Day 12: "Developing Your Friendship With God"

Welcome Readers. We continue on as we journey through the chapters of Pastor Rick Warren's book: The Purpose Driven Life: What On Earth Am I Here For? 

Day 12: "Developing Your Friendship With God"

"Point to Ponder: I'm as close to God as I choose to be."

Daily Verse: "Draw close to God, and God will draw close to you." James 4:8A (NLT)

Daily Question: "What practical choices will I make today in order to grow closer to God?"

From my journal the day of reading: I will talk to Kyle (my husband) about my journey, so he understands me. I will plan a schedule to help me grow the gifts, talents, and blessings God has blessed me with.

I'm sitting here smiling because that journal entry doesn't come close to doing justice for the walk I've been walking with God, since reading it. I remember reading this chapter & thinking....I've got a lot to work on before I'm ready for a friendship with God....NOT SO MUCH PEEPS.... I mean, YES...I had to work on things (still do) & they were pretty intense for me, but I've done them & I am ALREADY developing my relationship with God.

I was talking to someone yesterday about an experience I had when praying over a tragedy of some VERY dear friends of mine. She was asking me questions about it & how we KNOW when a certain person needs to be prayed for. I started out by saying: "You know that gut feeling you get....or that AWARENESS you get sometimes when you just KNOW The Holy Spirit is guiding you?" They looked at me & said...."No...I can't say that I've really experienced that. I mean I'll read Bible verses & they will speak to me or be exactly what I need, but I can't say that I've ever experienced what you are talking about." The next question they asked me was: "How do you get that feeling? What do you do?" I'm sitting here tearing up because I am in AWE of God. COMPLETE AWE.... I wrote that post yesterday about the types of friendships I have with The Holy Spirit, Jesus, & God.... In the conversation I had yesterday evening I KNEW what I needed to say to answer that question. Here it is: "You have to INVITE God in. You have to STRIP your EGO & PRIDE (and I gave a few examples of extreme ego & what I think is ego, but you don't really look at it that way) & be able to HUMBLE yourself to whatever member of The Holy Trinity they are really speaking to." I explained that humbling yourself to them is SHOWING them ALL of it: your pain, your anger, your confusion, your stress, what you question....which I REMEMBER...I held back until I realized GOD KNOWS ALL OF IT ANYWAY. He wants the raw & honest TRUTH (good, bad, & the ugly) & he wants YOU to WANT to talk to Him. You don't have to go out and profess it to the world, but to God. Once you start being honest to got you start being honest with yourself too.

My friend gave me a new Bible that has several different translations in it. I have to tell you...I struggle with reading the Bible...not because I don't want to, but because I can't figure out how to really get the most out of it. I read 3 quarters through the Old Testament just page after page, but stopped because I wasn't grasping it the way I thought I would....it was more like a chore...kinda. I've tried that online Bible study.....I mean LONG readings & I found it easy for me to stop & not finish...then have a LONG one to catch up with the next day. This book has helped me verse by verse, to learn parts of the Bible. Since getting the new Bible from my friend....I've went to it twice. I just opened to a page. The first day it took me straight to a story of dealing with anger....I needed it.

Last night it took me to Acts 10-11. What I read discussed how the Apostles started FILLING people...ALL people...with The Holy Spirit & the BIRTH of Christianity. Again...I am in AWE. What do I KNOW? I know that we are supposed to INTRODUCE as many people as we can to The Holy Spirit, which I think is the SECOND step in developing a relationship with GOD. The FIRST is being willing to humble yourself & telling him you want him in your life. Guys remember...He will not give you more than you can handle. You can START right now. I have known the person I talked to yesterday ALL of their life & I know they BELIEVE in God & pray, BUT I think they are ready to GET TO KNOW GOD.

This book says 4 things about developing a relationship with God: "I must choose to be honest to God." "I must choose to obey God in faith." "I must choose to value what God values." "I must desire friendship with God more than anything else."

I REALLY do ENCOURAGE everyone to go get this book, if you haven't already & read this for yourself.

Looking at my journal entry & remembering what I was thinking I KNOW that I felt like I'd be 50 before I was even going to be "worthy" enough to have a TRUE friendship with God. Now I KNOW I am worthy right now.

I have to share another thing that this chapter revealed to me & I had been struggling with it for some time. I know someone that doesn't KNOW how to be authentic. (This chapter discussed being AUTHENTIC.) They sort of adapt to the personalities, wants, needs, thoughts of whoever they are around. Now guys....I LOVE making friends....LOVE IT! However...I was having a REALLY hard time gettin' there with this person...in fact...still haven't gotten there & it BOTHERED me BUT I couldn't MAKE myself invite them into my circle of friends. I don't mean my CLOSE friends...I mean just truly FULLY enjoy their company as any kind of friend. This sentence made the light bulb go off: "What may appear as audacity God views as authenticity." Now this was talking about how we should be frank with God & that he can handle our truth in any kind of way we give it to him. BUT what it revealed to me about my struggle with the person above is that I was struggling because THEY weren't being authentic. You can't MAKE someone be authentic. You can't MAKE someone invite you in, AND you can't build a relationship or a friendship with ANYONE if they aren't being AUTHENTIC. There will be NO trust. There will be NO common ground b/c you won't even know what it is. I think it's important for me to say that I'm not just ASSUMING that they aren't being authentic. I had (from my end) an OPEN & HONEST conversation about concerns of the other & offered guidance & support for whatever that person felt like THEY needed. The next week they were doing EXACTLY what they had such a problem with & I KNOW you can't make an AUTHENTIC decision in even a month's time (in this area) & quite frankly....what we discussed may have not been authentic. I KNOW they need the guidance of The Holy Spirit, but I'm not so sure that I am the person that can break through to them. I've tried twice. That is why it is EVER so important that WE HELP OTHERS. Sometimes the people someone is surrounded with can't give them what they need, no matter how much they WANT to.

