Check On Your Strong Friends

Introduction

There are not too many things as valuable as a good friend. As strong as Jesus is, even during his time spent on earth He had close friends in Peter, James, and John. We read in the New Testament that although related one can infer that Mary and Elizabeth were friends. Some of us because of what life has thrown at us have had to be tough, sometimes even to a place of hyper-vigilance. We are always on guard, we are always making sure no one gets over on us, but the issue is to be a good friend one must be vulnerable. The strongest mother needs a friend, the best father needs someone to vent to. The young professional who is doing great things and everyone perceives that they have it together needs someone to lean on. The power of the gospel is not just about the grace and saving power of Jesus but it’s also a story of being a good friend. Jesus is a friend in our time of need when we feel alone. Nonetheless no matter how strong you are or how strong you think someone is, it’s imperative that we check on and encourage our strong friends.

“You don’t need a certain number of friends, just a number of friends you can be certain of”

Proverbs 17:17 “A friend loves at all times, And a brother is born for adversity.”

A Good Friend Adds Joy

The text tells us two are better than one. The number is the not the important part of the equation, it’s the quality of addition. Do not let loneliness prompt to lose yourself by adding people!

What God adds is better, a good friend should make you better, a good friend should increase your peace not take from it.

If life become dull, sometimes those are the people I need to let go of.

Proverbs 27:17 “As iron sharpens iron, So a man sharpens the countenance of his friend.”

The good friend adds uplift to your life. The good friend picks us up when we are down. The good friend adds warmth to our life. A good friend will stand in the trenches with you and fight with you and for you.

It’s a blessing to have friends like that, a friend like that is the direct representation of what Jesus is for us. God has been a friend in need in all situations.

Deuteronomy 31:6-8 “Be strong and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid of them; for the Lord your God, He is the One who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you.” Then Moses called Joshua and said to him in the sight of all Israel, “Be strong and of good courage, for you must go with this people to the land which the Lord has sworn to their fathers to give them, and you shall cause them to inherit it. And the Lord, He is the One who goes before you. He will be with you, He will not leave you nor forsake you; do not fear nor be dismayed.””

It’s easy to be a friend when I’m in Caanan but can you be a friend in the midst of the wilderness.

Check on your strong friends, God never intended for us to live our lives in a complete state of independence.

I believe it’s remarkable that one of the first things that God deemed not good is being alone.

Genesis 2:18 “And the Lord God said, “It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him.””

A lot of are strong, a lot of us have overcome a lot of things but do not let your resilience force you to becoming so isolated that you refuse to build strong and effective relationships with people.

Our Duty Based On Expectation

This text also tells us what to expect and what we should be doing.

Yes it’s good to have a friend that will be there to lift you up when you fall. Nonetheless we should also be a friend that is there when our friends fall.

It’s interesting that we expect some traits and characteristics from others but refuse to hold ourselves accountable to the same level.

We can’t be bitter if no one is there to help us when we fall if we refuse to show the same type of love toward one another!

Feelings

One of the reasons we fail to build relationships is because the vulnerability it takes to show feelings that can be taken advantage of.

If we believe Jesus is in the blessing business, we have to know that He did not intend for us to be in this world without the ability to cultivate and build positive friendships.

Mark 5:37 “And He permitted no one to follow Him except Peter, James, and John the brother of James.”

Even Jesus needed some people to help Him, even Jesus understood that no warmth can come alone. This idea of warmth is a feeling, there’s a certain feeling that comes with friendship, there’s a certain feeling that comes with love. Granted these tenets of friendship are action based but there are feelings attached to them.

Let Us Fight Together Not Against Each Other

Ecclesiastes 4:12 “Though one may be overpowered by another, two can withstand him. And a threefold cord is not quickly broken.”

Some people get the best of us, there are people out there that have hurt us, there are people out there that we can’t break free from unless we have help.

You need a friend to tell you, bruh I don’t know about her. You need a friend to tell you girl, he ain’t it!

We have to fight the enemy together! We have to stand with one another in the trenches of life!

Check on the single mother, check on the single father, check on the friend dealing with depression. Check on the friend that’s lost their love one! Holidays ain’t happy for everybody!

Galatians 5:15 “But if you bite and devour one another, beware lest you be consumed by one another!”

If we think we are alone now if we keep devouring one another we will not have anyone else.

The word overpower in this text means to conquer another and gain victory and control. They might be able to discourage me, they might be able to harm me but even in their overcoming power, there is a Jesus that has overcome their power! When I feel alone because friends have turned their back on me, I need to lean on Jesus.

Even when I can’t find a friend on earth, thank God I have a friend in Jesus.

I was raised with a Grandmother and mother that made sure I was in church, I did not have church friends I just had friends, but thank God even the friends I had Grandma Rosie never let me forget that the greatest friend I can have is in Jesus.

Grandma’s church understood what having a friend in Jesus was.

What a friend we have in Jesus, All our sins and griefs to bear! What a privilege to carry Everything to God in prayer! Oh, what peace we often forfeit, Oh, what needless pain we bear, All because we do not carry Everything to God in prayer!

Have we trials and temptations? Is there trouble anywhere? We should never be discouraged Take it to the Lord in prayer. Can we find a friend so faithful, Who will all our sorrows share? Jesus knows our every weakness; Take it to the Lord in prayer.