Every relationship needs healthy definition! 

God wants to be your friend.

Romans 5:10-11 We were God's enemies, but He made us His friends through the death of His Son. Now that we are God's friends, how much more will we be saved by Christ's life! In addition, our Lord Jesus Christ lets us continue to brag about God. After all, it is through Christ that we now have this restored relationship with God.

John 15:15 I no longer call you servants...  Instead, I call you my friends!

friends = deep, close, personal, intimate comrade. 

God wants to be a close friend.

Acquaintance = a person one knows slightly, but who is not a close friend.

Jeremiah 29:12 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. 

You get to determine how close you are to God.

1. MAKE KNOWING GOD PRIORITY #1

Philippians 3:8-10 Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For His sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ 9 and become one with Him.10 I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised Him from the dead. 

Information about someone does not equal a revelation of who someone is.

Jeremiah 29:13 You will find me when you seek me with ALLyour heart.

You’re as close to God as you choose to be. 

2. CENTRALIZE SPIRITUAL INVESTMENTS AROUND RELATIONSHIP

Revelation 3:20 I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in and eat with you, and you with me.

• When I read the Bible, relationship with God is the center. 

John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

• When I pray, relationship with God is the center… 

1 Thessalonians 5:17 pray all the time!

Keep the conversation going!

• When I Worship, relationship with God is the center…  

Deuteronomy 10:8 At that time the Lord set apart the tribe of Levi to carry the ark of the covenant of the Lord to stand before the Lord to minister to Him and to bless in His name, to this day. 

Through worship you can bless God and bless the world around you.

3. SLOW DOWN AND BE QUIET.

Psalm 40:1 I waited patiently for the Lord, and He turned to me, and heard my cry. 

Close relationships don’t happen in a hurry. 

Psalm 46:10 “Be still,and know that I am God.

Being in a hurry is dangerous!

SLIDE PIC OAKLEY’S

1. Relationships Involve people. 
2. Satan is the Enemy of Relationships
3. We Receive Almost no training for Relationships. 

Zephaniah 3:9-10

Every relationship needs healthy definition. 

Your assumptions affect your decisions

An Assumption about relationships:
My Relationships, Should Make Me Happy

- Your happiness is a moving target. 

- Your happiness selfish. 

• Your happiness isn’t love. 

Ephesians 5:1, Ephesians 5:21 

Romans 5:8, 1 John 4:19

The Goal of Relationships is the God kind of love! 

Fasting is not about how much weight you lose, but about how much God you gain.

1 Timothy 6:6 But godliness with contentment is great gain.

To Be Thankful Like Never Before I Must:

1. Believe that God never Fails.

Psalm 73:26 My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

1 Thessalonians 5:18 Give thanks IN every situation…

To Be Thankful Like Never Before I Must:

2. Desire to be in God’s will.

1 Thessalonians 5:18 Give thanks in every situation because this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

To Be Thankful Like Never Before I Must:

3. Crave days spent in God’s courts.

Psalm 100:4 Enter His gates with a song of thanksgiving, and His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, bless and praise His name.

(Phil 4:6-7, Psalm 84:10)

To Be Thankful Like Never Before I Must:

4. Seek relationship over rituals. 

 (Luke 17:15-19)

 LIKE NEVER BEFORE | WEEK 03 | THINK LIKE NEVER BEFORE

1 Kings 19:3,  Proverbs 23:7 

How I Think Affects How I Live.

“Be careful how you think, your life is shaped by your thoughts.” - Proverbs 4:23 

Guard our Minds.

“Take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the spirit, which is the Word of God.” - Ephesians 6:17 

Read and Study the Word

Ezekiel 32:11,  Hebrews 4: 12-13

2 Corinthians 10:5

Speak the Word

The Word of God works like a weapon in our life when it is spoken. 

Genesis 2:16, Genesis 3:11, Revelation 22:14

OBEDIENCE = Shama - to hear intelligently and harken to a higher authority; to have a hearing heart.

Anytime God asks you to obey, it’s for good and for blessing!

We Obey…

1. Because We Love God, Others and Ourselves

We Obey… Because We Love God

Love is the root, obedience is the fruit.

John 14:15, John 14:23, 1 John 5:3

“True obedience is a matter of love, which makes it voluntary, not compelled by fear or force.” -  Dorothy Day

_We Obey… Because We Love Others

Obedience affects the lives of those around you. 

“The way to be a blessing to the world is to be people of obedience, known by God and the world by this one mark.” - Andrew Murray 

Genesis 22:18, Deuteronomy 5:29, Psalm 112:1-2, 

Your obedience today is building an inheritance that will touch future generations.

_We Obey… Because We Love Ourselves

Proverbs 16:20, Isaiah 1:19, Deuteronomy 28:1-7

We Obey…

2. In Faith 

2 Corinthians 5:7 we walk by faith, not by sight.

Luke 5:1-11

Jesus didn’t need Peter’s boat, Peter needed Jesus’ blessing on His boat. 

2 Kings 3:16-18

We Obey…

3. Because Jesus Obeyed

Luke 2:51, John 4:34, John 5:30, John 6:38, John 14:31, John 15:10 

Philippians 2:8 He humbled Himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross.

Matthew 26:39 “O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.”

Philippians 2:9-11, Hebrews 12:2