James 3:23 ESV
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.
John 15:13-15
Greater love has no man 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.
James 4:4
You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.
Hebrews 11:6 ESV
And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exist and that he rewards those who seek him.
Nehemiah 8:10 ESV
Then he said to them, “Go your way. Eat the fat and drink sweet wine and send portions to anyone who has nothing ready, for this day is holy to our Lord. And do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.
Hebrews 12:2 ESV
Looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
“Dear friends… ” is a common way of starting a letter. Imagine for a moment the excitement that would fill your heart if you were included in a special group of people that God wrote a letter to starting with that phrase. As we ponder that possibility, let’s take a look at my journey to this insight. (Hopefully the possibility of becoming a friend of God will motivate you to grow deeper in your faith, just as it has motivated me.)
Years ago a friend, Dracy Jenkins — a partner in Freedom Squared — challenged me on my joy in the Lord. It was 2005. I was going through some stuff. I was working, recognized, accomplished in my field, but joy was not an evident trait in my walk at that time. The trials had caught up with me. The present and future seemed to be mired in struggle. Although I had been “born again” since 1993, I had not really experienced a revelation of sustaining joy. I had situational joy. As I determined in my heart to correct this in prayer and fasting, I was more than blessed by what I discovered. The answer was found in the nearness of God, and the fact that He was calling not some, but all of His children to a place of joyful fellowship, even friendship.
The word derivative is important to our discussion. It simply means something that comes from something else, or is drawn from something else. It is not independent of a primary source or object. Let’s linger here for a moment and think about the things we derive strength, joy, and confidence from. As your list comes to mind, it becomes obvious that we are creatures in constant need of sources, material and spiritual, that create drives in us to look and move toward something rewarding in a futuristic sense. God designed us that way. He also lets us know what real lasting joy is, but we have to choose it, or persist in seeking the joys of this life and the pitfalls that come with such pursuits.
Using nitric oxide, it enhances smooth muscle relaxation which is directly related to our generic cialis pills physical and emotional wellbeing. To lessen the super viagra danger make sure you keep away from prostatitis. Erectile dysfunction is a problem men canadian generic cialis face in their advance age. This is because it can mark the fine line between buy cialis generic success and failure. You see the fleeting deception of idolatry snares believers when they elevate the momentary joys of this life to a level they were never meant to have in our hearts. Let me illustrate further and continue in the derivative narrative. It helps to think about the motivation as a dependent variable. Even though there are many types of joy, there is only one in terms of eternal, singular, primacy. That joy is found in a relationship alone, not in any event, creature, act, or blessing God can give. God is the source of immeasurable joy. Those who come to understand this enter into a level of relationship few will ever experience, a friendship with God.
God expects us to move from a carnal faith, to a servant faith, to a friendship faith. That’s His desire, but sadly it will be unfulfilled, because most believers are stuck in a perpetual carnal state of faith (focused on selfish desires). It is impossible to be focused on self and God simultaneously. God calls us to look to Him and when we do, He then directs us to meet the needs of others through our gifts and callings. Victory over self-absorption happens when we look at how God is and works. I, and all of us, are being called to higher levels of faithfulness.
We are all sons and daughters, but few will ever be entrusted with the matters of God’s heart. That is what true friendship is, when God shares with His children what He is doing and/or up to. In short, they enter into His confidence. This is what Jesus maintained at all times. The Father had supreme confidence in the Son’s obedience, and He entrusted him with the cross. Did you ever consider the fact that God may be entrusting you with your trials? This is what some miss in the Book of Job, God’s confidence in Job. God entrusted Job with those trials and demonstrated to Satan His flawless choice in Job as His representative in the earth. Job, though he struggled, did not forsake God, the ultimate source of his joy and worth. Tension existed during this time in his relationship with God, but Job and his faith remained as well. Is it any small wonder James tells us these words in James: 1:2-4
“Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”
The passage above illustrates a pattern of God drawing people though trials. This creates a steadfast faith in a person — Christ. During trials God reveals what is in our hearts. He strips away all idols, including our own self-seeking and offers us something better, more of Him.
Look at what Jesus did on the cross, and how he did it. You will see there was the joy of relationships set before Him. This was the motivation that carried Him forward, derived from His love of the Father, Spirit, and us. He joined God to man in a familial sense never known before, but after election, he allowed His children to decide the level and depth of that relationship. Further, He deemed the price of His own death to secure us as worth the cost. God knows the potential level of intimacy that every eternal relationship has. More baffling still, He chooses to call us his brothers and sisters at the beginning of our relationship journey. I rejoice in knowing the motivations of our God. The fact that love drives Him is more comforting than I could ever express in words. I just have to sigh and shake my head in awe of this. When I consider the rewards of heaven, I don’t think of making it there, streets of gold, or mansions. I think of future conversations and time I’ll spend with the Triune God and geting to know each one better.
David rightly stated, “I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness.” So what are we building on, and what are we striving for? Is it a place in the here and now primarily, in this wicked age? Is it the stuff in heaven? Is it an escape from hell? Is it reunification with dear loved ones we miss? Is it status up there? If so we miss the major point of salvation.That point is oneness, integration if you will. We can be integrated into the purposes of God in this life. We can please Him in the here and now. We can enter into His confidence through obedience. Remember: “You are my friends if you do what I command you.” This a powerful, personal challenge to grab hold of what God has for us. It is independent of any title or position man can give. It is a hallowed, holy calling that He has for each of us beckoning for us to, “Come.”
Consider this passage in 1 Corinthians 3: 10 -15 ESV:
“According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it. For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw— each one’s work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.”
Like Cain and Abel, all of our work at the end of the day is an offering to God. The God who offered Himself, offers us the opportunity to enter into a place of intimacy Paul referred to as a longing of the heart this way in Philippians 3:10:
“I want to know Christ–yes, to know him the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,”
This was a place of friendship. I can call God my Father, Savior, Lord and many other things. But I cannot call Him my friend until He gives me that place. I can only hope to hear it one day. Only a foolish person would presume this. All the stuff that we could have done in life, means little if all or most of the work we did was consumed in the fire, and none or little pleased Him. Alas, we are all somewhere on the spectrum of friendship in God’s heart. Enemy, poor, fair, faithful, or joyful are good descriptors to start with.
God grant us keen insight into this revelation of obedience that leads to friendship. In Jesus name I pray. Amen
(Here is another excellent sermon from C.H. Spurgeon :http://biblehub.com/sermons/auth/spurgeon/the_friend_of_god.htm)