Friends of Christ
I no longer call you slaves, because a master doesn’t confide in his slaves. Now you are my friends, since I have told you everything the Father told me.
John 15:15
The Spirit has impressed on my heart lately the importance of these words, that God is looking for people who will walk in obedience and in friendship with His Spirit. He desires to confide in us the things that are on His heart, leading us to follow His leadership.
Obedience to God is not just doing what He wants us to do, hating it all the way. I know of some people who truly believe this is the way we are to follow Christ and if we are not miserable then we must not be obedient! But this is not what Christ is saying in this passage. God calls us to friendship and as His friends His concerns become our concerns. Certainly there are things that God calls us to do that might not be easy, that might even be unpleasant, and that will be different from the sinful and selfish desires of our old nature, but as we walk with His Spirit, if we walk with His Spirit, we will grow in our desire for His will to be done. He confides in us the deep concerns on His heart, leading us to have them as well.
E.M. Bounds’ stirring words convict us of our need to hear from God’s heart.
Desire is not merely a simple wish; it is a deep seated craving; an intense longing…desire is an absolute essential of prayer… heaven-given appetites are the proof of a renewed heart, the evidence of a stirring spiritual life. Physical appetites are the attributes of a living body, not of a corpse, and spiritual desires belong to a soul made alive to God. And as the renewed soul hungers and thirsts after righteousness, these holy inward desires break out into earnest, supplicating prayer.
Are you being moved by God’s heart today? Christ has called you His friend. Are you thinking, feeling, praying, and acting like a friend of Christ?
Prayer:
Lord, you have seen the need since the creation of human life for human hearts that long for Your will to be done. You desire to show us Your desires, what You are doing in the world, and how we can join us. Lord, move in our hearts until all our selfishness is melted away and we only see You and Your will and Your desire. Amen.