Relationship with God

Nature of Relationship with God

Human Relationship	Scripture	Thoughts
bondservant -- master employee -- manager subject -- king	Romans 1:1; Galations 1:10; Philemon 1:1; Romans 10:9-10; Philippians 2:9-10; 1 Timothy 6:15; Revelations 19:16	The servant does what the Lord/Master says. That's it. In 1 Samuel 8 it talks about all the best that people have will go to their king. All the best of our lives should ultimately be for Jesus.
soldier -- commanding officer; athlete -- coach	2 Timothy 2:2-5	"...do not get entangled in civilian affairs..." In basic training soldiers are taught to obey their commanding officer without hesitating.
friend -- friend	John 15:15 ; James 2:23; James 4:1-4	More thoughts about friendship. http://utmost.org/friendship-with-god/
brother -- brother	Matthew 3:17,Matthew 17:5,Mark 1:11,Mark 9:7,Luke 3:22,Luke 9:35,2 Peter 1:17; Ephesians 1:5	Jesus is the only begotten Son, we are adopted sons and daughters (Ephesians 1:5). We are siblings. We are family!
son/daughter -- Father	Luke 11:1-2; Romans 8:15; Galations 4:6; Matthew 18:1-4	It was a total paradigm shift for the disciples to call God their father, yet in the Lord's prayer that was the very first way to address Him. What does it mean to be a child of God? This is important to consider! See below.
bride -- groom	Ephesians 5:25-30 More verses	²⁸So husbands ought also to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself;²⁹for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ also does the church, ³⁰because we are members of His body.

friendship (back to friendship with God above): 1. An attachment to a person, proceeding from intimate acquaintance, and a reciprocation of kind offices, or from a favorable opinion of the amiable and respectable qualities of his mind.
True friendship is a noble and virtuous attachment, springing from a pure source, a respect for worth or amiable qualities. False friendship may subsist between bad men, as between thieves and pirates. This is a temporary attachment springing from interest, and may change in a moment to enmity and rancor.

There can be no friendship without confidence, and no confidence without integrity.

(From "My Utmost for His Hightest") The Delights of His Friendship. Genesis 18 brings out the delight of true friendship with God, as compared with simply feeling His presence occasionally in prayer. This friendship means being so intimately in touch with God that you never even need to ask Him to show you His will. It is evidence of a level of intimacy which confirms that you are nearing the final stage of your discipline in the life of faith. When you have a right-standing relationship with God, you have a life of freedom, liberty, and delight; you are God’s will. And all of your commonsense decisions are actually His will for you, unless you sense a feeling of restraint brought on by a check in your spirit. You are free to make decisions in the light of a perfect and delightful friendship with God, knowing that if your decisions are wrong He will lovingly produce that sense of restraint. Once he does, you must stop immediately (end of "Utmost" quote).

When you are friends with someone, you begin to learn their preferences and habits. Sometimes you will hear about your friend doing something, and you will think, "That is so <persons name>."

In our relationship with God--when we walk with Him and talk with Him, and take steps of faith with Him, and maintain relationship with Him--we learn His ways. (Psalms 103:7)

"Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart." Psalms 37:4. Does this mean God will give us whatever we want when we delight in Him?

One definition of delighting in the Lord is enjoying the pleasure of His company. When we enjoy Him, He changes our hearts. Our will lines up with His will, our heart lines up with His heart, our desires line up with His desires; so He will then give us the desires of our heart.

Does this mean that everyone who delights in the Lord will have exactly the same desires, and we will all be clones? God is too big for that! We can line up with God's heart, and still want very different things; and experience the ultimate satisfaction in life--intimacy with our Father. We were designed for that.
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Father heart of God:

What is the Father Heart of God? The disciples asked Jesus, "Teach us to pray..." Jesus said, "Pray in this way", and the first word of His prayer was, "Father..." (Luke 11:1-2; Romans 8:15; Galations 4:6). Addressing God in this way was a totally new idea to the Jewish people. Calling God "Father" reveals a lot about

His love for us,
what He thinks about us,
and the nature of our relationship with Him.

God's Father Heart retreat (April 8-9) will be a wonderful time of getting great insights that will

strengthen our relationship with God,
encourage us in following Him,
equip us to help others experience His love by communicating the Father's intense compassion for them!

Often people like to talk about God's loving role as a Father? What is our role as children?
Rank in the Kingdom Matthew 18 "At that time the disciples came to Jesus and said, “Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” 2 And He called a child to Himself and set him before them, 3 and said, “Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 Whoever then humbles himself as this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven."
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