Pondering the theme of friendship this month, the song, "Jesus is all the world to me" came to mind. When I think of friends, I automatically think of Jesus first because He is my best friend. As I read through the words of the song, I noticed that each verse ended with "He's my friend". How amazing is that? The Lord brought that song to my mind, and it goes right along with the Lovely Branches Ministries theme!! Two of the verses express my feelings perfectly:
Jesus is all the world to me
My life, my joy, my all;
He is my strength from day to day
Without Him I would fall.
When I am sad to Him I go
No other one can cheer me so;
When I am sad. He makes me glad.
He's my FRIEND.
Jesus is all the world to me,
I want no better friend,
I trust Him now, I'll trust Him when
life's fleeting days shall end.
Beautiful life with such a friend;
Beautiful life that has no end;
Eternal life, eternal joy.
He's my FRIEND.
As hard as it's been adjusting to life without my husband, Ty, one thing that Jesus has taught me is that He is the best friend I will ever have and that He is enough. That can also be expressed in the following ways:
Jesus plus nothing equals everything.
Everything I need and long for I already have in Jesus.
When you learn that God is all you have then you learn that God is all you need.
I spent alot of my life expecting my family and friends to meet needs that only Jesus can meet. I now know that no other person or thing can meet the need of our hearts. In fact, many relationships suffer greatly when they rely on each other rather than Jesus to fulfill their deepest needs.
John Elderidge says in his book "Walking With God": "Intimacy with God is the purpose of our lives. It's why God created us. Not simply to believe in Him, though that's a good beginning. Not only to obey Him, though that is a higher life still. God created us for intimate fellowship with Himself and in doing so He established the goal of our existence--to know Him, love Him and live our lives in intimate relationship with Him. Jesus says that eternal life is to know God (John 17:3). Not just "know about" like you know about the ozone layer or Ulysses S. Grant. He means know as two people know each other, know as Jesus knows the Father--intimately.
A. W. Tozer says, "The whole outlook of mankind might be changed if we could all believe that we dwell under a friendly sky and that the God of heaven, though exalted in power and majesty, is eager to be friends with us" Did you get that? Read it again, believe it and run into His arms and just rest in that friendship. I've mentioned before that my favorite time of the day is having coffee with Jesus. Well, the interesting thing is that when you have that intimate relationship with Jesus, and He is your best friend then you are free to enjoy your friends and family so much more - the reason being, that you aren't expecting them to meet the needs of your heart that only Jesus can. Friends are a huge blessing, and I'm so thankful for the many I have, but they cannot meet my deepest spiritual needs. When Jesus is truly all the world to me then each of those friends is like the yummy whipped cream on that great cup of coffee!!!!
May God bless each of you this month as you enjoy Him and all of your special friends!
