{"id":8754,"date":"2025-02-03T06:30:00","date_gmt":"2025-02-03T11:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nehemiah.pivotdev.com\/?p=8754"},"modified":"2025-02-03T05:02:05","modified_gmt":"2025-02-03T10:02:05","slug":"3-d-of-intimacy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nehemiahecommunity.com\/members\/devotionals\/3-d-of-intimacy\/","title":{"rendered":"Three Dimensions of Intimacy","gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"text"}]},"content":{"rendered":"\n

NEHEMIAH WEEKLY DEVOTIONAL <\/em>by PATRICE TSAGUE<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Are you enjoying total oneness in marriage and business with your mate? \u00a0
Would you like to identify and remove the obstacles to intimacy in marriage? \u00a0
Do you know that enhancing your marriage can improve your business profitability?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Again, if two lie down together, they will keep warm; but how can one be warm alone?\u00a0
Though one may be overpowered by another, two can withstand him.\u00a0
And a threefold cord is not quickly broken.
<\/em> \u2013 Ecclesiastes 4<\/a>:11-12 (NKJV)<\/strong><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Three Dimensions of Intimacy<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

A few years ago, I coached a couple who were focused on their separate careers. After initially meeting with the wife in order to guide her through Biblical Entrepreneurship<\/a> III, I discovered that her husband was operating a business that was going through challenges. However, the wife viewed her husband\u2019s business as a hobby, not a serious business, because it had never provided a consistent, stable income for the family. Throughout their marriage, the wife had been the one with the stable income, while the husband, in her eyes, \u201cplayed\u201d business. And because of that perception, the wife had lost all respect for her husband.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I asked if I could meet with husband and wife together, before giving my final word of advice. She agreed,
and brought her husband to the next session.\u00a0 After meeting with them both and hearing their complete story, I advised the wife to give up the pursuit of her own business and to bring her corporate America skills to her husband\u2019s business. Together, I encouraged them to build one business, focusing both their efforts on making the husband\u2019s business sustainable. Then, once the first business was successful, the wife could shift her focus back to her business, using their first success as a foundation for the second business. The wife was shocked by my suggestion, but due to her respect for me and her heart to be obedient, she complied.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Within twenty-four months of combining their efforts, their business went from generating less than $200k a year in revenue to several million dollars a year in revenue, and from less than five employees to over a hundred employees. The couple credited their success to the fact that they combined efforts and focused in the same direction.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, to do that, they had to first address the dysfunction in their marriage. The root issue experienced by this couple was a lack of unity, which was caused by a lack of intimacy. Often, a lack of intimacy is the root cause of marital disunity and dysfunction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Genesis 2:18<\/strong>, we see that God, in His infinite wisdom, creates a perfect match for Adam \u2013 a wife.\u00a0 In English, we translate the Hebrew word in Genesis 2:18<\/strong> to read \u201chelper.\u201d But English lacks the nuance of the Hebrew language, and \u201chelper\u201d is not an adequate word to convey the original meaning. The Hebrew term used is \u201cezer kenegdo\u201d \u2013 \u201cezer,\u201d meaning to surround, to protect, to aid and help, carrying with it a sense of strength, and \u201ckenegdo,\u201d meaning corresponding to, counterpart, equal to, and matching.\u00a0 In fact, the word \u201cezer\u201d is used several times in the Old Testament to refer to God Himself, and David uses it in the Psalms when he says \u201cthe Lord is my Helper [ezer].\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You see, God has placed in the wife something that the husband needs, and in the husband something that the wife needs.\u00a0 Without each other, they cannot fulfill the purposes for which God has created them. \u00a0In order for their unique and complementary giftings to work together according to God\u2019s Divine design, they must build a strong foundation of intimacy.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

When we think of intimacy, we often focus on physical intimacy, but there are actually three dimensions to intimacy:<\/strong> spiritual, emotional, and physical.\u00a0 All three are equally important, and each plays a vital role in \u201csealing the rib into the body\u201d \u2013 that is, in acting as supernatural glue that seals the husband to the wife and vice versa. Intimacy in these three areas holds the key to unity and a healthy marriage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How can you experience complete intimacy \u2013 spiritually, emotionally, and physically \u2014 in your marriage?<\/p>\n\n\n\n