Thursday, May 06, 2004
40 Days of Purpose Day 11
Becoming Best Friends with God
Does it surprise you that God wants to be your best friend? I thought it profound that the Creator of the universe wants to know me personally, and that He wants us to love Him back the same way. We see God as the Maker, the Lord and Master, Judge, Redeemer, Father, Savior, and more. But what he wants to be most is your friend!
God made us to reside in His continual presence, but after the fall of Man, that ideal relationship was lost. In the Old Testament, only a few people had that close relationship with God. Moses and Abraham were called "friends of God," David was called "a man after God's own Heart," and Job, Enoch and Noah had intimate friendships with God. But fear of God, not friendship, was more common in the Old Testament.
Jesus changed all of that. When He died on the cross to pay for our sins, the veil in the temple was torn from the top to the bottom, a symbol of separation between God and man that now indicated that we had direct access to God once again.
Friendship with God is possible because of the grace of God and the sacrifice of Jesus. Jesus said, in John 15:15: "I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from My Father I have made known to you." The word for friend in this verse does not mean a casual friendship but a close, trusted relationship. The same word is used to refer to the best man at a wedding (John 3:29,) and a king's inner circle of intimate, trusted friends. In royal courts, servants must keep their distance from the king, but the inner circle of trusted people enjoy the close contact, direct access and confidential information.
How do you become a best friend of God? Through two means; constant conversation and continual meditation.
Constant Conversation. You can never grow a close relationship to God by attending church just once a week or even having a daily quiet time. Friendship with God is built by sharing all your life experiences with Him. Of course, it is important to have a daily quiet or devotional time with God, but He wants more than a slice of your day. God wants to be included in every activity, every conversation, every problem, and even every thought. You can carry on a continual conversation with Him throughout your day, talking with Him about whatever you are doing or thinking at that moment. I find that my best time to communicate with the Lord is on a walk; which I try to do a few times a week. There is no one else to talk with, and the sights and sounds of His creation stimulate my thoughts in thanksgiving to Him. It can be so easy to do.
Did you ever think about the verse that says, "Pray without ceasing." How can we do that, you might think at first glance, stay on our knees all day like a monk? No, it means having that constant conversation with God in everything that you do, constantly! This is God's ideal landscape. In Eden, Adam and Eve were in constant contact with God. Because God is with you all the time, no place is any closer to God than where you are right now.
Another way we can stay in constant conversation with God is through conversational prayer, shorter prayers said througout the day rather than one long, all encompassing prayer. And of course, when we celebrate an event that requires thankfulness, a short "Thank you, Lord!" is a prayer; so is " You are with me," or "I'm depending on you," or "Help me trust You."
Practicing the presence of God is a skill a habit you develop. It might surprise you that once you start, you are literally praying all day! When God is the focus of your life, conversing with Him becomes easier and easier!
The second way to establish friendship with God is through continual meditation. This is thinking on Bible verses in His Word throughout the day. The Bible repeately asks us to meditate on His word, and that is the best way to know what He says. You can't love God without knowing Him, and you can't know Him unless you know His Word.
Of course, you can't read the Bible all day long, but you can think about it throughout the day, recalling verses that you've read or memorized and thinking about them in your mind.
Rick Warren reminds us that "Meditation is often misunderstood as some difficult, mysterious ritual practiced by isolated monks and mystics. But meditation is simply focused thinking - a skill anyone can learn and use anywhere." When you think about a problem over and over again in your mind, that is called worry. When you think of God's Word over and over in your mind, that's called meditation! So you already know how to meditate if you know how to worry! You just need to switch your thoughts from the problems to the Word.
What is one thing close friends do? They share secrets, and God wants to share His secrets when you develop the habit of thinking about His word throughout the day. I've been amazed at how much more I've understood when I am thinking about a verse again and again. Reviewing the truth will help you know God better and consider Him your best friend.
Tomorrow: Developing your friendship with God.
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Does it surprise you that God wants to be your best friend? I thought it profound that the Creator of the universe wants to know me personally, and that He wants us to love Him back the same way. We see God as the Maker, the Lord and Master, Judge, Redeemer, Father, Savior, and more. But what he wants to be most is your friend!
God made us to reside in His continual presence, but after the fall of Man, that ideal relationship was lost. In the Old Testament, only a few people had that close relationship with God. Moses and Abraham were called "friends of God," David was called "a man after God's own Heart," and Job, Enoch and Noah had intimate friendships with God. But fear of God, not friendship, was more common in the Old Testament.
Jesus changed all of that. When He died on the cross to pay for our sins, the veil in the temple was torn from the top to the bottom, a symbol of separation between God and man that now indicated that we had direct access to God once again.
Friendship with God is possible because of the grace of God and the sacrifice of Jesus. Jesus said, in John 15:15: "I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from My Father I have made known to you." The word for friend in this verse does not mean a casual friendship but a close, trusted relationship. The same word is used to refer to the best man at a wedding (John 3:29,) and a king's inner circle of intimate, trusted friends. In royal courts, servants must keep their distance from the king, but the inner circle of trusted people enjoy the close contact, direct access and confidential information.
How do you become a best friend of God? Through two means; constant conversation and continual meditation.
Constant Conversation. You can never grow a close relationship to God by attending church just once a week or even having a daily quiet time. Friendship with God is built by sharing all your life experiences with Him. Of course, it is important to have a daily quiet or devotional time with God, but He wants more than a slice of your day. God wants to be included in every activity, every conversation, every problem, and even every thought. You can carry on a continual conversation with Him throughout your day, talking with Him about whatever you are doing or thinking at that moment. I find that my best time to communicate with the Lord is on a walk; which I try to do a few times a week. There is no one else to talk with, and the sights and sounds of His creation stimulate my thoughts in thanksgiving to Him. It can be so easy to do.
Did you ever think about the verse that says, "Pray without ceasing." How can we do that, you might think at first glance, stay on our knees all day like a monk? No, it means having that constant conversation with God in everything that you do, constantly! This is God's ideal landscape. In Eden, Adam and Eve were in constant contact with God. Because God is with you all the time, no place is any closer to God than where you are right now.
Another way we can stay in constant conversation with God is through conversational prayer, shorter prayers said througout the day rather than one long, all encompassing prayer. And of course, when we celebrate an event that requires thankfulness, a short "Thank you, Lord!" is a prayer; so is " You are with me," or "I'm depending on you," or "Help me trust You."
Practicing the presence of God is a skill a habit you develop. It might surprise you that once you start, you are literally praying all day! When God is the focus of your life, conversing with Him becomes easier and easier!
The second way to establish friendship with God is through continual meditation. This is thinking on Bible verses in His Word throughout the day. The Bible repeately asks us to meditate on His word, and that is the best way to know what He says. You can't love God without knowing Him, and you can't know Him unless you know His Word.
Of course, you can't read the Bible all day long, but you can think about it throughout the day, recalling verses that you've read or memorized and thinking about them in your mind.
Rick Warren reminds us that "Meditation is often misunderstood as some difficult, mysterious ritual practiced by isolated monks and mystics. But meditation is simply focused thinking - a skill anyone can learn and use anywhere." When you think about a problem over and over again in your mind, that is called worry. When you think of God's Word over and over in your mind, that's called meditation! So you already know how to meditate if you know how to worry! You just need to switch your thoughts from the problems to the Word.
What is one thing close friends do? They share secrets, and God wants to share His secrets when you develop the habit of thinking about His word throughout the day. I've been amazed at how much more I've understood when I am thinking about a verse again and again. Reviewing the truth will help you know God better and consider Him your best friend.
Tomorrow: Developing your friendship with God.
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