Imagine being the friend of a top influence in your community or industry.
Imagine being a friend to someone whose name or words can send everyone and everything into action.
Imagine being a friend of God – the Almighty creator of heaven and earth.
What would that earn you?
While you think about your answers, let me pull back the curtain and let you in on what that did for one man- the man who was repeatedly referred to as a friend of God.
Blessings for the Friend Of God
God blessed him and his generations – covenant blessings.
God rebuked and stopped those who attempted to take away what was his – his wife.
God helped him pursue and recover all – when some people came and captured his nephew and all that belonged to him.
Just a 3-point summary. But you can agree with me it carries so much weight.
I mean, what more does anyone need aside from the blessings embedded in these?
At the beginning of this new year, as I thought and prayed about pursuing, overtaking, and recovering all that God has for me, God drew me to this deep truth: the first and principal thing I should pursue and recover is my relationship with Him.
Not just saying, “oh God, I want to know you more and serve You more.” My main pursuit should be “I want to be your friend – more.”
In John 15: 15, Jesus says, “Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.“
God desires we be His friends more than He desires we be His servants.
Jesus calls us friends. The trinity desires to be friends with each of us.
So, how can I truly be a friend of God? That God can look down from heaven and say “Chiamaka (replace with your name), my friend. “
I’ve been studying the life of Abraham, that friend of God.
I discovered 3 foundational and unique things about His life. I’ll discuss the first one in this post.
The Confidence of a Friend of God
The first encounter we read in the Bible between God and Abraham (Abram then) is in Genesis 12: 1-4
1 Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee:
2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:
3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.
4 So Abram departed, as the Lord had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran.
Abraham didn’t have the full details of where to go, or how God will finally make a great nation out of him. God simply gave him the command and promise, and he obeyed.
What confidence he had in God! He trusted, with unwavering faith, that what God had promised, He was able to perform.
So many Christians today profess to be friends or followers of God, but they have no confidence in Him. How do we know? They don’t obey Him.
Are you wondering, like I did when I got to this part of obedience… “God, but Abraham heard You speak to him, so He obeyed. Please speak to me.”
Guess God’s reply. “I’ve spoken to man. I speak. And will keep speaking. My word is written in the book I inspired Holy men of old to write. How much of my revealed word do you obey?”
That’s a reply and question to you and me.
The big step for friendship with God is Obedience
Obey God in the things he shows you, and instantly the next thing is opened up. God will never reveal more truth about himself until you have obeyed what you know already…this chapter brings out the delight of real friendship with God.
(Oswald Chambers)
Like John 15: 14 says, “Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.”
It’s clear. Obey me and you’ll be my friend. When God says don’t do this, then don’t. When He says do this, then do it. When He says don’t be equally yoked with an unbeliever, then don’t. When He says your body is my temple, then treat it as one. When He says “forgive”, then do so. When He says “love”, love. When He says, “read My word and seek my face always”, then do that.
No debating. No excuses. No disobedience.
That’s one C in the three Cs I discovered from the friendship between Abraham and God.
I’ll share the other 2 in my next posts.
Now, think about how you’ve lived towards God’s word – in obedience or disobedience?
Ask God for forgiveness where necessary, and commit to obeying him promptly and always.
You’ll see how your friendship with God will grow… and the blesses that will flood into your life from your relationship with Him.
I’ll love to read from you. How has this stirred your heart towards a friendship with God? What practical tips are you taking away to go apply in your life?