Friends

Vol 3 No 30 THEO'S DEVOS

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

I feel so blessed to have been able to serve God as a pastor for over thirty years. Among the reasons for my blessings is the fact that I have been able to develop so many friends all over the world and they have enriched my life in ways that cannot be fully explained. These friends have not been simple acquaintances but true friends, people who have prayed for me and encouraged me and allowed me to to the same for them. How can you distinguish between real friends and mere acquaintances? The Psalmist says that friends love at all times. Not just in the good times but in the bad times also.

Someone has said that to have friends it simply requires us to be a friend. There is one friend that I have that really needs to have a capitol F as in Friend. I have never seen Him in the flesh but I know that He is with me and I talk to Him every day. It is His attitude and action toward me that helps me to understand what kind of attitude and action I should have toward those I call friends. Over the years I have discovered something that I have not gotten excellent at, but have tried to get better at. It is that bringing joy to my friends brings joy to me. I truly believe that my best friend, Jesus, gets joy by bringing me joy. I believe that when I smile, He smiles. I know that when I see a friend smile, it makes me smile.

When I was younger I am afraid that I focused more on my needs and what I wanted out of life more than what my friends wanted or needed. In those days I was very self-centered. Now please don't think that I am saying I am not self-centered today, only that I think I am less so. My problem was that I was doing what I thought was expected of me. Let me explain.

As a young man I was, as I mentioned, self-centered. After a brief time in college the first time I went, I had to drop out and, due to the Viet Nam war, was going to be drafted into the Army. Wanting to be in control of my destiny, I joined the Army Security Agency for four years. After basic training I was sent to Fort Devens in MA for advanced training where I was given a top secret, cryptographic clearance and trained with Special Forces or Green Berets at the time. During those years I was expected to develop an attitude conducive with staying alive in combat. Most of my training was in individual fighting and learning escape and evasion. I was good at that. They taught me to kill in several different ways and although I found it abhorrent at first, I actually felt that I was getting ripped off when, by the time I got out of the Army I hadn't gotten to actually kill anyone.

After leaving the military I got a job as a bricklayer in Philly. I worked on houses and high rises. I worked on the courthouse at 5th and Market Street in Philadelphia, a 28 story high rise. I remember laying brick on the 18th floor, on a swinging scaffold that would swing out from the side of the building allowing you to look straight down 18 stories. In those days I couldn't have cared less what you thought of me. Between that attitude and the one trained into me by the military, I was able to fit in and had a successful time as a construction worker. What I am saying here is that I knew exactly how to take care of myself without too much concern about anyone else and those I worked for seemed to love it.

Then an interesting thing happened. God called me into the ministry! I will describe that in detail at another time. I mention it here because it seemed to me that I was the least qualified person I could conceive of for that calling. Learning how God wanted me to treat others was both the most difficult thing I have ever experienced and the most wonderful. Realizing how important others were to God was a revelation to me. It actually became so fantastic that it enlivened me. It felt like a breath of fresh air. Learning about people, studying them, helping them has enriched my life so much that explaining it completely just will not go into words.

Please think about those people that you call friends. Consider your attitude toward them. Think about how Jesus feels about you. Think about what He has done for you. He laid down His life for you. Perhaps one of the things that causes us the most pain is our expectations from our friends. If we reduce those expectations and think more about what we can do for them, maybe we will feel better about our lives and realize more of what it is like to be Jesus.

I am not very good at this but I know that I am much better at it than I was all those years ago and feel much better off because of the lessons that God has taught me in this area. May He bless you today as you consider blessing your friends.

Theo




Thank You for subscribing to THEO'S DEVOs. This subscription is free and no email address will ever be given to anyone. To un-subsribe just reply and put un-subscribe in the subject line. Thank You





Dear Small Group Leader (or soon to be Facilitator)

Please allow everyone in your group to answer the Quick Question. It will get things started on the right foot, encouraging quieter ones to open up. Please do not require everyone to answer every question. They may not be ready to share yet. Also please allow at least 5-10 minutes at the end of your study so as many as would like to can respond to the REFLECTION question. This may be the most important time in your small group study. Thank You


SMALL GROUP BIBLE STUDY


Please Read: Psalm 17:1-15

QUICK QUESTION: Why is it so hard to follow through on resolutions?

1.What did David think of himself?

2.What caused David to trust in God?

3.How does God display His love towards us?

4.How does God provide for us?

5.What does God do for us?


REFLECTION: What can you do to insure that you will stand before God, happy with yourself?