"Friend of God"

“Friend of God”

 

And the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”---and he was called a friend of God.       James 2:23

 

Friend:  A person whom one knows well and is fond of.  (Webster’s Dictionary)

 

Abraham, the Great Patriarch of the Old Testament, the Ancestral Father of the Jewish people, and the ADOPTED FATHER of the Christians.  Abraham had a very close relationship with God.  He was FAITHFUL and OBEDIENT to God.  He took his family and moved them to an UNKNOWN DESTINATION, because God told him to.  Abraham didn’t have a clue where to go, but he TRUSTED God, and his FAITH was accompanied with ACTIONS. 

 

Another time Abraham’s FAITH and ACTIONS were demonstrated was when he offered his long-awaited son Isaac on the altar as a sacrifice.  He was willing to shed the blood of Isaac, because God told him to, but this was a test of Abraham’s FAITH, TRUST and OBEDIENCE to God.  God STOPPED Abraham just before he was about to kill Isaac, and God provided another sacrifice.  Isaac’s life was spared.  And because of Abraham’s FAITH, TRUST and OBEDIENCE to Almighty God, it was counted to him as RIGHTEOUSNESS---and Abraham was called a FRIEND of GOD.

 

Now, I don’t think God will ask us to offer the life of one of our children as a sacrifice, because He has already provided the PERFECT SACRIFICE in the life’s blood of His Only Begotten Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.  He did that, in order to bring SALVATION to a lost and dying world.  But the question I must ask you is, “are you a FRIEND of God?” 

 

Have you put your FAITH in Him, TRUSTING Him, and being OBEDIENT to Him?  Are you putting your FAITH to WORK, starting off with, TURNING AWAY FROM your sinful lifestyle, and TURNING TO God, with a TRUE REPENTANT HEART, CONFESSING your sins to Him, and asking Him for His FORGIVENESS, BELIEVING, with ALL your HEART, that Jesus died for YOU, and is ALIVE in Heaven, making intercession for you, before God?  Do you TRUST HIM with your ETERNITY, by ACCEPTING His gift of SALVATION, and being OBEDIENT to Him by LIVING for HIM?    And are you willing to become a FRIEND of God?  If you are, then follow the above steps, starting with TURNING AWAY FROM your sinful lifestyle.  Do it NOW while you still can.  He’s waiting and coming SOON!!!