True Learning (3)

He himself shall dwell in prosperity,
And his descendants shall inherit the earth.
The secret of the LORD is with those who fear Him,
And He will show them His covenant. Psalm 25.13, 14

The principle objective of true learning
Jesus said that His disciples were His friends (Jn. 15.14, 15). In the most general of terms, they who have truly begun to learn truth and to walk in the way God has prepared for them will think of themselves as friends of God. Friendship with the Lord involves continuous intimacy with Him, such that we know His Presence, commune with Him constantly, and are sensitive to His prompts, impulses, and directives as they apply to the people and situations of our lives.

The “secret” of the Lord, which is His Kingdom, is the possession of all His friends, and they seek and advance it as they walk in the way He has chosen for them.

The more we grow as disciples of the Lord, the stronger our friendship with Him will become. The more also our friendship with other disciples will grow, as we work for the mutual edification of one another. And the stronger our friendship with the Lord and one another, the more the secrets of the Kingdom – its presence, promise, and power – will fill us and flow through us into our Personal Mission Fields.

Friendship with the Lord must be the primary objective to which we aspire as true learners. That friendship will pervade our preparations for each day, characterize our conversations, adorn the demonstrations we make of God’s love, and fit us to wield the transforming power of the Lord in every area of our lives.

Our friendship with the Lord is realized in four primary ways.

It is well with our souls
First, an overall sense of wellbeing pervades the souls of Jesus’ friends. We spend much time with Him, and we know His Presence with us throughout the day. We keep short accounts with the Lord, confessing our sins and turning from them at once. We are devoted to resisting temptation, rejoicing during trials, and nurturing a deep-seated sense of peace and joy.

We look out on the world with the mind of Christ, relate to others with His heart of grace, and make seeking His Kingdom the defining priority of our lives. Thus our souls rest in the knowledge of His Presence, delight to embrace His will, and grow strong through obedience in His Spirit. We find that, in the Lord’s Presence, fullness of joy and holy pleasures are our constant companions (Ps. 16.11).

The comfort we feel in our souls, the assurance of salvation that constantly protects us, the undercurrent of joy and peace that pervades our lives – these are the fruit of walking with our Friend and always knowing His Presence with us. Learning Jesus and growing as His friends, we can say with all honesty and joy, whatever our situation, “It is well with my soul.”

Blessed and blessing
This is what it means to be blessed of the Lord, which is the first promise of our covenant relationship with Him (cf. Gen. 12.1-3). In such a relationship the Lord makes known to us His precious and very great promises (2 Pet. 1.4), so that we do not set our hope on the fleeting things and circumstances that others seek for their happiness. Our hope is in the Lord, and we actually “partake” of Him in real and life-changing ways. Our desire is to know more of His promises, to be blessed even more by God, so that He is always before us and we set our minds on Him rather than the things of this world (Ps. 16.8; Col. 3.1-3).

As we grow in friendship with the Lord, He unfolds more of His covenant with us – His precious and very great promises, which are in Jesus (Gen. 12.1-3; cf. 2 Cor. 1.20). This is the second great privilege of those who enjoy His friendship, the increase in blessedness and in the grace and knowledge of the Lord.

Such growth in the Lord and His promises increases the wellbeing we experience in our souls and prepares us for making friends for Jesus in our Personal Mission Field.

Making friends for Jesus
From within the friendship of God and His covenant, the friends of the Lord extend His friendship to others so that they – whether spouse, children, friends, associates at work, fellow church members, or total strangers – “inherit the earth,” the precious promises and blessings of the Lord, by virtue of their involvement with us. This is the third way our friendship with Jesus is expressed.

As we grow in the Lord our confidence in Him increases, and we readily take up our calling to be His witnesses, in our words as well as our deeds. Talking about Jesus flows naturally from us as we live for Him, showing His love and doing good for others, beginning with our fellow disciples (Gal. 6.10). We want to make friends for Jesus, and we will do so – not perfectly, and not in every case – as we show ourselves friendly to the people to whom God sends us each day (Prov. 18.24).

Restoring all things for God’s glory
Finally, our friendship with Jesus will be evident as we devote ourselves to restoring the world He has reconciled to the Father by His life, death, resurrection, and reign (2 Cor. 5.19). We are ambassadors for Christ and His Kingdom (2 Cor. 5.20). We want to take every thought captive to obey Him (2 Cor. 10.3-5), bring His goodness to light in our world (Gen. 1.31; Ps. 27.13), do all things in ways that manifest His Presence with us and bring glory to His Name (1 Cor. 10.31), and redeem all the time of our lives for wisdom (Eph. 5.15-17).

God is jealous for our friendship, and we must be jealous for His as well. We must remember what James said: We cannot be friends of the world and friends with God (Jms. 4.4). If, as we walk the path God has prepared for us, we want our heavenly Friend to be our constant Companion, we must turn away from the temptations of the world and find all our satisfaction in Jesus Christ. In His Presence is fullness of joy; at His right hand are pleasures forevermore.

We’ll know that we are truly learning when, in our daily preparations, conversations, deeds of love, and efforts to bring transforming grace to bear on the people and culture around us, we enjoy the constant sense of the Lord’s Presence. Then our souls will be at rest, His promises will be our every desire, and His blessings will flow through us to others. Then we will know that we are His disciples, indeed.

For reflection
1.  What do you understand by the idea of being Jesus’ friend? How would you expect others to see that you and Jesus are friends?

2.  Meditate on Genesis 12.1-3. Why does Peter refer to these promises as “precious”?

3.  All the promises of God are realized in Jesus (2 Cor. 1.20). Why does this make growing in friendship with Him all that much more important?

Next steps – Conversation: Today, make a point of sharing with someone what it means for you to be a friend of Jesus.

T. M. Moore

Know, Love, Serve
The great thing about following Jesus is the more we learn of Him, the more we love Him; and the more we love Him, the more we will serve Him in every aspect of our lives. This is the argument of our book, Know, Love, Serve. A free copy is waiting for you by clicking here.

Are you a Gospel sponge? You can be, and wouldn’t that clean a few things up nicely? Check out this month’s Personal Mission Field Workshop by clicking here.

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Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.