“Developing
Your Friendship with God” By Brother Kennth Ray May 16th,
2010 Friendship with God doesn’t come naturally; you have to work at it. It takes desire, it takes time, and it takes energy. A Scripture that gets used (and misused) a lot says, “Be ye wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.” One thing about serpents and doves: They don’t talk. If I tell you that Sister Teri is my friend, but then when I say “hi” to her, if she says, “Who are you?” then my actions don’t back up what I say. There should be reflection through action.
The
first building block of friendship with God is complete honesty. I must choose to be
completely honest with
God if I want to be His friend. I
have
to be honest about my faults; I have to be honest about my feelings. You don’t have to be
perfect to be a friend
of God. None of
God’s friends in the
Bible were perfect; they whined, accused God, and argued with God. You can be honest with
God, though, Jesus can
handle the truth. Abraham
was allowed to
question
the destruction of Sodom; he challenged God about destroying
the righteous
with the unrighteous. David
made
accusations. Psalms 55 …Let death seize upon them, and let them go down quick into hell…
David
talked about unfairness, betrayal and abandonment.
Jeremiah accused God of tricking him. Job exhibited a lot of
bitterness, but, in
the end, told
Job’s friends that Job was right, and they were wrong, and
that they needed
Job’s prayers. Jeremiah 29:13 …seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart. You know, sometimes I get lonely, and I’m married. Sometimes I get depressed. Being a friend of God doesn’t mean that you are removed from the things of life, it just helps you deal with those things. Trials make you stronger. Flaws don’t keep you from being a friend of God. Disclosure: He already knows, but He wants you to tell Him. Sometimes we condemn ourselves, but God doesn’t. Sometimes we say, “I’m doing all right,” but God says, “No, you’re not.” Sometimes we have to confess hidden anger or resentment in certain areas of our lives. Sometimes we fell cheated or disappointed. Sometimes we have to yell or get quiet. Sometimes we just feel bitterness. Just let it go. When we get to Heaven, we will see it in a different light.
God always has our best interests at
heart. He may not
always be fair, but He
is always just. The
antidote is to
understand that even when it is painful, even when we don’t understand
why
something is happening, God is still acting in our best interests. Job said, “Though
He slay me, yet will I trust Him ….” Revealing
feelings is the first step to
healing. Psalms 142:2 I poured out my complaint before him; I shewed before him my trouble.
David
talks about, not just complaining, but pouring out his complaint before
God. God is okay
with it if you have
doubt. The Apostles
doubted, Sarah
doubted, but I must choose to obey God in faith, even if I have doubt. You have to obey your
parents, or your boss,
or supervisor, or law enforcement officers, but, normally, we don’t
feel that
we have to obey our friends. John 15:14 Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.
We
don’t obey out of a sense of duty, or out of fear.
We obey out of love and trust.
We follow out of gratitude for what He has
done, for the love that He gave. The
more we do that, the closer we draw to Him, and our friendship deepens. Unbelievers often think
that we have to obey
God out of obligation, or out of guilt (“Oh, I’ve done so many things
wrong, I
have to make it up to God.”), or because we are afraid He will punish
us. But, we are
forgiven; we are the servants and
friends of Jesus. John
15:9-11 …my
joy might remain in you, and that
your joy might be full.
He
wants our joy to be full. It’s
not
always in the big opportunities; it’s in the little things that we
encounter
every day. We must
choose to value what
God values; friends usually care about what their friends care about. When something good
happens for your friend,
you rejoice with them; when something bad happens to your friend, it’s
like
something bad happened to you, too. Psalms 69:9 …the reproaches of them that reproached thee are fallen upon me. What does God care about most? the redemption of His people. He wants all of His lost people found. The second thing is that we share that news with others.
I must
desire friendship with God more than anything else.
Getting someone saved isn’t that hard;
getting them to stay saved is the
hard part. Psalms 63:3 Because thy lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise thee.
Jacob
wrestled with an angel all night long, because nothing was more
important to
him at the time than getting that blessing.
God’s friendship has to be that way.
The truth is, you’re as close to God as you choose
to be. Joshua 24:15 …choose you this day whom ye will serve…
What
is your attitude? Are
you a person that
God can use? Is it
worth it to develop
the skills and the habits to be God’s friend?
Don’t live in the past, live in the present. The church at 1 Timothy 6:21 …some professing have erred concerning the faith… Sermon notes by Pete Shepherd |
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