Body

Devotions

Friendship with God

Mark Renfroe

I have always felt a lack of friendship. I’m sure that comes with being an only child, at least in part; another part would simply be the world we live in where relationships are often conditional or situational. Even so, I have found that my concern about what people think of me and my desire for friendships has often led me to try too hard. I attempt to work for things that can only be given by the other person.

The wonderful part about friendship with God is that he knows me fully, loves me completely, and he’s the one who initiates the friendship. It doesn’t get better than that! Nevertheless, I have caught myself trying to “work for it.” 

For way too many years, I worked for fruitfulness in Christ. Okay, to be completely honest, I worked for success. Only after experiencing significant dissatisfaction did I realize that success and fruitfulness aren’t the same. People work for success. Some achieve it; others don’t. As God describes it, fruitfulness is the overflow of his work in our life. The branch doesn’t work to be fruitful. It just abides in the vine. If we abide in him, fully resting in the relationship he has extended to us, allowing his life-giving nourishment to flow into and through us, joyfully accepting his pruning, God will produce the fruit.

We don’t work to ‘earn’ the relationship; we don’t work to earn fruitfulness. 

Now please hear me: I’m not advocating against spiritual disciplines or making sure that we obey biblical commands. I’m simply saying that God’s friendship and the transformation that his presence brings into our lives is a free gift that we can’t earn or control. 

God gives us one more thing related to his friendship and fruitfulness: eternal life. Most Christians equate eternal life with going to heaven. It surely includes that, but it’s so much more. The Apostle John wrote, “this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent” (John 17:3, ESV). We begin to know God here on earth; then in heaven, our knowledge of God will once and for all be perfect. 

Today, I hope you will sit and think on how God’s generosity affects your views of friendship, fruitfulness and eternal life. These three gifts should fill each one of us with not only incredible gratitude but also peace. 

Mark Renfroe and his wife, Amy, have been involved in field missions work for 30 years. Mark served as the area director for Assemblies of God World Missions and currently serves as the chief missions officer for World Challenge.

Leaving and Forgetting

David Wilkerson (1931-2011)

The Holy Spirit's message to the bride of Christ in Psalm 45 was “Forget your own people also, and your father's house” (Psalm 45:10, NKJV). The still, small voice was whispering, “It isn’t enough just to leave your past behind. You must also forget it all. Put every past love and distraction behind.”

The messenger here says to the bride, “Are you going to give him mere lip service after the wedding, or does your mind wander back to things of your past, old friends, habits and loves? If you commit to this marriage, you must not only leave your past behind, you must forget it completely.”

When Jesus speaks of some who “do not forsake all” (Luke 14:33), he is speaking of those who turn from him and cling to idols. An idol is anything that possesses our time, attention, love or money.

Many husbands can rightly say that they are good providers, right? They work long and hard and spend quality time with their families. How much time do they devote to Jesus? Do they have what I call a “leaving-and-forgetting time” when they set aside quality time for Jesus alone?

Many wives also neglect their time with God. They have given their husbands and children the best years of their lives. They are hardworking and faithful and they take good care of their families. Yet, how much “leaving-and-forgetting time” do they give to Jesus? How many hours a week do they shut out the world and draw close to him?

The problem isn't family or career. Rather, it’s the loitering, aimlessly lounging around and wasting time. Many of God's people spend their time endlessly idly spending time with friends or lolling in front of the TV. We waste so many precious hours and neglect our Lord and Savior.

How jealous the Lord must be over all our other loves, all the things that eat up our time and attention. The old adage is true. It's not the ‘bad’ that is the enemy of the Christian, but the ‘good.’ It's family, career, job, children. These things in themselves do not stand between us and the Lord. No, it's our loitering. The Lord wants his time alone with us. It is crucial that we take time out and give him our full attention. He asks us, “Do you love me more than these?” (John 21:15).

Listen and Consider

David Wilkerson (1931-2011)

“Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband… Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls filled with the seven last plagues came to me and talked with me, saying, ‘Come, I will show you the bride, the Lamb’s wife’” (Revelation 21:2,9, NKJV).

This is a beautiful picture of the last-day church of Jesus Christ. The great, holy city descending out of heaven is his spotless bride, the church seated with him right now in heavenly places. This church is built upon the foundation of gospel truths of the twelve apostles. It is surrounded by walls and gates that keep out everything impure and uninvited.

