The Man Who Became God's Friend

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“And the scripture was fulfilled that says, ‘Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,’ and he was called God's friend.” (James 2:23, NIV).

His story began with a whisper, some say. One night while he was standing near a grove a mulberry trees with a group of friends, a strange breeze rushed in from nowhere and rustled the leaves a bit. Some say that’s all it was – just a strange wind. But he heard the Voice. The look on his face didn’t go unnoticed by the others, for it seemed as though he had seen a ghost. No, he didn’t see one – he only heard one. And it was a Holy Ghost.

The Voice, tender and befriending, called him by name – “Abram.” We know him today as Abraham. And the Voice that spoke to him that night we now know as the God of Abraham.

They were friends, you see.

Their friendship began when Abraham believed. And what was it exactly that Abraham believed? Simply put, he believed God. Whatever God said to him, no matter how impossible or unlikely it seemed or sounded – Abraham believed that the One who spoke was true, and able to do what He had said.

Listen to how Paul puts it in his letter to the Romans:

“When everything was hopeless, Abraham believed anyway, deciding to live not on the basis of what he saw he couldn't do but on what God said he would do. And so he was made father of a multitude of peoples. God himself said to him, ‘You're going to have a big family, Abraham!’ Abraham didn't focus on his own impotence and say, ‘It's hopeless. This hundred-year-old body could never father a child.’ Nor did he survey Sarah's decades of infertility and give up. He didn't tiptoe around God's promise asking cautiously skeptical questions. He plunged into the promise and came up strong, ready for God, sure that God would make good on what he had said.” (Romans 4:18-21, The Message).

What crazy, insane, impossible, and most unlikely thing has God promised you? And now does it all seem hopeless; certain never to happen?

Well, you are on the brink of becoming friends with God! Just believe!!
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