Friendship with God

By Eric Hutchinson, CR Ministry TEAM Men's Encourager Coach,

Who is your BFF?  

I was reading today out of 1 Samuel 18:1 “After David had finished talking with Saul, Jonathan became one in spirit with David and he loved him as himself.”  I have had several extremely close friends in my life.  It seems that no matter what I am going through there is a friend that I can turn to for help and encouragement.  Who is that person in your life and how did they become so close to you?  Friends are those special people with whom we can laugh, cry, celebrate and mourn within the different seasons of life.  Just the word friend can bring a memory of a person to mind and almost always brings a smile to our face.  Whether it’s the person you call when you get good news or the person who accompanies you through your dark valleys, that friend is a rich gift from God.  But, the greatest gift of friendship that God gives us is a friendship with himself.  Think about this for a moment.  The creator of the universe, the King of Kings, the Alpha & Omega (beginning & end), the Prince of Peace, the Almighty God himself desires a personal relationship with me.  Wow!  He promises to be with us always (Hebrews 13:5), to encourage us when we are down and to comfort us when we are grieving.  He forgives us our sins (1 John 1:9) no matter what they are and he put them as far as the East is from the West.  He knows my every, deep dark secret and thought but he still loves me anyway!  He encourages me to lay my heaviest burdens on him (Matthew 11:28).  He offers to guide me through life and to trust his faithfulness.  Now that is a friendship worth keeping and maintaining.  Isn’t that what Christmas is really about?  God gave us his only son, Jesus Christ, to save us when we don’t deserve it.  He gave his most prized possession to reconcile our relationship with him.  I know Christmas may be a stressful time and maybe full of strife but in those moments of frustration take time to lean into your friendship with God.

I hope this email finds you in a good place.  However, if you are struggling, remember that you have a friend in Jesus!

“What a friend we have in Jesus,
All our sins and griefs to bear!
What a privilege to carry
Everything to God in prayer!
Oh, what peace we often forfeit,
Oh, what needless pain we bear,
All because we do not carry
Everything to God in prayer!”
Lyrics – Joseph M. Scriven
Composer - Charles C. Converse

Click HERE to listen to "What a Friend We Have in Jesus" by Paul Baloche

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