1 - Introduction - Living like a real Christian An introduction | Page 10

SATURDAY
John 15 v 9 – 17
Today I would like to introduce to you a dynamic of our relationship with Jesus
that is not often spoken of in our churches today. Jesus, in verse 14, refers to His
disciples as being His “friends”. He says that He no longer calls them His servants
(becausethat’s what they thought they were), but now at this point in time He
calls them His friends.
I wonder if this is not the secret to unlocking the door to God’s supernatural work
in our lives. I have no problem in believing that God loves me(we have just
celebrated that this past weekend) in that His love for us is so great that He laid
down His life on our behalf, but I have a challenge to think that God likes me. His
reference to Him being their “friends” would be indicative of the fact that they
really enjoy each other’s presence and that Jesus found, in spite of His disciples
failures, strength and encouragement in the fact that they were His friends.
Friendship to my mind brings with it the connotation of constant enjoyable
companionship, appreciating each other’s presence and, in a very deep way, a
person to share your life with. Today we hear many sermons on Jesus being Lord
and us being slaves / servants / stewards and at best sons, but this fresh version of
a possible relationship with Jesus by being His friend brings us into, I believe, a
completely new dynamic. If we could just make this friendship with Jesus a
constant passion in our lives and learn to enjoy His presence and persistent
companionship in a way where we speak to Him like we speak to our human
friends and we listen to Him like we listen to our human friends, what a
remarkable, refreshing dynamic could be our experience.
Think for a moment that as you go through your day to day living experiences,
with all of its ups and downs, that if you could just be permanently conscience of
the presence of your friend Jesus with you(remembering always that He is still a
sovereign God and not your “homeboy”) what a life changing dynamic that would
be.
Prayer Thought: As you pray today won’t you talk to Jesus as you would to a
friend, enter into frequent conversations with Him during the course of the day