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April.19.06: Light for the Day -
"Jesus' Friends"
-- John 15:12-16
12 My command is this:
Love each other as I have Loved you.
13 Greater love has no one than this,
that he lay down his life for his friends.
14 You are My Friends if you do what I Command.
15 I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know
his master’s business. Instead, I have called
you Friends, for
Everything that I learned from my Father I have
Made Known to you.
16 You did not choose Me, but I Chose you and Appointed you to go
and Bear Fruit -- Fruit that will Last.
Then the Father will Give you whatever you Ask in My
Name.
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In the middle of His last instructions to His disciples before He was
betrayed, tried, and crucified, Jesus explained that they should see
themselves as His friends, not as His servants. It was an important
distinction. Good servants work hard for the master and are
loyal
and faithful. But they don't ask why. They aren't privileged
to
know the master's plans, reasons, and motives. They simply obey.
Friends, however, enjoy a close relationship. They share experiences
and information. They know each other well, and they usually move
together in the same direction. Jesus had revealed to these men all
that He had learned from His Father. They truly were His friends.
Twenty Centuries later, we who name Christ as Savior also stand as
His Friends. He has given us the BIBLE, His Written Word, to Study
and Apply and the Holy Spirit to Teach us (John 14:26).
We can know the Master's Business.
When you don't know which way to turn, Ask God.
He will answer because Jesus is your Friend.
When you feel all alone, turn your thoughts Heavenward,
Remembering that Jesus is your Friend.
He's there when you need Him.
-- Dave Veerman
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-- Psalms 25:14
Friendship with the LORD is Reserved for those who Obey Him.
With them He shares the Secrets of His Covenant.
-- James 2:23
And the scripture was fulfilled that says,
"Abraham Believed God, and it was credited to him as
Righteousness," and he was called God’s Friend."
-- Luke 5:20
When Jesus saw their Faith, He said,
"Friend, your sins are Forgiven."
-- John 11:11
Then Jesus said, "Our friend Lazarus has fallen
asleep,
but now I will go and wake him up.
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-- 1 John 5:3-5
3 This is Love for God: to Obey His Commands.
And His Commands are Not Burdensome.
4 For everyone Born of God overcomes the world.
This is the Victory that has overcome the world, our Faith.
5 Who is it that overcomes the world?
Only he who Believes that Jesus is the Son of God.
-- John 17:6-8, 26
6 "I have Revealed You to those whom You gave Me out of the
world.
They were Yours;
You gave them to Me and they have obeyed Your
Word.
7 Now they Know that Everything You have given Me comes from You.
8 For I gave them the Words You gave Me and they Accepted Them.
They Knew with Certainty that I Came from You,
and they Believed that You Sent Me.
26 I have made You known to them, and will Continue to make
You Known in order that the Love You have for Me may be
in
them and that I Myself may be In them."
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-- John 14:26-27
26 But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will Send
in My Name, will Teach you All Things and will
Remind you of
Everything I have said to you.
27 Peace I Leave with you; My Peace I Give you.
I do not Give to you as the world gives.
Do not let your hearts be Troubled and do not be
Afraid.
-- 1 Corinthians 2:9-14
9 However, as it is written: "No eye has seen, no ear has heard,
no mind has Conceived what God has Prepared for those
who Love Him" (Isaiah 64:4)
10 But God has Revealed it to us by His Spirit.
The Spirit Searches all things, even the Deep Things of God.
11 For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except
the man’s spirit within him? In the same way no one knows
the Thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.
12 We have not Received the spirit of the world but the Spirit Who
is from God, that we may Understand what God has
Freely Given us.
13 This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom
but in Words Taught by the Spirit,
Expressing Spiritual Truths
in Spiritual Words.
14 The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come
from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he
cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.
-- Ephesians 1:7-12
7 In Christ we have Redemption through His Blood,
the Forgiveness of sins,
in Accordance with the Riches of God’s Grace
8 That He lavished on us with all Wisdom and Understanding.
9 God’s Secret Plan has now been Revealed to us;
it is a Plan Centered on Christ,
Designed long ago according to His Good Pleasure.
10 And this is His Plan: At the Right Time He will bring everything
together under the Authority of Christ --
Everything in Heaven and on earth.
11 Furthermore, because of Christ, we have Received an
Inheritance from God, for He Chose us from the beginning,
and all things Happen just as He decided long ago.
12 God’s Purpose was that we who were the First to Trust in Christ
should Praise our Glorious God.
-- Psalm 103:1-5
1 Bless the LORD, O my soul;
And all that is within me, Bless His Holy Name!
2 Bless the LORD, O my soul,
And Forget not all His Benefits:
3 Who Forgives all your sins,
Who Heals all your diseases,
4 Who Redeems your Life from destruction,
Who Crowns you with Loving-kindness and Tender Mercies,
5 Who Satisfies your desires with good things,
So that your youth is Renewed like the eagle’s.
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