Developing Your Friendship With God~
An intense, intimate relationship with God is a treasure to be desired more than gold itself. We have an ongoing connection with almighty God; let’s not waste it by neglecting to spend time with Him.
The most important aspect of any relationship is honesty. God doesn’t expect perfection but He does want us to be honest with Him, 24-7. Jesus is a friend to sinners as the Bible tells us in Matthew 11:19. Whether you are praising Him, venting your frustrations, crying out in anguish or sharing your confusion and anxieties, God wants communication with us. Truthfulness is the key in growing your relationship with God.
Confessing our past mistakes or possibly a deep secret we have yet to let anyone know about, is what makes God smile. He leans a ready ear, willing to listen, forgive and strength to turn from the sin. You won’t disappoint God in sharing failures. He delights in your honesty, confession and heartfelt repentance and wants to place your sins as far as the east is from the west.
It is said bitterness is the greatest barricade to friendship with God. If we are harboring bitterness within us for things we are blaming on God, resentment will put a wedge between us and God and cause the friendship to sour. Blaming God for things that happen in this sin-stricken world is ridiculous. This is not our home and as long as we live and breathe on earth, we will encounter trials, suffering and persecution. Jesus Himself had to endure much pain, suffering and ridicule. Why would we think we could escape this same journey? David lays it all out on the line in the book of Psalms. God refers to David’s heart so we know their friendship was close and intimate when we listen to their conversation. Every possible emotion is shared in the book of Psalms and God wholeheartedly listens and feels fro David. God did not care what David was sharing with Him, what mattered was that David shared openly, honestly and without reservation. God wants communication like this with us as well.
Choosing to obey God builds our friendship with Him as well. God said if you love Him you will obey Him. In I Samuel, God says obedience is better than sacrifice. In baptizing my granddaughter this past weekend, God showed me how important obedience really is to Him. Because He is our leader, we must follow Him. He knows best, knew our future before life began, and has mapped out the perfect plan for our lives if only we would stay within His will. To do this, we must be willing to surrender our own wills and bow to His. I know, mush easier said than done. But obedience to God is commanded of us. Since Christ’s death, we are no longer slaves to sin so we can never say, ‘The devil made me do it’. We have choices and they need to reflect those of Jesus. The cliché WWJD, standing for What Would Jesus Do, holds much weight to the meaning behind this saying. In everything we say, do or think we should be asking ourselves this. If it is something Jesus would not say, or do or think lay it down. Don’t say it, do it or entertain the thoughts any longer. Out of our love for God we should obey. Not out of fear or obligation, but because we love Him. As we trust God knows what is best for us, and believe He uses all things for good according to His purposes, we can whether any storm with His strength and grace. John 15:9-14 says, “As the father loved Me (Jesus), I have loved you, abide (remain) in My love. If you keep my commandments, you will in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love. These things I have spoken to you that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may remain full. This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love hath no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends. You are My friend is you do whatever I command you.” Friendship with God is obeying Him, not just believing in Him.
We must choose to value what God values. Things God cares about must become important to us. We are no longer living for ourselves, but God’s glory so it is of vital importance we seek God and find out what has great worth to Him. God cares most about the salvation of His people. So, we must care about people too. Not only those we get along with, but especially those we don’t. It is easy to love the lovely, but quite another story to love those that are mean to us, ridicule us, hate us or even try to harm us. Telling others about God’s love for them and Christ’s death for them is the best we way can love them. Praying for them can bring about the time and place they one day meet God face to face. It is God’s will that everyone comes to know and accept Him. He wants not a single human being to perish. So with this in mind, we know for certain, we are praying according to His will that so and so be saved. (II Peter 3:9)
Desiring friendship with God must be one of our highest priorities. We are going to spend eternity with Him, why would we not want to get to know Him better in this life? Passionately wanting to know God better should be our heart’s cry on a daily basis. If it is not, what is taking the place of this most worthwhile desire? Our friendship with God is going to be the most important friendship we will ever have with anyone we will ever meet. Psalm 63:3 says, “Because your loving kindness is better than life, my lips shall praise You, thus I will bless You while I live; I will lift up my hands in Your name.” God loves it when we are passionate about Him. What touches us touches God’s heart, should our friendship only be one sided? Of course not! We should feel when God feels and respond accordingly. If we are abiding in Him and He is in us, our flesh should cry out when His does, and rejoice when He does. Our purpose in life must include getting to know God more and more.
Maybe you had a passion for God and have lost it. Leaving your first love because of a painful situation can happen, but don’t allow it to permanently dissolve your friendship with your Maker. God allows U-turns and anxiously waits for you to return to Him with outstretched arms. Sometimes we experience pain out of our own wrong decisions. This is not a time to blame God. It is a time to run to Him, confess our wrongs and ask for forgiveness. He longs to forgive and let go of things just as you should long to get things right with God when things are not. Sometimes pain comes through situations that are out of our control. This is when we need to rely upon God to carry us as in the well known ‘Footprints’ poem. God can use the battles, injustices and tribulations in our lives to make us stronger, grow our character, minister to others and draw us closer to Him, if we will let Him and not resist. Sometimes bad things that happen are wake up calls to us. Just like an auto accident my twenty-one year old son was in a year and a half ago. I have posted a picture of his vehicle after the crash for you to get a better picture of what I am talking about.
One morning when going to church, he was going around a turn a bit faster than he should have been and popped a tire. This sent him skidding of the paved road onto gravel. He continued on to sideswipe one tree on the passenger side which shoved him to the left hitting another tree with such force all he remembers is the impact of taking down a 40 foot evergreen but not the air bags going off. This launched him into the air hitting yet a third tree which put him airborne for over 30 feet down into a flowing creek bed and landing him upside down in the freezing Oregon waters. What woke him was the car rapidly filling with water as he was pinned upside down wondering why he was even alive. He managed to get himself out of the car, completely soaked and shoeless, and walked up the 30 foot embankment and then another two miles to his girlfriend’s house. This was a wakeup call for Branden. One he heeded and now takes corners slowly with more caution and forethought.
In Jeremiah 29:11-13 reminds us that God has a plan for our lives. His plan is for our good and not our harm. His thoughts towards us are of peace and not evil. He says if we seek Him we will find Him. Friendship with God is a high priority to Him; it should be to us as well.
