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From: PurposeDrivenLife.com
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Sent: Tuesday, October 05, 2004 3:28 AM
Subject: Daily Devotional for Tuesday
THE PURPOSE-DRIVENŽ LIFE Daily Devotional October 5, 2004
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Friend of God
by John Fischer
Worshiping God involves counting on Him as your friend. This
may be a new thought to some who are used to thinking of God as more aloof
and distant when it comes to a personal relationship with any one of us. It
is much more common to think of God as high and lifted up than to think of
Him as a companion. That may be because He is high and lifted up, and His
glory fills the whole earth. But the truly amazing thing about God is that
He will relate to any one of us as a friend. He meets us at our level, and
in doing so, confirms both our intrinsic value and our value to Him.
The Old Testament portrays God as a friend to Moses, Abraham and
David, often sparring with them in debate over His rule of the nation of
Israel. Adam walked and talked with God in the Garden of Eden in the cool
of the morning. Enoch walked so closely with God that one day, they simply
walked right into heaven. And Jesus, as the embodiment of God in human
form, was called a friend of sinners, and had close relationships with His
twelve disciples and a very special relationship with Mary, Martha, and
Lazarus.
God is into being a friend to you and me. Not that He is a
buddy or "one of the guys." Our access to Him as a friend is a revered part
of our worship. To worship God is to carry on a conversation with Him-to
talk with Him, share our hopes and dreams and fears with Him, and even our
displeasure or impatience with the way things are going. He wants our
honesty. (He knows us anyway, better than we know ourselves, so how foolish
it is to try and be something we are not around God!)
In C.S. Lewis's beloved Chronicles of Narnia, the children have
a special relationship with Aslan, the lion, who represents Christ in the
story. They are allowed to share some intimate moments with him where they
sink their hands into the deep fur of his golden mane, or feel the warmth of
his breath or ride on his back over the Narnian countryside. But Lewis is
careful to remind us that Aslan, though warm to these friendly gestures, is
not a tame lion.
God is still God and though He is our friend, we worship Him as
God and marvel that He would befriend us. "When I look at the night sky and
see the work of your fingers-the moon and the stars that you have set in
place-what are mortals that you should think of us, and mere humans that you
should care for us?" Psalm 8:3-4
And yet He does! And that is the greatest wonder of all.
John Fischer is an author, speaker, and song writer based in
Southern California. His latest book, Love Him in the Morning has been
released by Revell Publishing.
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