THE FRIEND OF GOD!
I love to ponder the thought of being a friend of God. Abraham was declared as one who was a friend of God.
James 2:23 And so it happened just as the Scriptures say: “Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith.” He was even called the friend of God.
There is an opposite side to this that is not as much fun to think about. Apostle James tells us that being a friend of the world is being an enemy of God; he even calls it adultery. "You adulterers! Don’t you realize that friendship with the world makes you an enemy of God? I say it again: If you want to be a friend of the world, you make yourself an enemy of God. James 4:4
Apostle John describes the “world" in these words, "For everything in the world—the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does—comes not from the Father but from the world. (1 John 2:16)So, being caught up in the cravings, lusts, and pride of this world is being an enemy of God. This kind of life is a direct result of not knowing the love of God and trying to find fulfillment from those things that cannot fulfill. All of this is a direct result of living under the law – trying to be good enough to be right with God.
Colossians 2:20-23 Since you died with Christ to the basic principles of this world, why, as though you still belonged to it, do you submit to its rules: 21 “Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!”? 22 These are all destined to perish with use, because they are based on human commands and teachings. 23 Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self- imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence.
All the rules, do not do this and you cannot taste this are all principles of this world and have no power of tapping into the amazing life of God. Being a true friend of God is about believing in the freedom that he has provided through Jesus Christ. As we read, the Bible says that Abraham believed God and was called the friend of God. When we surrender to the amazing grace of God, living in the righteousness that he has freely given to us, it causes us to be filled with the love of God and then, and only then, will we love what God loves and hate what he hates!
When we are filled with the love of God, the world loses its hold on us and we walk in a life where the world and it’s cravings are under our feet! Freedom is not doing whatever you feel like, but rather the power to do what you know is best! When your spiritual life is like driving a Lamborghini and the life of the world is like an old, beat-up car that smokes and barely runs – its temptation will no longer have a hold on you!
I and praying for you today that, because of your reception to the love of God, your life will be an uncompromising act of love to our great King, Jesus Christ! Think about it, because of the love and grace of God, the world and all its deceitful and destructive desires must find their rightful place in your life – under your feet! When you are living in the love and forgiveness of God, the world no longer has any hold on you, and that is when you also will live your life as..
THE FRIEND OF GOD!
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