“Our Daily Bread”     http://odb.org/

The Daily Devotions of Greg Laurie                                  

http://www.harvest.org/devotional/daily-devotions/home.ht   

“Homily Grits Devotional”   http://www.homilygrits.com/

Written by the wise 83 yr old Robert VanHoose, who writes the “Homily Grits Devotional” above:

June 1                                  

Read Luke 13:22
Psalm 25

                                                    
                     “More than an Acquaintance”

 “So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God—all because of what our Lord Jesus Christ has done for us in making us friends of God.”   Romans 5:11

     Many people are acquainted with God, but they never get to know Him.  They may have become acquainted with Him through family, or friends at school, at work or at home.

     Some have even gone out on blind dates with Him to church or some church function, but they never get to know Him through a close personal relationship.

     We all have many acquaintances but a poverty of real friends.  It takes time, shared experiences and having a lot of common interests for an acquaintance to become a friend.

     A friend is some one you could call at 2 am and ask to come get you if your car breaks down, or if you would go get if they called you.  Most of us would be hard pressed to name 10 true friends who would be there for us if we called.

     God calls us all into friendship through a close and personal relationship with Jesus Christ.  Our acquaintanceship grows into friendship through the process ofgetting to know Him by knowing all about Him through His Word and the witness of other believers; and by inviting Him to be the Lord of our life by the power of the Holy Spirit living within us.  

     When we abide in Him in the perfect peace and security that His friendship affords, we can put Him at the top of the list of those who we can count on.  

     Could anything be sadder than to hear our Lord say “I knew you not” because He never became more than a mere acquaintance in our lives?

   Father, may my relationship with you grow into a friendship that will last forever.  In Jesus’ name, Amen. 

P.S. Here is a link on the first step to knowing God, through understanding and obeying the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ…  Blessings in Christ,  bruce https://godsmanforever.wordpress.com/2012/10/20/gods-group-thoughts-for-10202012-gods-grace-through-obedience-to-the-gospel-of-christ/