Day 11, May 11th,
"Becoming Best Friends with God"
- When you feel like you have no one, God is there. God is our creator and maker, Lord and master, judge, redeemer, Father, Savior, etc., but what God wants most from us is for us to be his friend. Rick Warren says, "Friendship with God is possible only because of the grace of God and the sacrifice of Jesus." We need to have friendship with all three forms; God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. Jeremiah 9:24 says, "If people want to boast, they should boast about this: They should boast that they understand and know me. They should boast that they know and understand that I, the Lord, act out of faithfulness, fairness, and justice in the earth and that I desire to do these things." Knowing God is the greatest thing we have. We need to become best friends with God. We should crave spending time with him. When I was a senior in college, bachelors degree, I made God my best friend. I would get excited to have the night off to spend time in God's word and learn more about him. This blog and this book are really helping me get back to that. I crave reading God's word again and I crave to blog and learn more about my purpose. There are 6 secrets to friendship with God, today the book goes over two of them and on day 12 the other four will be talked about.
1. Through constant conversation
- Rick Warren says, "You will never grow a close relationship with God by just attending church once a week or even having daily quiet time." We need to share all our life experiences with God. We should carry on a conversation with Him all day long every day. We should pray without ceasing, ALL THE TIME. This helps us to stay aware of his presence. By changing our attitude toward what we are doing we can become closer to God. What we do for ourselves we should be doing for God. God is with us all the time, every second of the day. Brother Lawrence recommends praying shorter conversational prayers continually through the day rather than have long complex prayer sessions. I do this often times I'll just send up a "prayer flare" to God. I'll ask him for guidance or ask him to help me trust him. Like anything else this skill is something you need to work on daily and make it a habit. We have to train our minds to do this. Putting little reminders throughout your home or work place can help.
2. Through continual meditation
- Rick Warren says, "Meditation is simple thinking about God's word through the day." This could mean recalling verses, recalling lessons learned in a sermon, or bible study, etc. Meditation is simple focused thinking. "When you think about a problem over and over in your mind, thats called worry. When you think about God's word over and over in your mind, that's called meditation." Rick Warren. If I turned all my worry into meditation, I would have the closest relationship with God. I am a constant worrier and its not healthy or righteous. I need to switch my worry/fear into Bible verses! "God will share his secrets with you if you develop the habit of thinking about his word throughout the day." Rick Warren. The more time we spend with God and reviewing his word the more "secrets" of this life God will reveal. Psalm 25:14, "The Lord is a friend to those who fear him. He teaches them his covenant." Rick Warren sums it up by saying, "Prayer lets you speak to God, mediation lets God speak to you! Both are essential to becoming a best friend of God." I have just recently unlocked the power of mediation. I turn on some quiet nature music and I lay down/sit in the presence of God and I just listen to him, I ask him questions and listen for his voice to answer me. Sometime I get answers sometimes I don't. I listened to a sermon by Pastor Bill Purvis and he said God answers prayers in 5 ways;
1. God says "No" I want whats best for you
2. Yes, but wait! (The best things are worth waiting for)
3. Yes, but the answer is different then what you thought
4. Yes, and more
5. Yes, I thought you'd never ask, I've been waiting on you to just ask.
He also said, "If you see activity, that prayer is working." The activity could be what you want or what you don't want but any activity shows that God is working. What answers is God giving you in your life right now?
Prayer and meditation are powerful tools, I can't wait to read tomorrow to see how I can become an even closer friend with God!
Point to Ponder: God wants to be my best friend.
Verse to Remember: "Friendship with God is reserved for those who reverence him." Psalm 25:14a
Question of the Day: What can I do to remind myself to think about God an talk to him more often throughout the day?
