THE GIFT OF GODLY FRIENDS

For those of you who were expecting me to talk more about who we are in Christ this week, I extend my apologies. I’m sure the Lord will have me do that at a future time, but today I want to share my heart with you about the value and gift of Godly friends.

This week I had lunch with two such very dear friends. Due to geography and circumstances, it is not always easy to find a time for us to meet, so we look forward to those times we can be together. Yesterday was one of those times. On the way home, I was thinking about them and how grateful I am for their presence in my life. They are what I call “forever friends” – the kind you treasure because no matter how long it is between visits, we are perfectly comfortable with each other when we are able to get together. Our conversation just flows, laughing with each other over our foibles and funny stories one minute, then commiserating and supporting each other over the trials and vicissitudes of our lives the next.

When I got home, I was still feeling the warm glow of our time together, and tried to find a word or words that would define this feeling permeating my being. I laughed when I realized that what I was feeling was a profound sense of well-being and peace. I felt like my soul had entered into a place of rest, where all was well; a place where there was nothing for me to do, but to enjoy and savor the moment. Through these friends God had led me to the still waters and refreshed my soul, reminding me that His goodness and love, mercy and provision are always with me.

I had not realized just how much my soul needed those quiet waters and that refreshing, until it was refreshed in the presence of these dear and wonderful and funny women of God. Along with thinking of them as my forever friends, they are now forever my “23^rd Psalms friends!” My heart is full of gratitude, both to them and to the Father, for this gift of friendship.

It is a dry and thirsty land out there, filled with the clamor and noise of the world. So many of us need a word of encouragement, caring, and blessing, and sometimes we don’t realize just how much we need it, how dry and thirsty we are, until God brings someone to us who will speak that Word of refreshing and hope. Sometimes, rather than us being the receivers, God wants us to be the givers, bringing encouragement and peace to someone who needs it.
Jesus said,
…₃₄ "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. ₃₅" By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another." John 13:34, 35 NIV

Father, I pray that each of us will receive Your Word of encouragement, comfort, deliverance, healing, blessing, and hope from one another. And I pray that each of us will also be the one who speaks it to someone who needs to hear it. Father, we thank You for our brothers and sisters in Christ, we thank You for those who love us and our forever friends, and we pray that we may also be channels of Your love. Let us live in love for one another, so that all men will know that we are Your disciples and You are our Lord.

“Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!”   Psalms 133:1, NIV

                       

THOUGHTS FOR REFLECTION

 ·        Who are my forever friends?

 ·         Am I a forever friend to someone else?

 ·        How is my soul today: Dry and thirsty? Satisfied and grateful?

   

Love, Hugs, and Blessings!

Syandra

 Have you believed? If not, choose to believe what the Bible says:

“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God…” Romans 3:23, NIV

"He himself (Jesus) bore our sins" in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; "by his wounds you have been healed." I Peter 2:24, NIV

“Salvation is found in no one else (but Jesus), for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.” Acts 4:12, NIV

“…If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” Romans 10:9, NIV

 Sin brought us death. Jesus, through His blood shed for us on the cross, offers us abundant life now and eternal life when we leave our earthly bodies behind. I would love to hear from you when you accept what Jesus has done for you, or if you have questions.