Who is My Best Friend?

Have you ever really taken the time to think about the people who you call friends in your life? There are so many levels of friendship. There are acquaintances and casual acquaintances. There are friends that you have fun with or with whom you have common interests. Then there are really close friends with whom you share your true self. People have said that if you have a handful of close friends in your entire lifetime, you are fortunate.

It is great if you have had the experience of having a really close friend. When you have had that opportunity, it is like a touch of heaven, because you can be your authentic self and still be loved. But, who is your best friend? One who will never leave you nor forsake you. One who listens to you day or night for as long as you want to talk. One who loves you unconditionally just the way you are, no matter what. One who always has your best interest at heart even if it means He has to sacrifice something of Himself for your greater good. One who will tell you the truth always, even when you don't necessarily want to hear it, and will never gossip about you. One who will always encourage you and lift you up.

Have you ever had a friend like that? If so, you have been blessed. Have you ever been a friend like that? If not, it is a great example to work towards. Who is this friend? His name is Jesus Christ and He wants more than anything that we would want to be His friend. Through His death and resurrection He has made a way for us to fellowship with Him, God our Father and the Holy Spirit now and for all of eternity. All we have to do to accept His invitation to be His friend is to realize that we are all sinners who need a savior, repent of our sins and accept Christ as our Savior. Once you have made that decision, God will abide in you as you abide in Him. You will have a peace that goes beyond understanding because you will know that God has your back: He has a plan for you that is for good and not for evil, He will be your counsel and your guide and lead you in all the truth, and He will be your protector and provider.

Believe me, there is nothing better than being able to have Jesus as your friend. Jesus is my best friend and has sustained me during this difficult season of my life. He has sustained me by both giving me His peace and by inspiring people to reach out to me and bless me by being the hands and feet of Jesus to me in my time of need. I am so grateful that those people have responded to the Lord by helping me. May God bless them in a mighty way.

Below is a song that I like concerning Jesus as my friend. I hope you are blessed by it.

Rest in Him

I am still grieving the loss of my beloved husband, John. When we were married, God truly was a third partner in our marriage. He helped us with everything and strengthened us as one. John was the most holy man I had ever met. He loved me the way God loves me and he was my protector. I always felt safe and secure with him. He made me laugh and he encouraged me to use all of my God-given gifts in all that I did. He was my spiritual director and my living example of how to live a surrendered life to God. Together, with God, we were complete. Now that John is rejoicing with the Lord, one third of that relationship is gone. Now it is the Lord and I and my memories of John.

So what can I do now? I can reflect on how God has seen me through other devastating seasons of my life. Paraphrasing what David said in the Bible as he approached the giant of a man, Goliath, "I killed the bear and I killed the lion, so what is this Philistine to me?" When David went up against Goliath, he believed that the Lord was with him and that He would give David the victory.

To me, the Goliaths in my life are the circumstances and seasons of my life that seem overwhelming. Some of those Goliaths have been divorce, and the deaths of my parents. As I think back to those times, in every circumstance, God was with me. He was with me even before I was aware that He was working in my life. He was my comfort, my guide, my counselor, my all in all. One of the greatest gifts He has given me is His peace. A peace that goes beyond understanding. I cherish that peace with all that I am.

How is God going to comfort me now, in this dark season? What does Jesus have to say? In Matthew 11:28-30 (NIV) "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." Then, in 1 Peter 5:10, it is written, "And after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you."

Wow! What a promise! So, even on days when I feel so empty, lonely and lost without John, I can trust that God will pull me through and that one day, my mourning will turn into dancing and that I will be stronger than before. I know that I can rest in Him. Thank you, Lord for your words of encouragement.

As I have said in previous posts, music ministers to me. This song, You Alone, by Lauren Daigle spoke to my heart and I felt that it also conveyed some of the feelings that I have expressed in this post. I hope you are blessed by it also.

How about you, are you going through a dark season of your life right now? If so, please turn to Jesus. He will bring you through. I know from experience that this is true. In Matthew 6:33, Jesus is talking about His provision for you. He says, "But seek ye first His kingdom and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." Try putting God first in your life. All you have to lose is your pain, sorrow, worry, loneliness, or any other negative thing in your life. All you have to gain is His peace, joy, mercy and grace. May God bless you in your journey.

What is Absolute Faith?

When we talk about having faith in God, what does that mean. What are the components of absolute faith? I am not a Bible scholar, I am just a person who has experienced the grace of God. So, in this post, I would like to talk about what I see as the parts of absolute faith.

In my Sept. 27th post, "Dorothy with the Sparkling Blue Eyes" in the testimonies section, I explain that my mentor Dorothy spoke to me about absolute faith. She said that oftentimes Christians pray, even pray earnestly, and then speak defeat or try to take things back into their own hands rather than waiting for God to take care of things in His perfect timing. This behavior negates their prayers.

So, from my perspective, one of the components of absolute faith is trusting God. Trusting, even when circumstances seem daunting, even when the solution is a long time in coming, even when we don't understand. Trusting that God has a plan for us that is for good and not for evil (Jeremiah 29:11) and that He will see it come to pass, if we let Him, because His word does not come back void (Isaiah 55:11 "So shall My word be that goes forth out of My mouth; it shall not return to me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.").

Another aspect of absolute faith is believing that God has the power to change circumstances. One example of this is in Luke 7:6-10. To set the stage, a centurion had requested that Jesus heal his slave. "Now Jesus started on His way with them; and when He was already not far from the house, the centurion sent friends, saying to Him, "Lord, do not trouble Yourself further, for I am not worthy for You to come under my roof; for this reason I did not even consider myself worthy to come to You, but just say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I, too, am a man under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to this one, 'Go!' and he goes; and to another 'Come!' and he comes; and to my slave, 'Do this!' and he does it. Now when Jesus heard this, He marveled at him, and turned and said to the multitude that was following Him, "I say to you, not even in Israel have I found such great faith." And when those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the slave in good health."

The centurion understood chain of command; that when the person with the top authority gives an order, all those under him fulfill it. Who has more authority than God, Himself, who created all that is? No one. Therefore, we can trust and believe that when God is involved, He will get things done according to His purpose.

One thing that I have struggled with in my life is thinking that I know what is best for myself and others. This is contrary to absolute faith. Natalie Grant has a great song that addresses this issue. It is called "King of the World." Copy and paste the link below to listen and read the lyrics.

In essence, it talks about how we try to make God who we want Him to be rather than remembering that He is the King of the World and we are not.

Where are you on your journey toward having absolute faith? If you want to grow in that area, just ask the Lord and He will help you. Remember, Jesus said that He would ask the Father to send you the Holy Spirit to be your comfort, your guide, your counselor, one who leads you in all the truth. Don't hesitate to ask. God wants a relationship with you and will always help you. You can trust and believe that.