Intimacy with the Lord
How to be close with your Creator
Being Called a Friend of God
How to Be Close with Your Creator? Abraham was the first friend of God we see in the Bible and he wasn’t the only one. Imagine being called a friend of the all-knowing, and omnipresent God. It is incomprehensible in our mental abilities. But we can with God who created the heavens and the earth! This is what He desires with us, His kids.
Abraham wasn’t perfect. Neither are we. He partially lied to Pharaoh and said his wife was his sister, so he wouldn’t be killed. He also took Lot with him when he left his country - God told him to get out of his country, away from his family, to the place that God was taking him. But he took Lot, his family and all the belonged to him. Nevertheless, Abraham was God’s friend.
James 2:23 Abraham believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness AND he was called God’s friend.
God wasn’t looking where Abe messed up. He looked on Abraham’s heart. Abraham believed God and consequently God called him “friend.” Imagine what it would be like if fellow brethren treated each other like that rather than telling them they were going to hell. But I digress...
David was similar. God so loved David because He knew David’s heart. As a young shepherd boy it was likely he spoke to the Lord, sung to Him, spoke scripture back to Him because of this one verse - it was in the showdown with Goliath. 1 Samuel 17:26 - “David asked the men
standing near him, “What will be done for the man who kills this Philistine and removes this disgrace from Israel? Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the
living God?”
David understood the Law. He knew who he was to God. And God said David had His Own Heart. (1 Samuel 13:14.) And David, like us all, was a flawed man. BUT God knew David had His very own heart: David would believe what God said. This is a part of how intimacy with God
happens.
All we have to do is believe Him. Like any good parent, they always tell the truth to their children and their children trust them without a second thought. So now we established a part of what it takes to have intimacy with the Lord, what are the other aspects and how do we do it? It’s just like any relationship. The basic rules are the same. Spend time with the Lord, believe Him, do what He says to do.
1. Spend time with God - we do this in quiet time each day, in His Word and speaking with Him and most importantly, listening to Him. You are His sheep and you hear His voice John 10:3-4, 27. Ask Him how He wants you to go about your day; you may have questions about the specifics of that day - ask Him - He will lead you, even if you don’t “get” anything immediately, you will get a prompting from deep within you of what to do. Sometimes you may simply get “peace” about your day. That’s wonderful. When you get busy and distracted from time with the Lord, you will notice a difference. You’ll be short tempered, language will not be Godly, etc. If your life is such that time is limited, then play Christian music when you sleep and in your
car, or play teaching sermons from pastors/teachers who you are led to. Keep
the Word going into your heart. Then when you can, set aside time with the Lord. Even if it’s 30 minutes. Talk with Him. Always be sure to listen, listen in His Word - ask Him where He wants you to read that day. All of this is so important. It’s like building any relationship. You have to spend time together. The more you do it, the more you will want to do.
2. Do what He tells you - as John 2:5 says, whatever He tells you to do, do it. He may tell you by a gentle prompting (He is the ultimate gentlemen); or a knowing; or His still, small, quiet voice. However He chooses to lead you, follow His lead. If you miss it, repent immediately and ask for His direction about it. He may still want you to do it or He may direct you otherwise.
3. Take His Correction - there are times when we miss it. Allow the Lord to correct you. There are several things to be aware of in the area of correction. First, take a look at what God has said about it in scripture: Zephaniah 3:2 - “She obeys no one, she accepts no correction. She does not trust in the LORD, she does not draw near to her God.” In order for us to take correction from the Lord we have to trust Him. Do you trust God? Be honest with yourself. You have to come to the place where you know that God is always right. It doesn’t matter if you don’t “get” it. He will reveal it. Simply do it, no matter what. His “will” will make things very clear to you. What He says goes - He is always right.
Proverbs 12:1 - “Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but whoever hates correction is stupid.” Proverbs is great for correction and very clear. Proverbs 15:32 - “Those who disregard discipline despise themselves, but the one who heeds correction gains understanding.” Not only is the understanding you gain deeper in the things of God but your understanding is deeper in the things of “you”. Trust “you” because of the Holy Spirit within you, and learning where you missed it and how. You will learn volumes from things like this…they are painful…but oh, so helpful. Heeding correction will draw you closer to the Lord. Disregarding it puts a barrier between you and God. The main way we receive correction is through God’s Word, 2 Timothy 3:16 - “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and
training in righteousness” We don’t know “how” to be righteous and since we are now new creatures in Christ Jesus and the righteousness of God through Jesus paying the price for our sins on the cross, we have to learn “how” (2 Corinthians 5:14-21). Proverbs 3:12 - “Because the LORD disciplines those He loves, as a father the son He delights in.” The Lord loves us and that is why He corrects us. To help us. After all, that is why a parent disciplines their child. To help them. And there are 5 general things that we need to be aware of in life. These occur with each and every one of us.
How to recognize them when/if they are happening:
• There are 5 things that we all have to be aware of because we all have (had) them to some degree. The Lord’s correction will change you with these things. And this is where learning correction from the Lord is VITAL, to change these things in our lives.
