- "THE VINE SPREAD THE WORD"
~FRIENDS WITH GOD~
This word friend doesn't mean a casual acquaintance, but a close, trusted, relationship. It refers to a king's inner circle. In royal courts the servants must keep their distance; but the inner circle enjoys: (a) close contact; (b) direct access; (c) confidential information. "But how can I become a friend of God?" you ask.
Through constant conversation! God wants more than weekend visitation rights, or a brief appointment in your day-timer. He wants to be included in every activity, every conversation, every problem, every thought. You can carry on an open-ended conversation with Him throughout your day, talking with Him about whatever you're doing at that moment.
In his classic book, Practicing the Presence of God, Brother Lawrence, a humble cook in a French monastery, writes: "The key to friendship with God is not changing what you do, but changing your attitude toward what you do. What you normally do for yourself, you now begin doing for God, whether it is eating, bathing, relaxing or taking out the trash."
Some folks think they must 'get away' in order to experience intimacy with God; they haven't learned to practice His presence in all things. No place is closer to God than where you are right now! In Eden there were no rituals - just a simple loving relationship between God and the people He created. Unhindered by guilt or fear, Adam and Eve delighted in God and He delighted in them. "Is such a relationship possible?" Absolutely! Listen: "We were restored to friendship with God by the death of His Son" Romans 5:10 NLT.
In his book, Practicing His Presence, Brother Lawrence suggests that we pray short conversational prayers throughout the day, rather than long complex prayers. To maintain focus and counteract wandering thoughts, he writes: "I do not advise you to use a great multiplicity of words in prayer, since long discourses are often occasions for wandering." In the age of Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD), 450 year-old suggestion to 'keep it simple' is some of the best advice you'll get!
The Bible says, "Pray all the time" 1 Thessalonians 5:17 TM. "But how?" you ask. One way is to use breath prayers as many have done for centuries. You choose a simple phrase that can be repeated in one breath: "You are with me." "I'm depending on You." "I want to know You better." "Help me to trust You more." You can also use short phrases of Scripture: "For me to live is Christ." "You will never leave me." "You will supply all my needs." Repeat it as often as possible until it's rooted deep in your heart.
Practicing the presence of God is a skill, a habit you can develop. Just as musicians practice scales every day in order to play well, so you can discipline yourself to think about God at different times in your day. "But sometimes I don't feel God's presence," you say. If you're seeking an emotion, you've missed the point. Your goal is not a feeling, but a continual awareness - that God is always with you!
The second way in which friendship with God is maintained is through continual meditation! It's impossible to be God's friend apart from knowing what He says. You can't love God unless you know Him, and that's only possible through His Word. Listen: "He revealed Himself to Samuel through His word" 1 Samuel 3:21 NIV. God still uses that method!
While you can't spend all day studying the Bible, you can think about it throughout the day, recalling verses you've read or memorised, mulling them over in your mind. Meditation isn't some difficult, mysterious ritual, it's simply focused thinking - a skill anybody can learn.
When you think about a problem over and over in your mind, that's called worry. When you think about God's Word over and over in your mind, that's called meditation. If you know how to worry, you know how to meditate! Just switch your attention from the problem to the solution. The more you meditate on God's Word, the less you'll have to worry about. David said, "Oh how I love Your law! I think about it all day long" Psalm 119:97 NLT.
The more time you spend meditating on God's Word, the more you'll understand its secrets. "Friendship with God is reserved for those who reverence Him. With them alone He shares the secrets of His promises" Psalm 25:14 TLB. So, if you want to cultivate a friendship with God, start by practicing constant conversation and continual meditation in His Word.
The third building block in developing your friendship with God is: choosing to be honest with Him! God doesn't expect perfection, but He does expect honesty. If perfection were a requirement, nobody would qualify. In the Bible, God's friends were honest about their feelings, even complaining and arguing with Him, yet God didn't seem to mind. In fact, He encouraged it. God listened patiently to David's accusations of unfairness, betrayal and abandonment. He didn't zap Jeremiah for claiming God had tricked him. Job was allowed to vent his bitterness and God actually defended him for being honest. On the other hand, He rebuked Job's friends for faking it. Listen: "You haven't been honest either with Me or about Me - not the way My friend Job has... My friend Job will now pray for you, and I will accept his prayer" Job 42:7 TM.
To be God's friend, you must share your true feelings, not what you think you ought to feel or say. Until you understand that God uses everything for good in our lives, you'll harbour resentment toward Him over your looks, nationality, economic background, unanswered prayers, past hurts and things you'd change if you were God. Actually, revealing your feelings and releasing your resentments are the first steps to true healing. Isn't it encouraging to know that God's closest friends felt just like we do? But instead of masking their feelings in pious clichs, they voiced them openly. Why? Because expressing them leads to a new level of intimacy with God.
The fourth building block to developing your friendship with God is - choosing to obey Him! We normally think of obedience as a characteristic of our relationship to a parent, a boss or a superior officer, not a friend. But Jesus said, "You are my friends if you do what I command" John 15:14 NIV. True friendship isn't passive; it acts. When Jesus asks us to love others, help the needy, give our finances, keep our lives clean, offer forgiveness and bring others to Him - love motivates us to obey immediately!
Great opportunities usually come once in a lifetime, but small ones surround us every day. Through simple acts of obedience we bring a smile to God's face. God treasures obedience more than all our religious tap dancing! Listen: "What pleases the Lord more... sacrifices or obedience... It is better to obey" 1 Samuel 15:22 NCV.
At the beginning of Jesus' public ministry, God announced, "This is my beloved Son, and I am fully pleased with Him" Matthew 3:17 NLT. What had Jesus been doing 30 years that pleased God? The Bible says nothing except: "He... was obedient to them" Luke 2:51 NLT. Thirty years of pleasing God were summed up in two words: "lived obediently!" And guess what? The relationship Jesus had with His Father, is the one He wants you to have with Him!
You must desire friendship with God more than anything else! The Bible is filled with examples of this. David desired to know God above all else. He used words like longing, yearning, thirsting and hungering. Listen: "The thing I seek most of all, is the privilege of... living in His presence every day of my life" Psalm 27:4 TLB. Again he said, "Your love means more than life to me" Psalm 63:3 CEV.
Jacob's desire was so intense that he wrestled with God in the dirt all night. Listen: "I will not let you go unless you bless me" Genesis 32:26 NIV. The amazing thing is, God, who is all-powerful, let Jacob win. Why? Because wrestling requires personal contact, it brings us close to Him.
Paul was another man who was passionate for friendship with God. Nothing mattered more. Listen: "[My determined purpose] is that I may know Him [that I may progressively become more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him]" Philippians 3:10 AMP.
Friendship with God is a choice, not an accident. You must intentionally seek it. That means answering these questions: Do I value it more than anything else? Is it worth giving up other things for? Is it worth developing the habits and skills required? Is it worth praying, "Lord, more than anything else, I want to know You?" God's answer to that prayer has always been: "When you get serious about finding Me and want it more than anything else, I'll make sure you won't be disappointed" Jeremiah 29:13 TM.
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Friends With God
- Thread starter Dream4Love2Come
- Start date
Waylon
grateful sinner
Thank you for that. It's funny but I usually don't like to listen to "the words of man" but earlier this morning I was thinking about my relationship with God. I have always seen it as a boss-employee thing, knowing and trying to have a deeper one, and that always bothered me. I found this thread by accident and it doesn't seem to be a coincidence. This rocks...I love this kinda stuff.
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