Recently, and by recently I mean the day I’m writing this I was listening to some worship songs and something stood out more than ever. Jesus as my friend. While I've experienced the sweetest of friendships, the way the Lord has given me family that is my blood and family that is as if they were blood has made me so grateful. More than that though, I’ve taken a step back to look at how wonderful of a friend Jesus is. He is the most faithful, loving, kind, honest, present, just, and true. I could go on and on about who the Lord is to me. I want to help you understand His friendship to us and how we all are invited into friendship with Him and we can invite others into friendship with the Lord too.
Jesus in Friendships
One of the best ways we experience who Jesus is, is through our friends. Proverbs 18:24 says, “There are “friends” who destroy each other, but a real friend sticks closer than a brother.” That means your best friend can be closer to you than your own blood family. But what is a real friend? A real friend is willing to lay their life down for you (but I’ll get to that later), will speak life and truth to you, and loves you. God gives us good, godly friends for our benefit. It helps us grow towards Him. I know that one thing I can always say about my friends, especially my best friends, is that they don’t play games with me. If I have the slightest moment where I’m not speaking life, they’re the very first ones to speak it back into me. Isn’t that just what Jesus does? He speaks a better word. He speaks life! What a friend. That’s why Proverbs 24:14 TPT says “It takes a grinding wheel to sharpen a blade, and so one person sharpens the character of another.” Friends that sharpen you are the ones you should keep close. They’re the ones who are pushing you, correcting you, love you, and helping you through everything life brings. In this they show the heart of Jesus. Look at your friends, look at how Jesus shines through them in your life! Thank the Lord for them, never take them for granted. God sends people into our lives. Your friends aren’t coincidental, they’re intentional. Granted some friends are there to teach you something and will leave, but there are friends who will last too. We lean on the Lord and oftentimes friends to lift us up and help. When you allow your friends to lift you up in prayer, you allow them to show you the love and care of the Lord towards you. Jesus is always praying for us, He intercedes for us at the right hand of the Father, and our friends doing so is one of the many ways we get to experience who Jesus is through people in our lives. The Lord has crafted us each specially so clearly in all that He’s made us to be and we benefit each other. If your friends reflect the Word and who He calls us to be and those friends call out who the Lord has called you to be, then they’re an example of Christ in your day to day life and the kind of friend He is.
Jesus, Our Friend
We see Jesus in the day to day in many ways like our friends, but what about when it’s just you and Jesus? For me, I see now more than ever that Jesus is my closest, best friend. My friends reflect Him but there’s only one Jesus. It’s actually not very difficult to be a friend of Jesus or the Lord’s or Holy Spirit (I mean… they ARE one). John 15:13 TPT says, “For the greatest love of all is a love that sacrifices for all. And this great love is demonstrated when a person sacrifices his life for his friends.” And right after in John 13:14 we read that it says, “You are my friends if you do what I command.” So here we have two back to back verses that show us something that we can speak of after those chapters. Jesus has shown us the greatest love there could ever be. He showed His friendship when He did exactly what He said that a love that sacrifices for all is the greatest and that it’s demonstrated when a friend lays his life down for his friends. That’s exactly what Jesus did. He laid His life down for me. He also didn’t just lay it down for me but for you too. We’re His friends. How else do you know if you’re His friend? You do what He commands. What does He command? What’s in the Word. You have to hide it in your heart, meditate on it, believe it, and do what it says. Believing is very important, belief/faith is what made Abraham 1. Righteous and 2. A friend of God. James 2:23, “And so it happened just as the Scriptures say: “Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith.” He was even called the friend of God.”
You have to believe all of the Word. Build a friendship with Jesus, and a solid one too. Don’t build a flimsy relationship like the man who built a house on the sand. When the wind and waves came crashing he was knocked over. That means you can’t leave Jesus on a shelf and only talk to Him or read the word when you decide to every other week. No friendship survives when there’s minimal communication. If you only crack open your Bible once or twice every other week or at all then you’re an acquaintance, not a friend. The word says to meditate on it so that means you’re making time for the Word and thinking on it, living it out, you’re praying, you’re worshiping Him. When you build a friendship that’s on a solid rock nothing will shake it. When storms come it stands firm. Your relationship with Jesus is ultimately a friendship at its finest amongst so many other things but here we’re talking about friendship. So when you build a relationship where you are making that time for Him it will remain. Think about your closest friend. You don’t get to being close without talking often, sharing with one another. You need to do that with Jesus, first and foremost. He is the best friend you could ever think up and pray for. He is constant, present, and He will never fail you. He hears everything you say and loves you. Never take that for granted and if you don’t have that then build towards it. It’s so worth it. He’s the friend I’ve found to be closer than a sister, one who has never left my side even if I stepped away for a moment. Make that time. He really loves you.
We are so fortunate to live in a time where we can not just be friends with Jesus but He lives inside of our hearts if we allow Him to. You know, David longed to be as close to the Lord as possible but because of things he had done he couldn’t build the temple but was able to instruct Solomon. We are so blessed to know that we don’t have that disconnect, but that we can simply invite Him into our hearts and choose to walk with Him rather than living a life where He’s there but always at bay or in a temple. He is with us always and living inside of us.
Jesus, Friend to All
I was listening to a song that said
“How can it be?
There is a table,
For all who would come,
For all who would come.
Taste now and see,
There is a table,
For all who would come,
For all who would come.
Take of the bread,
Receive the cup,
For his mercy is enough
For the many and the one
This is communion
Take it as often as you will
For His blood has power still
By His wounds we shall be healed
This is communion”
- Communion, Brooke Ligertwood
My heart sank as these words settled in. The stark reality that there are people who will never know communion with Jesus even though there was always a spot at the table for them broke my heart. There are people who will never taste and see His goodness while knowing they’ve tasted and seen because of ignorance, fading memories, fear, lack of commitment, improper teaching, and so much more. I thought to myself, how blessed I am to have been raised in a way to know Jesus since I was born. I can say the Lord kept me and I’ve known Him my whole life. In a second it felt like I saw a flood of memories of the thousands of ways Jesus has shown Himself to me as a friend. In my darkest of moments and in my brightest days He was always next to me and I always knew He was there. He carried me. Jesus laid Himself down for me. He has never failed me. The Word says to put our trust in no one but the Lord. I’ve put my trust in Him and it has blessed me. But what do I do with that? What do you do with your experience of friendship with Jesus? You don’t have to be like me and have known Jesus your whole life, you go from where you are with Him. You can only go up from there. We have to carry it out to our friends. Remind yourself daily of who the Lord has called you to be and always ask the Lord how to best show His friendship to you to others. Be a friend to those who know Jesus and invite others into friendship with Jesus, that wonderful communion we get to partake in. Share the friendship that Jesus showed to his disciples and sinners to everyone you come through. Be the reason someone learns to sit at the table and commune with the Lord. We are blessed enough to know and it would be selfish to not share and well, if you haven’t experienced this yet and you’re here reading this today I invite you into friendship with the Lord. Go read my post “Because He Loved Us” and scroll to the end to pray the prayer of salvation to start your best journey yet, your journey with the Lord. I promise you that it’s not a decision you’ll regret.
