BECOMING A FRIEND OF GOD – Part I
“PRIORITIES IN FRIENDSHIP”
Pastor Mike Barnett
WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS ABOUT
FRIENDSHIP:
A true friend will:
1. ____________________(Empower)
you and help you ________________________(carry) the ________________________(burden)
when you are tired of fighting life’s battles.
Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 (pg.
474) says:
9 Two are better than one,
because they have a good return for their
work:
10 If one falls down,
his friend can help him up.
But pity the man who falls
and has no one to help him up!
11 Also, if
two lie down together, they will keep warm.
But how can one keep warm alone?
12 Though
one may be overpowered,
two can defend themselves.
A cord of three strands is not quickly
broken.
A true friend will:
2. Be
_____________________(honest) with you even when it hurts.
Proverbs 27:5-6 (pg. 468)
says:
5 Better is open rebuke
than hidden love.
6 Wounds from a friend can be trusted,
but an enemy multiplies kisses.
A true friend will:
3. ____________________(Believe)
in you and still _________________(love) you no matter what you
_____________(say) or ________(do).
How does a real friend
love?
1 Corinthians 13:4-8 (pg.
813) says:
4Love is
patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily
angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6Love does not
delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7It always
protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 8Love
never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are
tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.
·
Jesus was and
still is such a friend to sinners!
Matthew 9:16-21 says (pg.
687):
9The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they
say, 'Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and
"sinners." ' But wisdom is proved right by her actions."
·
This culture
does not make it easy for the Christian to be a friend to God, not to mention
being a good friend to other people.
·
There are
more distractions and barriers to friendship in our society than ever before.
SEVEN BARRIERS TO FRIENDSHIP:
1) ______________________(Unresolved) issues from the
_______________(past). Emotional baggage from the past will weigh a friendship
down.
2) _______________(Fear) of being ________________(vulnerable), open and
transparent.
3) Fear of being ___________________(hurt) and
_______________(abused).
4) Selfishness – Not________________________(Receiving)
and ________________________(Giving) God’s unconditional love.
5) Lack of intentional Communication –
_____________________(talking) and _____________________(listening).
6) Apathy and ______________________(complacently) –
Good friendships take a lot of ________________ ________________(hard work).
·
If you want
to kill a friendship and erode trust, then take your friend for
____________________(granted) and do not ________________________(appreciate)
them.
·
Good
friendships are not ______/______(50/50) – They are _________% / ________%
(100/100%).
7) Lack of ____________________(Priorities) - Too many
________________(surface) relationships with no real ________________(depth).
Proverbs
“A man of many companions may come to ruin,
but there is a friend who sticks closer
than a brother”.
·
Jesus is that
friend that sticks closer than a brother.
·
Jesus is the
third strand that is not easily broken.
Proverbs
12 Though one may be overpowered,
two can defend themselves.
A cord of three strands is not quickly
broken.
·
The best
friend you can ever have in this world is ___________________(Jesus) – because
he will never leave or forsake you!
John 14:15-21 (pg. 763)
says:
15"If
you love me, you will obey what I command. 16And I will
ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever— 17the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it
neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and
will be[a] in you. 18I will not
leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 19Before long,
the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you
also will live. 20On that day you will realize that I am
in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. 21Whoever
has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me
will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to
him."
·
GOD
______________________(CHOOSES) HIS _______________________(FRIENDS).
Exodus 33:10-12 (pg. 64) says:
The LORD would speak to
Moses face to face, as a man speaks with his friend. Then Moses would return to
the camp, but his young aide Joshua son of Nun did not leave the tent.
Isaiah 41:7-10 (pg. 512) says:
7 The craftsman encourages the goldsmith,
and he who smoothes with the hammer
spurs on him who strikes the anvil.
He says of the welding, "It is
good."
He nails down the idol so it will not
topple.
8 "But
you, O
Jacob, whom I have chosen,
you descendants of Abraham my friend,
9 I took you
from the ends of the earth,
from its farthest corners I called you.
I said, 'You are my servant';
I have chosen you and have not rejected
you.
10
So do not fear, for I am with you;
do not be dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you;
I will uphold you with my righteous right
hand.
·
Jesus
_______________(chose) you to be a friend of God.
John
16You 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.
John 15:12-17 (pg. 764) says:
12My command is this: Love each other as I have loved
you. 13Greater love has no one than this, that he lay
down his life for his friends. 14You are my friends if
you do what I command. 15I 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. 16You 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. 17This is my
command: Love each other.
·
Becoming
God’s friend is a__________________(choice) we must __________________(intentionally)
make.
·
God
___________________(proposes) to be our ____________________(friend) and we can
choose to accept or deny His __________________(offer).
·
Accepting
God’s friendship is more than a ______________(verbal) commitment – it is
______________(faith) in ____________(action).
James 2:20-24 (pg. 855) says:
20You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith
without deeds is useless[a]? 21Was not our
ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son
Isaac on the altar? 22You see that his faith and his
actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. 23And the scripture was fulfilled that says, "Abraham
believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,"[b] and he was called God's friend. 24You see that a person is justified by what he does and not
by faith alone.
