Weekly Scriptures | Sermon Notes | Sermon Video
Friends don’t do that. It’s one of those labels that has been used and abused, like love. I love my car; I love my job; I love my house; I love my dog; I love football, etc. And, I have a friend; I know a friend; I can introduce you to a friend; my friend online, etc. Every acquaintance in your social circle is your friend? And every contact in your device is a friend? And every social media follower or followed… are friends? Guess what? They are NOT your friends.
Friendship is so deep, so intimate, so binding, that it alone sits next to love on our journey to divine-likeness. God is love; Y’shua said that. And here we have the path to that love. To your faith add virtue, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, and brotherly kindness. Only then do we arrive at love, His divine nature. Did you catch it? Brotherly kindness is friendship; and you must add friendship to godliness before you can love! Friends know one another, understand one another, trust one another, believe in one another, and are faithful to one another. Friendship describes a closeness so close that it would surrender itself for another. As such, you might now agree that you don’t have any friends on your social media platforms; you aren’t following actual friends in your “friend list.” Neither are you being followed by friends! Maybe you have a friend or two in your thousands of device contacts, maybe, but that’s about it.
All this, and yet Y’shua calls us friends. Abraham was called God’s friend; Moses too was a friend of God. That is some pretty exclusive company. Y’shua kept Peter, James and John in His inner circle. That is why they alone were on the mountain with Him when He revealed what the future held for mankind; very exclusive company! All such deep intimacy, and still Y’shua includes us in His inner circle; He calls us friends.
And if friendship is such an exclusive binding relationship, how much does it hurt when a friend betrays you? How painful is it when the one who should know you best forgets who you are, has a lapse in memory about your history together, loses trust in you, or purposely separates from you? It’s an awful thing to slip into the endless list of those “friended” online, those who don’t really know you—those who NEVER knew you.
Joshua had an extensive history with Yahweh. He was there for it all. He stood by Moses’ side. He spied out the land and returned with the good report. He witnessed every indescribable miracle during Israel’s deliverance from Egypt, and every supernatural provision in the wilderness. He was the single man anointed to carry the torch into the promised land, and through him God orchestrated holding back the flood waters of the Jordan, so His people could pass over on dry ground. Joshua certainly had a victorious entry! The walls of Jericho had fallen and he was on the way to Israel’s next conquest.
Then, there was one small setback and Joshua goes completely sideways! He sinks right to the bottom and joins the faceless list of those who have no history with God; he goes utterly blank. It feels like an absolute betrayal and Yahweh will have NO part of it. “Get up Joshua, and stop your sniveling! Of all people, you should know better. We have an extensive history together! How can you forget My personal guarantee? ‘Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for Yahweh your God is with you wherever you go.’ Plus, you know very well how much I hate whining.
Grumbling and complaining will get you nothing but a giant slap down. Get up, pull up your pants and be a big boy. Figure out what went wrong and fix it, or I will. Oh, and if I have to do it, it will be much, much worse for everyone!”
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