Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Friends of God

"I no longer call you slaves, because a master doesn't confide in his slaves. Now you are my friends, since I have told you everything the Father told me."
—John 15:15

Someone once asked me if I thought it was appropriate for a Christian to wish someone good luck. As believers, we don't believe in luck. We don't believe in mere chance. We believe in providence. We believe in God's will. We don't believe that we are mere victims of chance, just groping through life. We believe that God has a purpose for us. And the Bible clearly teaches that as believers, we are to live by faith.

I wish I could say that I always know the will of God in every circumstance, but I don't. It is not always easy to discern. For me personally, it is a journey of faith in which I read the Word of God, pray for guidance, and then take what I hope are the appropriate steps in the right direction. After all, the Bible says the just shall live by faith (see Galatians 3:11); it doesn't say they will live by feelings.

Rather than living by feelings and fluctuating emotions, we should want to live by what God's Word tells us to do. The good news is that God does not play hide-and-seek. Before He destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, for example, He said, "Should I hide my plan from Abraham?" (Genesis 18:17). You might think, Well, that is nice for Abraham, but I don't have such a privilege. Actually you do, if you have put your faith in Christ. Jesus said, "I no longer call you slaves, because a master doesn't confide in his slaves. Now you are my friends, since I have told you everything the Father told me" (John 15:15).

Are you seeking God's direction for your life? He wants to speak to you—even more than you want to be spoken to.

Copyright © 2010 by Harvest Ministries. All rights reserved. 
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright 1996, 2004. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved. 

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