Thinking about relationships and how they started with God—God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit—and they have been in perfect relationship for ever and ever and ever without end. I’m just thrilled that he made us to have relationship with him and to have relationship with others. Relationships can be glorious and relationships can be extremely difficult. But God wants us to really understand the beauty of relationships because that is what we will have with him for ever and ever.

I must interrupt this message to remind you to READ YOUR BIBLE!  I have promised God that wherever I go and wherever I speak I will give this message! I was so ignorant for so many years about so much because I was not in the Word of God. You can be in church, like I was, and doing good things like listening to good preaching, attending Sunday School, singing in the choir, and so on, but still be very very ignorant of God’s Word.

I want you to have that in mind—that more than anything we are to love God’s Word. When I read it I’m not necessarily looking for some deep insight, but the more I read it the more I also understand what God is trying to say to me.  Jesus said in John 5:39-40: “You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life.” My prayer is that as I read the Bible that I would do exactly what Jesus said. That what I just read brings me to Jesus.  It’s not just words on pages.

I was thinking about that and how this one horrible thing almost destroyed the relationship I have with my husband when we first got married. I got this attack of jealousy. I was incredibly jealous, and God helped me. I went to a biblical counselor. She started off with three lovely words— “I rebuke you!” She gave me some instructions and Rod and I started to do what we needed to do and God delivered me.

In reading my Bible I also see that there is a good jealousy—a perfect jealousy, a holy jealousy. He is a jealous God. He will not share his glory with anyone and he is jealous for his people. He refers to Israel sometimes as his wife and she is an adulteress who has left him and he is jealous.

And in Romans 11:11 Paul says that God will now save the Gentiles to make Israel jealous. So God uses jealousy, in a sense, to get us right with him. I thought about that and wow. We have that twisted jealousy that Satan has, because he looked at God and said, “I want to be where you are.” And that has kicked him out and has twisted us in many ways. But I hope to tell you something—that I’m still a little jealous. I want to say that I believe that it’s a good jealousy.

There’s one person in the Bible and I wonder—Lord, what was it with this man that you loved? There is one person in the Bible that God refers to as his friend. I want God to say “Dámaris is my friend!”

That person is Abraham. And the Bible clearly says this. What did Abraham do? We know that he believed. This man was in a pagan country where they worshipped many gods. God speaks to him clearly. He tells Abraham that he wants him to get up and leave his land and family. And go where I will show you to go. And the Bible says that he believed.

The Bible also tells us in Hebrews 11:6—without faith it’s impossible to please God. That’s what I just loved about Abraham. That when God speaks Abraham understands it’s God and he says “Yes!” And he gets up.

The Bible calls Abraham the father of all who believe. He is the father of all who believe. I pray “God make me more like Abraham. As I read your word, as I see things that are maybe a little difficult, that I would just believe.” That if this is what God wants me to do—then do it. Don’t question me. Be like Abraham. I’m jealous! I want to be like this man because God loved him.

The Bible also tells us that nothing moved him. And that God one day tells him to look up and see the stars and tha...