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The title of today’s post comes from a plaque that my sister gave me for Christmas.  My sister and I are very close.  While we still exhibit normal sisterly behavior such as disagreements, arguments, and admiration for one another; one thing we both can count on each other for is support.  I don’t have to tell any of you how important it is to surround yourself with the right people. Having the right people around you impacts how you move throughout this world.

As I stare at this plaque, I am reminded of John 15: 13-15, “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.  You are my friends if you do what I command you.  No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my father I have made known to you.”  We are on the second day of the New Year and I have one important question for you.

Is God your friend?  Before you respond, please think deeply about this question.  You can be saved if you believe in God. Yet, He isn’t your friend.  You do know it’s possible to be around and hang out with people, yet they are not your friend.  For example, when I began my career over 15 years ago, there were plenty of colleagues that I would go to dinner with, and was even invited to their homes to get to know them outside of work. 

While they were nice people, I didn’t consider them as my friends nor did I consider myself to be their friend; we were colleagues. I was so interested in people liking me and wanting to be friends with everyone that it cost me my self-esteem, time, pace, and healing. 

Let me make this a bit plainer, when you start a business, it’s important to identify who your customer will be as everyone will not be a customer for your product or service. 

Same with friendships. Take a moment to identify the qualities you want in a friend.  Every person will not meet your standard of friendship as you won’t meet theirs. 

 NEWSFLASH: THAT IS OK…

No matter what your list of qualities are, I can guarantee you that Jesus Christ will meet those expectations and more.  Proverbs 18:24 says “The man of many friends will prove himself a bad friend, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.” 

As believers, it’s easy to get caught up in “religious works” rather than basking in the radiant light of Jesus Christ. How do you bask in the light of Jesus Christ?  Well, I’m glad you ask.

For 2023, let’s put forth the below challenge.

Start each day off with prayer.  The moment you open your eyes and remove the crust offer up a prayer of thanksgiving.

Communion with Jesus Christ.  Come to Him with a pure heart.  Set aside 20 minutes a day for quiet time with Him.  Read His word, meditate on His word, offer up praise, and talk to Him. Don’t let the devil fool you that what you want to talk to God about isn’t important to Him.  That is a bald face lie.  No matter how insignificant you think the matter is, He always wants to hear from you.

Be aware and alert.  I have always heard that God is speaking to us.  I must admit I’m yet to read that in the Bible.  It doesn’t mean it is or isn’t in there, I just haven’t come across it.  Regardless this saying has always stuck with me.  I made the decision to intentionally be aware and alert throughout each day for whatever God would like to confide in me.  When I execute this intention, I am constantly aware of His presence and what He is conveying to me.  It will feel weird at first, but if you commit to this whole heartedly, you will experience Him in the simplest of ways.

Delight in His counsel and pay attention to  His correction.  This can be a doozy.  Surrender is everything.  There is no way we can call God our friend and we aren’t willing to submit and surrender to Him.  I personally struggled with this one.  The moment I gave up, everything else fell into place. That doesn’t mean the process got easier, but it did mean the peace that I was given made everything else more than tolerable, and the praise was more natural. 

Be obedient.  I don’t think anything else needs to be said here.

Love Him with your whole heart.  Let me say this again for those at the back and around the corner.  “Love Him with your whole heart”.  This I believe will come with time.  At least, this was my experience.  I’ve always loved Jesus, but the closer I’ve drawn to Christ, the deeper my love has become.

Let us all end 2023 knowing that God is our friend or yet our best friend.  There is so much for each of us to learn as we walk this journey.  A lot of the lessons learned and experiences will be the time we’ve spent basking in the light of Jesus Christ.  Please know that God wants a friendship with each of us.  Read that again.  He wants a friendship with each of us.  Implementing the above strategy allows each of us to draw close to God as our best friend who we can confide in  as He shares His heart with each of us.

Ease & Stillness,

Chetoca B.