Joy Dawson - Intimate Friendship with God: Through Understanding the Fear of the Lord

1986, 2008 by Joy Dawson

Published by Chosen Books

A division of Baker Publishing Group

P.O. Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 49516-6287

www.chosenbooks.com

Revised edition published 2008

Ebook edition created 2013

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meansfor example, electronic, photocopy, recordingwithout the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.

ISBN 978-1-4412-6293-6

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture is taken from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture marked AMP is taken from the Amplified Bible, Copyright 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.

Scripture marked NIV is taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.

Scripture marked NKJV is taken from the New King James Version. Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture marked KJV is taken from the King James Version of the Bible.

The excerpt on pages 7273 was written by M. R. De Haan II, from Our Daily Bread , copyright 1983 by Radio Bible Class . Used by permission.

Materials from The Fire of God by Joy Dawson, copyright 2005, used by permission of Destiny Image Publishers, 167 Walnut Bottom Road, Shippensburg, PA 17257. www.destinyimage.com.

To my outstanding Christian parents, John and Grace Manins, who greatly influenced my early life in relation to the fear of the Lord.

To my beloved husband, Jim, who continues to be my lifelong closest companion.

To my dearest children, John and Jillian, and their wonderful partners, Julie Dawson and John Bills.

To my precious grandchildren and their wonderful partners, David and Kati Dawson, Paul and Amber Dawson, Matthew and Korah Dawson, Rachel Dawson, Jenny and Raphael Gruenenwald and Justin Bills.

These are all my treasured friends.

My sincere gratitude goes to my beloved husband for his willingness to listen and comment during this writing project, and then to type up my handwritten scripts. My deepest appreciation is for the way he has covered this revised edition so faithfully in intercession. And exactly the same appreciation goes to my dear intercessor friends.

I am very grateful to Pastor Jack Hayford for his encouraging remarks in the foreword. It has also been a joy to work with Jane Campbell, who had the vision for this updated version.

I also want to honor the following people who helped in various ways with the original edition of this book over twenty years ago: Janet Lambert, Teresa Gelini, Molly Farlow, Bob Owen, Evelyn Wheeler, John Mauldin and Leonard LeSourd.

We live in a day when it is increasingly difficult to get people to think seriously about anythingoften not even about themselves or their own lives. If urged to think, the person may look as blank as though he or she had just been asked to give the exact time in Beijing.

I do not mean to be either critical or condescending of the present dumbing down of our culture, but we are surrounded by habits of thoughtlessness. This book is an invitation to a different lane of traffic, calling you and me beyond a society drowning in sound bites, jiving to its iPods, clicking its way through an endless selection of websites and popping off inane emails.

Not everyone, of coursenot at all. And frankly, without seeming to attempt to schmooze you, I have to say that the above is probably not true of you. Anyone who bothers to open a book that so clearly says, God is here! is surely willing to thinkor, better, to think seriously. So here is a pair of thoughts by way of introduction.

First, this book is about fearing God, using straight talk about the Creator without insipid terms or mystical ideas. The fearing God idea is not as some might think, posing God as arbitrary, monstrous or tyrannical, as though He were a Norwegian deity perched on a mountaintop with a handful of lightning bolts. Instead, the opposite becomes apparentand this might seem tritethat God is love (a statement that needs to be kept galaxies distant from the syrupy notion that love is God). A staggering fact will begin to unfold here: You will find that the fear of God actually leads to a kind of real-life love affair. If that sounds incongruous, you will be helped to think about it.

Second, any book reader does well to think about who the writer is. And I am honored to introduce you to Joy Dawsonpractical as a housewife, witty as a speaker, insightful as a prophet and as simply profound as a good theologian. I have known her for more than thirty years, and the most amazing thing to me about her is her effectiveness at helping people to think straight. Her writings, teachings, recordings and seminars around the world have influenced millions of all ages, but most impressive to me is her ability to attract the minds of inquiring college-age and young adultsones who not only want to think, but are tired of not thinking.

So, move ahead into these pages with Joy. You will find that she brings great clarity and sensible purpose towell, to understanding the concept of fearing God. And even though this book is about thinking, it is not about finding God via a complex, mazelike mind trip. To the contrary, you will soon discover that it is amazingly simple (though not simplistic). Here is a way toward thinking straight about God that will result in living, loving and learning life at its fullest and best.

Jack W. Hayford

President, International Foursquare Churches

Founding pastor, The Church On The Way

Chancellor, The Kings College and Seminary

Intimate friendship with God. What a mind-boggling concept! The more we understand what God is really like, the prospect of the fulfillment of that concept becomes most exciting.

To have a nodding acquaintance with the Creator of the universe is no small thought. But to be on intimate terms with Him is enough to give us heart flutters for the rest of our lives.

Multiplied millions of people believe that God is the Creator of the universe, but fewer experience the wonderful relationship of Him as Fatherwhich is where the intimacy starts.

The excitement and fulfillment from experiencing close friendship with God has to start with becoming part of Gods family. We have to be individually linked to Him through a personal relationship with His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.

In the section at the back of this book, titled What a Commitment of Life to the Lord Jesus Christ Means, I have given the reader the simple but definite steps to take from Gods Word in order for that relationship to begin. There is also practical instruction on Essentials for Progress as a Christian. I would urge you to read it through carefully and make application where necessary.

Once we have been born again into the family of God, the Holy Spirit is then able to give us the understanding of how we can progressively find fulfillment in the most exciting relationship of our livesfriendship with God.

Joy Dawson