PEOPLE LET ME TELL YOU ABOUT MY BEST FRIEND
PROVERBS 18:24
The RSV reads, “There are friends who pretend to be friends, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.” This presents a contrast between fair-weather friends and those who are loyal through thick and thin. Proverbs 18:24
If you are like many people who are smart, you don’t have many friends. I have found out that the realer you are the fewer friends you will have. I have found that people who tell you to keep it real with them really don't. If you hang around me long enough you will find out that I don't have a filter. I think differently than others and I'm not bothered by peoples opinions and neither should you. Besides a lot of us would rather spend time alone because we don't have time for fake people so you distance yourself from people who aren’t worth your time. Because of who I am I have never seen so many people who try so hard to make me think that they are the next wonder so they call me, e mail me, request me on Facebook to try and connect with me thinking that I can do something for them that will catapult them into a position of notoriety yet when you go to there page and check them you start seeing things on their social media platform that shows them backstabbing, being unloyal to their Leaders and just out right being disrespectful. It just turns me off because I'm far more mature. I see that there is more to life than a title or position. If your like me you just don't have time for no drama. The saying use to be in the streets when I was coming up was ...."YOU CAN SAVE THAT DRAMA FOR YOUR MAMA" aint no body got time for that. How many of you in here today know your worth?
While some people thrive off of how many likes they get on social media I don’t need to wake up to 100 Tik Tok likes or 100 Instagram likes or 200 Facebook likes to make me smile every day. Because everybody that likes stuff on your page aint really your friend. Keep living long enough and you will find lurkers a lurker is someone who goes to your page everyday to read your messages on an Internet discussion forum or social media platform but does not contribute to the positive things that you are doing a lot of times they are a part of that group of people that are laying hidden as if in ambush to assassinate you and your character because they see you as a threat.
The streets taught me that everybody that smile in your face don't like you but yet they pretend to act like your their best friend. Let me tell you something, " You can fake a smile, but you can’t fake your feelings. Someone who smiles too much with you could very well be the one who talking too much behind your back. Theres an old adage from a 1971 song that i grew up on that taught me something it was a song written by Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong entitled "Smiling Faces" which was originally recorded by the Temptations but re-recorded by The Undisputed Truth the Lyrics go like this:
Smiling faces sometimes
Pretend to be your friend
Smiling faces show no traces
Of the evil that lurks within
The truth is in the eyes
'Cause the eyes don't lie, Amen
Remember, a smile is just a frown turned upside down
My friend, so hear me when I'm saying
Smiling faces, smiling faces sometimes
They don't tell the truth
Smiling faces, smiling faces
Tell lies and I got proof
Beware, beware of the handshake that hides the snake
Beware, beware of the pat on the back
It just might hold you back
Jealousy, jealousy, misery, misery
Envy, envy, I tell you, you can't see behind
Smiling faces, smiling faces sometimes
They don't tell the truth
Smiling faces, smiling faces
Tell lies and I got proof
Your enemy won't do you no harm
'Cause you'll know where he's coming from
Don't let the handshake and the smile fool ya
Take my advice I'm only try' to school ya
Smiling faces, smiling faces sometimes
They don't tell the truth
Smiling faces, smiling faces
Tell lies and I got proof
What am I saying? While we may be surrounded by people with whom we socialize, we always find out that even most of them are not our friends. So Beware! We are often told that in order to win a friend we must first show our our own selves friendly. But Beware!
The older Saints definition of a friend was one who “Knew enough secrets about you to destroy you and doesn’t, and knows the worst things about you, and still seeks your best interest anyway.”
Well, using that as a definition, our number of friends shrinks pretty fast. In some cases, there are family members who are not our friends. There are husbands and wives who are not friends they are just existing together. There are sisters and brothers who hate each other who came out of the same womb.
Real Friends hurt when they see you doing something wrong or making a mistake. They don’t endorse your bad decisions, but they help you in every way they can.
Friends help when we are in trouble or when we are troubled. You don’t have to ask they are just there. They don’t ask, “If there is anything I can do, call me.” They know you, they text you, they call you they hang around you and do what needs to be done, without waiting for you to ask.
What many people call friends are actually associates, acquaintances, business partners, sorority sisters, or frat brothers, but most of them are a long way from being friends.
