Читать книгу Greater Intimacy With Our Creator - Robert Sr. Eldredge Sr. - Страница 3

Introduction

According to the Bible, God will sometimes give us guidance by way of dreams. I once had a dream where a pastor wanted me to do a teaching. In the dream, I said to him, “The greatest teaching to learn is how to become more intimate with our Creator!” While still dreaming, I began to prepare a teaching that would make our intimacy with God analogous to “being romantically in love” with another person.

Then I woke up. Up until that time I had never even taught on this particular subject before, nor had I even considered it. It is therefore very unlikely that this dream came from my own mind.

Of course, not all dreams are Godly dreams, but the content of this dream had all the ear marks of one that was inspired by the Spirit of God. And since I felt this dream was from him, I immediately began to prepare myself with study and prayer.

A short time later a pastor did ask me to speak in his church while he was away, so it was then that I gave my first teaching on this subject. But the content of the subject was so broad, and the time constraints so limited, that I felt that the Lord really wanted me to write about this in a book. And even then, I knew I could only cover the basics.

If it is true that how to have greater intimacy with God is the “greatest teaching to learn” (and I believe it is!), then I also wanted to learn more about this subject for my own benefit as well.

And if greater intimacy with God is analogous to being romantically “in love” with another human being (and I believe it is!), then we should follow this methodology to find out what it means to be romantically “in love” with our Creator.

I have to admit that I really did not want to write on such a lofty subject. I felt completely inadequate in my own abilities and experiences. On the other hand this might even be a good thing, for it may make me better able to relate to the average person who just wants to have a deeper relationship with our Creator.

This is therefore an independent and a non-denominational approach to the subject that is based primarily upon what the Bible already says, rather than upon my own personal experiences.

And just because I felt led to write this book, I hope no one will think that I have personally achieved perfection in all of these areas. Like the average reader of this book, I am also on my own spiritual journey towards greater intimacy with our Creator, so let’s take this journey together.