationship. He wants you so close you can touch him.
In the Bible, the people who worked around Jesus and with Jesus are often named (like Peter, James, and John). But many of the people who related to him most intimately are unnamed. The people with him when he was most vulnerable, who touched him physically, who met his personal needs, and who served him with no desire for anything in return were anonymous followers.
You don’t have to be rich, famous, or popular to have an intimate relationship with God through Jesus. Through Jesus, shadow Christians know God intimately.
Questions to think about:
1. Becoming a Christian gives you a new identity. Are you sure you are a Christian? Why?
2. Intimacy is a scary word for some people. What does it mean to you? Does the idea of intimacy with God make you uncomfortable? Why or why not?
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There are some names in the Bible that everyone knows: Adam and Eve, Noah, Moses, Mary, Peter, Paul. But the Bible is also full of stories with unnamed characters. People who made a difference not in the spotlight, but in the shadows. We often think they and we are insignificant if the spotlight is not on. But here's the good news: God chooses and uses shadow Christians.
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