I AM CHRIST’S FRIEND[/size]
 
 
 
“My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I choose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit – fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. This is my command: Love one another.”
 
I can remember way back when I was in Bible Collage and during those very first days, there were a couple of young men who entered the ministry like gangbusters. It was humorous because the one guy was like a song and dance extrovert. If you looked in the dictionary under extrovert it would most likely have his name as listed.  The interesting thing about this fellow was that after about a month or 2 he was thinking of dropping out of school. He claimed that no one liked him and that he didn’t have any friends. What he was doing was preventing people from getting to know him and as a result most people felt they didn’t know him. They shied away from him. How often people come across as someone they aren’t.  Deep down they are hurting and they keep the barriers up and prevent others from getting close to them and hence no one knows who they are. But you know what? If the barriers came down and they were real, others would gladly make the effort to know who they are.
 
SO WHAT IS A FRIEND?
 
A friend is someone who takes you into his/her confidence. It’s a give and take relationship … I confide in you and you confide in me.
 
Here’s a question?
 
If I really knew what you are like deep inside, really really got to know you, would I like you?
 
I think the answer is yes I would!
 
 
 
A friend is also someone who loves you, who has your best interests at heart, who stands by you in your lowest moments and then sacrifices himself/herself to meet your need.
 
Have you ever had someone you thought was your close friend desert you when the chips were down? Maybe you’ve seen friends scatter during the tough times.  But I hope you have also had friends stick by you through adversity, demonstrating commitment and love.
 
Proverbs 17:17 says, “A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.”
 
JESUS, THE ULTIMATE FRIEND
 
In Christ, you have the best friend you could ever have. Many friends may desert you during times of trouble, but Jesus invites you to draw near to Him.  In John 15:12-17, He says that you are no longer a servant doing only what is commanded, without understanding the purpose, Jesus takes His friends into His confidence.
 
In John 15:15, He says, “Everything that I have learned from my Father I have made known unto you.”  He also said, “But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth….. All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will take from what is mine and make it known unto you” (John 16:13,15)
 
Jesus discloses Himself to us – we know Him – He invites us to draw near – He is the friend who sticks closer than a brother, the One who stays with us  through all adversity.
 
Another proof that Jesus is the ultimate friend is that He purposely gave Himself for us. He sacrificed Himself to meet our greatest need.
 
“This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down His life for us”  (1 John 3:16).  You don’t have to wish that Jesus is your friend – He is your friend because He chose to be your friend, He chose you!
 
Have you ever wished that a certain person in your life would be your friend?  I am going to do whatever it takes to see that it happens – that he/she is my friend – and then only to be disappointed because that person had his own agenda and didn’t want to be a close friend to you?  
 
WE ARE TALKING ABOUT THE GOD OF THE UNIVERSE  - THE MOST SIGNIFICANT OTHER THAT YOU COULD POSSIBLE HAVE IN YOUR LIFE.[size=14]
 
AND HE CHOSE YOU
 
HOW CAN I BE A FRIEND TO CHRIST?
 
A critical question ………
How can I reciprocate our relationship? How can I be His friend?
 
OK, first of all, let’s go back to what makes a friend. The most important thing for you to do is to disclose yourself to God, be totally honest with Him, walk in the light, and unburden yourself before Him, knowing that He loves you and has your best interests at heart.
 
Another dimension of friendship is to love a person sacrificially, to meet his or her needs. I know what you are thinking – God doesn’t have any needs. Yes, in essence that is true. But what does He deeply desire and require? Not only to love Him above all else, but also to love those around you.  “And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother (sister)” (1 John  4:21).
 
 
“To dwell above with those we love,
To me that will be glory.
But to dwell below, with those we know,
Well that’s another story.”
 
Yes, Christ commanded us to love one another.
 
 
WHAT IT TAKES TO LOVE A BROTHER AS A FRIEND
 
First, we have to be real.  I remember way back when I was taking some counseling classes called CAPE, I made the commitment during those days to become real. Little did I know what that would mean or what it would cost ….  But the leader gave me a little book by Margery Williams, “The Velveteen Rabbit” in which stuffed animals in a playroom talk to each other:
 
     “What is real?’ asked the Rabbit one day. “Does it mean having things
     that buzz inside and a stick-out handle?”
 
     “Real isn’t how you are made,” said the Skin Horse. “It’s a thing that happens to y
     you when a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but really
     loves you, then you become real.”
       
     “Does it hurt?” asked the Rabbit.
 
     “Sometimes,” said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. “When you are  
     real you don’t  mind being hurt.”
 
     “Does it happen all at once like being wound up?” he asked, “or bit by bit?”
 
     “It doesn’t happen all at once. You become. It takes a long time. That’s why it
     doesn’t often happen to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or have to      
     be carefully kept. Generally by the time you are real, most of your hair has been  
     loved off, your eyes drop out, and you get loose in the joints, and very shabby.
     But these things don’t matter at all, because once you are real you can’t be ugly,  
     except to people who don’t understand.”
 
 Second, as we don’t live with perfect people, being real will require us to forgive one another. In no way has God shown His friendship to us more than by laying down His life so we can be forgiven. When we lose our hair and become shabby rubbing against each other, we are learning to live with the consequences of another’s sins.
 
We are to forgive as Christ has forgiven us. “Be kind and compassionate to each other, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.” (Ephesians 4:32). When he forgave us, He agreed to accept upon Himself the consequences of our sin. He will not use our past offenses against us.  
 
WHAT A FRIEND WE HAVE IN JESUS!
 
“He who covers an offense promotes love, but whoever repeats the matter separates close friends” (Proverbs 17:9).
 
It seems for me when I help people find freedom in Christ, unforgiveness is the number one basis for Satan having access to the Church and Christians. Satan revels when Christians fight or harbor grudges and separate one another.
 
 
FORGIVING YOURSELF
 
Far too many Christians have not realized that they must also forgive themselves. Without that, it is very difficult to forgive and love others. We are told in Scripture to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. Maybe that’s the reason there is so much unforgiveness in the Church – why there are so many people who hold grudges against each other.
 
When you forgive yourself, you are simply agreeing with God and receiving His forgiveness.
 
Christ commanded us to love our brother and sister Christians, and He prayed for us to be one in His love so the world would know He was sent from God.
 
 
    20"My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: 23I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.
 
Because I am Christ’s friend, I choose to love Him back by obeying Him, and by God’s grace, He will enable me to bear fruit and to love others.
 
Why not settle it once for all?
 
Dear heavenly Father, what a privilege to call You Father, and how thankful I am that You have chosen me to be Your friend. I renounce the lie that I am not worthy to be Your friend, because You have made me worthy. I renounce the lie that everybody is Your friend except me. And I announce the truth that I too, am Your friend, because You have chosen me. From this day forward, I want to express my love toward You by being open and honest about myself to You and by loving and being real with my brothers and sisters in the Lord. Thank You for the privilege, thank You for the calling, thank you for choosing me. In Jesus’ precious name I pray. Amen