Friends We Need

“Jonathan said to David, “Go in peace, for we have sworn friendship with each other in the name of the Lord, saying, ‘The Lord is witness between you and me, and between your descendants and my descendants forever.’” (1 Samuel 20:42)

I don’t know if I ever had a friend like Jonathan or David. These two men had a love for each other that went beyond anything we might know as friendship. In my experience, people can be BFFs one minute and enemies the next. True friendship is rare. Jean de la Fontaine a famous French poet from the 17th century said, “Rare as is true love, true friendship is rarer.” This is the reason David and Jonathan’s friendship has been spoken about for millennia. Jonathan, son of King Saul, would have given up his right to the throne of Israel for his friend David. There was value beyond material things that came with their friendship. David and Jonathan pledged themselves to one another, which included responsibility for the others family.

Jonathan eventually died in battle. When David was in Power as King, he sought to find if there were any of Jonathan’s children still alive so that he could take care of them. He eventually found and sent for Mephibosheth, Jonathan’s son, who was hiding far from David whom he feared. Mephibosheth who was crippled expected judgment, but instead received grace abundance and a seat at David’s table because he was Jonathan’s friend.

At one time we were far away from God. Then the Son sought us. He found us and called us to come to Him. When we did finally come we may have been expecting judgment, instead we got acceptance, forgiveness and a seat at God’s table of grace.

Jesus said, “I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends.” As rare as it is, we can have intimate friendship with the Creator of the universe who loves not for what we’ve done but for who we are.

Vanishing Vapor

For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away (James 4:14).

James in chapter 4 has accused the people he's speaking to of lusting after things they don't have, fighting among themselves, being covetous, murderers, being adulterers, enemies of God and being friends with the world! Wow what a tough crowd!
All of the things he speaks about are things that can be inside us. Our lives are filled with all the negativity that inhabits the old sin nature when we are living outside of God's will for our lives. That's why James begins to focus on grace and humility.
Grace is what we need from God. It is a favor that we don't deserve but is offered to us freely because of the work of Christ on the cross. Philippians 2:5-8 says, "Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus,  who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God,  but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men.  And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross." 
Humility is what Jesus teaches. Humility is what He lived. He was never overcome by the world. He gave himself willingly for us. That's the mind of Christ. It's what James says we need too. He says just as God the Father lifted up Jesus, we will be lifted up in the sight of God.
When this happens we'll begin to see that life is short. It's like a vapor. The Psalmist in Psalm 39:5 compares our years to the width of our hands and says that our life at best is like a vapor, so let's pray that God makes the most out of the vapor of our life.

Man in the Mirror

Greater Grace Christian Fellowship is a local church that teaches salvation is a free gift for all who come by faith to Jesus Christ.

That’s the message of the Gospel.

Too often people who are searching in life find another gospel, one that says you have to measure up to a particular standard. One that causes a person to strive to be better, but does not provide the love that’s needed for an individual to grow up into what The Father has planned for their lives.

When a baby is born well-meaning friends and family members often compare the looks of the baby to the father or mother. The truth is it’s very rare that there are distinguishing attributes that can be compared to the parents. That’s why each child is so carefully labeled so that they don’t get switched by accident with another.

Just as a new born baby looks very little like its parents, a new born Christian resembles very little his Heavenly Father. It takes a while to grow. Change doesn’t happen outwardly right away. When we try to push a new Christian into doing spiritual things they don’t understand, they experience failure and get condemned that they couldn’t live up to the standard set for them. Would you put an infant behind the wheel of a car and expect him to drive? Of course not! Then why do we expect brand new believers to perform miracles in their behavior and relationships?

A few years ago I was shaving in the morning and I as I looked in the mirror I saw someone I never saw there before. Dad, is that you? There was no mistaking it. My father was looking back at me from the mirror. As I get older I see him more often sometimes in the physical sense and other times in the way I talk, deal with people or even when I get angry. I remind me of him. In a real sense I am him. He made me. I have his genetic code.

God made me too. I am His creation, but now since I placed my trust in Him, I’m also His son. “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God” (John 1:12-13).

As His son,  I don’t always look like Him or act like Him, but as I  mature in my understanding I begin to resemble His likeness in kindness, patience, love and forgiveness.  

As much as we may love our earthly father, we really want that Man in the mirror to be our Heavenly Father as He has changed us into His image. “Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is (1 John 3:2).