Friends With God

“I have called you friends, for everything I have learned from the Father I made known to you.” John 15:5

One of the great joys and blessings over these nearly 9 months, since I came back to Wintersburg, has been to be reacquainted with friends. Even while I was pastoring in my home church of El Estero, many of the Wintersburg friends came to visit and I gave them the “Ted Tour” of my family history and the sights and sounds of the Monterey Peninsula.

Have you been blessed with close friends? Maybe they are friends you have known your whole life, or maybe they are new friends that you met at church or other places. One of the best measures of a good friend is the willingness to be open and honest together. Good friends are transparent with one another.

James 2:23 says, “Abraham was called God’s friend.” In Genesis 18, God wanted to be transparent with Abraham, so he told Abraham of the destruction that would soon come upon Sodom and Gomorrah. Abraham did not simply take this as information, he pleaded with God to spare these cities even if there were only 10 righteous people living there.

As Christians, we have a friend in Jesus. Jesus shares with us everything he learned from his heavenly Father and that includes the good news of salvation.

Thought For Today: Like Abraham, we can plead with God to save our family and friends who don’t yet know Jesus. Who comes to mind when you think of family and friends that still don’t know Jesus? “What a friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and griefs to bear.”

Today’s Prayer Focus: Take time today to thank God for the friend we have in Jesus. The one who bears all our sins and grief. Pray for those family and friends that come to mind that they will come to a saving knowledge of Jesus. Deo Volente.