How to Embrace God’s Friendship

Psalms 1:1-6

Jim Davis

I would like to ask you a personal question: How did God fit into the most significant thing you did this past week? Did you experience his presence? The possibility of having had electricity since the beginning of time has always existed, but it only became a reality when we began to study and apply its laws. Until then its laws and power and all its possibilities remained useless. The same is true with God. God remains useless until we decide to study and apply his laws in whatever circumstances we find ourselves. You may know that God exists, but until you taste him for yourselves he remains powerless to salvage your life.

Too many Christians are seeking a vicarious experience of God. We may be seeking to know God through the knowledge or experiences of others. Many go to church desiring for the preacher and members to create a certain feeling in their heart for God. Our salvation is dependent upon the vicarious sacrifice of Christ, but we cannot come to know him for ourselves depending upon the knowledge and experience of others. 

We must not underestimate the value of knowing God for ourselves. We may give a multitude of reasons for studying and meditating upon God’s word, but there is only one really important reason for studying God’s word. We study God’s word so that we can apply it to our lives so that we can know and experience God for ourselves. This is the primary purpose of Bible study.

Knowledge of God’s Word is the Beginning Point

Knowing and experiencing God’s power in our lives begins with knowledge of God’s word. We will never be able to get a firm grip on God until we get a firm grip on his word. Scripture is the only source through which we can experience God for ourselves.

2 Timothy 3:10-17
You, however, know all about my teaching, my way of life, my purpose, faith, patience, love, endurance, 11 persecutions, sufferings-what kinds of things happened to me in Antioch, Iconium and Lystra, the persecutions I endured. Yet the Lord rescued me from all of them. 12 In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, 13 while evil men and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. 14 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, 15 and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. (NIV)

Paul’s teaching was exemplified in his way of life which allowed him to experience God’s deliverance.  Paul experienced God as God rescued him from his difficulties, but his experience of God was made possible by the way he lived. Paul admonishes Timothy to continue in the scriptures he had learned from a child because they would make him wise and equip him for every good work. It is only through gaining knowledge and experiencing God’s word for ourselves that we become equipped to experience God through service to him. 

If you desire a full realization of God’s friendship you must come to know and experience his presence through personal Bible study. There are some things you will have to do to experience God’s friendship.

You Must Hear God’s Word

The first thing you must do before you can realize that God is your friend is to hear his word. Hearing God’s word goes beyond sitting and listening to great truths being taught. I can’t substitute sitting and listening to what others know for a personal working knowledge of God for my personal life.

Hearing goes beyond familiarity. Familiarity often breeds contempt as we fail to go deeper in understanding how the familiar Bible story can come alive in our lives. You may be familiar with all the biblical stories, but how does the story of the Bible fit into your life. Many times those who are familiar with the Bible stories are no better off than those who don’t know the stories because they fail to see the relevance of the story to their lives.

The Bible is a book that must be studied, but its study must go beyond scholarship. There are many scholars who have completely failed in their understanding of the Bible. I remember being at the Yosemite Family Encampment listening to a professor speak on troubled ministries. He was seeking to impress his listeners the need for preachers to stay with troubled churches to help them work out their problems. I will never forget the truths he taught; in fact he changed my approach to ministry. However, he didn’t exemplify the patience on that day that he was asking ministers to exercise. He was very frustrated and impatient with the person seeking to adjust his cordless microphone. His irritation was seen in his face as well as heard in his speech. I wondered how a minister could survive if the same attitude was displayed with church members. I don’t think that attitude would cultivate the essential qualities necessary for longevity. Scholarly knowledge of the Bible is essential but it must lead us to grow spiritually. 

Reading religious books is commendable, but it must not be substituted for personally wrestling with a biblical text for ourselves. Books may inspire us, but God’s word is designed to empower us. Books may help us understand the biblical text, but discovering the significance of the biblical message for my life must be accomplished by me. It may be easier to see how it applies to others, but difficult for me to make it personal. Making it personal helps others make application of what you have learned.

