Pathways to Intimacy with God - Getting Hugs from an Invisible God, Part 1

Are you discouraged? Are you struggling today?

Don't you need someone who cares, who loves you, to come up and just wrap their arms around you and give you a hug and really mean it's going to be okay, I'm with you? Well, that's what God wants to do for you today in your situation, and we're going to learn how to get hugs from an invisible God. Welcome to this Edition of Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram. The mission of these daily programs is to intentionally disciple Christians through the Bible teaching of Chip Ingram. Well, even though we can't see God, is it possible to more clearly experience Him in our day-to-day lives? Well, the answer is yes, and in just a minute, Chip will explain how God does that as we continue our series, Pathways to Intimacy with God.

But before we get going, if you've missed any part of this teaching from Chip, catch up any time through the Chip Ingram app. Okay, go in your Bibles to Acts chapter two for today's message, Getting Hugs from an Invisible God. One of the most powerful communication tools in all human society is a very simple thing. It involves your hands, your arms, your shoulders, and it's called a hug. Now, you think I'm kidding. I'm talking about great research has been done on the power of what happens when one human being hugs another human being.

In fact, I have it a little bit before me. It says, hugging is healthy. It helps the body's immune system. It keeps you healthier. It helps cure depression. It reduces stress, and it induces sleep. It's invigorating.

It's rejuvenating. It has no unpleasant side effects. Hugging is nothing less than a miracle drug. Goes on to say, hugging is all natural. It's organic, naturally sweet, has no pesticides, no preservatives, no artificial ingredients, and is 100% wholesome. Hugging is practically perfect. There's no movable parts, no batteries to wear out, no periodic checkups, has low energy consumption with high energy yield.

It's inflation-proof, non-fattening, requires no monthly payments, has no insurance requirements, and is therefore non-taxable, non-polluting, and of course, fully returnable. You know, there's a lot of different ways that we hug. Powerful. I mean, sure, there's the, you know, the sort of the Christian hug of people that you don't know. You know how it goes? Hmm, you know, hi, brother, sister, you know, sort of like that? But I don't know about you, I've been where I've lost a loved one, or I have been the pastor where someone has lost a baby, or one particular friend I remember who very unexpectedly lost his wife, and he's been like a dad to me for about 30 years, and I'll never forget the embrace that we had. I flew in the moment I found out, and there's, you know how it is, the living room, and people were in shock, and our eyes met, and we came, and I mean, it was, we just locked, and we didn't say anything. He just needed to know there was someone there that thick and thin, we're gonna be here for each other. Have you had one of those hugs? And before I left, we had a similar hug, and I said, you know, I need you to make a couple commitments to me, because I knew he was gonna go through very difficult time.

We probably talked on the phone three times a week minimum for the next year, or a year and a half. It's one of those hugs that when you're the person in pain, you put your face in the person's shoulder, and you just want them almost to hold you up. Or there's the other kind of hugs that when you're a dad or a mom, when your kids are small, and they get real excited, you know the kind that crush your air pipe. They're really trying to tell you they love you. Okay, honey, good night, and they go, oh, I love you, daddy.

I love you too, honey. And there's the hugs of lovers, of expressing thoughts and feelings and warmth and desire and affection. There's the hugs when you go see grandma and granddad, or one thing I love to do, I mean, I would actually pay for this. I've been in a lot of airports lately, but I kind of like it when I have a delay at times, and I like to get at the place, especially near holidays, where families are being reunited. And you know, you watch them come with wheelchairs, and you watch them come with someone on the side, and you know, oh, I noticed you, you shaved your mustache, and you just watch them like zoom, zoom, they come together.

And you know, oh, come here, come here, let's take a picture. Oh, and the grandparents when they come and get the kids. What do we all do? Hugging. There's the hugs of belonging. There's the hugs of affirmation. There's the hugs of understanding. There's the hugs of depth and intimacy. There's the hugs of this may be the last time I see you.

Isn't that what happens with some of us with aging parents? And every time you leave them, there's that hug that says, I don't know if we'll get to do this again. But you use your hands and use your arms and use your shoulders, and two people come together in appropriate ways.

