Are you a Friend of God?

UV 369/10,000 Are you a Friend of God? James 2 v 23 Jas 2:23 And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God The word “ friend” that is so commonly used by every one has a deep mystical root for the root of friend is “ phile” which means love. We cannot please God by our good deeds for He knows the motivation behind our good deeds is selfish- it is to impress, to build a façade of righteousness. But, when we believe Him, He is pleased. He calls us His friends or His lovers. We become righteous or holy or God-like by imputation. We enjoy a personal relationship with Him. He becomes our best friend- the only one who remains consistent and faithful throughout our earthly existence and even beyond. This is an awesome event or faith-fact as it makes each one of us who believe potentially more influential than the most powerful person on the planet, currently the President of the US of A. Friendship, fellowship, communion, intimacy with mankind was the very purpose of all creation. The person who lead me into a saving faith in Christ, opened our conversation with the question, “ Do you have a personal relationship with God?” At the time, I could not quite understand how I could have a personal relationship with an un unknown and unseen spiritual Being. He was actually asking me if I was a Friend of God. When we become Friends of God by accepting the provision for our life and salvation, Jesus, we can converse with the Lord God as with a friend. He proves His friendship by His one act of mercy and grace: The greatest thing a friend can do for his friends is to sacrifice his life for them- this is exactly what Jesus did on the cross in history. A friend also communicates. Jesus taught us and continues to teach us whatever He heard or hears from the Father. He proves to be our friend by being faithful to His words. He proves His friendship by meeting us at the point of our need. We can now relate to Him –may not be face to face but certainly verse by verse and prayer by prayer, promise by promise, hope by hope, mercy by mercy, grace by grace. We can prove our friendship with God by believing His Word. When we believe His Word, we validate it in and with our lives. We can prove our friendship with God by trusting Him for our future. We can prove our friendship by obeying all that He commands us to do. The Lord has created our universe so that at any point in time, mankind knew certain facts and had certain “givens” but He always holds a margin in His hands that is secret, unknown. Believing Him for that margin is obedience that makes Him befriend us. Disbelieving Him for that margin is disobedience for when we disbelieve Him or His word, we are actually declaring Him untrustworthy or a liar. Another precept that Jesus taught is that friendship or intimacy with the world is hostility towards God. We have a clear but difficult choice to make at the best of times: to follow the ways of an invisible and eternal God or to follow the ways of the present, visible and temporal world. When we choose the ways of the world, we become unrighteous or ungodly by imputation. We become opponents to God Himself. No wonder Jesus said, “It is better to suffer an amputation” rather than the latter predicament! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMnMN08sv4k Listen to “ I Am a Friend of God” song Prateep V Philip