Challenge Answers and "THE BOLDNESS OF FRIENDSHIP WITH GOD"

Good Evening to All!

I must have not been too with it last night. I just noticed that the Scripture hints were not included. I am so sorry. I don't know what happened, because I made a point of including them, then somehow half my post got deleted, so I re-typed it, and included them again. Anyway, I messed up somehow so I do apologize. I will definitely be more careful from now on .

The Answers to the Challenge "Wayward Paths" are as follows:

1. d) Shinar (Genesis 11:1-4)
2. b) Edomites (Genesis 36:9)
3. c) ground the idol into powder, put it in water and made them drink it. (Exodus 32:20)
4. a) were committed directly against God )1 Samuel 2:12-17, 2:22-22-36)
5. Er (1 Chronicles 2:3)
6. b) an ox bound for slaughter (Proverbs 7:22)
7. a) Noah and Lot (Luke 17:26-30)
8. d) Demas (2 Timothy 4:10)
9. c) Peter (2 Peter 3:3-4)
10. b) it recovers from a seemingly fatal wound (Revelation 13:3)

*****

Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Hebrews 4:16

This verse actually tells us to "Come near the throne of grace with confidence and faith that our Lord and Savior will hear and answer our prayers and help us in our time of need.

******

Think of our relationship to God just as you would your relationship with your best

friend. Chances are if you need help with something, your friend will come nearer to helping you than someone you are barely acquainted with, see once in a while, or don't know at all.

As we become closer to God, our prayers become more personal. More Spirit-led, and our faith begins to show through and more confident. They do this because we start to know God better and believe in Him and what He says He will do. The more we learn about Him the closer we become, the stronger our faith becomes and our prayers become more powerful and our faith increases because of our powerful prayers which God answers.

Another aspect of our friendship is the fact that we can be so persistent with our friends. With people we don't know very well, we will ask once, maybe twice or three times. With our "friends" we feel more comfortable with and therefore will go back time and again even "pushing"our luck sometimes because we know that our friends will be there for us even if we aggravate them by being a pest. This reminds me of the story in the Bible (Luke 11) where man goes to his friend at midnight wanting to borrow three loaves of bread to feed his friend who has just arrived. The friend says not to bother him. The man persisted and his friend finally gave in because he realized the man wasn't going to give up until he loaned him the bread. Our persistence in prayer should be the same.

We should be with God the same as with our best friends. We are not ashamed to be bold with our friends, being honest with them, and asking them for help, and we should be no different with God. After all, He did say He was a friend that sticketh closer than a brother. The more we learn about God, the more we mature in His ways, the closer we become to God, the bolder and more confident we will become when we approach Him.

There is no such thing as being close enough to God. We should NEVER get to the point that we are satisfied at the level at which our relationship is with Him. I have heard a husband or wife say "I love them more everyday" about each other. This is the way we should feel about God.

Good Night and May God Bless!