Today we continue our week long focus on the Holy Spirit by exploring what it means for us to grow in friendship with him. We’ll never have a kinder, more present friend than the God who dwells within us. May we discover the pathway he’s laid before us to grow in friendship with him today, as we take time to experience him in a fresh way.
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Today we continue our weeklong focus on the Holy Spirit by exploring what it means for
us to grow in friendship with Him.
We'll never have a kinder, more present friend than the God who dwells within us.
May we discover the pathway He's laid before us to grow in friendship with Him today,
as we take time to experience Him in a fresh way.
Welcome to the first 15 podcast.
Our verse for today comes from Psalm 25 verse 14.
Scripture says,
The friendship of the Lord is for those who fear Him, and He makes known to them His covenant.
In friendship with the Holy Spirit, we begin to experience a sense of wholeness and joy,
unattainable through any other relationship or aspect of life.
Rapid and wonderful transformation results when you discover the wealth of love that comes with continual, real friendship with the living God.
In friendship with God comes peace, security, honesty, healing, and freedom.
As you live your life in step with the Spirit, you experience what Adam and Eve experienced as they walk with God Himself in the Garden of Eden.
You discover the vast reservoir of love, affection, and perfect help that's available to you in the Holy Spirit.
Open your heart today to receive a fresh revelation of God's desire for friendship with you through the Holy Spirit.
Jesus says in John 15-15,
No longer do I call you servants.
For the servant does not know what his master is doing, but I have called you friends.
For all that I have heard from my father, I have made known to you.
God longs for friendship with His people.
And through the Holy Spirit, we have a continual connection with God available to us.
The Spirit desires to do life with you.
He wants to guide you, speak to you, and love you.
He wants to satisfy your longing for relationship and can do so in greater ways than you can imagine.
John 14-16-17 says,
And I will ask the Father and He will give you another helper to be with you forever.
Even the Spirit of truth whom the world cannot receive because it neither sees Him nor knows Him.
You know Him for He dwells with you and will be in you.
By God's grace, you have been filled with God Himself.
You have dwelling with you the same Spirit who authored Scripture, raised Christ from the dead, empowered the disciples, and hovered over the waters at the creation of all things.
And Scripture says that He longs to help you.
Jesus calls Him the helper.
How incredible is the grace of our God to offer us relationship with the Holy Spirit.
How great is His love that He would send His Son to die, that we might have abundant life for all of eternity, including right now.
So how do we grow in friendship with the Holy Spirit?
How do we allow Him to satisfy our desire for relationship?
Psalm 25-14 says,
The friendship of the Lord is for those who fear Him, and He makes known to them His covenant.
In Ephesians 4-30 says,
And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
Friendship with the Holy Spirit starts like any other true friendship.
We must respect love and make time for Him.
We must learn what He likes and dislikes.
And we must apologize when we do something that hurts Him.
The Holy Spirit has feelings like any other person, but He is also full of grace, forgiveness, and unconditional love.
Friendship with Him comes about by following His leadership, making time to ask Him how He feels about things, and following His guidance away from a lifestyle of sin into the righteousness available to you through Christ Jesus.
The Holy Spirit is waiting right now to guide you into friendship with Him.
He is excited about the idea of pouring out His love and affections on you.
He longs to lead you away from the sins that hurt you and grieve Him, and He longs to guide you toward a life of walking with Him in relationship.
Spend time in prayer, being filled with the Holy Spirit of fresh, and making room to discover the reality of His presence in your life.
As we begin, meditate on God's desire for friendship with you.
John 15, 15 says,
For all that I have heard from my father, I have made known to you.
And next, ask the Holy Spirit to pour His love out on you.
Ask Him to make the reality of His nearness known to you.
Allow His nearness to fill your heart with desire to live your life in relationship with this real, tangible God who loves you.
And last, ask the Holy Spirit to pour His love out on you.
And last, ask the Holy Spirit what He likes and doesn't like.
Open your life and let Him speak to you about whatever is causing you trouble.
Ask Him how He feels about relationships, situations, thoughts, and perspectives you have.
The Spirit loves to speak to us and help us.
In John 14, verses 16 through 17, Jesus says,
And I will ask the Father and He will give you another helper to be with you forever.
Even the Spirit of truth from the world cannot receive because it neither sees Him nor knows Him.
You know Him for He dwells with you and will be in you.
And I will ask the Father and He will give you another helper to be with you forever.
And I will ask the Holy Spirit to pour His love out on you.
And I will ask the Holy Spirit to pour His love out on you.
And I will ask the Holy Spirit to pour His love out on you.
Often, we separate out what we think God cares about and what just seems to be normal
worldly parts of life, but God wants to be involved in every part of our lives.
He wants to be there for us in everything we do.
He wants to fill us with grace and joy to do all the things set before us, from taking
out the trash, to washing dishes, to leading thousands of people in prayer.
If you'll allow the Spirit to speak to every area of your life, you'll discover a new
found wealth of knowledge and love that your God has to share with you.
Thank you for listening to today's podcast. I'm Josh Miller with First 15. I pray that
you would find joy and purpose in the fact that God is really just after having relationship
with you. He wants to be your friend. If you'd like to get every day's devotional in your
inbox as well, head over to First15.org slash subscribe, have a wonderful rest of your day,