And it's powerful. I mean, psychologists say, probably apart from listening intently to another person with eye contact, there is few things you'll ever do on the earth to communicate your love for another person, like an appropriate hug in an appropriate way. And here's the question I have. If God is so loving, and if God cares so much for us, and if hugging is so powerful, how do you get a hug from an invisible God? How does he hug us? I mean, how does he put his arms around us? How does he tell us we're affirmed? How does he hold us when we feel like our world's falling apart?

How does he say, hey, you know what, it's gonna be okay? And I like to suggest that the answer to that can be found first in the early church and then right from Scripture. There are certain things that followers of Christ have done for a couple thousand years, and followers of Yahweh have done before that. There are ancient, well-worn paths.

They are not new. That those who have had a heart for God and those who have come to know and follow Christ, these paths are etched into the history of the church. And they were continually, speaking of the early church, devoting themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to prayer. And you might put, if you have a pen, right before the word fellowship, put a little mark and write the fellowship.

In the original text, there's a definite article. It wasn't just to fellowship. This is not a picture of the early church having coffee and a couple donuts. Bob, good to see you. This is the fellowship. It's a very technical term.

The Greek word is koinonia, and we'll look at it in a minute. But just as Jesus touched the lives of the early disciples in his physical body, so now the Spirit touches our lives through his spiritual body. I mean, have you ever thought about this? I mean, if you were Peter or John or James, you think those guys ever had a bad day? You ever think they got a hug from Jesus?

You ever think there was eye contact and Peter feeling really bad? You know, in John 21, when he gets forgiven, forgiven, forgiven, when Jesus says, do you love me? Do you love me?

Do you love me? Can you imagine that conversation not ending with Peter in Jesus' arms and feeling the embrace of Jesus going, Peter, you did blow it big time. And I want you to know you've been forgiven big time. And I'm not putting you on the shelf.

I've got a plan for your life. I can't imagine that happening without a deep, warm embrace. When Jesus walked on the earth, when he saw little children, they would come up into his arms. When he saw a woman who lost her only son and the coffins being passed, I can't imagine that he did not only raise the son from the dead and then go to the mom. And it says, and he restored the son to the mother. What do you think he did?

Okay, go ahead. You got to believe that he put his arm around that woman. He said, here's your son back. You see, when Jesus was in his physical body, the way he would hug people was with his arms and his shoulders and his feet. But when Jesus was resurrected, he no longer hugs us in his physical body.

He hugs us in his spiritual body. Notice what it says in your notes, 1 Corinthians 12 verses 13 and 14. For we were all baptized by one spirit into one body, whether Jews or Greek, slave or free, and we were all given the one spirit to drink.

Now the body is not made up of one part, but of many. The word baptism here, there's no water in the text. The original meaning of the word baptism literally means to dip, but the word also means to have the idea of identification. And he's talking about the moment you or the moment I, when we understood that we'd sinned, we violated a holy God, and that we were in desperate need, and we accepted the free gift of Christ's grace on the cross to pay for our sin, and we were birthed again. The moment you received Christ, the Spirit of God sealed you for all eternity and then placed you or identified you in this body, this thing called the church. So everyone in this room that has the Spirit of God living in them, who is born again, that has a new relationship with God through Christ, you are baptized, I was baptized or placed or identified in this new thing called the church.

And there are many parts, and we're a part of this brand new thing, the spiritual body of Christ. Notice it says, how does the body work? How does Jesus laugh? How does Jesus touch people? How does he weep today? How does he comfort people? How does he hug people?

How does he feed people? He doesn't do it through a physical body, he does it through his church. When you feed someone, when you hug someone, when you console someone, when you love someone, when you pray for someone, when you buy someone a meal, when you do it unto the least of them, you are doing it what? Unto me, Jesus said. So when the body is working, when we're reaching out and touching and loving and caring, the way Jesus would in his body because he lives in us, that's how God hugs us.

How do you get a hug from an invisible God when you're in need? The Spirit has united all believers into one interdependent body or team under Christ. We belong to one another. See, we unconsciously tend to think of church like a hotel. It's a place you come and visit, you eat, get some nutrients, say hi to a few people, and then go on your way. But the biblical picture of the church is not a hotel, it's a home. A hotel is a place that you visit to get your needs met. A home is where you belong and where you both give love and receive love.

