Friends With God
James 2:23
This verse says Abraham was called the friend of God.
One of the most astonishing yet amazing and wonderful truth found in scripture is
God wants to be your friend and he wants you to be his friend.
God likes you and longs for your company.
He enjoys talking to you and desires to share with you the hopes and dreams he has for you.
He is not embarrassed to call you his friend or to be associated with you.
He wants to be your best friend and he wants you to be his best friend also. You may say there is no way God wants to be my friend. Not someone like me.
There are those in the Bible who were called friends of God. You may see yourself in some that God has called friends in the past.
Abraham was called a Friend of God. James 2:23
In fact, the Bible says Abraham is God’s friend forever. Abraham is God’s BFF. Best friends forever. 2 Chron 20:7
This is not the case with all God’s friends. We will see in a little while that there was one person whose f/ship w/ God didn’t last.
Which tells us that not all f/ships last.
There are at least three reasons why some f/ships don’t last.
Three T’s for lasting f/ships.
1. f/ship is based upon trust.
James 2:23 tells us how the f/ship b/ween God and Abraham was established. It says Abraham believed God. Believe is trust. If you trust someone you believe in that person.
One of the characteristics of f/ship is friends trust each other. There’s no f/ship where there is no trust. There must be trust in order to have a healthy r/ship w/ someone. They trust each other in everything. How can you trust someone? You can trust someone when you know that person has only that which is best in mind for u.
Some f/ships don’t last because trust has been broken. Broken trust destroys f/ships. f/ships are based upon trust.
2. f/ship is based upon truth.
Lies destroy. Truth builds up. Truth improves f/ships. Truth is the foundation upon which all lasting r/ships and f/ships are built.
For f/ships to last and endure they must be based upon truth, honesty, and love.
Some f/ships don’t last because of lies. The lies that have been told. A friend is always truthful. ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS.
A half truth is a whole lie.
A true friend will tell you the truth even when it uncomfortable. "Faithful are the wounds of a friend; but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful." Pro 27:6 f/ship is based upon truth
3. f/ship is built over time.
Deep abiding lasting f/ships are built over time. Since f/ships are based upon trust and trust develops over time, f/ships are built over time.
Some f/ships don’t last b/cause there was not enough time to build the f/ship. Maybe the person moved, passed away, or just simply didn’t put adequate time into the f/ship, the f/ship died. The f/ship didn’t develop because adequate time was not put into it.
Another person in the Bible who was a friend of God is Lazarus. Jesus called Lazarus friend. John 11 Jesus told his apostles our friend Lazarus has died. When Jesus heard the news of Lazarus’ death he wept. Jesus wept.
What does this tell us about friends? It tells us that a friend is compassionate and caring. A friend rejoices with their friends and they weep with their friends.
When something good happens to them they rejoice with them. When something bad happens to their friends they weep.
A true friend is compassionate and caring. They are kind, and considerate.
A third person who was called a friend of God in the Bible was Moses. Exo 33:11 says, God spoke to Moses as a friend. He spoke to Moses as a friend. Friends enjoy talking to each other. In fact, friends will spend hours talking and when it’s time to go, they hate to say goodbye.
There are some more people called the friends of God in the Bible. The 12 apostles of Jesus Christ were called friends of God.
Jesus said to the 12 one day, "I no longer call you servants … but friends.” John 15:15
Who were the apostles? They were Jesus’ companions in life.
A friend is a companion. They have similar interests. They enjoy doing things together.
The apostles and Jesus were friends. They hung out together. Every time you saw Jesus you saw the 12 apostles.
In fact, they would hang out with Jesus for the next 3 ½ years of their lives. They were close friends.
One interesting note on Jesus’ f/ship with the 12. The 12 apostles included, as you know, Judas Iscariot who betrayed him. Yet, Jesus called Judas friend. In fact, Judas is the only apostle that Jesus directly and specifically called friend.
In fact, the occasion in which Jesus called Judas friend was in the Garden when Judas came up to Jesus to betray him with a kiss.
Mat 26:50 records, Jesus said unto him, “Friend, why have you come?" Jesus called his betrayer a friend. His act of betrayal was a kiss. A kiss is a sign of love and affection. But on this day, it was a sign of betrayal.
Sometimes those you call friend, the one you trust the most sometimes turn out to be the ones who hurt you the worst.
That friend could be a spouse, a parent, a relative or the one you call best friend.
David speaks of this when he said, "My own friend, the one I trusted, the one who ate my food, has turned his back on me." Psalm 41:9
Sometimes a friend in the end turns out to be an enemy. They turn from being someone who has your best in mind to being one who wants to destroy you.
When Jesus said “Love your enemies! Pray for those who mistreat you!" Mat 5:44
Sometimes that person was someone you once called friend.
Sometimes friends don’t always act friendly. When they do they destroy trust. f/ships are based upon trust.
I started off by saying One of the most astonishing yet amazing and wonderful truth found in scripture is God wants to be your friend and he wants you to be his friend. it is amazing to me that holy God wants to be friends with sinful people.
But he does. If we had to be perfect to be friends with God or if we had to be perfect to have any friends none of us would have any friends, would we? Why? Because none of us are perfect.
You think about your friends. None of them are perfect. You think about those of whom the Bible says was a friend of God. Abraham was a liar, an habitual liar. Moses was a murderer. the 12 apostles deserted Jesus on the night he was betrayed. Judas was the betrayer. Were any of these perfect? Not by a long shot. Yet there were all called friends of God.
That gives us hope doesn’t it? We too can become friends of God. We don’t have to be perfect to be his friends.
Mat 11 says that Jesus was a friend of sinners. Hallelujah. That’s a good thing isn’t it? Because we’re all sinners. Being imperfect doesn’t disqualify you of being a friend. Being a little weird, a little awkward, sometimes saying the wrong things doesn’t keep you from being a friend.
In fact, it qualifies you to be a friend. Who better needs a friend than someone who is imperfect.
We all need someone to befriend us, help us, encourage us to be the person God created them to be.
By the way, that’s the purpose for being a friend. The purpose for being a friend is to encourage others to be the person God created them to be. That’s it. That’s what a friend does.
If the people you call friends are not encouraging you in your r/ship with God, drop them. Stay away from them. They are cancerous. They are deadly. They are Judases.
True friends will make you a better person. The Bible says as iron sharpens iron one person sharpens another. Pro 27:17
Three C’s of friendship:
1. Communication. Friends talk to each other. God wants you to talk to him every day.
2. Companionship. Friends enjoy each other’s company and enjoying doing things together. God wants you to spend time with him.
3. Compassion. Friend are caring. Helpful. Encouraging.
I hope you’ve seen in this that you don’t have to be perfect to be God’s friend.
Jesus wants to be your friend and he wants you to be his friend. Pro 18:24 There is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother.
His name is Jesus. I encourage you to establish and build a deep, lasting, loving f/ship with him. He’s the best friend you’ll ever have. He’s always w/ you, he’ll never leave thee nor forsake thee and he loves you more than you’ll ever know.
