He Calls Us friends

God's amazing plan to purchase men and women for Himself was inspired by His deep desire for companionship. His abundant love needed an object of His affection. Nothing has changed in God's scheme of things. His fervent desire is to enjoy friendship with us and to bless us as any good father  desires to bless his children.

It is for this companionship that each of us were created.  His door is always open to us 24/7. He is, in fact, eager to spend time with us and to bless us with His wonderful presence. He is never too busy to take time for each of us. This mysterious concept of companionship between God and man  is not only for our enjoyment and edification but for His enjoyment, as well. He is an incredibly relational God.

Relationship with God is not just about studying the written word or praying about whatever is on our heart. These disciplines, of course, are important. However, relationship is far more than studying and requesting. It is about knowing and another and being known and being vulnerable.

True companionship is about quality time spent, having relaxed conversation and becoming closer. This can only be accomplished through personal interaction. Sometimes it is just sitting beside another in the quiet with no need for conversation. Sometimes it is about just being together and feeling each  other's nearness. It is about not needing to perform or impress but to simply be together. This is how deep friends interact.  This kind of relationship grows over time spent.

                         Friendship's Fringe Benefits

Entering into that Divine presence, we become humbled as we acknowledge His holiness overshadowing our weak and flawed nature. He becomes bigger and we become smaller. His wisdom overshadows our own reasoning. Problems diminish in light of  the enormity of His power. Our fear subsides in the safety of His presence.

We can reason together as He has exhorted us to do and find new perspectives, as well as, support and encouragement. We learn that He never intended for us to negotiate this world independently but together with Him in His strength.  We were created to be dependent upon His goodness and to know His faithfulness.

                  The Spirit Broods over us in our Rest

It has become  a personal pursuit of mine recently to ask Him straight out, during our times together, "What would you like to teach me today?" or  "What lesson do you have for me today?"  That inquiry has never yet remained unanswered.

This morning, in response to my inquiry, He began to speak to me about His rest. He likened that meeting place with Him as a nest. He likened the Holy Spirit to a mother hen as she covers each egg  within the nest with herself and broods over the unborn chicks.

 She protects, provides warmth and nurtures each little chick until it has the maturity and strength to peck its way out of the shell and emerge as a brand new creature. He said that the Holy Spirit is much like that nesting mother hen when we enter into that "secret place" of fellowship with the Lord.

He broods over our spirits, protecting and nurturing and infusing our spirits with His life to bring us to maturity. We grow and mature in spirit until we become strong.  As spirit beings, ourselves, our spirits are dwelling within the flesh which He likened to the shell, in which the baby chick is housed until it becomes strong enough to emerge.

Our spirits grow in this nurturing environment of the Holy Spirit in ways which we cannot even comprehend.  Much like the baby chick becoming more and more like the image of the mother hen, so too, our spirits grow and change and become more like the one who nurtures us. Our spirits are in a  state of  holy incubation and maturity in this environment as the Divine Creator is brooding over us.

The chick has nothing more to do with this process than to rest under the mother's bosom and receive. It is not striving, performing, or achieving any short or long term goals. It rests in safety until it has come to maturity and then emerges in the image of the one who broods over it.

In order to be fully released as the spirit beings, that we are destined to become, in His image and for His glory, we need the empowering of the Holy Spirit as He broods over us in our rest. It is primary to our spiritual growth to seek this rest from our labors and enter into this intimacy.

                  Empowered to Be Living Testimonies            

My deep desire is to live in the spirit and not the flesh. However, flesh beating flesh into submission has never been successful in releasing the spirit, that we are created to be for the Father's glory. That only results in rebellion and harshness and not looking more like our Savior.

It is only by the Holy Spirit working within our spirits that we may become those glorious empowered believers, that look, act, walk,  talk, and love as Jesus did and still does. It is by His work alone  while we are enjoying the friendship which He provided by the Cross.

It is by resting in His brooding presence and faithful love, supernaturally imparted to us, that our spirits will emerge full of kindness, slow to anger, and quick to forgive. It is by this rest that we will become the very image of the One whom we love and serve so that all men will honor Him.

                            Where Do We Begin?

We begin wherever we are. For each of us this may be different. Setting aside a time to just be alone with God is a starting place for many. Finding a place with few interruptions or a time when interruptions will be minimal in order to give Him our full focus is important. More than where and when we meet with Him, I believe it is more about an attitude of our hearts.  

Our hearts are compromised if we go to meet with Him out of a sense of obligation and it will be more of a business meeting than seeking friendship. For some that may be the only place in which they can begin this pursuit.

That was where I started nearly 30 years ago. Soon, however, I learned that honesty was critical if I were to enter into such a Divine friendship. Considering that He knows my every thought, there was no point in hiding any truth. It was far more expedient for  the relationship for me to discuss this with Him and get the pretense out of the way.

 Real relationship requires being known in our weakness as well as in our strength. Mutual trust is foundational. When we hold back truth we are not trusting in His grace and forgiving nature. He desires our truth. So by all means, let it all hang out, the good, the bad, and the ugly!

He can handle that far better than our pretenses and coverups.  Sooner or later He will call us on those anyway. He knows how awkward we may feel and how we fear exposure. Don't ever forget that Jesus walked as a man for 33 years and knows all that we deal with as humans.

                           Times Places and Formats

Some of us have spent prime time in that place of meeting but have gotten wrapped up in the cares of this world and just can't find the time any more. That's quite familiar to me. I've walked in those seasons too.

The amazing thing is that once I committed time to seek Him in that way, I wouldn't want to pull away in order to tend to the things of this world, that demanded my attention. His presence was too wonderful to even want to go back to the mundane issues of this world. Even more amazing was that my time seemed to increase for other things as I gave Him a piece of my day and myself regularly.  That is a Kingdom dynamic that could be explored in depth at another time.  

Everyone will find their own comfortable place, time and environment for this pursuit of intimate relationship with God. For many worship music will help draw your focus onto the One with whom you are seeking to connect. I personally enjoy soft instrumental "soaking" music so that I am not distracted from Him by the lyrics or the beat.

Thanksgiving and praise is an excellent jump start, as He inhabits the praises of His people. Not only that, finding those things that you can sincerely thank Him for will help you to get in touch with His truly kind nature and character. It helps to refocus from the distractions of the issues of life and to look more fully at Him. It won't take long before you will become enraptured by His beauty realizing that He is already enraptured by you.

The where and the how  of pursuing  this will be a learning and growing experience for each of us. We are diverse creations, each with our own unique quirks and preferences, all of which He is quite familiar with, as He personally wove these unique characteristics into our very fiber. He loves you, all of you!  Don't forget that when you enter in to that place of meeting and just take things from there.

 There is no formula, no ritual, just fresh spontaneous interchange between you and the Creator who longs to bless you in His presence and enjoy time with you.  

May you be blessed with fresh understanding of His amazing love for you as you seek to know Him more. May wisdom and understanding be increased in your life. May you find strength in His love and encouragement for your days. May He overshadow you with His kindness and may you experience the blessing of knowing His favor upon your life.  May you fulfill your destiny as your grow and mature in the revelation of His brooding and passionate love for you!  Amen