This is why we must develop loyal friends: One true friend is more valuable than many superficial friends (who can cause problems).
There are different levels of friendship.
As we look at our scriptural text this proverb distinguishes between friends (rea’) who are casual acquaintances, such as work associates or neighbors, and a friend (‘ahab) who truly loves and is committed to you regardless of circumstances. It is possible to have a friend (a non-relative) who is more loyal and committed to you than a brother (a blood relative).
While it’s usually true that a “multitude of counselors” assures a wise decision, at the same time, we must avoid running from friend to friend asking for advice. This may indicate that we’re trying to find somebody who will tell us what we want to hear!
Proverbs 11:14 says Where no counsel is, the people fall: but in the multitude of counsellors there is safety.
We need more than friends; we must have a friend who will stand by us and “[speak] the truth in love” (Eph. 4:15). We can tell a “real friend” by how close he or she is in adversity.
As stated, the former are mere casual acquaintances. They come and go in different seasons of life. They are enjoyable but may be unreliable. When your circumstances change, their friendship fades away. They do not care enough to make a significant sacrifice for you to protect you from danger or ruin. In most cases, they will choose their interests over yours and are even capable of betraying you.
The latter friend—a true friend—cleaves to you in the deepest valleys and darkest nights. He or she would protect you from others who intended to harm you, even if it meant paying a great sacrifice to do so. This friend’s devotion spans time and distance. Whereas, life is filled with hundreds of casual companions, true friends come along all too rarely in life. Because they are so rare, we should treasure them like spouses, as precious gifts from God.
Here again we have a proverb with many interpretations.
A man who has friends must himself be friendly. If we follow the KJV and NKJV, the thought is that friendliness wins friends, and that some friends are closer than others.
The NASB, ASV, NKJV margin and JND say that a man who has many friends will come to ruin, but that there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. This means that it is better to have one true friend than a host of friends who will lead you astray.
The RSV reads, “There are friends who pretend to be friends, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.” This presents a contrast between fair-weather friends and those who are loyal through thick and thin.
As believers, every one of us has a friend who sticks closer than a brother and His name is Jesus. As Jesus walked along the path that led to Gethsemane and the cross, note His great declaration of friendship for each of us:
“Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends” (Jn. 15:13).
Jesus proved His friendship to us by freely laying down His life on Calvary’s cross. He sacrificed His life that we might live eternally, and He promised His abiding presence in our lives:“…and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen” (Mt. 28:20b).
“ I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee” (He. 13:5).
Nothing can separate us from the presence and love of Christ:
“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Ro. 8:35-39).
What a friend we have in Jesus!
Jesus said,“ Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you” (Jn. 15:15).
“For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich” (2 Co. 8:9).
Paul said, “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me” (Ga. 2:20).
David and Jonathan: “And it came to pass, when he had made an end of speaking unto Saul, that the soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul” (1 Sa. 18:1).
“A friend loveth at all times, and a brother is born for adversity” (Pr. 17:17).
When it gets down to it, all we really have is a couple of friends and Jesus. We count them all on the fingers of one hand.
Look at Proverbs 18:24 says, "A man who has friends must himself be friendly, But there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother."
What a friend we have Jesus. All our sins and griefs to bear..
He’s our best friend.
AS THE SONGWRITER SANG: People let me tell you 'bout my best friend,
He's the one and only person who'll love me till the end.
People let me tell you bout my best friend,
He's the one true Savior, my up, my down, my pride and joy.
People let me tell you 'bout him he's so much fun
Whether we're talkin' man to man or whether we're talking son to son.
Cause he's my best friend.
Yeah he's my best friend.
Can I tell you about HIM?
• In Genesis, Jesus Christ is the seed of the woman.
• In Exodus, He is the passover lamb.
• In Leviticus, He is our high priest.
• In Numbers, He is the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night.
• In Deuteronomy, He is the prophet like unto Moses.
• In Joshua, He is the captain of our salvation.
• In Judges, He is our judge and lawgiver.
• In Ruth, He is our kinsman redeemer.
• In 1st and 2nd Samuel, He is our trusted prophet.
• In Kings and Chronicles, He is our reigning king.
• In Ezra, He is the rebuilder of the broken down walls of human life.
• In Esther, He is our Mordecai.
• In Job, He is our ever-living redeemer.
