Being a Friend of God

 

Multiple choice question: Does my belief system change reality?

G   A psychologist and philosopher says that thoughts become perception, perception becomes reality, that our thoughts alter our reality. The world which we live in is nothing but a reflection of our own minds.

G   Evidence of unconscious causes for behavior proves that conscious thought has little or no impact on behavior.

G   Thoughts impact on how we act. If I am happy, angry, or creative, these affect what I do. However, just because I have a thought doesn't mean it's true.

G   Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works; and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”—and he was called a friend of God. You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. (James 2:21–24)

The first choice means my world is only my imagination. The second makes me a victim of my subconscious mind and takes away the power of conscious choice. The third means my thoughts do affect what I do, but only if those thoughts are true. The last says that if a person believes God, then their life is changed because they do what God says even if it contradicts their own thinking. Trusting God and being His friend does not change reality or truth, but it does change what I do.

Abraham went where God told him to go and did what God told him to do. He was not perfect in his obedience, but his actions flowed out of his thoughts of God. He believed God speaks truth because He is reality and true. He also seeks friendship with us. If a friend is “someone who knows everything about you and loves you anyway, He fills that perfectly:

O Lord, you have searched me and known me! You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar. You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways. Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O Lord, you know it altogether. You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot attain it. (Psalm 139:1–6)

When I read the Word of God, He speaks to me about human thinking and motivations. If I am downcast, He tells me why and what to do about it. If I am joyful, He speaks to that joy and is its source. Every day He gives me what I need for that day. He knows me and knows how to illuminate my thinking so I am blessed and drawn closer to Him and His power to save me from sin. This is a friendship that surpasses all definitions of human friendship because He died for me, lives for me, is with me all the time and accepts me because of who He is. Obedience is easy when I think this way:

Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. (John 15:13–16)

He died for me; I live for Him. He makes the Father known to me; I pass on to others what He says. He picks me for His team so I can be like Him; I respond by giving my best efforts. He promises to answer my prayers; I pray in His name. The key to this friendship is living just as Jesus did — doing what His Father commanded. That’s the kind of friendship Abraham demonstrated when he obeyed God and prepared to offer Isaac as a sacrifice (Genesis 22:3–10).

Psychology and philosophies try to divorce belief from reality or make reality depend on belief. These ideas are contrary to trusting God. I trust God because He opens my eyes to reality, the reality of His nature, His goodness, His power to save from sin and to help me understand His ways and His will. That understanding is not my imagination; it is given through faith and verified by obedience.

PRAY: I thank You Jesus that You are my friend and call me Your friend. You picked me. You give me whatever I need so I can do whatever You ask. I do not need to live in selfish sinfulness nor be concerned about anything. You reveal what I need to know yet assure me that You are sovereign in that which I do not yet understand. I treasure our relationship, our friendship, and praise You for it.

PONDER: Look for the traits of friendship with Jesus in His people. Be thankful that their relationship with You (and my relationship with You) means we can be friends together in Your forever family. 

 

 

 

Best Friends Forever

Out of hundreds of definitions of friendship, these are my favorites:

“A real friend is one who walks in when the rest of the world walks out.” – Walter Winchell

“True friendship comes when the silence between two people is comfortable.” – David Tyson

“Faithful are the wounds of a friend; profuse are the kisses of an enemy.” – Proverbs 27:6

While it goes both ways, I’m humbled and amazed that God uses that term to describe His relationship with me, a sinner. He calls me His friend, but He also calls Himself my Friend.

The OT uses a few words for friends and friendship. One of them is defined as “a person you know well and regard with affection and trust.” This describes God’s relationship with Moses in Exodus 33:11. “Thus the Lord used to speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend . . . .”

Friends bless our hearts just as Proverbs 27:9 says: “Oil and perfume make the heart glad, and the sweetness of a friend comes from his earnest counsel.” This is also true for those who are friends with the Lord; as He blesses us with sound advice, our hearts are made glad.

Another word, this time a verb, means “to have a great affection or care for or loyalty towards.” In the song Deborah & Barak sung after a decisive victory, they voiced the desire that all God’s enemies perish, but sang, “O Lord! But your friends be like the sun as he rises in his might.” (Judges 5:31) These two warriors knew that God loved them and was loyal toward them. He was their friend.

The same word is used in Proverbs 27:6. Because God loves me and is loyal toward me, I know that when He corrects me, the pain I feel is coming from a faithful friend, my God who wants the best for me, even when it hurts. He will not use flattery or false assurances when I need correcting or discipline. True friends are like that!

A third word describes “a close friendship characterized by social or emotional intimacy.” This gives the sense of never being alone, of never being unloved. As Psalm 25:14 says, “The friendship of the Lord is for those who fear him, and he makes known to them his covenant.”

NT language is less complex. It defines a friend as a person you know well and regard with affection and trust. This goes both ways but considering this is how God thinks of His people, I am in awe.

Jesus’ affection and trust in His relationship with others is described in the reaction of those who didn’t understand His loving heart. In Matthew 11:19 He says this: “The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ . . . .”

Later Jesus tells His disciples how and why He considers them as His friends. John 15:13–15 says:

Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.

How does a person have a friendship with God? James 2:23 quotes an OT verse that gives the foundation for this incredible relationship saying, “And the Scripture was fulfilled that says, ‘Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness’—and he was called a friend of God.”

GAZE INTO HIS GLORY. It begins with believing Him. He declares His existence in all that He has created. Believe it. He declares that I have sinned and fallen short of His glory. Believe it. He sent Jesus to die for my sin and give me eternal life. Believe it. Faith in Christ redeems and justifies me. Believe it. Then listen to Him, doing what He says yet also developing that relationship by spending time with Him, listening, talking, considering Him as my best Friend and realizing that He considers me His friend also.