Day 12, May 12th,
"Developing Your Friendship With God"
- "You are as close to God as you choose to be." Rick Warren. God desires to have a close intimate relationship with each and every one of us. Just like any earthly relationship, our relationship with God requires the desire, time, and energy. We have to be honest with God and share our feelings with Him, trust him when he asks you to do something, and care about what he desires. Yesterday we talked about the first two secrets to a relationship with God and today we are going to talk about he last four.
3. Be Honest with God
- We have to be 100% completely honest with God. God doesn't expect us to be perfect. God wants us to say what we want to say to him. He doesn't mind us complaining, accusing, or second-guessing him. Rick Warren says, "Genuine friendship is built on disclosure." We must be completely honest with God and tell him what is on our mind. We should be in constant conversation with him daily. "What may appear as audacity, God views as authenticity." Rick Warren. By being 100% honest, God sees us opening up to him and showing what we really feel. "Until we mature enough to understand that God uses everything for good in our lives, we harbor resentment toward God over our appearance, background, unanswered prayers, and past hurts, and other things we would change if we were God." Rick Warren. Bitterness is a barrier for friendship with God. We have to learn to talk to God and tell him about the hurts we are having. I know this is hard, trust me! When I am hurt and don't understand things that are going on in my life, trust me I do have some resentment towards God but, I need to bring that to God and tell him! I have gotten a lot better throughout the last couple of years though. Often times we blame God for hurts that others have caused us. God always acts in our best interests, even when we don't think so. The book of Psalms expresses so much emotion. We should not hold back anything from God. Bring it all to him.
4. Choose to Obey God in Faith
- We need to be obedient to God and what he wants us to do. This may be scary at times but we need to be obedient. "Every time you trust God's wisdom and do whatever he says, even when you don't understand it, you deepen your friendship with God." Rick Warren. This is hard at times, but we need to trust in Him. There are times in my life where I disobeyed God and paid the price. God is our friend but not our equal he is our leader and we need to obey Him. We need to obey Him because we love Him and trust Him because he knows whats best for us. The closer we become the deeper the friendship we have with God. John 15: 9-11 says, "Just as the Father has loved Me, I also have loved you. Abide in My love! If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His love. These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and your joy may be full." We have to do what Jesus says, even when its not what we want. Trust me this is just as hard for me as the next person. It hurts at times but God does not cause pain without allowing something new to be born. Rick Warrens says, "Great opportunities may come once in a lifetime but, small opportunities surround us every day." Obey God every day even with the small things.
5. Choose to Value what God Values
- We need to care about what God cares about. God cares most about the redemption of His people and he cares second about us sharing His word with others. We need to spread God's word all the time, no matter who you are with. God placed you where you are at for a reason. Use where you are at and who you are around to spread His word.
6. Desire Friendship With God More Than Anything Else
- We have to want a relationship with God and desire it more than anything else. "God isn't offended when we wrestle with him because it brings us closer to Him." Rick Warren. Wrestling is an activity that you are up closer and personal with another person. God doesn't mind us wrestling with him because it brings us closer to Him. Again, we are as close to God as we choose to be. We have to intentionally seek a relationship with him. What is it worth to you? Rick Warren says, "If you've been going through the motions spiritually, don't be surprised when God allows pain in your life." WOW! This one hit me hard. I felt like I was just going through the motions before and have recently seen pain been brought to my life and then I become closer to God. C.S. Lewis says, "Pain is God's megaphone." This is so true for me in my life. Whenever I'm in pain or have fear I run to God and I'm so close but when things are going well in my life, I am more passive with my faith. Pain is God's way of waking us up. It is not a punishment, it is just a wake up call from God. "God is not mad at you, he's mad about you and your actions, and he will do whatever it takes to bring you back into fellowship with him." Rick Warren. We need to pray to know God intimately.
Having a relationship with God is the most important relationship you can have!
Point to Ponder: I'm as close to God as I choose to be.
Verse to Remember: "Draw close to God, and God will draw close to you." James 4:8a
Question to Consider: What practical choices will I make today in order to grow closer to God?
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