★ What A Friend We Have In JESUS!

Friends are friends…forever! We are told in proverbs 18:24, that “Friends come and friends go, but a true friend sticks by you like family.”

It is one thing to find a friend, but another to keep that friendship strong and healthy. Many relationships falter because one person is expected to do all the giving.

Cultivating a friendship is like cultivating a crop. You reap what you sow. After the seed of friendship is sown, it must be tended. How? We water the seed through intercessory prayer;  we weed it by removing from our hearts and minds, judgmental thoughts, hurt feelings, jealousy, mistrust or animosity. In order to have a friend, we need to be a friend ourselves.

Many times we put up a wall to protect us from intimacy because we remember what happened the previous time we opened our hearts to someone and were betrayed and hurt by them. But when we do this, we are the ones that lose out. Therefore, it is very important for us to love others even when we are not loved.

Develop relationships by the SPIRIT of GOD. GOD may bring someone into your life, for you to minister to those who need a touch from HIM. The BIBLE tells us that “a friend loves at all times” – (proverbs 17:17). The key word here is “all”. You can’t turn your back on someone whom GOD has put into your life, just because you’ve run into a glitch in the relationship.

Find a way to work out your differences in the light of GOD’s WORD. And don’t worry if your friend does not respond to your desperate need in the midst of a crisis. He/she will soon learn.

Oh! What a friend we have in JESUS! The best friend that we can ever find is JESUS.

Faithful Friend:

The LORD is a faithful friend. A faithful friend has three qualities. HE

Hears: A true friend is interested in your life. He listens to your problems and dreams. “The eyes of The LORD are upon the righteous and HIS ears are open to their cry”. – Psalm 34:15

 Helps: A friend in need is a friend indeed. “The righteous cry out and The LORD hears and delivers them out of all their troubles” – Psalm 34:17.

Honest: A true friend will be honest with you. He will not see you walking into danger without warning you.

“I know O LORD, that YOUR judgments are right, and   that in faithfulness you have afflicted me” – Psalm 119:75

Forgiving Friend:

The LORD is a forgiving friend. Otherwise we would have lost HIS friendship the first time we committed a sin. HE would have rejected us as unworthy to be HIS friends. But because HE is a forgiving friend, we are able to continue our friendship with HIM. “HE has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor punished us according to our iniquities. For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is HIS mercy toward those who fear HIM.” – Psalm 103:10,11)

The thief on the cross had no hope of forgiveness as far as the world was concerned. But JESUS forgave HIM and took him to paradise. With JESUS, there is hope for those who have no hope.

Fighting Friend:

Our LORD is not a passive friend who watches helplessly when we are attacked. HE is a fighting friend. HE does not shrink from battle. HE is the KING of GLORY.

“Who is this KING of GLORY? The strong and mighty; The LORD mighty in battle” – Psalm 24:8

For those who feel helpless wondering who will fight for them, The LORD HIMSELF will fight for them.

Forceful Friend:

The LORD’s friendship is a serious is a serious friendship. It is a demanding friendship of the highest quality. “Ye are my friends if ye do whatever I command you.” – John 15:14

His friendship demands complete obedience and total loyalty.

“Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with GOD? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of GOD.” –James 4:4

HIS friendship demands complete confidence in HIM. “Abraham believed GOD, and it was accounted unto him for righteousness. He was called friend of GOD.” – James 2:23

Everlasting Friend:

The LORD will be our friend till the very end. HE will not forsake us halfway but will lead us to completion. “Being confident of this very thing, that HE who began a good work in you will complete it until the day of JESUS CHRIST”—Philippians 1:6

“Looking to JESUS, the author and finisher of our faith” – Hebrews 12:2

When The LORD begins to work in our lives, we can be sure that HE will complete it. For HE is a Master Craftsman who does not leave HIS work undone or half done. Our GOD is a friendly GOD. HE created man because HE wanted a friend, but sin separated man from GOD. But through the cross, we can once again become friends of GOD.

Praise be to GOD for HIS loving kindness and HIS faithfulness.