WEBVTT 00:04.857 --> 00:12.451 [SPEAKER_00]: In today's first 15, we're going to look at the longing we all share for intimacy without shame. 00:13.693 --> 00:25.735 [SPEAKER_00]: You and I were made to be fully known and fully loved, and pursuing that sense of knowledge and love from the world has left so many of us wounded. 00:26.103 --> 00:34.436 [SPEAKER_00]: But the good news is that God has a path for healing, relationship, and love that's void of shame. 00:35.257 --> 00:44.652 [SPEAKER_00]: And once the guide us down that path today, as we create space and follow him together, welcome to the first 15 podcast. 01:15.428 --> 01:21.399 [SPEAKER_00]: Our Scripture for today comes from Ephesians chapter 2 verses 4 through 5. 01:22.241 --> 01:31.138 [SPEAKER_00]: Scripture says, but God being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us. 01:32.400 --> 01:38.652 [SPEAKER_00]: Even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ. 01:42.327 --> 01:46.894 [SPEAKER_00]: all of humanity is in a constant search for intimacy. 01:48.196 --> 01:55.648 [SPEAKER_00]: We devote ourselves to earning the affections of others, whether it be a close friend or a stranger. 01:57.030 --> 02:06.445 [SPEAKER_00]: We longed to be loved for who we truly are, but we've also been burned by others in attempts to find acceptance. 02:07.808 --> 02:15.480 [SPEAKER_00]: We give our hearts to the world and hope others will satisfy our craving for acceptance for love. 02:17.162 --> 02:23.331 [SPEAKER_00]: And we've been rejected by the very people and systems in which we sought satisfaction. 02:24.593 --> 02:26.176 [SPEAKER_00]: Still, we press on. 02:27.157 --> 02:29.521 [SPEAKER_00]: We mold and reshape ourselves. 02:30.542 --> 02:33.647 [SPEAKER_00]: We change our image or personality. 02:34.522 --> 02:38.729 [SPEAKER_00]: We project who we think we should be instead of who we are. 02:40.191 --> 02:43.316 [SPEAKER_00]: We project who we feel others want us to be. 02:44.398 --> 02:48.705 [SPEAKER_00]: Believing the lie that who we really are isn't enough. 02:50.547 --> 02:55.295 [SPEAKER_00]: And all the while, we long to be fully known and accepted. 02:56.317 --> 02:59.702 [SPEAKER_00]: We long for intimacy without shame. 03:01.538 --> 03:09.130 [SPEAKER_00]: This depiction holds true for all of us, because all of us have been affected by Adam and Eve's original sin. 03:10.473 --> 03:18.045 [SPEAKER_00]: It was in perfection that they chose sin over unfettered, boundless relationship with the Father. 03:19.358 --> 03:29.822 [SPEAKER_00]: and Scripture says in Genesis 3 verse 8 that Adam and Eve heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day. 03:29.842 --> 03:38.802 [SPEAKER_00]: In the man and his wife hid themselves from the present of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 03:41.330 --> 03:53.171 [SPEAKER_00]: After God calls out to Adam and Eve, Adam responds by saying, I heard the sound of you in the garden and I was afraid because I was naked and hid myself. 03:55.495 --> 04:04.772 [SPEAKER_00]: Sin immediately and tragically brought shame, separation, and destruction to perfect intimacy. 04:07.418 --> 04:13.185 [SPEAKER_00]: And so often, we live our lives as if scripture stopped with Genesis 3-10. 04:14.347 --> 04:20.855 [SPEAKER_00]: We live our lives apart from the revelation of God's unconditional love and affection for us. 04:22.758 --> 04:36.936 [SPEAKER_00]: Genesis 3-21 tells us, the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife, garments of skins and clothed them. 04:37.861 --> 04:50.660 [SPEAKER_00]: He met them in their weakness and provided for them and just as God covered Adam and Eve with garments to cover their shame, he's made away for us today. 04:52.222 --> 04:57.911 [SPEAKER_00]: In our weakness and shame, God meets us and calls us lovely. 04:59.593 --> 05:04.881 [SPEAKER_00]: He's clothed us with the perfect righteous nature of Christ. 