Devotional Song: … GO TO THIS LINK … Please take the time to take in a YouTube video with song and lyrics from Phillips, Craig, and Dean singing … Friend of God … poignantly singing of how we, as disciples of Christ and born-again from His grace, can call God our “FRIEND.”
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Highlight Verse[s]: John 15:14 [NLT] … 14 You are my friends if you do what I command.
… The simple (but difficult) formula for an abiding friendship with King Jesus.
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Highlight Passage [context]: John 15:1-17 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …
… Jesus declares His abiding/loving friendship with those who abide in His Lordship; and thereby walk with Him by obeying His commands.
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Reference Passage : … Matthew 28:20b [NLT] … 20 And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
… Jesus assures His disciples that He will always be their friend and walk with them ALWAYS.
Reference Passage : …Luke 9:23 [NLT] … 23 Then He said to the crowd, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross daily, and follow me. …”
… We can - and will - only be His disciples - and friends - if we’re willing to deny ourselves and follow Him.
Reference Passage : … John 14:21 [NLT] … 21 Those who accept my commandments and obey them are the ones who love me. And because they love me, my Father will love them. And I will love them and reveal myself to each of them.”
… Obedience to the Lord’s commands is the way we show our friendship with Jesus so that He can express His friendship with others thru us.
My Devotional Journal: Today's ODB author, Lawrence Darmani, used a personal remembrance to teach about the friendship we have with our Lord as His disciples. The ODB author wrote … As a little boy growing up in Ghana, I enjoyed holding my father’s hand and walking with him in crowded places. He was both my father and my friend, for holding hands in my culture is a mark of true friendship. Walking along, we would talk about a variety of subjects. Whenever I felt lonely, I found consolation with my father. How I valued our companionship!
Loyal, … honest … friends are valuable - and rare - aren’t they? And when we have such a friend, we’d do anything to honor them with our loyalty and abide in that friendship, wouldn’t we?
And that was what Jesus was teaching His disciples in the upper room the very night He would be betrayed by one of them; and He would see the rest of them deny the friendship of their Lord by bolting and running in fear. Jesus called these men “FRIEND,” but they were to abandon that friendship that very night with their disobedience.
And that illustrates the classic mark of a true discipleship and friendship with our declared Lord and Savior, … our Friend, Jesus; … and that mark of friendship is obedience to Him (see Scriptures above). So, today, as we attempt to walk in friendship with Jesus, we must ask ourselves, … “Am I willing to abide in my friendship with my Lord by obeying His word and His commands?”
Personally, I need to attend to my friendship with my Friend, Jesus, more intimately today (see photo).
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My THANKFULNESS: … Oh Abba Father, … thank You, Lord, … for desiring to be our Friend.
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My Prayer Today: Oh Abba Father, … King Jesus, … I pray, Lord, that all reading here can, and will, join me, to abide more intimately with our Friend today. … Amen
Blogger Note: Everyday during this year, my daily devotional blogs are influenced by the reading and study of the online devotional blog entitled “Our Daily Bread,” distributed online via email by RBC Ministries. If you GO TO THIS LINK on the date of my blog, you can read/study the ODB blogs; or you can subscribe to the blog via email at that site.
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