The queen in gold is honored, favored, greatly adorned, and now she stands next to her beloved. As the wedding is about to begin, though, the voice of a third party is heard! A voice whispers to her, “Listen, O daughter, consider and incline your ear. . .” (Psalm 45:10).

I believe this voice is the Holy Spirit, warning all who are called by his name. He is speaking a word to those most in love with Jesus, saying, “Listen and consider.” This voice comes to the bride in the final moments just before the marriage is to be consummated.

Now, you must understand, the queen has already been chosen. Her heart has already been won by her bridegroom. She has left her home, family and country and has committed herself to him. She is full of joy because she passionately loves the king.

So, let me ask you: Do you think of yourself as chosen by the Lord? Are you the redeemed apple of his eye? Do you love him with all your heart? Have you left all the world and your past for him? “He is mine, and I am committed to him. Lord, I love you with all my heart!” Can you say that?

The point is if you want to be in the bride of Christ, you must be concerned with more than simply escaping a godless hell. Rather, you must have a deep desire not to be absent on that great wedding day! You must shudder at the very thought of not being his bride, of not being in his embrace, not spending eternity with him.

We Yearn for Him

David Wilkerson (1931-2011)

Psalm 45 provides us with a beautiful picture of Christ and his bride. A great marriage is about to take place and the writer is filled with ecstasy and excitement: “My heart is overflowing with a good theme…” (Psalm 45:1, NKJV).The psalmist can hardly contain himself. He is describing something he sees in his mind's eye, an incredible ceremony with a grand and glorious bridegroom and a beautiful bride dressed in gold.

In 1981, the entire world was mesmerized by the royal wedding in England. Millions around the globe were glued to TV sets as Princess Diana and Prince Charles were married. It was one of the most glamorous and celebrated weddings in modern history.

Television networks had commentators who described every detail of the proceedings. News clips showed the regal life of Charles, his polo matches, his duties as prince, his inheritance as the next king of England, his throne, his riches, his palace.

The commentators also described in exquisite detail everything about Princess Diana. The picture was incredible: her hairstyle, her retinue, her ornaments, her ring, her flowers, her royal carriage. Even during the wedding ceremony, as the couple stood together at the altar, a commentator whispered details into a microphone, “Isn't she beautiful? Look at her gown, her shoes, her flowers.”

It was romantic, breathtaking, a prince and princess united in holy marriage “until death doth them part.” People all over the globe wept at the sight. However, we lived to see this marriage disintegrate into one of the most sordid, ugly breakups on the face of the earth.

The marriage described in Psalm 45, on the other hand, is a union far grander and more glorious. It too is full of romance, beauty and majesty, but this one is a marriage that will never end. It is meant for eternal glory because it is about Jesus and his bride. The bridegroom is our King and Lord, Jesus Christ, and the bride is his church, the believers who have prepared themselves for his coming, who yearn for him with great expectancy, and whose pure hearts are without spot or wrinkle.

Their Language Is Praise

David Wilkerson (1931-2011)

People who have endured suffering and proven God to be faithful are strong, mellow and patient. They have the gentleness of Christ. I love to be around such people! They encourage my spirit.

You will come through your trial and be of great help to others if you will trust God through it. You will see it happen on your job, in your family or in your church. People will be attracted to you because they know what you have gone through, and they have seen you gain the victory through the power of God alone.

Many believers who suffer never learn anything from it. As a result, they never know God as their comforter or consoler. To hear them talk, you would think God was hard, spiteful and uncaring. They ask, “Why me?” They doubt God’s love and begin to turn away from him. They moan, groan and murmur, and all their joy fades. Soon they grow bitter and hard.

I have a pastor friend who for years had a very successful ministry to troubled people. Today, sadly, he is deep in sin, drug-addicted and separated from God. His wife left him, and he has taken up with a drug-addicted woman.

When you ask him what happened, he blames it all on how others let him down. His wife left him; God didn’t answer his prayers; other ministers disappointed him. He says, “I really tried, but I just couldn’t take it. There were too many pressures, and there were so many hypocrites. I was misjudged, and I couldn’t handle that.”

The apostle Paul, even in the worst hour of his sufferings, blessed the name of the Lord. He knew the Father was full of mercy and the source of all his comfort. He did not question God or become bitter; in fact, he praised him in the midst of it all.

The best teachers in any church are not the ones in the pulpit. Rather, they are sitting in the pews right next to you, people who have suffered and yet still worship the Lord. The language of those who learn through suffering is praise!