Deal with problems and actually create a few yourself because you're human. Notice what the text says. Romans 12, 4, and 5 says, just as each of us has one body, speaking of our human body, with many members, you know, hands, feet, eyes, head, and these members do not all have the same function, so my eyes have different functions than my ears and my nose and my feet. So in Christ, we who are many form one body and each member belongs to all the others.

If you have a pen, underline that, will you? That's an almost unheard of realized concept in the American church. It says, and each member belongs to all the others. We are his spiritual body, we are his team, we are his hands, we're his feet, we're his eyes, we're his arms, we're his ears. We all belong not only to Christ, but do you see the point? We belong to one another because we belong to Christ.

The reoccurring theme of the New Testament church is this koinonia or unity that they have. The love, the affirmation, the consoling, the comfort. Jesus now does it through you to other people because his spirit is expressing his love and his heart to them through you and then he loves you through them because his spirit in them is giving you the love and affirmation and understanding that you desperately need and I do too. So question, why is this so important? Why is it critical that we understand that the way God hugs us is through his body? Well, the fellowship or koinonia is the vehicle through which God's people express and receive love.

That's what I want you to get. This word, the koinonia, we'll examine it in just a second. It's a Greek word that has a lot of meaning.

In ancient Greek language, long before it went into the New Testament, it just meant a partnership, a union. It had a military alliance. You could have a koinonia. We have a military alliance.

Our team, this army and that army, we're going to go together and fight them. That's a koinonia. But as the New Testament writers picked up the word and they begin to add more and more import into what it meant, I've got a couple of word studies here. Koinonia is more than a common experience with one another. Koinonia is life in the body of Christ. It's communion not only with each other, but each other with the triune God. It's our communion with other believers that's dependent on your relationship and active communion with God. It's synonyms like share and to participate, to be associated, to giving, to sharing, to be liberal, to have a companion, a partner, a sharer, to be connected in some organic measurable way with other people.

That's what koinonia is. And the way God expresses his love and the way we express our love is by this thing called the fellowship. It's God's vehicle for us to express and receive Christ's love.

Do you have that pen handy? I'm going to ask you to do a little Bible study with me. Let me read the text. It's the picture of the early church.

I mean it's an awesome picture. It's a picture of Christians hugging one another emotionally and physically and spiritually. I'm going to read the text in Acts 2, 42 through about 46 and then get that pen or pencil handy and I'm going to have you circle a few words that highlight the sense of commonality, commitment, belonging and sharing and see if you don't pick up what's really happening in the early church. Verse 43 says, everyone was filled with awe and many wonders and miraculous signs were being done by the apostles. Verse 44, all the believers were together and they had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes. They ate together with glad and sincere hearts.

Now are you ready? Go to verse 44 and circle the word all. This isn't a special clique, a special group.

All the believers. Circle the word together. They were together. Circle the word common.

They had everything in common. You know it was not communism. There was still the ownership of personal property but what they said was I belong to God, all that I have belongs to God so I own this and it's mine to choose to give or not to give but I'm going to take all that I have and all that I am and I make it available to share as anyone would have need.

That's the picture of what was going on. Notice after the selling of possessions, notice circle the word anyone. They gave to anyone as had need. This wasn't just the cool people, not just the good looking people.

This wasn't the people that everyone liked. They gave as anyone had need. There was a bond.

There was a belonging to one another that cut through. All were involved and whoever had need could participate. Verse 46, every day they continued to circle the phrase meet together.

Where? First in the temple courts and then they broke bread. Circle the phrase their homes. Then circle the phrase together.

Do you realize in those few verses, look how many circles are on your notes. Together all common together anyone meet together their homes together and then go back and look at a few of the verbs. Notice they were glad, sincere, they no one had need, they gave. There's a sense of people coming together.

Two major themes emerge and the two major themes are very very simple. Number one, as you read this verse and as you read the book of Acts in church history you understand we express our love for Christ by expressing our love for his people. You might write that down.

Nah, forget writing it down. Just live it. We express our love for Christ by expressing our love for people. His people. They belong.

They matter. They're his sons, his daughters. They're our brothers and our sisters. The way I say to God I love you is I give my time and my energy and my resources and my emotions as directed by the Holy Spirit living in me to those of you that God has me rub up against so that the Christ in me could express his love to you. That's how I love you and that's how I love Christ. We express our love for Jesus not in some ethereal I love God, I raise my hands when I sing, I write a check now and then. It's about real live relationships.

