Jesus – Our Friend

Jesus demonstrated His friendship, love and loyalty by what He chose to do at the cross. It may be worth asking ourselves; What am I/you doing to demonstrate our friendship, love and loyalty to Jesus?

Source: PInterest

As a youngster, I remember singing the song ‘What a Friend We Have in Jesus’.  Back then it was considered a good song to sing about Jesus. Now, as an adult by virtue of my age and also of my spiritual maturity, I need to know what a friend is and the responsibility that goes along with friendship. John 15:15 ‘I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business.  Instead, I have called you friends, because everything I have learned from my Father I have made known to you’. Wow!  Consider what Jesus said.  We, the committed Christians, are no longer His servants, but are called His friends!  

Friendship requires commitment to each other – loyalty, trustworthiness, even unto death.  This friendship that Jesus is referring to goes so deep that He said; ‘all things that I heard from my Father, I have made known to you’. Think about those words; ‘my Father’! He is the creator of all things – the author and controller of all things. Wow! Those are intimate things between Jesus and His Father, and Jesus shares those things because Jesus has trusted His true believers to know Him and His Father.

Source: DailyVerses.net

Why has Jesus trusted us with these intimate things? There are four primary reasons:

1) Jesus wants to re-establish the relationship between God and man that He had with Adam and Eve before they sinned.

2) Jesus wants man to live in total harmony with God and man which can only happen if man knows and lives by God’s standards of righteousness.

3) Our God is a jealous God and wants man to worship only Him.  After all, God created man.

4) God/Jesus wants us to go out into the world to proclaim His word (the Scriptures) and present the gospel of salvation.

Here is a question - Jesus asked His followers to go out into the world. Are we, His chosen, prepared to go out and share the gospel? Yes – Jesus said so in John 15:15. There are many other Scriptures that tell us that we should be prepared to go out unto the world. Consider how Jesus prayed for His Disciples in John 17:6-19. (Please go into your Bible and read this scripture); then consider these key verses:

John 17:8 - ‘For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me’. Note: Again, Jesus said that He gave us all that was given to Him.  We are prepared!

John 17:11 - ‘I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one’. Note: Jesus said He would leave this world, but He was leaving us in this world to do His works, and we are protected by the power of our Father to go out unto the world. We are protected!

John 17:13 - ‘I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them’. Note: Jesus says He wants us to have His JOY. We have His joy!

John 17:17 - ‘Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth’. Note: We need to be sanctified by applying the Word of God. The Word of God is the only absolute truth. We have His truth!

John 17:18 – ‘As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world’. Note: Did Jesus send us to another Bible study, church service, program, etc.?  While these are important, the most important thing is that Jesus sent us out into the World to use the Gifts of the Spirit He has given us. We have the Gifts of the Spirit!

Well, that is what the Scripture says about our relationship with Jesus. There are many more Scriptures that say the same thing about our friendship with Jesus and what Jesus desires from that friendship. An Important note to finish with: Jesus demonstrated His friendship, love and loyalty by what He chose to do at the cross. It may be worth asking ourselves; What am I/you doing to demonstrate our friendship, love and loyalty to Jesus?

Author: David Leatherman

May God bless and enrich your life

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