Do I take time for a love relationship with the Father?
DOVE Family Core Teaching
We know God. John 17:3. Our lives are like a letter, written by the Spirit of the living God, to others. Our acts and service to God are like homemade ornaments; He wants friendship and fellowship with us. Habakkuk 2:1-3
Intimacy with God
If we don’t have an intimate relationship with God, we will burn out. Philippians 3:10
Billy Graham’s wife, Ruth, did not become bitter even though she was left alone many times to raise their kids. She had an intimacy with the Lord which kept her.
God is appalled that we choose other activities over Him. Jeremiah 2:11
Ask yourself these questions:
- Do I take time for a love relationship with the Father?
- Am I only seeking Him for direction?
- Do I study Scripture only to get a sermon message for others?
To seek the Lord is to crave His presence.
Hebrews 11:6, Psalm 42:7, Deuteronomy 14:2
The names of God
It is important that learn the many Hebrew names for God, because they define His character.
Ex. Adonai (Lord), Jehovah Shalom (peace), Jehovah Tsidkenu (righteousness)
- If we know His character, there is no stopping us.
- Satan loves to lie about the character of God.
- We need to constantly be reminded who God is.
We must find the Lord in the written Word.
Psalm 119:105
Dangerous misconceptions
Galatians 5:13, Philippians 2:13
- We can become preoccupied with ourselves as public people and fall into pride.
- We feel the need and the ability to fix everything and to make everyone happy.
- We are blinded to believe that we don’t make mistakes.
Sabbath rest
Although we should practice the principle of sabbath rest each week, the modern equivalent is our relationship with Jesus. Hebrews 4:9-10
It’s a relaxed attitude that God is sovereign. Isaiah 26:3, Psalm 112:7
Without the sabbath rest we have:
- Guilt without rest
- Unrealistic expectations
In order to be fruitful, we need to:
- Rest without guilt (Mark 6:31)
- Have expectations quieted.
- Jesus took time to pray rather than doing what others expected of Him (Mark 1:35-39)
- Listen to God’s voice (2 Corinthians 13:14)
Self-control
This is the ability to order our lives according to what God wants us to do and say.
Proverbs 16:32, Jeremiah 23:18
Items of lesser priorities won’t distract us until we’ve completed the number-one task of spending time with Him.
Psalm 46:10
Learn how to surrender
Practice learning how to surrender to Him day by day, all day long.
Exodus 20:18-20, Hebrews 12:18-25
Learning to Fellowship with God is one of the books in a series of 12 books that covers basic doctrine every Christian should know. Practical illustrations accompany the interactive, easy-to-understand format. Each book can be used for personal study, daily devotional, mentoring and small group study biblical foundation course. Available in English, Spanish, French, and Portuguese
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