Friend of God

I usually make it a point of duty to spend time with God each morning when I wake up. But, on so many occasions I find myself in such a hurry to meet up with daily demands and thus I hardly spend quality time with my Father either in reading and meditating on His Word r even in prayer. That’s not excuse enough though. I’m guessing you can connect with my experience as well.
Exodus 24:18- “So Moses went into the midst of the cloud and went into the mountain. And Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights.” (NKJV)
 Looking at the life of Moses alone brings to light a great deal on my walk with God. A great fact that struck me is the fact that Moses spent 40 days on the mountain with God. This is 40 consecutive days, without coming down, probably without eating; because Moses had reached the point where God was filling enough for Him. The questions now are: how much time do I spend with God? Am I diligently seeking Him despite the time it may take me? Have I reached the point where God is enough for me? Am I willing to forget the world and focus on God, spending time with Him?
Exodus 31:18- “And when He has made and end of speaking with him on Mount Sinai, He gave Moses two tablets of the Testimony, tablets of stone, written with the finger of God.” (NKJV)
The story of Moses’ time with God on the mountain continues and at the end of his time with God, he was given the commandments for God’s people to take with him. Now, these weren’t just ANY two tablets of stone with the commandments on them. The Bible says the commandments were written with the finger of God Himself! Wow! This opened my eyes to see the experiencing myself gives me the privilege to receive directions for my life and for God’s people directly from the throne of God Himself. Amazing isn’t it?
 Exodus 33:11a- “So the Lord spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to His friend.” (NKJV)
 It should be noted here that Moses’ walk with God was a continuous one. It didn’t go on hold after he came down from the mountain. Instead, it continued. My walk with God must be continuous; daily.
How do I relate with God? Do I relate with Him as an Almighty, ‘High Up There’ being whom I see as fearful and ‘very serious’? Well, on the contrary, Moses’ relationship with God proved otherwise. The Bible says that Moses spoke to the Lord as a man speaks to his friend. Wow!
God desires a relationship with me as my friend, but only the amount of time I spend with Him can guarantee that. Just like I have to spend time with my earthly friends to know them better and strengthen our relationship, I also must spend quality time with God as well. How amazing will it be that the God of all the earth is my friend? I would like to say, that would be so dope!
 Exodus 34:35- “And whenever the children of Israel saw the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses’ face shone, then Moses would put the veil on his face again, until he went in to speak with Him. (NKJV)
 Personally, I feel great inside-out anytime I spend meaningful time with god. I’m joyful and energetic. There’s always a difference. Well, Moses experienced the difference too. His face shone. In fact, it shone so much that he had to put a veil over his face when he came out from spending time with God. That’s amazing. Spending time with God sure makes a difference in one’s life.
 Moses was known to “speak” with God. Speaking involves communication and conversation. Meaning that, it was a two-way street for Moses and God. Moses spoke to God and God spoke to Him too. That’s why there was a friendship collabo going on between them. I personally wouldn’t like to keep talking to a friend who doesn’t talk back to me.

 The thing I realize in all this is that it’s my choice, your choice. I must go “in’’ to speak with God. There is no protocol to speaking to God. Because now, I can approach the throne of God boldly and find grace in my time of need. Hebrews 4:16 says, “So let us KEEP COMING boldly to the throne of grace, so that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” (Int. Standard Version. Emphasis mine.)
 I want to be a friend of God. I want to talk to Him and hear Him talk to me. I want to experience Him for myself. I want to focus on Him because He is all I need. I want to be able to spend meaningful time with Him without being in such a hurry. I want to deliberately walk with Him as Father and friend. I will search for Him no matter how long it takes because He says I will find Him (Isaiah 55:6). I want to experience the difference that spending time with Him brings and I want others to see the difference too. I want my relationship with Him to be continuous. I want to get to the point where He is enough for me.
 I’m going IN. Are you?

References:
The Holy Bible (New King James Version) Thomas Nelson Publishers
www.biblehub.com (International Standard Version)