Appendix 9: God Accepts and Loves Intimacy With Us<\/b><\/p>\n
Excerpt from Appendix 9 of\u2026<\/p>\n
Immanuel: A Practicum<\/i>\u00a0by Patricia A. Velotta<\/p>\n
God Accepts and Loves Intimacy with Us<\/p>\n
God Chose Intimate, Face to Face Relationships,<\/p>\n
with People in the Old Testament.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Then\u00a0Jacob\u00a0<\/i>was left alone; and a Man wrestled with him<\/p>\n
until the breaking of day. Now when He saw that He did<\/p>\n
not prevail against him, He touched the socket of his hip;<\/p>\n
and the socket of Jacob\u2019s hip was out of joint as He wrestled<\/p>\n
with him. . . . So Jacob called the name of the place<\/p>\n
Peniel: \u201cFor I have seen God\u00a0face to face<\/i>, and my life is<\/p>\n
preserved. (Genesis 32:24\u201325, 30)<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
So the LORD spoke to Moses\u00a0face to face<\/i>, as a man speaks<\/p>\n
to his friend. And he would return to the camp, but his<\/p>\n
servant Joshua the son of Nun, a young man,\u00a0did not depart<\/i><\/p>\n
from the tabernacle. (Exodus 33:11)<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
And they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land. They<\/p>\n
have heard that You, LORD,\u00a0are\u00a0<\/i>among these people; that<\/p>\n
You, LORD, are seen\u00a0face to face\u00a0<\/i>and Your cloud stands<\/p>\n
above them, and You go before them in a pillar of cloud<\/p>\n
by day and in a pillar of fire by night. (Numbers 14:14)<\/p>\n
So he [Moses] was there with the LORD forty days and<\/p>\n
forty nights; he neither ate bread nor drank water. And<\/p>\n
He wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the<\/p>\n
Ten Commandments. (Exodus 34:28)<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make His<\/p>\n
face shine upon you, and be gracious to you; the LORD<\/p>\n
lift up His countenance upon you, and give you peace.<\/p>\n
(Numbers 6:24\u201326)<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The LORD talked with you\u00a0face to face\u00a0<\/i>on the mountain<\/p>\n
from the midst of the fire. (Deuteronomy 5:4)<\/p>\n
Now\u00a0Gideon\u00a0<\/i>perceived that He\u00a0was\u00a0<\/i>the Angel of the<\/p>\n
LORD. So Gideon said, \u201cAlas, O Lord GOD! For I have<\/p>\n
seen the Angel of the LORD\u00a0face to face<\/i>. (Judges 6:22)<\/p>\n
Seek the LORD and His strength; seek His face evermore!<\/p>\n
(Psalms 105:4; 1 Chronicles 16:11)<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Hear, O LORD,\u00a0when\u00a0<\/i>I cry with my voice! Have mercy<\/p>\n
also upon me, and answer me.\u00a0When You said,\u00a0<\/i>\u201cSeek<\/p>\n
My face,\u201d my heart said to You, \u201cYour face<\/i>, LORD, I will<\/p>\n
seek.\u201d Do not hide\u00a0Your face\u00a0<\/i>from me; do not turn Your<\/p>\n
servant away in anger; You have been my help; do not<\/p>\n
leave me nor forsake me, O God of my salvation. When<\/p>\n
my father and my mother forsake me, then the LORD<\/p>\n
will take care of me. (Psalms 27:7\u201310)<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Abraham is Described as a Friend of God<\/p>\n
And the Scripture was fulfilled which says,\u00a0\u201cAbraham believed<\/i><\/p>\n
God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n
And he was called the\u00a0friend of God.\u00a0<\/i>(James 2:23)<\/p>\n
Then the LORD\u00a0appeared\u00a0<\/i>to Abram and said, \u201cTo your<\/p>\n
descendants I will give this land.\u201d So he built there an<\/p>\n
altar to the LORD, who had\u00a0appeared\u00a0<\/i>to him. (Genesis<\/p>\n
12:7)<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD\u00a0appeared<\/i><\/p>\n
to Abram and said to him, \u201cI am God Almighty;<\/p>\n
walk before Me, and be blameless. . . . Then He finished<\/p>\n
talking with him, and\u00a0God went up\u00a0<\/i>from Abraham.<\/p>\n
(Genesis 17:1, 22)<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Then the LORD\u00a0appeared\u00a0<\/i>to him by the terebinth trees of<\/p>\n
Mamre, as he was sitting in the tent door in the heat of the<\/p>\n
day. So he lifted his eyes and looked, and behold, three<\/p>\n
men were standing by him; and when he saw them, he<\/p>\n
ran from the tent door to meet them, and bowed himself<\/p>\n
to the ground . . . And the LORD said, \u201cShall I hide from<\/p>\n
Abraham what I am doing . . . For I have known him.\u201d<\/p>\n
(Genesis 18:1\u20132, 17, 19a)<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n
I will go down now and see\u00a0<\/i>whether they have done altogether<\/p>\n
according to the outcry against it that has come to<\/p>\n
Me; and if not, I will know.\u201d Then the men turned away<\/p>\n
from there and went toward Sodom,\u00a0but Abraham still<\/i><\/p>\n
stood before the LORD. And Abraham came near\u00a0<\/i>and<\/p>\n
said, \u201cWould You also destroy the righteous with the<\/p>\n
wicked?\u201d . . . So\u00a0the LORD went His way\u00a0<\/i>as soon as He<\/p>\n
had finished speaking with Abraham. (Genesis 18:21\u201323,<\/p>\n
18:33a)<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
We Can Be a Friend of God Too.<\/p>\n
But if anyone loves God, this one is known by Him.<\/p>\n
(1 Corinthians 8:3)<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
He who loves purity of heart\u00a0and has\u00a0<\/i>grace on his lips, the<\/p>\n
king\u00a0will\u00a0<\/i>be his friend. (Proverbs 22:11)<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.<\/p>\n
(Matthew 5:8)<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
You are\u00a0My friends<\/i>, if you do whatever I command you.<\/p>\n
No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not<\/p>\n
know what his master is doing; but I have called you<\/p>\n
friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have<\/p>\n
made known to you. (John 15:14\u201315)<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Appendix 9: God Accepts and Loves Intimacy With Us Excerpt from Appendix 9 of\u2026 Immanuel: A Practicum\u00a0by Patricia A. Velotta God Accepts and Loves Intimacy with Us God Chose Intimate, Face to Face Relationships, with People in the Old Testament. Then\u00a0Jacob\u00a0was left alone; and a Man wrestled with him until the breaking of day. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"gallery","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-157","post","type-post","status-publish","format-gallery","hentry","category-appendices","post_format-post-format-gallery"],"yoast_head":"\n