03/20/2025
We are going to delve into an interesting topic this morning, friendship with God, and we will do so by asking ourselves three questions that are simple and wonderful in their divine implication. First, do we consider ourselves to be friends of God? Secondly, do we believe that this is even possible, and finally, if we are friends, or not, what are the ramifications of this to our faith?
““He who withholds kindness from a friend forsakes the fear of the Almighty.”
Job 6:14 ESV
Let's begin by dealing with the question "Do we believe that this is possible." Because if we don't believe it is possible for us to be friends with God, then the first question concerning whether we are God’s friend or not is immaterial. If we don’t believe that it is possible to be friends with God then any attempt to present ourselves as one is purely a sham and a farce. So, if we don't believe that we can actually be friends with God then no friendship will ever form between us except as a pretense… a fantasy.
“while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it”
2 Timothy 3:13-14 ESV
We have all met someone in our lives that we have found interesting and thought that we would like to become friends with, but for some reason they didn’t want to be friends with us, and no friendship developed. When this happens we remain distant, or exist simply as acquaintances. However, this is not what God wants concerning us. God seeks to have a friendship with us. We read in scripture that He desires such a relationship with us. Listen to the Word that Samuel delivers to King Saul about seeking David… a man He would claim to be a man after His own heart.
“But now your kingdom shall not continue. The Lord has sought out a man after his own heart, and the Lord has commanded him to be prince over his people, because you have not kept what the Lord commanded you.””
1 Samuel 13:14 ESV
God sought out David, and as we read stories of them, wouldn’t we readily consider them to be friends? the Old Testament also speaks a great deal about the relationship between Abraham and God. In fact, they had a deep personal relationship in which Abraham could speak with the Lord as openly and freely as if he were talking to a close personal friend. So, it shouldn't surprise us to read in scripture that he and God were indeed friends and that God Himself called Abraham His friend in no uncertain terms… Listen…
“But you, Israel, my servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, the offspring of Abraham, my friend;”
Isaiah 41:8 ESV
This friendship was recorded specifically in various passages of scripture, not just this once, but three times. In the verse we just read from Isaiah 41, and again in two more verses...
“Did you not, our God, drive out the inhabitants of this land before your people Israel, and give it forever to the descendants of Abraham your friend?”
2 Chronicles 20:7 ESV
And
“and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, "Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness"—and he was called a friend of God.”
James 2:23 ESV
So, becoming friends with God is indeed possible, but is it limited to these two men, David and Abraham? The answer would have to be no, because Jesus spoke to his disciples in much the same manner. Friendship between ourselves and God or Jesus is not a relationship that is limited to Abraham, David, nor His few chosen apostles, No, Jesus teaches us just as He taught His disciples, and calls for us and commands us in the exact same way...
“No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.”
John 15:15 ESV
Given that our friendship is meant to be more than a desire, what is necessary for that to occur? To become friends with God we must believe in Him and become righteous. These are the foundations given for God's friendship with Abraham, and we will realize them in our lives too when God begins to walk and confide in us.
Pastor Oswald Chambers wrote that when we are friends with God (referring to Isaiah 41), that we will know and live in His will obediently, and without question...
“This chapter brings out the delight of real friendship with God as compared with occasional feelings of His presence in prayer. To be so much in contact with God that you never need to ask Him to show you His will, is to be nearing the final stage of your discipline in the life of faith." - Oswald Chambers
Have you had close friends similar to what Chambers describes? Have you had a friend that you were so close with that you knew without even asking what they liked or disliked, and believed that they felt this way about you as well? Could you sit together with them for hours and say very little because the mere joy of their company was enough? This is the relationship Abraham had with God, and this same friendship that is ours to have with the Lord too.
So, let’s trust Him, trust Him more than a childhood friend with our most intimate secrets. He will not let us down and will always be beside us through thick or thin. He will hold us when we are hurting, defend us in a fight, correct us without offense, and perform every act we would expect of a friend... and then some. We have a true friend in the Lord, and isn’t that wonderful?
“Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness. Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act.”
Psalms 37:3-5 ESV
Prayer:
Father, thank you for being my friend, and teaching me how to be yours. Abba, I love you as my Holy Father, but also as my Papa, and my closest friend and companion. Let me walk with you and always be nestled in, and obedient to, your will. Let my prayers become a conversation between us like those of dear friends and unfettered by any distrust, or fear of revelation. Let my deepest desires be known to you and your corrections be offered me without danger of offense or hurt feelings. May our friendship be like the one you had with Abraham, or that Jesus had with His disciples. Let our words be the words of joy and love for one another, and our silences be to us a peaceful confirmation that we love the very presence of one another in unspoken understanding. Walk together with me in your will and show me that it is no longer just your will, but that it has become ours. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you my God, who abides in my always, and in whom I abide faithfully. Holy are you who is my friend and my God for all eternity. Amazing are you who takes my every failure in stride, and by your grace and the blood of your Son Jesus Christ washes me clean of sin and forgives me completely. You are my friend Lord, and I long to be yours forevermore… never disappointing you, and pleasing you always. Keep me near and know that just as your Son Jesus offered His life for mine, I give up mine to you. Help me to show you and all of heaven and creation that our friendship is my greatest desire, and that it is meant to demonstrate the eternal love we have for one another to those who are lonely, distraught, and who need a friend who will never abandon them. To all who will hear I say praise the Lord my God and Friend and join with us by seeking Him and our Heavenly Father’s friendship. To these things may all who believe say Amen!
Amen!
Additional Scripture:
“as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us. As a father shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him.”
Psalm 103:12-13 ESV
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”
John 3:16 ESV
“Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.”
John 15:13 ESV
“I [Jesus] am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep.”
John 10:14-15 ESV
Rich Forbes