Intimacy with Jesus

Do you have a healthy foundation?

Aren’t we all so incredibly grateful for the completed work of salvation? The second we respond to the prompting of the Spirit and submit ourselves to Jesus, our identity changes instantly and we become children of God with all of the rights which that entails…forever! Amazing! That initial intimacy with Jesus that you felt is powerful. 

While this is unarguably a life-changing event, many believers are often unable to hold onto the powerful impact the truth of salvation holds as time progresses. Why is it so hard to hold onto intimacy with Jesus?

The answer to this question is simple: life. By the time we reach the point of salvation, we have lived lives marred by episodes of disappointment, hurt, and pain unaware of the influence each event has had on shaping who we are, what we believe, and ultimately how we develop our relationship with God. Over time, if we don’t address some foundational issues, we find the fire and freedom we initially felt begin to slip away.

So, what can we do to help prevent this loss of passion we experience when we first come to Jesus and open the doors to deepen our intimacy with Him over time?

Intimacy with Jesus grows with a Healthy Foundation!

Just like having a strong foundation is important to the structural integrity of your home, establishing a healthy foundation as part of your intimate relationship with Jesus Christ is absolutely imperative to developing a truly intimate relationship with Him over the course of your life.

Through acknowledging areas in which loving and life-giving correction needs to be brought to our understanding of God, we can invite the Holy Spirit in to do a deep work that catapults us into even deeper relationships and by default gives us greater authority, peace, truth, love, and overall spiritual well-being in our lives.

Four Key Areas to Building a Foundation

Beyond salvation, water baptism, and baptism in the Holy Spirit, we believe there are four key areas in which every believer should take a personal inventory to build this foundation:

Our Concept of God

What is your real view of God? Do you see Him as a loving Father or something else? How have your relationships and life experiences impacted your understanding of Who He really is to you?

God’s Concept of Us

What is the truth of how God actually sees you? Do you believe He sees you as a child clothed in righteousness because of His love and the sacrifice of His Son or as an imperfect human who will never measure up?

The Authority of Scripture

Do you believe the Bible is completely and unequivocally true, inspired by God, Himself? Or, do you believe it serves more like a storybook full of suggested ideals we should model our lives by?

Our Ability to Hear God Speak in our Lives

Do you have an understanding that you can actually speak with and hear from God Himself and that your relationship with Him can grow through daily ongoing communication?

At Gateway, we believe a true understanding of these concepts is so fundamentally important to an individual’s relationship with God that we encourage every member to attend our Healthy Foundations series of classes whether they have been saved for five minutes or fifty years.

Grow in intimacy with Jesus with the Healthy Foundations Series

Healthy Foundations is a series designed to help you hear from God, learn the value of His word, and ensure you have a healthy concept of God. Through this four-part series, we not only address these key areas, but we also encourage discussion for practical application and offer opportunities for each individual to hear from the Holy Spirit, Himself. Digging into these topics allows us the opportunity to shore up a strong and healthy foundation, thereby laying the groundwork for an intimate and life-changing relationship with Jesus Christ.

Kara Daniel is the Pastor of Adult Ministries Content for Gateway Church. She researches, curates, and develops discipleship materials for Gateway’s Equip and Groups ministries with her team. Kara has been on staff at Gateway Church since 2019, and she and her husband Jason and their two sons have attended Gateway since 2006.