2 Timothy 2:10-16
10 Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory. 

11 Here is a trustworthy saying: 

If we died with him, 
we will also live with him; 
12 if we endure, 
we will also reign with him. 
If we disown him, 
he will also disown us; 
13 if we are faithless, 
he will remain faithful, 
for he cannot disown himself. 

14 Keep reminding them of these things. Warn them before God against quarreling about words; it is of no value, and only ruins those who listen. 15 Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth. NIV

There is a certain type of Bible study that brings ruin. It is a kind of study that is forever debating and quarreling over things that are of no value. We may get in such arguments that do more harm than good.

The only way the Bible can become meaningful to each of us is through a determination to endure our difficulties as we learn how to correctly apply God’s word in light of our lives. This type of endurance develops perseverance and patience which lead to divine wisdom as we seek to apply God’s word to our circumstances.

James 1:19-25
19 My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, 20 for man's anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires. 21 Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you. 

22 Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. 23 Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror 24 and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. 25 But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it-he will be blessed in what he does. (NIV)

I have not digested the word of God until I understand how it applies to my life. It is not always easy to digest God’s word. Ezekiel the prophet was given a scroll and commanded to eat it. It tasted like honey in his mouth (Ezekiel 3:1-3). 

Ezekiel 3:1-3
3:1 And he said to me, "Son of man, eat what is before you, eat this scroll; then go and speak to the house of Israel." 2 So I opened my mouth, and he gave me the scroll to eat. 

3 Then he said to me, "Son of man, eat this scroll I am giving you and fill your stomach with it." So I ate it, and it tasted as sweet as honey in my mouth. NIV

In the book of Revelation John was given a scroll and commanded to eat it, but it turned his stomach sour (Revelation 10:9-10). The scroll eaten by Ezekiel and John was the equivalent to the book of God. Ezekiel’s scroll pronounced God’s grace that was to come as God’s people were suffering from the Babylonian captivity. It was a message of grace; God’s grace is sweet. However, John was proclaiming the judgment of God upon a sinful Roman Empire. Grace is sweet until we understand God’s grace also implies God’s judgment for sin. This often turns our stomachs sour especially when we refuse to digest it properly.

Psalms 81 reveals God’s sweet grace and God’s judgment to those who refused to hear God. 

Psalms 81:8-16
8 "Hear, O my people, and I will warn you--
if you would but listen to me, O Israel! 
9 You shall have no foreign god among you;
you shall not bow down to an alien god. 
10 I am the LORD your God,
who brought you up out of Egypt.
Open wide your mouth and I will fill it. 

11 "But my people would not listen to me;
Israel would not submit to me. 
12 So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts 
to follow their own devices. 

13 "If my people would but listen to me,
if Israel would follow my ways, 
14 how quickly would I subdue their enemies 
and turn my hand against their foes! 
15 Those who hate the LORD would cringe before him,
and their punishment would last forever. 
16 But you would be fed with the finest of wheat;
with honey from the rock I would satisfy you." NIV

The key words to the Israelites in this Psalm are: “hear,” “listen,” “submit,” and “follow.” Notice that hearing, listening, submitting and following will allow the Israelites to taste the grace of God. The psalmist says, “But you would be fed with the finest of wheat;
with honey from the rock I would satisfy you." This promise is valid for all who will do the same today.

Confessing Your Need of God’s Friendship

Digesting God’s word for ourselves allows us to understand God’s ways. I cannot come to a full realization of God as my friend until I recognize the conflict between my way of doing things and God’s way of doing things. The psalmist writes, "But my people would not listen to me; Israel would not submit to me. So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts to follow their own devices.”  

Do you know how you can know that you’ve started listening to God? It is when you begin recognizing your sins. A failure to do so leaves us following our own devices. 
Recognizing the difference in God’s ways and my ways must lead me to confess my sin. The thing that makes it difficult to confess my error is that it is hard to admit that I am wrong. Somehow my pride insists upon following my own stubborn heart as it refuses to confess it is wrong. 

