Sometimes people come in to our lives for a reason, a brief segment of time or sometimes even a lifetime. Some friends are put in our lives to encourage, strengthen, inspire, challenge and convict us.
Have you ever wondered why? You get this friendship and it is so precious and before you know it the friendship is over. Almost as fast as the friendship was made; the person drifts out of your life.
Have you ever thought – ‘we use to be such good friends’? ‘What happened?
God gives us friends to help sharpen our spirit! Sometimes this happens and the friend moves on or sometimes it happens and the friend stays until life on earth is ended.
God has such a wonderful way of bringing friends into and out of our lives for reasons that we may not understand until a later time in life or sometimes, we don’t understand at all.
The Bible has a lot to say on the subject of friends! As we look into our own lives at our friends, is it possible they are answers to prayers that we have prayed? That God has sent in human form an answer to us?
Do our friends sometimes aid us physically, emotionally or spiritually? Surely this is the work of the Lord! We have to be able to recognize it though. Do we see the Fingerprints of God on our lives through our friends?
Read what Jesus says to His friends:
In John 15:13-17 “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit – fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. This is my command: Love each other.”
It is stunning that Jesus called the 12 disciples friends! The very Son of God sat among people and told them that the love a man has for his friends is what causes him to lay down his life. A friend tells the others everything that is right and good. A friend chooses a friend because he wants to be there for life. Jesus goes on to say that when we do these things, God will listen to our hearts and all of this comes out of love!
We should desire to be and have friends like this! Jesus laid out the pattern for us to follow in friendship.
Proverbs 27:17 says “As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.” – A friend in Christ is a tool to help us. We should praise God for them and desire to be that kind of friend!
Sometimes friends come into our life for a season and bring us experience of peace, or love that we may not know or understand until we see it in action in another. They teach us by example how to live out love. That is exactly what Jesus did for those disciples that He taught.
A friend may come into your life to lift you up from a low place. They may say or do something that inspires you to get up out of the low place in your life! We should be thanking God for these kinds of friends because surely they are Heaven sent! When was the last time we thanked God for friends in our lives? For people who go the extra mile to make sure we understand what it means to live for the Lord? Friends that say things that comfort us and make us feel loved.
These kinds of folks are from the Lord sent directly into our lives! They are gifts from our Heavenly Father. The 12 disciples were blessed because they walked and talked with Jesus; but now that He has gone to Heaven; He sends friends among us so that we are encouraged and motivated and challenged to live this life on earth! Do we see our friends like that? Do we want to be that kind of friend?
Here are some ways:
© Godly friends sharpen us. They will sharpen you and you will sharpen them. Proverbs 27:17
© Godly friends assure each other when times are tough. Do we have friends that love us through the hard times? Friends that don’t fade away when times get rough? Proverbs 17:17
© Godly friends participate with each other. Proverbs 18:24 teaches us that friends activate each other and move each other to desire to want to do something! Inspiration is another word here. Do we have friends that inspire us to do more or do things that we have not done before?
© Godly friends rejoice with each other! When something wonderful happens in our lives what do we do? We call up all our friends and share the great news! That friend is so glad you did! Rejoicing with each other is a special bond between those that love the Lord and each other. We desire to share the blessings of life with each other.
© Godly friends forgive each other. There is not a desire to be mad at a friend. A godly person understands that unforgiveness will eat away the goodness in our lives and lets it go. People mess up and hurt other people. It is a fact. The godly person will go the extra mile and forgive and move on in friendship!
© Godly friends do not share or harbor anger towards others. Praying together over anger is one thing; but to continually bring up the anger and make it grow is quite another. God wants more from us than that. A godly friend sees past anger and finds a way to challenge a person to get past that anger. Proverbs 22:24
© Godly friends develop the truth in each other. We strengthen each other to see and say the truth! We develop accountability with the friend and desire to believe and share the truth in all situations – using the Word of God as base of that truth!
It is my prayer today that you see the Fingerprints of God in your life by the friends you have! Praise God today for your friends that love the Lord and God has placed in your life. Maybe today for the first time you realize that God placed people in your life for reasons you never thought of before. If that is true thank God and then thank your friends for being there for you. WHAT a gift from God! You might find out that your friends are REALLY Heaven Sent!
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