• In Psalms, He is our shepherd.
• In Proverbs and Ecclesiastes, He is our wisdom.
• In the Song of Solomon, He is the loving bridegroom.
• In Isaiah, He is the prince of peace.
• In Jeremiah, He is the righteous branch.
• In Lamentations, He is our weeping prophet.
• In Ezekiel, He is the wonderful four-faced man.
• In Daniel, He is the forth man in life’s “fiery furnace.”
• In Hosea, He is the faithful husband, forever married to the backslider.
• In Joel, He is the baptizer with the Holy Ghost and fire.
• In Amos, He is our burden-bearer.
• In Obadiah, He is the mighty to save.
• In Jonah, He is our great foreign missionary.
• In Micah, He is the messenger of beautiful feet.
• In Nahum, He is the avenger of God’s elect.
• In Habakkuk, he is God’s evangelist, crying, “revive thy work in the midst of the years.”
• In Zephaniah, He is our Saviour.
• In Haggai, He is the restorer of God’s lost heritage.
• In Zechariah, He is the fountain opened up in the house of David for sin and uncleanness.
• In Malachi, He is the Sun of Righteousness, rising with healing in His wings.
• In Matthew, He is King of the Jews.
• In Mark, He is the Servant.
• In Luke, He is the Son of Man, feeling what you feel.
• In John, He is the Son of God.
• In Acts, He is the Savior of the world.
• In Romans, He is the righteousness of God.
• In I Corinthians, He is the Rock that followed Israel.
• In II Corinthians, He is the Triumphant One, giving victory.
• In Galatians, He is your liberty; He sets you free.
• In Ephesians, He is Head of the Church.
• In Philippians, He is your joy.
• In Colossians, He is your completeness.
• In 1st and 2nd Thessalonians, He is your hope.
• In I Timothy, He is your faith.
• In II Timothy, He is your stability.
• In Philemon, He is your Benefactor.
• In Titus, He is truth.
• In Hebrews, He is your perfection.
• In James, he is the Power behind your faith.
• In I Peter, He is your example.
• In II Peter, He is your purity.
• In I John, He is your life.
• In II John, He is your pattern.
• In III John, He is your motivation.
• In Jude, He is the foundation of your faith.
• In Revelation, He is your coming King.
AS I CLOSE I WOULD LIKE TO LEAVE THESE WORDS WITH YOU ABOUT MY BEST FRIEND
WHAT A FRIEND WE HAVE IN JESUS -ALL OUR SINS AND GRIEF TO BEAR --WHAT A PRIVILEGE IT IS TO CARRY--EVERYTHING TO GOD IN PRAYER!
Oh what peace we often forfeit; Oh what needless pain we bear;
All because we do not carry; Everything to God in prayer
Have we trials and temptations; Is there trouble anywhere?
We should never be discouraged; Take it to the Lord in prayer
Can we find a friend so faithful?;Who will all our sorrows share?
Jesus knows our every weakness; Take it to the Lord in prayer
I GOT A FRIEND WHO IS A BURDEN BEARER
A HEAVY LOAD CARRIER
A HEART FIXER
AND A MIND REGULATOR
HE SITS HIGH BUT LOOKS LOW
LOOKS BEYOND ALL OF OUR FAULTS AND SUPPLIES ALL OF OUR NEED
DO YOU KNOW HIM ---HAVE YOU MET HIM ---HAVE YOU TRIED HIM
HIS NAME IS JESUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
HOW MANY KNOW HIM AS A WAY OUT OF NO WAY
HOW MANY KNOW HIM AS A LIGHT IN A DARK SITUATION
HOW MANY KNOW HIM AS A BRIDGE THAT LEANS OVER TROUBLED WATER
HOW MANY KNOW HIM AS A WHEEL IN THE MIDDLE OF THE WHEEL
HOW MANY KNOW HIM AS THE ONE WHO DIED FOR YOUR SINS AND MINE
PLACE IN A BORROWED TOMB
BUT EARLY ----- EARLY----- OH I SAY EARLY SUNDAY MORNING
HE GOT UP ----HE GOT -----AND IF YOU BELIEVE HE GOT UP YOU OUGHT TO STAND UP AND GIVE GOD SOME PRAISE
BECAUSE HE GOT UP WITH ALL POWER -----ALL POWER
