THE FRIEND OF GOD!
I love meditating on being a friend of God. It is an overwhelming yet encouraging and comforting thought! Abraham \was declared to be a friend of God. Look at what the Scripture says about him.
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.
Though this thought of being a friend of God is beautiful, there is another type of friendship that is in direct opposition of friendship with God and invites warning from the Bible. Apostle James tells us that being a friend of the world is being an enemy of God; he even calls it adultery. This is what he wrote. "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 the same as being an enemy of God. This way of living is a direct result of not knowing the love of God which plunges one into deeper and a more pronounced life of graphic disappointment. This kind of degradation 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, (the law) 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 are powerless to help us tap into the amazing life of God. Being a true friend of God is about receiving the grace that he provided through Jesus Christ. As we already stated, the Bible asserts that Abraham believed God and was called the friend of God. Likewise, when we believe, we also step into the privileged life of being a friend of God. Our surrender to the amazing grace of God, causes us to be filled with the love of God, and that love permits the righteous life of God to be lived through us. 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 its 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 believe that you are receiving the love of God today, and because of that, your life is 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! I am praying for you! I believe that, like Abraham, you are completely relying upon God’s provision for you. Heaven also declares that you are…