Worthy Devotions – Daily Christian Devotion » Friendship

Hebrews 6:10-12 For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love, which ye have shewed toward his name, in that ye have ministered to the saints, and do minister. And we desire that every one of you do shew the same diligence to the full assurance of hope unto the end: That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises.

Anyone that’s been a believer for very long realizes how small the world is these days and how the Lord has connected millions of people with one another in miraculous ways. We meet hundreds of people from various backgrounds, and I’m often amazed how lives of those we meet are crossed over with others that we know.

It reminds me of a story about Peter ten Boom who was the cousin of Corrie ten Boom. For those who don’t know the story of the ten Boom legacy, their family was instrumental in saving the lives of Jews during the holocaust in World War II. At the age of sixteen, Peter defied the Germans by playing the Dutch national anthem in their church and the entire congregation stood up and sang. For this act of defiance, Peter was imprisoned.

After World War II, Peter traveled the world with the same message as his aunt, Corrie ten Boom. During his speaking tour in Israel, Peter had a heart attack and needed surgery.

The night before the operation, the cardiologist asked Peter, “Are you by chance related to the ten Booms of Holland?” Peter replied, “Yes, that’s my family!” The doctor responded, “I’m one of the babies that your family saved!”

The next day the man whose life had been saved forty years earlier, repaid the debt by saving Peter’s life.

We are called to sow seed not knowing where it might spring up. There’s a saying, “What goes around, comes around!” It’s amazing how God has a way of doing that. Let’s keep sowing, because we shall certainly reap if we faint not!

Proverbs 17:17 A friend loveth at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.

A careful reading through the life of the Apostle Paul will yield insight concerning those who surrounded him. In this brief devotion, I want to focus on two of Paul’s friends — Luke and Demas.

Luke was a true and faithful friend to Paul, staying with and supporting him to the very end of his life, even through the worst adversities (2 Timothy 4:11). Then, there was another friend, whose name was Demas, about whom Paul wrote positively at first, (Col. 4:14; Philemon 1:24) but who did not remain faithful to the end. Paul records that Demas forsook him because he “loved this present world.” (2 Timothy 4:10)

As the end of the age approaches, we also will be tested as to where our love lies; with the Father, or with the world. The apostle John writes, “Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” (1 John 2:15)  I do not believe that Demas lost his salvation, but he did lose his capacity to sense and express the love of the Father, which damaged his testimony, his spiritual relationships, and undoubtedly cost him heavenly rewards. What kind of friend will we be to God? Will we be faithful, or will we allow the love of this world to quench our fire, and compromise our relationships?

My encouragement to you is to be faithful until the end. Don’t forget that Yeshua gave a warning to end-time saints, saying, “because iniquity abounds, the love of many shall grow cold.” Become a friend like Luke, and learn from the life of Demas — do not allow love for the world to quench your love for God.  Don’t forget, a true friend loves…at all times!

Hebrews 13:3 Remember them that are in bonds, as bound with them; and them which suffer adversity, as being yourselves also in the body.

We’ve been talking about freeing others from their burdens and bonds. This scripture tells us we are to remember those that are bound — as though we are actually bound along with them!

The North American Indians have a more eloquent word for ‘friend’ than we do in English. In their language, the word for friend literally means, “the one who carries my sorrows on his back.” Isn’t that the ideal friend? One who truly carries our problems!

All of us are bound by different things and suffer from our individual struggles. And we need to be carrying each other’s sorrows as if they were our own.

Our best friend has carried our sorrows. Let’s strive to be more like Him. There’s so much work to be done!

Luke 15:6 And when he cometh home, he calleth together his friends and neighbours, saying unto them, Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost.

A friend sent us this very touching story and we had to share it with you.

Some time ago there was a story in the San Francisco Chronicle about a female humpback whale who had become entangled in a spider web of crab traps and lines. She was weighted down by hundreds of pounds of traps that caused her to struggle to stay afloat. She had hundreds of yards of line rope wrapped around her body, her tail, her torso, and a line tugging in her mouth.

Thankfully, a fisherman spotted her just east of the Farralone Islands (outside the Golden Gate) and radioed an environmental group for help. Within a few hours, the rescue team arrived and determined that she was in such bad condition that the only way to save her was to dive in and untangle her, a very dangerous proposition.

One slap of the enormous whale’s tail could kill a rescuer. Still the brave rescuers worked for hours cutting her free. One guy who was cutting the rope out of her mouth says her eye was following him the whole time. Eventually they were able to free her.

As soon as she became free, the divers say she began to swim in what seemed like joyous circles. She then came back to each and every diver, one at a time, and nudged them, pushed gently around-she thanked them. Some said it was the most incredibly beautiful experience of their lives.

Let’s take a lesson from this beautiful story. So often we let the hurting in our churches and communities fall through the cracks, never to be seen again. But it is a brave soul who gathers up an army of rescuers to reach out to a suffering or hard to reach brother or sister and rescue him or her from the binding entanglements of this world. Just as the Lord has so mercifully reached out to us, we need to do the same. Whether it is a gift, an invitation to a meal or a smile and a word of encouragement, let’s strive to reach out.

We need to be the first to initiate this kind of rescue team for our brothers and sisters. Believe you me, it will be just as beautiful and rewarding too. There’s so much work to be done!

Psalms 147:3 He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds.

My wife was telling me about a conversation she had the other day, with an Israeli friend, a born evangelist and wonderful woman of God, who’s been experiencing some difficulties. A set of complicated circumstances have occurred in her life over the past year, and to make matters worse, people, sadly even fellow believers, have been judging her, saying that she must be doing something wrong or be in some kind of sin, to be in her situation. Furthermore she added that she didn’t feel she has a great testimony right now and as a result, hasn’t been able to share God’s love and truth much because of the way she feels people see her.

That makes me angry. Satan is so cruel! And I think most of the time we don’t even realize how he manipulates people and situations so that people are hurt and ultimately the Gospel cannot go forth.

What this lovely lady doesn’t realize is that she does have a great testimony. Quite frankly, she has the best testimony anyone could have! She is clinging to Jesus through this troubling time in her life — and that is a huge testimony! It’s easy to love and praise God when we’re comfortable and have everything we need but much, much harder to do it when things get tough.

Maybe you can relate to our troubled friend’s feelings today. Please be encouraged by this: It is only in the low places the Lord meets us with a special strength to overcome things we could never conquer ourselves. It is only in the low places that we can identify with His suffering. It is only in the low places that we can identify with others suffering. Don’t back away. Run to His embrace. Receive His love and mercy. And give it away to others in need. There’s so much work to be done.