(July 18, 2010)

What's the difference between friends and acquaintances? Acquaintances are people that you may start a conversation with from time-to-time. Friends are close to you and you enjoy each other's company as often as you can get together. But, there is another level: Family.

If you are family, you are extremely close to the point that you know their intricacies and their quirks. You help them at a moment's notice. You forgive them and they forgive you for wrongs made.

What is your relationship with God? Acquaintance? Friend? Family? If you had a list of requests for the Lord, would "Simply be in your presence" be once of them? It takes time to establish getting to know God. However, He wants us to have that comfort level with Him where we will become family with Him.

1. Soak and wait. Soaking is taking in everything in the presence of God. Maybe it's listening to God while listening to music. Maybe it's sitting in the middle of the floor in silence for an hour or more. It's hard and unnatural for us because we have a hundred things going through our heads at any given moment. But, we need to take time and soak in His presence. He will come if you soak in His presence. You have to wait to experience the good things that He has in store for you.

2. Study, seek, see. To see the beauty of the Lord, we have to study and seek Him. What does God look like? What does God smell like? You have to study to know. You have to want to know all about Him. If you take time to study and seek Him, you will then see Him. This can revolutionize your prayer time and you time with Him.

3. Sacrifice and sing. David, in Psalm 27, knew that he needed to sacrifice and sing to bring himself closer to God. God loves it when we sing to Him. One way we get closer to Him is by singing to Him and letting Him know that you are willing to sacrifice your time and yourself to Him.

4. Share with God. As you begin to open up to God, He will share with us as we've shared with Him. It's hard to have intimate family when sharing is one-sided.

5. Serve. The more intimately connected with God, the more that we want to go out and do things for Him.

- Jon Bruney