January: Personal Life
Some things may be neglected with but little loss to the spiritual
life, but to neglect communion with God is to hurt ourselves where we
cannot afford it. The Root of the Righteous, page 9
January 4 Personal Life: A Friend of God And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, "Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness." And he was called the friend of God. --James 2:23 After all, what higher privilege and experience is granted to mankind on earth than to be admitted into the circle of the friends of God?... It is well for us to remember that Divine-human friendship originated with God. Had God not first said "You are My friends," it would be inexcusably brash for any man to say, "I am a friend of God." But since God claims us for His friends, it is an act of unbelief to deny the offer of such a relationship.... The spiritual giants of old were those who at some time became acutely conscious of the presence of God. They maintained that consciousness for the rest of their lives.... The essential point is this: These were men who met and experienced God! How otherwise can the saints and prophets be explained? How otherwise can we account for the amazing power for good they have exercised over countless generations? Is it not that indeed they had become friends of God? Is it not that they walked in conscious communion with the real Presence and addressed their prayers to God with the artless conviction that they were truly addressing Someone actually there? Men Who Met God, 13-14. "Compared with those saints of old, Father, I seem to know so little of that conscious communion with Your real Presence! I pray that throughout this year I might catch a glimpse of what that means, and might increasingly move into the intimate joy of experiencing You as a personal Friend. Amen."