James 2:23-24 (pg. 855)
says:
23And the scripture was fulfilled that says,
"Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,"[b] and he was called God's friend. 24You see that a person is justified by what he does and not
by faith alone.
THE BIBLE IS CRYSTAL
CLEAR AS TO WHO IS NOT A FRIEND OF GOD?
James 4:4-10 (pg. 856) says:
4You adulterous people, don't you know that friendship
with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the
world becomes an enemy of God. 5Or do you think
Scripture says without reason that the spirit he caused to live in us envies
intensely?[a] 6But he gives us
more grace. That is why Scripture says:
"God opposes the proud but gives grace to the
humble."[b] 7Submit yourselves,
then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and
he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts,
you double-minded. 9Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your
laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10Humble
yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.
WHO IS NOT A FRIEND OF GOD?
1. A person who
__________________(doubts) or does not _______________(submit) to God’s
__________________(Word) is not a friend of God.
James 1:5-8 (pg. 854) says:
5If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who
gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. 6But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he
who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. 7That man should not think he will receive anything from the
Lord; 8he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he
does.
John 14:23-26 (pg. 764) says:
23Jesus replied, "If anyone loves me, he will obey
my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home
with him. 24He who does not love me will not obey my
teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who
sent me. 25"All this I have spoken while still with
you. 26But 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.
2. A person who is
_______________________(selfish) and lives for themselves is not a friend of
God.
James 4:1-6 says:
1What
causes fights and quarrels among you? Don't they come from your desires that
battle within you? 2You want something but don't get it.
You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight.
You do not have, because you do not ask God. 3When you
ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend
what you get on your pleasures. 4You adulterous people,
don't you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who
chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. 5Or
do you think Scripture says without reason that the spirit he caused to live in
us envies intensely?[a] 6But he gives us
more grace. That is why Scripture says:
"God opposes the proud
but gives grace to the humble."[b]
3. A person who is not on
_____________(fire) for God and does not ____________________(live) for Him is
not a friend of God.
1 John 2:15-17 (pg. 862) says:
15Do not love the world or anything in the world. If
anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16For
everything in the world—the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and
the boasting of what he has and does—comes not from the Father but from the
world. 17The world and its desires pass away, but the
man who does the will of God lives forever.
A FRIEND OF GOD IS A
PERSON WHO:
1. Lives for God by ________________(faith) in His
written ___________________(Word).
·
When you
become a Friend of God, fear, doubt and insecurity are ________________________(replaced)
by faith, trust and security.
Hebrews 11:6 (pg. 851) says:
6And without faith it is impossible to please God,
because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards
those who earnestly seek him.
Hebrews 4:2 (pg. 847) says:
2For we also have had the gospel preached to us, just
as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because those
who heard did not combine it with faith.[a]
2. A friend of God is a person who
______________________(believes) the ____________________(promises) of God and
____________________(obeys) the ______________________(commands) of God.
John 15:12-15 (Pg. 764)
says:
12My command is this: Love each other as I have loved
you. 13Greater love has no one than this, that he lay
down his life for his friends. 14You are my friends if
you do what I command. 15I 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.
NOTE: IF you call
yourself a Christian, but do not consistently do what God desires for you as
outlined in His word, the Bible, then you are clearly deceiving yourself.
QUESTION: What Bible
verses are you taking as future promises, yet to be fulfilled in your life?
QUESTION: What commands
do you still need to obey consistently?
QUESTION: What is God
asking you to do for Him, that you have not done yet?
3. A friend of God ________________(Trust)
God more than anybody, including themselves!
James 2:20-25 says:
23And the scripture was fulfilled that says,
"Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,"[b] and he was called God's friend. 24You see that a person is justified by what he does and not
by faith alone.
TRUTH: Whoever you ______________(trust)
the most is your _______________(best) friend.
·
Who is your
best friend?
·
If it is not
God, then you do not understand who He is.
·
A friend of
God trust nothing else but the blood of Jesus to redeem them!
IF YOU WANT TO BE A
BETTER FRIEND OF GOD IN 2007:
1.____________________(PRAY)
– COMMUNICATE WITH GOD ON A DAILY BASIS.
·
Effective
Prayer consists of both _____________________(speaking) and
_____________________(listening) to God.
2.____________________(READ)
YOUR _____________________(BIBLE) – LET GOD TALK TO YOU ON A DAILY BASIS!
3.__________________(OBEY)
WHAT YOU ___________________(READ) ON A DAILY BASIS!
John 14:23-26 (pg. 764)
says:
23Jesus replied, "If anyone loves me, he will obey
my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home
with him. 24He who does not love me will not obey my
teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who
sent me. 25"All this I have spoken while still with
you. 26But 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.