FRIENDSHIP MEANS CLOSENESS

To my dear friends...I love each and every one of you.  I miss those that are far away and I enjoy the sweet company of those nearby.  I want to share an excerpt from Beth Moore's Bible Study "James: Mercy Triumphs".

     "Friendship means closeness: One of the most common Hebrew words translated friend is rea.  It bears all the elements we imagine in friendship but can also mean neighbor.  In fact, when Jesus illustrated loving your neighbor with the story of the good Samaritan, He drew from Leviticus 18:10 where rea is translated "neighbor".

    Here we stumble on a big reason why our online and on-phone friendships can't offer the same satisfaction as the less-convenient face-to-face kind. The essence of close friendship is presence.

     What does all this have to do with befriending an invisible God?  Recall Exodus 33:11! "the LORD spoke with Moses face to face, just as a man speaks with his friend." Moses never literally saw that face (See Ex.33:23) but he came presence - to-presence with Him until his own face grew radiant. You and I are invited to come face-to-face or presence-to-presence with Christ, too, but that kind of intimacy only comes intentionally.

     Friendship with the world is vastly more convenient because we live on the crowded pinhead of its epicenter.  It's as close as our nearest billboard and shouts at us from our grocery-store checkout. It holds hands with us in the movies and eats with us in front of the TV.  It promises pleasure and often delivers.  So, no one who lives in this world is a friend of God accidentally.  We make a choice where we want to be most present.  A hard choice.

     Friendship means insider knowledge.  The unspeakably high privilege of friendship with God makes a person humble and friendship with the world makes a person proud.  The former He graces.  The latter He opposes. Can you think of anything in the world scarier than standing opposite of God?  Me neither."

     This week let's be intentional in developing our friendship with God.  Make time to spend time with Him.  Pray, read your Bible, engage in a Bible Study, listen to praise music. Friendship takes time and commitment.  I want to be a GOOD friend of God.

    "Be still and know that I am God"  Psalm 46:10