Weekly Word 10/5/26

And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” And he was called the friend of God. (James 2:23 NKJV)

A friend is a person with whom you share mutual affection and trust. This relationship is typically stronger than that of an acquaintance. Friends are often not family members but are individuals you enjoy spending time with and confiding in.

Friendship is one of those unique relationships that are different from the other loves in our lives. We can be friends with our spouses and I hope that you are. We can be friends with our siblings, and I hope that you can. We can have friends at work, or at church, or at some hobby; but we know the difference between those who are our companions and those who are our friends.
Our lives tend to be very busy; making it harder to develop and maintain close friendships. It takes time to build any relationship; and with our family and social commitments taking up so much of our time; it makes acquiring and maintaining friendships seem like a luxury. Friendship can be found thru a mutual activity or work. But many times, if the activity or work that brought you together ceases to be part of your life then the relationship can also cease to exist.
Also, there has to be that connection that C.S. Lewis referenced in this quote, "Friendship is born at that moment when one man says to another, 'What! You too? I thought that no one but myself...'" There has to be some common ground on which to build this type of relationship.  And of course, this has to work on both sides of the relationship. 

The moment we came to believe in Jesus Christ as Savior and to confess Him as Lord and believe in our hearts God raised Him from the dead we were born again into the family of God. At that point you are His child. That Father/child relationship will not change and the love in your heart for Christ will continue to grow in intimacy. But if you are going to desire to be ‘friends’ with God, you are going to have to put the time into the relationship and share the common ground with Christ.

God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. (1 Corinthians 1:9)

Fellowship - G3126 κοινωνία koinōnia, n. [19] [√ 3123]. fellowship, the close association between persons, emphasizing what is common between them; - (1 Corinthians 1:9 NIV - God is faithful, who has called you - Bible Gateway)

We are called into this fellowship, into this common ground, into intimacy and if we are willing – into friendship. I must be willing to share this common ground; Christ is the common ground we share. God in Christ, us in Christ; Christ in us. This is going to take time. Most of God’s spiritual workings seem to have some element of time to it: not salvation (we can be saved instantly when we believe, but Jesus endured 33 years and a gruesome death to purchase it); and the point can be made that God was working on the soul of that individual for salvation already before the gospel came with understanding. However, we know sanctification certainly does take time; lots of time.
If I want to be close to God, I must be willing, to be willing, to be God-like; godly. I must want the common ground between us to have this intimate fellowship. In other words, I must want to made to be like Christ. The good news is that God has already made up His mind to do this for you and me. The difficult (not bad) news is that this is going to take a lot of work/time, which is usually accompanied by that ugly word – suffering.
Trials, disappointments, tribulation, broken bodies and broken hearts; in this world we all know we are going to walk thru them; Jesus told us as much. And like David we might have to walk through the valley of the shadow of death; but in the valley David acknowledged the reason he was not going to succumb to fear is that he was not walking through it alone – he had a Friend.
If I want that friendship, I have to put in the time to spend with Him. This is not going to exclude me from trials and tribulations (suffering) but I will be able to walk more sure-footed through them. Somewhere along the way we are going to misstep; I know I have plenty missteps of my own (some real blunders). But we can look forward to friendship in the fellowship with God, because God has already set His heart on conforming us into the image of His Son -Jesus Christ. In that conformity is our common ground and that is a work of His grace.
Abraham; known as the friend of God (James 2:23); Moses, known as one who speaks face to face with God as a friend (Exodus 33:11) and David, known to have a “heart after God” (Acts 13:22); all of them failed in one way or another. So, I know that there is hope for me too to draw near to God. 
We can choose to want to try and keep our lives comfortable and hold God at arm’s length, or we can desire the greater good, the only true satisfying for our soul (Psalm 107:9) and want friendship and fellowship with God.
There will be no area of my life that is not touched by the hand of God at work in me, if I am willing. My desires, my treasures, my pleasures, my thought life, my emotions; all of these are subject to God placing His finger on it and saying we need to deal with this because it is coming between us. If we are going to be friends, we have to be able to talk about these things honestly and openly.
Am I afraid to be that open and vulnerable with God? You betcha, I feel like C.S. Lewis when he said, “We are not necessarily doubting that God will do the best for us; we are wondering how painful the best will turn out to be.”
But looking back over the lives we find in scripture and coming to know God to some extent through my own life, gives me hope and courage to want to press on for more of Him. More in my life, more in my thoughts, more of Him throughout the day in every circumstance; more of Him in all things. Is He worth it? From what I have tasted of the Lord, I would have to say “Yes, yes, He is”.

Have a blessed week seeking friendship with God,

Living His Life,
Bruce