True confession is recognition of my need to change. It is possible to recognize error, but fail to take personal responsibility for the error. We may play the blame game as we seek to shirk our responsibility. We may blame God for what is happening to us when it is only the natural outcome of our sin. The psalmist admonishes, "If my people would but listen to me, if Israel would follow my ways, how quickly would I subdue their enemies and turn my hand against their foes!” Israel’s enemies were defeating her because Israel would not listen to God. Israel’s troubles were the result of her refusal to recognize God’s ways were right.

Confession must bring us to the point where we recognize our need of God’s friendship as we recognize that his ways are right. This is the significance of me confessing Christ as the Son of God at baptism. I am confessing that God’s way is the only way.

Embracing God’s Friendship Requires Change 

Repentance is at the very heart of experiencing God’s redemptive power. We will never discover God’s power to redeem us in our circumstances until we listen to him and follow his ways. Hearing of God’s ways and confessing that God is right in his assessment of us is of little value if we fail to embrace God’s ways and follow him. Repentance is the point that we decide to follow God.

Israel’s exodus from Egypt forever reminds us of our need to accept God’s ways. The Lord reminds the Israelites, “I am the LORD your God, who brought you up out of Egypt. Open wide your mouth and I will fill it” (Psalms 81:10). 

God used Moses to deliver Israel from Egypt when Moses followed God. Moses sought to lead Israel out of Egypt when he was forty ears old, but he failed as he murdered an Egyptian. There is no doubt that if Moses had insisted on his way it would have led to untold consequences. He tried the human approach which resulted in spending 40 years in Midian as a shepherd. 

When God used Moses to lead Israel out of Egyptian bondage not one Israelite life was lost. In the process God led the Egyptians to give the Israelites their gold, silver and clothes. Egypt was plundered and the Egyptian army was destroyed, and the Israelites did not lose one single life (Exodus 14:15-31). All of this occurred because Moses recognized his error and embraced God’s way.

Repentance is the very heart of experiencing God as a powerful friend. The psalmist proclaims, "If my people would but listen to me, if Israel would follow my ways, how quickly would I subdue their enemies and turn my hand against their foes!”  There is no way we can embrace God’s friendship without following his ways. It is evident that there is no way we can benefit from God’s friendship until we decide to follow him.

Repentance and obedience are so closely connected in the biblical perspective that it is all but impossible to distinguish between them. Repentance is not complete until its result is obedience; obedience is not complete until it results in repentance.

Embracing God’s Friendship Requires Death to Self

Baptism is an appropriate symbol for salvation for it is recognizing my need to die to my ways. However, death to self does not end at baptism. Digesting God’s word for myself is a life long process of hearing, confessing and repenting. These elements allow Christ death to reign in my mortal bodies.

Romans 6:1-4
What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? 2 By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? 3 Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. NIV

2 Corinthians 4:7-12
7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. 8 We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; 9 persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. 10 We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. 11 For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that his life may be revealed in our mortal body. 12 So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.  NIV

Understanding what God is asking you to do in your circumstances is more important than telling God what you want him to do for you. 

Galatians 2:17-21
17 "If, while we seek to be justified in Christ, it becomes evident that we ourselves are sinners, does that mean that Christ promotes sin? Absolutely not! 18 If I rebuild what I destroyed, I prove that I am a lawbreaker. 19 For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God. 20 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. 21 I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!"  NIV

Dying to myself is essential to get in touch with what God is about to do. To fully experience God we must do things his way. God can accomplish more with our lives in 30 minutes than we can accomplish without him in a lifetime. 

Conclusion:

I cannot embrace God as my true friend until I begin to truly listen to what he is saying. I cannot experience the presence of God’s power until my hearing results in my personal obedience. Hearing that results in obedience is the only way to experience God as your friend.

Psalms 1
Blessed is the man 
who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked 
or stand in the way of sinners 
or sit in the seat of mockers. 
2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD,
and on his law he meditates day and night. 
3 He is like a tree planted by streams of water,
which yields its fruit in season 
and whose leaf does not wither.
Whatever he does prospers. 

4 Not so the wicked!
They are like chaff 
that the wind blows away. 
5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous. 

6 For the LORD watches over the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked will perish. NIV