Word of the Day
Beloved, today is your day of determination…today is your day to call yourself a friend of God. “Friend, “You say? I know it may sound cliché for you have heard many say it and many songs sung about it, but do you believe you are MY friend? Do you believe I am your friend…a friend that loves at all times regardless even in adversity of life and heart (Proverbs 17:17)? Do you believe I am really, really your friend? (Selah, think and mediate on this).
Friends trust each other with their very life. Do you trust Me with yours? Do you trust Me with all the blindfolds you keep just in case…just in case you do something so very unacceptable in your own eyes? I want them all. I want anything which has the ability to tarnish in your own eyes what I think about you.
How do hindrances work? At first they are like a blindfold to block your view but only for a while. Over time, blindfolds become barriers…become strongmen in hopes of keeping Me away. Aren’t you glad I am not intimidated by such things?
Beloved, sure it is your choice to choose what you wear (blindfold and such) or what you erect between us (walls of fear and such), but I have determined to pursue you with a jealous love regardless. I choose to leap over your wall…to leap over your defenses and be your strong tower in the day of trouble.
I want you to know what I know which is this: it is easier if you keep up with your heart on a daily basis and trust Me to reveal…to build block upon block…line upon line all that needs to be done. No need to hurry in order to fix all things fast. There is a process. Sometimes process is slow. Sometimes it is fast. Only one thing matters; moving in sync with Me as your trusted friend who will never sow you any harm. For, I have chosen you, appointed you and as My friend that you might bear lasting fruit in your own life…that you might bear lasting fruit for others to eat …that you might know I love you, My friend.
I do not call you servants (slaves) any longer; for the servant does not know what his master is doing (working out). But I have called you My friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from My Father. [I have revealed to you everything that I have learned from Him.] You have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you and I have appointed you [I have planted you], that you might go and bear fruit and keep on bearing, and that your fruit may be lasting [that it may remain, abide], so that whatever you ask the Father in My Name [as [a]presenting all that I AM], He may give it to you. (John 15:15-16 Amplified)
And [so] the Scripture was fulfilled that says, Abraham believed in (adhered to, trusted in, and relied on) God, and this was accounted to him as righteousness (as conformity to God’s will in thought and deed), and he was called God’s friend. (James 2:23 Amplified)
Prayer
Lord, today is my day. It is my day of determination and steadfast resolve. I choose to use the will and free choice You have given me to choose Your truth over that of the world. I declare myself to be a friend of God and not a slave. Slaves do not know what their master is doing but a friend does. You have called me friend and the truth of Your word is settled in the heavens, on the earth and in my daily living. A true friend loves at all time and is born for adversity. Since this is true of a natural friend, how much more it is and shall always be true of You in my life.
One of the most beautiful truths I know of is the beauty of knowing You were born for my adversity…born for it and died to keep me standing in the midst of it without condemnation forever more. I trust You with every aspect of my life and do give You all the self-tarnishing thoughts, attitudes and actions I have held on to. I hold nothing back for I am loved beyond measure. How awesome it is to know You pursue me with a passionate love. You are not afraid to pursue me when I go into dark and unbelieving places. You are not afraid of my mistakes nor are you surprised. Regardless of what takes place, You just keep pursuing and pursuing and pursuing me until we become one in heart and mind. What a relentless, and passionate love I am subjected to…encompassed by and submerged in. Nothing can compare. I am loved down to the most basic level regardless.
Lord, today I take off any blindfolds. Today I refuse to have any walls of fear of condemnation or rejection between us. I embrace grace. I embrace who I am in you more fully today than I did yesterday. I commit my heart to you on a moment by moment, day by day basis so I may build block upon block in order to go from glory to glory. I am chosen and appointed to set the captives free as I have been freed. I am a bearer of good fruit. I am a friend of God. Amen
Reflect and Journal
- What does it mean to you on a personal level to be a friend of God? How does your definition match up with His?
- What is the difference between a slave and a friend?
- In what areas, inner or outward, have you been walking in a slave like mentality?
- How have small blindfolds of unbelief in your own life grown into barriers, or strong men. You must take time to meditate on this. Think of an area you seem to not be able to overcome. Ask the Lord to speak to you and tell you where it started as a simple blindfold…a little fox planted by your own thinking, the words of another or a direct lie of the enemy. Remember, God is faithful. He wants to manifest and destroy the works of the evil one. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested in the first place.
- Beliefs are built block upon block…line upon line…precept upon precept and many times they are disassembled in the same way. This is called process. It is often in the midst of process that we give up. We do not for the most part think God loves the process; but, He does. When we grasp this truth in our spirit things will change. You are right where you need to be in order to move on…to be in rhythm with God. Rhythm can mean to move on at the same pace. Move with His pace with the understanding He has your back and has lit the path ahead. You may only have enough light for the step you are in and it is OK. When you realize this, you can relax and rest in Him whose yoke is easy…whose burden is light.
- Mediate and write out in a couple of precise and straightforward sentences what you feel the Lord has called/appointed you to do. When you do this, print them out, for they are your mission…your vision. According to Habakkuk 2:1-2 it is important to position yourself, look to hear or see what the Lord is saying and then write it out so all who see it can believe. This is the same for you.