05:06.194 --> 05:09.439 [SPEAKER_00]: our lives are perfectly hidden in his. 05:11.061 --> 05:16.929 [SPEAKER_00]: In his grace, he wraps his arms around us and tells us of his great love. 05:18.552 --> 05:21.796 [SPEAKER_00]: He speaks truth where lies have resounded. 05:21.836 --> 05:26.783 [SPEAKER_00]: He speaks life where there seemed to only be death. 05:28.806 --> 05:34.294 [SPEAKER_00]: He brings light to the darkest, most desolate places of our 05:35.658 --> 05:41.548 [SPEAKER_00]: Only his grace abounding could lead us back into the fold of his loving kindness. 05:43.231 --> 05:48.339 [SPEAKER_00]: Redemption and love fill the weak frame of man with the glory of God. 05:49.942 --> 05:56.232 [SPEAKER_00]: We are dust transformed into the very likeness of the living God. 05:58.085 --> 06:06.733 [SPEAKER_00]: Our destiny will always be intimacy without shame, to be fully loved and fully known by our perfect father. 06:08.714 --> 06:12.097 [SPEAKER_00]: Take time and guided prayer to assess your own heart. 06:13.458 --> 06:17.722 [SPEAKER_00]: In what ways are you still hiding from God as Adam and Eve did? 06:19.404 --> 06:27.771 [SPEAKER_00]: In what ways have you failed your heart as if God didn't already rip the veil, separating him from us into. 06:29.455 --> 06:40.427 [SPEAKER_00]: May your time and guided prayer be filled with new levels of intimacy, as you allow God to fully know you, and bring light to darkness. 07:07.323 --> 07:15.434 [SPEAKER_00]: As we begin, take time to acknowledge any shameful places in your life. 07:15.755 --> 07:18.018 [SPEAKER_00]: You've hidden from God and others. 07:19.720 --> 07:22.204 [SPEAKER_00]: In what ways are you veiling your heart? 07:24.027 --> 07:26.530 [SPEAKER_00]: What do you long to keep in darkness? 08:17.185 --> 08:21.154 [SPEAKER_00]: and next, meditate on God's love for you. 08:22.837 --> 08:26.666 [SPEAKER_00]: God loves you completely, no matter what you've done. 08:26.706 --> 08:33.220 [SPEAKER_00]: He longs to be with you, no matter how ashamed you might feel. 08:34.938 --> 09:03.696 [SPEAKER_00]: Ephesians 2 verses 4 through 5 says, but God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ. 09:42.657 --> 10:01.948 [SPEAKER_00]: in last, open your heart to God, talk to him about any shameful places in your life, receive a revelation of his unconditional love, allow him to bring his healing light to your heart as you rest in his love. 10:22.077 --> 10:23.667 [UNKNOWN]: You 10:53.279 --> 10:57.385 [SPEAKER_00]: allowing ourselves to be fully known is always scary. 10:58.687 --> 11:05.156 [SPEAKER_00]: We fear that if we are fully known and then rejected, we'll have nothing left to hold on to. 11:06.699 --> 11:15.051 [SPEAKER_00]: But until we allow ourselves to be fully known, it will be impossible to satisfy our longing to be fully loved. 11:16.550 --> 11:27.047 [SPEAKER_00]: Opening your heart, your past, your weaknesses, and your failures to God is the only path to healing and freedom. 11:28.830 --> 11:32.195 [SPEAKER_00]: Allowing God to reveal His unconditional love for you. 11:32.736 --> 11:42.912 [SPEAKER_00]: When you've opened up about your worst pain, thoughts, and sins, will fill you with love and security you never knew as possible. 11:44.461 --> 11:47.716 [SPEAKER_00]: open your heart to your loving Heavenly Father today. 11:47.777 --> 11:53.745 [SPEAKER_00]: An experience the love that can only come with being fully known. 12:07.681 --> 12:13.049 [SPEAKER_00]: Thank you for listening to today's podcast, the longing for intimacy without shame. 12:13.069 --> 12:15.372 [SPEAKER_00]: I'm Josh with 1st 15. 12:16.434 --> 12:21.641 [SPEAKER_00]: As you go about your day today, try and notice whenever you get a sense of shame. 12:22.523 --> 12:27.630 [SPEAKER_00]: And if you're able, take a moment to simply hand that shame over to God. 12:28.454 --> 12:40.822 [SPEAKER_00]: shame is so destructive and in union with the Spirit we have available to us a constant healer who wants to deliver us from the destruction shame produces. 12:42.466 --> 12:47.577 [SPEAKER_00]: Have a wonderful rest of your day and may God bless you as you seek him.