All those things are fine. But first John said if I say I love God and have no love for my brother I am a liar and the truth isn't in me. These notes I left or I thought I left down at the office and it was like late afternoon Saturday and who wants to go anywhere by yourself on Saturday and so I kind of said hey would anyone ride with me you know please please pretty please and I'll buy dinner on the way home if you'll come you know I just I would go down that dark building by myself and yeah you know and so we got down there and it had been a pretty interesting day anyway and when I pulled up there's a lady sitting on the steps and I'm thinking you know you know with the toboggan and kind of a funky looking long coat and I got out of the car and I'm thinking I need to get my notes and I said excuse me she goes are you a manager here do you work here and I said well I work here and she goes well you know if it's okay is it okay if I stay here tonight I said well I know in general they kind of frown on that and this is not exactly the safest neighborhood but all I want is that little alcove it's getting really really cold and and I believe in God and I've been talking to him and I'm thinking to myself you know it's been it's been a pretty wild day and what I need is a homeless lady right now I mean those are my honest to goodness from the heart thoughts not proud of them but those were the thoughts and I said well I'll tell you what could you could you just stay right here I've got to pick some stuff up in the office and can I'll get right with you when I get back and so you know I open the key set off set off the alarm turn it off find my office and of course I can't find my notes and so I'm coming back and as I'm shuffling things around now you know I'm thinking to myself like you would and what am I going to do with this homeless lady and I've memorized a few verses but I don't think I even really memorized this one and the thought came to my mind when you've done it to the least of these you've done it unto me and I said Lord what do you want me to do just love her okay so I'm thinking I'm not sure how I'm going to love her but she's not going to sleep here one is this way way cold and she's got a thin coat number one number two I'm afraid what might happen and number three you know the people that keep all the insurance and forms think there's big liability here Chip you better make sure if you knew about this or something you know and so I didn't know what to do and I came out and I kind of looked at Teresa you know hand signs like hey you know what do you think you know what do you think we ought to do you know and so I said to her I said you know you can't stay here but you know I let me figure out a way to put you up in a hotel and we'll get something straightened out what's your name are you ready for this Gloria and so we got in the car and she had a couple bags and she was proud inside she had an old a new sleeping bag and we put him in the trunk and she sat in the back with Annie and was very articulate very articulate and as we went down I said Gloria are you hungry she goes well no I couldn't accept anything and this and that and long in the story you know we're sitting in a little Mexican restaurant the four of us and we had dinner with the homeless lady and you know I mean I had one of those days where you know your emotions were all over the map I got to tell you dinner with the homeless lady and dropping her off at La Quinta and sharing our testament about what God was doing in our life and you know you know that passage where it says now and then you entertain you know angels unaware I don't know if Gloria was an angel but she was an angel from God for me I think my attitude did the biggest 180 in a 24 hour period and I thought oh Jesus what a privilege to express my love to you by just being your hands nothing big well you know I wasn't even motivated to do it it's not like you know I was big super Christian I mean I just finally got to where I would obey and that lady was a delight and you know we figured out this place and the lady at La Quinta could figure out what's going on and you know gave her the special deal for two nights and we went and took her stuff up to her room and you know the three of us drove home and you know what I learned I learned we express our love for Christ by expressing our love for his people and you say what do you mean his people she said I'm a Christian and she said you know I know it's gonna get real cold and I called down to the shelters and they've just given me the runaround she said just before you came up I just said God would you please take care of me today it's gonna be really cold tonight would you help me and I thought you know what this lady got a hug didn't she she got a hug she got a hug from an invisible God and you know God orchestrates this stuff because I had looked through my briefcase about four times where's my notes where's my notes where's my notes to anxiety I'm gonna preach tomorrow can't find my notes oh I left them on the office well I got news for you once we went through all this I went back up and they were just right there in my briefcase you know they were right there so I guess God has a way of making you see what he wants you to see. This is Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram and you've been listening to part one of Chip's message Getting Hugs from an Invisible God from our series Pathways to Intimacy with God.

