God's Friend

"Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends. ¹⁴  You are My friends if you do whatever I command you. ¹⁵  No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you."

John 15:13-15

It is a common lament for people to feel they have no real friends.  This despairing feeling may arise when people do not rise to our expectations of what friends should be.  This overwhelming sense of friendlessness should never mark the life of a Christian, for Jesus has chosen us to be His friends.  Jesus called His disciples friends and demonstrated the reality of this through revelation from God.  He demonstrated His love through laying down His life on Calvary.  The big question is not if God is friendly towards us but are we truly His friends?  He has offered us unfailing friendship, but have we demonstrated we are His friends by obedience?

Abraham was a man scripture describes as a "friend of God."  His obedience of God's commands - not a profession of faith or theological system of belief - revealed him to be a friend of God.  James 2:21-23 said, "Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? ²²  Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect? ²³  And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, "Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness." And he was called the friend of God."  Abraham showed genuine faith by his obedience to God.  Humans are good at being friendly to people we hardly know.  God has extended friendship to all, but if we will be His friend we must obey Him.  Those who are friends of God will receive additional revelations of God, for He speaks to His friends freely - even face to face.

Obedience to God's commands is a critical part of following Jesus as His disciple.  Matthew 28:18-20 reads, "And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. ¹⁹  Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰  teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Amen."  Jesus did not merely command those He commissioned to teach others all things He said but to teach "them to observe all things that I have commanded you."  As disciples of Jesus we are to do more than aim at teaching information but to live obediently whilst exhorting people to live in obedience to Christ's commands.  Once we are born again through faith in Jesus, we are enabled by the Holy Spirit to understand and live according to God's will, to love one another as He loves us.

People are happy with revelation without relationship.  They seek advice - even paying for it - to have insight into what is their best course of action.  God, on the other hand, reveals Himself so we might have a growing relationship with Him.  He puts Himself willingly in the vulnerable position of being rejected, though He will never reject one who comes to Him in faith.  The truth is, if we don't obey God, we won't grow.  The old song begins, "What a friend we have in Jesus..." and we will only begin to give this relationship the appreciation and attention it warrants when we are His friends through obedience.  Would God count you among His friends?

"Set It and Forget It!"

If you lived in the United States in the '90s and had a television, undoubtedly you were exposed to Ron Popeil selling his wares.  I remember how many times I saw him bustle through a kitchen in an apron demonstrating Ronco products.  Countless times during his pitches the famous inventor and pitchman repeated with an enthusiastic studio audience, "Set it and forget it!"  This memorable and simple phrase tapped into a desire which appeals to many people.  The selling point of the "Showtime Rotisserie" is how it produced consistent quality results with minimal effort.  People had better things to do than fiddle with timers and temperature controls, and the idea of setting and forgetting sounded great.  We all have enough to remember and worry about, right?  One issue Ron's clever catchphrase didn't address was how to remember to "set it" in the first place!

What is the typical human response when we can't forget about something?  We obsess over the thing.  We worry and lose sleep.  How we would love to just "Set it and forget it!" so our troubles would be over with minimal work and effort!  The truth may very well be the only thing you can "set and forget" is a rotisserie roast, chicken, or leg of lamb.  Something as simple as keeping the lawn green and weed-free can weigh upon a mind, and how much more do issues which arise from relationships or hurts from the past!  You cannot "set and forget" a marriage, parenting, home or car maintenance, or concerning following Jesus.  It is impossible for us to forget bad things which have happened or things people have said to us or about us.  At the same time we must progress through those things, for it we "set" on them our minds will be fixed on them.  Life is full of labour, and daily working out our salvation practically is what God has called us to do.  Jesus forbid His disciples to worry, something which comes as natural for humans as drawing breath.

Paul wrote in Philippians 3:13-14, "Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, ¹⁴  I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus."  Paul did not forget his past, but it no longer defined him.  He did not continually grieve his failures or take pride in his apparent success.  Like a chef carefully monitors the temperature of an oven, wok, or range, so Paul kept his attention dialed in on Jesus Christ and his call to follow.  Similar to a rotisserie oven Paul basically did one thing:  he pressed on with his life committed to Jesus Christ.  An upward call involves climbing and hard work, but God would be faithful to enable Paul to run with endurance the race set before him.  Through the Holy Spirit we are able to keep casting our cares upon Jesus because He cares for us.

"Set it and forget it!" may work for rotisserie chicken, but not for followers of Jesus Christ.  We are called to remember and proclaim the love of Jesus Christ demonstrated on the cross until He comes back.  We are to forget the things which are behind and reach forward to those things which are ahead, even if we do so with trepidation.  All the better for us if we do so with fear and trembling, for then we will be reminded to trust God with each step we take.  Praise the LORD, for He does not forget us!

For or Against You?

"And Jacob their father said to them, "You have bereaved me: Joseph is no more, Simeon is no more, and you want to take Benjamin. All these things are against me."

Genesis 42:36

After prayer this morning God spoke to me through His Word.  Whilst praying over problems and trials people are facing, there was a temptation to despair.  But immediately I thought better of it, for what is a problem in light of God's goodness and power?  Even if the whole world was against me and the forces of demonic evil unleashed with only me in those satanic sights, God remains good and in control!  Like Paul boldly said from experience after facing death every day, "If God be for us, who can be against us?" (Romans 8:31) The very things Satan would employ to bring us to despair are the very things God can use to bring joy and salvation.

