Ron:
Greater love has no one than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know His master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends...
I’m Ron your host, and today we are talking about how in our daily walk with God we can make those choices and begin to be called His friend.
Jim:
This is something in scriptures John 15: 12-15 Jesus was talking to His disciples He said, “My command is this love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends”, if you do what I command. I know longer, and I wonder what the greater maybe deeper translation of that would be that would be command. I no longer call you servants because a servant does not know his master’s business instead I called you friends for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. I have put you in the tumbler. I have bumped against you. I have ground you down. We have been in this process as you grew with me, as you grew with Jesus Christ as He pounded away on you. As He brought down the fire. He was loving you. He comes to a point where can say we’re his friends. What a greater end of the story can you have but to be able to say that He has formed you and shaped you in His image. Created anew creature that looks like Him. All of our responses are like His responses, I just love that. I want to be a friend of Jesus Christ. I want the final finish put on the internal me, the one who I am living with God in me. I want Him to know me, so much that I am willing to change.
Ron:
It is a daily choice, a daily initiative. We’re talking about not only individual relationships to the Lord, but we are talking about a group because you can’t do this by yourself. You can’t sit in your room and have the Lord put you through that tumbler. It doesn’t work that way. You have that time with the Lord, you have that one-on-one relationship with Him; but then you need to be in a group of people that are also reaching in to have a relationship with Him and that’s where we get the refinement, that’s where the Lord puts you through the tumbler. It’s really interesting what you said Jim because you made the statement at the end about becoming God’s friend. I am wondering how much you become God’s friend when you become friends with Christ in your brother and sister.
Laurie:
Tie the sacrifice to the horns of the altar and you just cannot do that yourself. You cannot tie yourself to the horns of the altar. It’s something that God and your brother and sisters do for you.
Sandy:
That helps because you want the help. That is a choice, that is a personal choice. Every step in God is a personal choice.
Ron:
This thing of choices is a big deal. There is something in Christianity where for some reason it comes across like, this is what you have to do, you need to reach here, you need to do this. That is not the spirit of the Lord. He does not cross your will. He will not cross your will. Your walk with God is a choice and every step you take, it is your initiative to open your heart and if you are not ready for whatever reason; then you’re not ready. If there is somebody putting something on you that makes you feel like I must do this. You really need to seek the Lord on that because I don’t feel that’s the Spirit of the Lord. His heart is tender toward us. He loves us, He woos us, He will not cross our will and come down on us like that. It is a choice; every step is a choice.
God places before us relationships to use in order to bring about His will in our lives. As we submit to His will for us, this is choosing to be His friend.