Buck Up Baby & Ride With Jesus!! Don't wait! Don't hesitate!! God Bless!

Day 9: "What Makes God Smile?"

Welcome returning & new readers. We are on Day 9 as we continue our journey through the book: The Purpose Driven Life: What On Earth Am I Here For? by Pastor Rick Warren .

Day 9: "What makes God smile?"

"Point to Ponder: God smiles when I trust him."

Daily Verse: "The Lord is pleased with those who worship him and trust his love." Psalm 147:11 (CEV)

Daily Question: "Since God knows what is best, in what areas of my life do I need to trust him the most?"

What I wrote in my journal after reading the first time around: Relationships with family, friends, and acquaintances. He will guide me in ways to console, love, and forgive and will condition the hearts of those in just the right way needed.

Building/Having a place to live. He will provide & shine light on everything necessary to make that happen.

This is a DEEP chapter & the person from the Bible that Pastor Warren chose to EXPLAIN this chapter is NOAH.

From the first page of this chapter: "In Noah's day, the entire world had become morally bankrupt. Everyone lived for their own pleasure, not God's. God couldn't find anyone on earth interested in pleasing him, so he was grieved and regretted making man. God became so disgusted with the human race that he considered wiping it out. But there was one man who made God smile. The bible says, 'Noah was a pleasure to the Lord.'"

From Noah's experience we ALL can learn 5 ACTS OF WORSHIP:

1) "God smiles when we love him supremely."Noah loved God more than ANYTHING else in the world. He wants a relationship with us & that kind!! I am by no means an expert at the Bible, but as I try to LEARN & wrap my head around the word It seems to me that He sent his son, the way he sent him for a VERY precise reason. Jesus walked the walk. He did the tough things. He was ridiculed, beat, cursed, shunned, or questioned his ENTIRE life here on earth...BUT the LIGHT of GOD & the LIGHT in their followers urged him onward. Even as I work through my emotions from day to day I REALize how there are SO many different KINDS of ANGER....of HAPPINESS...of LOSS...of STRUGGLE...of PAIN...of TRUST...of LOVE... I really believe that Jesus experienced ALL of it & sits at the right hand of the Father to HELP him understand our sin here on earth. Jesus was FAITHFUL & God FULLY understands the INTENSE strugGLE we all face & Jesus said to him on that cross: "Forgive them Father. They know not what they do." Luke 23:34 (KJV) & God TRUSTED him & in his FINAL dying breath...SAVED AN ENTIRE WORLD FULL OF SINNERS. That to me...is PROOF that he WANTS a relationship with us & that he loves us & he will TRUST us, if we talk to him.


2)"God smiles when you trust him completely." Noah trusted God when it didn't make sense. The book discusses the 3 main issues Noah faced:

1. "Noah had never seen rain, because prior to the Flood, God irrigated the earth from the ground up."
2. He lived in the middle of dry land hundreds of miles from ANY large body of water.
3. He had to figure out how to round up ALL the animals.

BUT...he did it...without a complaint.

3) "God smiles when we obey him wholeheartedly." Boy...do I have to work on this one & is he ever lettin' me know it! Noah followed ever single direction God gave him...down to the last detail...without question. The book says: "That means doing whatever God asks without reservation or hesitation." THIS IS HARD. HARD...I TELL YOU! This means...not taking the time to pray about it...not working it through in your head...not figuring out the right time....SIGH...INSTANTLY acting... Pastor Warren also says: "Instant obedience will teach you more about God than a lifetime of Bible discussions."

4) "God smiles when we praise and thank him continually." Noah praised God before, during, and after his journey on the Ark. I praise God CONTINUALLY in private, BUT now I am working on CONTINUALLY praising him in PUBLIC.

5) "God smiles when we use our abilities." This part of the book is SUCH a good description of this act of worship! Once Noah completed his journey God said: "Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth...Everything that lives and moves will be food for you. Just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you everything." Genesis 9:1-3  He wanted them to LIVE. There is not a thing on earth that we can not give to him in worship....washing dishes, caring for livestock, cooking dinner, painting with our children, building a business, selling a product or service, singing a song, enjoying the view......the list could go on for the rest of our lives.

Whew! It's A LOT to take in & I have LOTS of work to do!! Buck UP Baby and Ride with Jesus! He will URGE you to ride in the rain & the hail & the EXTREME wind & ASK you to PERSEVERE through it all & TRUST that he is taking you to a MUCH greener pasture. IT IS NOT EASY, BUT DON'T BE A SISSY!!