Friendship Chosen Wisely
A Faithful Congregation is a Prayerful Congregation
Friendship Chosen Wisely
John 15:15; 19:12; James 4:4
John 15:15
No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you.
John 19:12
…Pilate kept seeking to release Jesus, but the Jews cried out saying, “If you release this man, you are no friend of Caesar; everyone who makes himself to be a king opposes Caesar.”
James 4:4
Do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore, whoever wishes to be a friend of the world sets himself as an enemy of God.
Whose Friend Do You Want to Be?
The world is opposed to God. As a result of this, friendship with the world is hostility toward God. Therefore, whoever wishes to be a friend of the world sets himself as an enemy of God. Pilate wanted to be a friend of Caesar. Caesar is of the world and opposed to Yahweh. Pilate knew that Jesus was innocent and yet despite his desire to release Jesus, Pilate’s desire to be a friend of Caesar was stronger than his desire to release Jesus. Pilate did not believe in Jesus. Pilate did not realize that truth-incarnate stood before him when he asked Jesus, “What is truth?”
We believe in Jesus, however. We know an important truth—we are friends of Jesus. Jesus is in the Father and the Father is in Jesus. Jesus and the Father are in the Spirit and the Spirit is in the Father and in Jesus. The one God, who is three divine persons, is our Master. God is not our friend. God is our Master, but we are not merely God’s slaves. Jesus explained that He does not call us slaves for a slave does not know what his Master is doing. Jesus calls us who believe in Him, friends, for He has revealed God’s will to us.
Friendship does not eliminate the authority distinctions. God is our Master. We are God’s friends because He chooses to reveal His will to us. God is not our friend as though we have something secret from Him that we allow Him to know. No, God is our Master. Never in Scripture is God referred to as a person’s friend, but humans are referred to as His friend. Abraham is called God’s friend (James 2:23; Isaiah 41:8; 2 Chronicles 20:7), but Yahweh is always the Master.
We should want to be God’s friend, not the world’s friend. We are friends of God, not just because we know His will, but because we seek to live according to that will. Our lives should be lived seeking to do His will. In the same way, the one who wants to be a friend of the world will seek to do the will of the world. God and the world are opposed, and the friend of the world is the enemy of God. We should choose to be the friend of God and the enemy of world, not friend of the world and the enemy of the God.
One way in which we demonstrate our friendship toward God is to vote. Some Chrisitan opt not to vote because they find many of the candidates ungodly. Sadly, when Christians choose not to vote, they allow the friends of the world to decide what the state will support and endorse. On Tuesday, November 5th, Missourians will decide if the lives of the unborn are worthy of protection. Abortion is wrong. Voting No on Amendment 3 is voting not to enshrine abortion into the state Constitution. Voting No on Amendment 3 is not a vote against anyone who has had an abortion. God loves everyone who has had an abortion and can save any such person. Anyone who votes No of Amendment 3 is no friend of the world. Good. May we all go vote No on Amendment 3 and demonstrate whose friend we are.
Prayer Prompt
Dear Yahweh, You are the triune Master. You created the universe. You are our Master. Thank You for allowing us to be Your friends. May we always choose to be Your friend. The world allures us and beckons us to be its friends. We sometimes crave friendship with the world. Help us always to crave your fruitfulness more. You have reveled Your truth to us. You have reveled Your will to us. Thank You. May we make our voices heard by voting. Please spur all of Your friends to vote No on Amendment 3. Please help us choose to be Your friends in all we do. May we not stand idly by when we can bear witness to the truth by our vote. We love You, Yahweh, but please don’t just take our word for it, but see it in how we live for You. Amen.
Let our faithfulness in prayer mirror Yahweh’s faithfulness!
-FW, CC, SL,
Andrew
Friendship Chosen Wisely
John 15:15; 19:12; James 4:4
John 15:15
No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you.
John 19:12
…Pilate kept seeking to release Jesus, but the Jews cried out saying, “If you release this man, you are no friend of Caesar; everyone who makes himself to be a king opposes Caesar.”
James 4:4
Do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore, whoever wishes to be a friend of the world sets himself as an enemy of God.
Whose Friend Do You Want to Be?
The world is opposed to God. As a result of this, friendship with the world is hostility toward God. Therefore, whoever wishes to be a friend of the world sets himself as an enemy of God. Pilate wanted to be a friend of Caesar. Caesar is of the world and opposed to Yahweh. Pilate knew that Jesus was innocent and yet despite his desire to release Jesus, Pilate’s desire to be a friend of Caesar was stronger than his desire to release Jesus. Pilate did not believe in Jesus. Pilate did not realize that truth-incarnate stood before him when he asked Jesus, “What is truth?”
We believe in Jesus, however. We know an important truth—we are friends of Jesus. Jesus is in the Father and the Father is in Jesus. Jesus and the Father are in the Spirit and the Spirit is in the Father and in Jesus. The one God, who is three divine persons, is our Master. God is not our friend. God is our Master, but we are not merely God’s slaves. Jesus explained that He does not call us slaves for a slave does not know what his Master is doing. Jesus calls us who believe in Him, friends, for He has revealed God’s will to us.
Friendship does not eliminate the authority distinctions. God is our Master. We are God’s friends because He chooses to reveal His will to us. God is not our friend as though we have something secret from Him that we allow Him to know. No, God is our Master. Never in Scripture is God referred to as a person’s friend, but humans are referred to as His friend. Abraham is called God’s friend (James 2:23; Isaiah 41:8; 2 Chronicles 20:7), but Yahweh is always the Master.
We should want to be God’s friend, not the world’s friend. We are friends of God, not just because we know His will, but because we seek to live according to that will. Our lives should be lived seeking to do His will. In the same way, the one who wants to be a friend of the world will seek to do the will of the world. God and the world are opposed, and the friend of the world is the enemy of God. We should choose to be the friend of God and the enemy of world, not friend of the world and the enemy of the God.
One way in which we demonstrate our friendship toward God is to vote. Some Chrisitan opt not to vote because they find many of the candidates ungodly. Sadly, when Christians choose not to vote, they allow the friends of the world to decide what the state will support and endorse. On Tuesday, November 5th, Missourians will decide if the lives of the unborn are worthy of protection. Abortion is wrong. Voting No on Amendment 3 is voting not to enshrine abortion into the state Constitution. Voting No on Amendment 3 is not a vote against anyone who has had an abortion. God loves everyone who has had an abortion and can save any such person. Anyone who votes No of Amendment 3 is no friend of the world. Good. May we all go vote No on Amendment 3 and demonstrate whose friend we are.
Prayer Prompt
Dear Yahweh, You are the triune Master. You created the universe. You are our Master. Thank You for allowing us to be Your friends. May we always choose to be Your friend. The world allures us and beckons us to be its friends. We sometimes crave friendship with the world. Help us always to crave your fruitfulness more. You have reveled Your truth to us. You have reveled Your will to us. Thank You. May we make our voices heard by voting. Please spur all of Your friends to vote No on Amendment 3. Please help us choose to be Your friends in all we do. May we not stand idly by when we can bear witness to the truth by our vote. We love You, Yahweh, but please don’t just take our word for it, but see it in how we live for You. Amen.
Let our faithfulness in prayer mirror Yahweh’s faithfulness!
-FW, CC, SL,
Andrew
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