On this episode of the Journeywomen podcast, I chatted with Kim Vollendorf about intimacy with God. This is the first of five episodes that we’re releasing on the topic of relationships, just in time for February, the all-too-anticipated month of love, which, can we all just be honest with ourselves and admit that we long to experience?   On today’s episode, Kim and I discussed the foundation for true, selfless love, which is intimacy with God. Intimacy, or into-me-you-see, is a thread that weaves its way through each of the conversations we’re releasing on the topic of relationships, but it’s worth noting that this thread existed before humanity ever came into being, as God Himself experienced intimacy with the persons of the Trinity: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit. The Trinity eternally existed in relationship. Meaning, God didn’t create humanity because He was lonely or in need because there is rich fellowship within the members of the Trinity. He made us in His image and after His likeness and because of that, we were created to be in intimate relationships too, just like Him. That’s why He said, “It is not good that man should be alone.”   So God created Eve, a helpmate for Adam, someone like him, someone with whom Adam would experience knowing and being known. But not long after Adam and Eve were created, something terrible happened to this divine image when they disobeyed God’s command not to eat of the fruit of the forbidden tree. When they took and ate of the tree, the image of God in humans was twisted and damaged. We are still his image-bearers, but that image has been perverted throughout generations. We’re all longing for the image to be restored to its original beauty, but God intends to go beyond even what Adam and Eve experienced in the garden by conforming us into the image of Christ as we experience intimacy with Him.   There is nothing casual about the way in which God knows us. Scripture says that He has searched and known us, He knows when we sit and when we rise, He discerns our thoughts from afar. He searches out our path and our lying down; He is acquainted with all our ways. Even before a word is on our tongues He knows it. He knows all things, including absolutely everything about us. The reason He searches and knows us is because He loves us. So much so, that He sent His Son down to earth to die so that we could enter into relationship with Him, by the power of His Spirit, and once again experience intimacy with Him.   The cry of the human heart is to belong, to be loved, and to experience the ultimate intimacy that can only be found in relationship with God. By the power of the Spirit, our identification, our oneness, and our intimacy with Jesus conforms us into His image, which deepens and enriches our human relationships too! If we know that we’re loved by the Sovereign God, it frees us up to be open and intimate in our personal relationships as well. Today Kim and I talk about how we enter into relationship with God by the power of His Spirit, through relationship with His Son, and how knowing who God is actually cultivates intimacy with Him and with others. This is a huge topic and by no means is this conversation exhaustive, but we hope it will offer some practical tools to help you posture yourself towards intimacy with God.   I am inspired by Kim’s devotion to really knowing God through His Word. On a personal level, you may not go about this by creating a handy alphabet like Kim did, but I want to encourage you to invest time getting to know God through His Word, whatever that looks like for you. Last week’s episode, Biblical Literacy for Women with Kristin Schmucker, is another great resource for learning how to do that!   KIM'S RESOURCES Daily time in God’s Word Kim’s ABC Bookmark Sex and the Single Girl by Dr. Juli Slattery (resources on intimacy from biblical perspective)   KIM’S SIMPLE JOY’S Early morning Earl Grey tea and bible reading Putting on a pair of jeans th