The Shepherd & The Sheep 2
Friends With The King
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John 15:15
Too many times we approach God as though He is some kind of cosmic Santa Clause. We are distant and removed, and our only motive is to get something from Him.
With God, we only want to receive blessing, or direction or instruction from Him.
Yet God wants something greater than that. He wants to get to know us, and He desires for us to get to know Him.
Throughout this series I am attempting to answer the question; How can I hear from God? But today I want to answer another question:
WHY HEAR FROM GOD? THE ANSWER IS FRIENDSHIP
I’m no longer calling you servants because servants don’t understand what their master is thinking and planning. No, I’ve named you friends because I’ve let you in on everything I’ve heard from the Father. John 15:15 (Message)
The friendship that God calls us to is never a friendship where we are “buddies” in a casual or irreverent way. God is Always God…
…and we are always human. And God always needs to be seen in our minds and in our hearts as the Great King.
I. The Doctrine of TRANCENDENCE
This is the concept of God’s loftiness and it’s a wonderful doctrine. It means that God is higher than anything we can think of.
Transcendence means – exceeding usual limits, raising above all things to a superior state.
It means that God is superior and unequaled – and we always need to keep this doctrine in mind when we approach Him
For you, LORD, are the Most High over all the earth; you are exalted far above all gods Psalm 97:9 (NIV)
Yet hand in glove with the doctrine of transcendence is the…
II. The Doctrine of IMMANENCE
This means that God is close to us. He is near. He is relational. He is actively involved with His creation.
Immanence means – remaining within, indwelling
“Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which is translated, “God with us.” Matthew 1:23 (NKJV)
At first glance these doctrines seem to oppose each other, but they’re actually not. God is both Transcendent and Immanent at the same time.
He is both the Great King and “God with Us”. We must never forget His greatness, yet its also true that…
… we never need to keep our distance from Him because of the Blood of Jesus…
Did you ever see the classic picture of JFK JR. The president is busy in the oval office with his staff and yet his 3 year old son is playing close by.
This is a picture of Transcendence and Immanence. On one hand there is the POTUS, arguably the worlds most powerful person, doing his job…
Dignitaries line up to meet him, and when your in the presence of the PRES you can never forget he is the president.
Yet the president is close enough to his son that his son can approach him anytime he wishes.
The son delights in the fathers presence. And the father delights in the presence of the son…
There is power in the fathers position and character, yet there is also closeness with his children…
Its from these two foundational characteristics of transcendence and immanence that God invites us into a true friendship with Him.
Come near to God and he will come near to you. James 4:8 (NIV)
God desires to be close to us, though He is God above all He wants to be near to us…God speaks to People not to robots…
we communicate to machines everyday don’t we? If we want to communicate to our car we give it an order… go faster, slower, stop.
Some of you have cars that talk thru GPS, although its not a true dialogue, its not capable of emotions at all its programmed.
God did not create us so that His relationship to us is like that of a machine… He created us as His children.
We don’t have to jump through hoops to talk with Him, in fact we can come to Him anytime, we can even play as it were in His office under his desk.
…but Abraham still stood before the LORD. 23 And Abraham came near to God... Gen. 18:22-23 (NKJV) Genesis 18:17,20 this is the start a great dialogue between God and Abraham
This is true dialogue and a great example of the relationship that God desires with His sons and daughters… true communications is established.
Abraham stopped what He was doing and drew near to God. If we want to hear from the Lord than we to must stop what we are doing-
… and draw near to God. We often want to hear from God but we aren’t willing to stop what we are doing…
What is it you need to stop in order to draw near to God? Today God speaks to us because of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
How did God speak to people in the bible when he wanted to have a dialogue with them?
The story of Elijah in the wilderness shows that God sometimes chose to speak in a still small voice…
1 Kings 19:9-13
How did God chose to speak? Not is a loud booming voice, not with a strong wind or an earthquake or in a fire but in a gentle whisper.
I wonder if that was the same as what we would call an impression on our hearts? God impressed what He wanted to say on Elijah.
We don’t know for certain what method God chose to use, but maybe a still small voice is tantamount to the prompting of the Holy Spirit…
12 “I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. 13 But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. John 16:12-13 (NIV)
11 The LORD would speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend. Exodus 33:11 (NIV)
And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” And he was called the friend of God. James 2:23 (NKJV)
We must begin to grasp this wonderful truth that God desires to be our friend, just as he was friends with Moses.
If we don’t grasp this then we will be apt to only communicate with Him when we are in trouble or we have a big decision to make.
God wants to be our friend and talk to us everyday. Since the beginning of time, God has been speaking personally and …
…specifically to people and He has never changed. We must treasure His presence more than His presents…
Do you need to Hear Gods voice? Start by reading His word.
Your word is a lamp to my feet. And a light to my path Psalm 119:105
Ever try walking in the dark at 2:00 in the morning? Walking across the floor and you stub your toe… what did you need to help?
A lamp, a flashlight, a nightlight… something to shine light into the middle of the darkness that surrounds you.
Similarly, if we are confused about which direction to turn, then the first thing we ought to do is turn to God and read the Bible…
Go to God through the pages of the Bible…
5 This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. 1 John 1:5 (niv)
If you allow Gods light to shine, then Gods light will dispel darkness in your life…
it may not happen all at once, when darkness is over layered over a life. But if you will take the Bible, read God’s Word,
…meditate on His Word… memorize Gods word… then light will begin to overcome darkness. The bible is the lamp that gets rid of darkness
…what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it? (NKJV) Luke 15:8
The brightness of the lamp leads to rediscovered value. Nothing important is lost forever with the light of a lamp as our guide.
Perhaps you are in a season of doubt, of depression or of grief… where that close relationship with God doesn’t feel intact anymore?
Your faith feels lost… here is what Jesus says, “when you loose something valuable to you, go light the lamp…
Go to the brightness of scripture. Read God’s word… in times of loss, of confusion, discouragement, grief… the answer is Gods Word
5 If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. James 1:5 (niv)
Your invitation is to read God’s Word consistently, diligently, prayerfully… read and pray at the same time.
Enter into His presence… read in a logical place in the word… pray about what your facing. Marriage problems?
Read about Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebecca, Jacob and Rachel, Boaz and Ruth etc. health problems read about healing
And find a logical physical place to read… under a tree, at your dinner table… with a cup of coffee etc…
Thank God for making Himself available to be your friend. Ask Him to show you steps to take so that you can open your heart to Him…
Pray for obstacles to be removed that may hinder your relationship with Him. He is a speaking God, a relational GOD.
Why hear the voice of God? God wants to be your friend…
He invites us to run in His path and He sets our hearts free… He loves to speak to the hearts of His Children.