A. Generational Curses - these show up as cycles of things in a person’s life and they are a trait in the family line, like: cycles of sickness, divorce, molestation, addiction and many more. Curses can come from a few ways - a family member whom has done oaths, agreements,
rituals (witchcraft), [these can be known or unknown done by the person] - these come from “sin” - disobedience to God - and has cords Proverbs 5:21-23. That’s why it is in cycles, it’s the cord. The cord allows the demons to attach to the family line. All of these ways can also be done by a witch who has cast it upon you or your family. The bottom line is Jesus Christ has
given you Authority to break them. A doorway was created by someone with unrepented sin, and the sin needs to be cleaned up with repentance and the Blood of Jesus. Yes, Jesus died
for all of our sins. But sometimes when there is a family curse the Lord will allow it to teach you about Spiritual Authority.
Pray along these lines: 1. Stand as the intercessor for your family;
2. In Jesus Name, repent of all sins of your forefathers and foremothers and cancel all oaths, contracts, rituals and such things - known and unknown and close all doorways that had been opened;
3. Receive God’s forgiveness for you and your entire family;
4. Break all cords to the sins of your family Ecclesiastes 12:6;
5. Speak the blessings of God over your family from this point forward and plead the Blood of Jesus over your entire family and wipe it clean in Jesus Name.
B. Demonic spirits - Sometimes demonic spirits get lodged in a family from a family curse. But there are others that can take up residence with you or another family member. Demonic spirits may manifest in various ways like spirit spouses - you know if this is your situation if you have sexual dreams. Some experience being raped in their dream; there can be spirits of anger - these can manifest as short outbursts for very trivial problems; spirit of control - yourself or a family member likes to be in control over every thing at all times; spirit of loneliness; spirit of rejection - very common today, shows up as a lack of self confidence.
There are others. The result is negative “traits” that plague a family. You know if there is spirit if there is a behavior that you don’t like and that you can’t get away from. You can’t stop it. Demons force. They are here to steal, kill, and destroy - John 10:10. They steal your peace,
steal your joy; kill your destiny, kill off your health; destroy relationships in the family, destroy success. These spirits can cause division and strife within the family and within marriages if they are not dealt with.
What to do: you have to break spirit marriages in the Name of Jesus, you belong to Jesus’ - end of story. Repent of all sin that caused the doorway(s) for these spirits to enter and close it in the Name of Jesus; cut all cords to the sin; and loose the demons in Jesus Name and cast them out into outer darkness to await their judgement - Jude 6. Ask the Holy Spirit to cleanse you,
your family, your home, of all residue in Jesus Name - this may mean playing Holy Spirit led music, or playing scripture in your home to spiritually clean the environment - Ephesians 5:26-27.
C. Mental strongholds - mental strongholds are false beliefs. Typically they are “thoughts” we grew up with and we can’t tell they aren’t true because they have becomes a part of our personality. Like: “We’ve always been poor, that’s just how it is. We are poor.” That’s a mental stronghold. It’s a false belief or misconception that you have accepted as truth. Another like: your mother or father always told you that you were stupid. This misconception became your identity…but it is not who you are. You deal with mental strongholds by renewing your mind, as we have spoken before. Change your thoughts for God’s thoughts. He is always right. You do this by getting into scripture that says “who you are” according to God. Go to all the “in Him, in Whom, in Christ Jesus, in Christ” scriptures. This is your identity now! And every time the old
stronghold shows up, cast that thought down in the Name of Jesus and replace that old thought by speaking to yourself the scripture that counteracts it. You do this until your thinking changes. (2 Corinthians 10:3-6.)
D. Addictions - alcohol, drugs, pornography, even types of food can all be addictions. Can be caused by curses, but not always. Addictions are motivated by two parts, a spirit of addiction that is typically hooked up to spirit of rejection and unforgiveness. The spirit of guilt sometimes comes along for the ride. Like all the others things listed above: Repent of opening a doorway (unforgiveness is usually the doorway here) and the sin, cut all cords, loose the strongman with all spirit(s) it’s in charge of, in the Name of Jesus and cast them into outer darkness; wash yourself clean by pleading the Blood of Jesus and renewing your mind with scripture - washing of water by the Word. You are a new creature 2 Corinthians 5:17, John 8:36. You have to change your thinking. Always with addictions there is a stronghold involved.
E. Issues of the flesh - our sinful nature, when not submitted to the Holy Spirit, is a free-for-all with the enemy to have his way with us. Things like pride, pushiness, selfishness, and stubbornness will cause serious problems in your life. It’s about submitting your way, for God’s way. It is a choice. You have to choose to do it. None of us are smarter than God. We don’t have it all figured out. Submit to God and He will lead you through it.
As you are spending time in the Word with the Lord, listening to Him, obeying His voice, retraining your mind, getting rid of all strongholds, you are getting closer and closer to the Lord. And the more time you spend in His Word, the more you want to spend time. It’s amazing how
that happens! Simply trust Him and follow Him. As Proverbs 3:5-6 says, Trust in the Lord with all your heart and don’t lean to your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will bring it to pass. He has got you!
2 Corinthians. 13:14 - “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the
love of God, and the communion (fellowship) of the Holy
Spirit be with you all.