Don't believe me?  Jacob's response to his sons is a perfect demonstration of the reality God uses all things for the ultimate good of those who love Him and are the called according to His purposes.  Jacob had been told and was convinced his beloved son Joseph had died at 17 years old whilst on an errand for his dad.  After a famine overspread the land, Jacob sent his sons to Egypt to buy food.  His sons returned without Simeon who had been arrested because the harsh ruler of Egypt suspected them to be spies.  To prove their innocence the ruler demanded their youngest brother be brought back to Egypt, and only then would Simeon be released.  Jacob was overwhelmed with the situation and felt like everything was against him.  It was a lose-lose situation for a father still grieving the death of Joseph to hear Simeon was in prison and to free him he must part with Benjamin!

What Jacob didn't know was Joseph was not actually dead but was the harsh Egyptian ruler!  Instead of killing Jacob years earlier, his jealous brothers sold Joseph to slave traders who were heading to Egypt.  God miraculously brought Joseph out of prison at the age of 30 and promoted him to second in command in Egypt.  The Spirit of God gave Joseph wisdom to interpret dreams which foretold of a great famine and provided guidance on how to survive the famine.  Jacob wasn't seeing the situation clearly at all.  He accused his sons of bereaving him, but the reality was God sovereignly sent Joseph in Egypt to save countless lives - even the life of Jacob himself and his family.  Joseph acknowledged this before his brothers in Genesis 45:7:  "And God sent me before you to preserve a posterity for you in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance."  The children Jacob loved dearly would only survive because of the very thing Jacob would have carried grieving to his grave.  Think about this.  The things Jacob believed were against him actually all were God's providence working for him and the salvation of nations.  A day came when they would all be joyfully reunited.

Could it be the very things you lament as being "against you" are working for your own salvation?  Instead of blaming God, accusing others of wrong, or stacking up all which appears to be against us in a pile that reaches to heaven, how much better is it for us to turn our gaze heavenward to our great God who loves us and will indeed work all miraculously for good? (Romans 8:28) The world may indeed be against you, but isn't God greater than the world?  Though Christ we can conquer even that which kills us.  Romans 8:35-39 says, "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? ³⁶  As it is written: "For Your sake we are killed all day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter." ³⁷  Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. ³⁸  For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, ³⁹  nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Be Strong and Fear Not

I picked up C.H. Spurgeon's The Sword and the Trowel again, the first volume of a set of seven.  He cited Isaiah 35:4 which reads, "Say to those who are fearful-hearted, "Be strong, do not fear! Behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God; He will come and save you."  On this theme he wrote:

"Oh how precious is the Word of God!  For it contains a cordial for every sickness, a balm for every wound, and here at the close of the day let me console myself with it.  How often does a fearful heart weaken and vex the people of God!  How well it is that the Holy Spirit has given this word to cheer them in their distresses!  Sometimes GREAT TROUBLES cause the heir of heaven to be much cast down.  But why is it so?  Are not our fears groundless?  Do not our troubles work our lasting good? Why need we fear the issue when it is in Jehovah's hands?  Our fears grieve us more than our afflictions.  Our greatest pains spring from our unbelief, not from our trials, for if we had more faith our trials could not makes us afraid...GREAT DUTIES also have a tendency to alarm our poor timorous flesh and blood, but let us remember that the work is the Lord's, we do not go a warfare at our own charges.  Our Master will never set us upon a work which is too hard for us.  When we have his command we are sure to have his assistance.  BE STRONG, FEAR NOT." (Spurgeon, C. H. C.H. Spurgeon's Works as Published in His Monthly Magazine The Sword and The Trowel. Vol. 1. Pasadena, TX: Pilgrim Publications, 1975. 244. Print.)

We need not take vengeance, for our God will come with vengeance.  He has provided us everything which pertains to life and godliness.  Not one thing He commands us can we do by our own strength, yet all things God commands us we are enabled to do through faith in Him.  The picture of the man going to war is a good one, for no soldier supplies his own tanks, food, transport, and battle plan.  Pilots in the Air Force do not supply or repair their own planes, nor do they buy the missiles loaded upon them or what is a strategic target!  Sailors in the Navy do not purchase the aircraft carrier they are stationed on or tend livestock for food when deployed.  Their training, gear, supplies, and orders come from others.  At the same time a soldier, airman, or sailor is required to apply himself in fitness, training, and skill development.  For armed forces to be effective in following orders they must be equipped, and God has done more than this for us.  As we labour to do His work, He will supply all our needs.

Let us be strong, and fear not!  Spurgeon is right:  if we had more faith in God "our trials could not make us afraid."  The old song laments, "O what peace we often forfeit, O what needless pain we bear, all because we do not carry everything to God in prayer."  When God tells us in His Word to "be strong in the LORD and in the power of His might" (Eph. 6:10) through the Holy Spirit we can be strong.  It is acknowledging our weakness and trusting in God that we discover strength which transcends our own.  Praise the LORD:  the things which are impossible with men are possible with God!