Chip will be back shortly to share some helpful application for us to think about. Have you ever met a Christian who seems to have a special connection to God and it's not built on fake super spiritualism but a genuine closeness? Do you desire that familiarity? In this series Chip reveals that God longs to have that level of intimacy with all believers not just a select few. Learn how to experience a deeper relationship with the Heavenly Father who loves you. For more info about Pathways to Intimacy with God visit livingontheedge.org or the Chip Ingram app.

Well I'm joined in studio now by Chip and Chip here at Living on the Edge we believe in the power of authentic community. Take a minute if you would and unpack why you believe fellow believers are critical for each individual's walk with Jesus. Well Dave I'll tell you I don't want to oversimplify but Jesus said I came that you might have life and have it more abundantly. At the heart of the Christian life it's allowing Jesus to live his life through you by the power of the Holy Spirit rooted in the Word of God in the context of community and that little word bio means life and so I've just taken that acronym here Living on the Edge and it simplifies it for me. If you want the life of Christ lived out it means B you have to get before God daily and before him with other people weekly in worship.

The I is for in community. You have to do life with people heart to heart face to face and the O is on mission 24-7. What I've seen so much is people have lost the in community aspect.

It's impossible to obey the Word of God to experience life by yourself. So what we've done is we've put all of our small group resources on sale to encourage you to get in community get with a group of people watch the videos on your own then discuss them. Do it live do it online do it however it works best but take the next step get in community you'll never regret it. Thanks Chip. We have a growing small group library on a variety of topics and they're so easy to use Chip provides the teaching then you'll have time to discuss what you've heard alongside our helpful study guides. So if you're not in a small group yet or don't know what to study next let me encourage you to check out our resources and for a limited time we've discounted all our small group resources so you can get into community today.

To learn more go to livingontheedge.org or call us at 888-333-6003 that's 888-333-6003 or livingontheedge.org app listeners tap special offers. With that let's get to Chip's application. As you listen to today's program it's a pretty simple concept isn't it? The way an invisible God gives hugs is through the body of Christ. When Jesus walked on the earth and if you were down and if you were hurting and you were confused and he felt compassion he would physically walk over. We saw many times he did it in scripture and he would put his arms around people or hug them or take a child into his arms and hold them but now we're the body of Christ and rather than talk about any more teaching why don't we be an active body?

Why don't want to be a supercharged group of people right now this moment and let's think out loud together. Who do you know that needs a hug today? Who do you know that's down, discouraged, hurting and that hug might be a phone call. That hug might be you sending flowers.

That hug might be a note. Who do you know that has a financial need? That you could take some cash put it in an envelope, no name, no tax deduction, no glory from men but you could figure a way to get some cash to a person that has a genuine need.

It's legal if you want to put a verse in there so they know where the hug comes from. Who do you know that you could take twenty bucks or a hundred bucks or a thousand dollars and just in the name of Jesus hug someone? Who do you know that needs a listening ear? Who's someone that's lonely? Maybe someone in one of those homes that no one visits or maybe a parent that it's always kind of a drain to call because they talk and talk and talk and you know they listen to you when you were a little kid babbling. Maybe it's time to give them twenty or thirty or forty minutes.

Maybe by the phone or maybe you just get in the car and take a little drive. Do you get the point? Ask God right now, Lord Jesus, who do you want to love through me? People are crying out to God like the homeless lady was crying out to God and this self-absorbed preacher teacher, Chip Ingram, running back to the office to get his precious notes to preach about God's Word almost missed the opportunity and I ended up getting to feed and hug and find a room and remember just how simple the Gospel is. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, with all your strength and love your neighbor as yourself. And according to Jesus, anyone in need is your neighbor. Why don't you go find a neighbor today and love them and they will receive a hug from an invisible God.

Go for it. Really practical challenge, Chip, thanks. As we close, I want to thank each of you who makes this program possible through your generous giving. One hundred percent of your gifts go directly to the ministry to help Christians live like Christians. If you found this teaching helpful but aren't yet on the team, consider doing that today, won't you?

Sending a gift is easy. Go to livingontheedge.org or text donate to 74141. That's the word donate to 74141 or visit livingontheedge.org. App listeners tap donate and let me thank you in advance for doing whatever the Lord leads you to do. We'll listen to next time as Chip picks up in our series Pathways to Intimacy with God. Until then, this is Dave Druey saying thanks for listening to this Edition of Living on the Edge.