Jesus Calls You His Friend

Jesus is more than your Lord and creator; He is more than your Savior and Redeemer. The Bible tells us that Jesus calls you His friend.  #Biblestudy #restandrelease #WomensBibleStudy #GoodMorningGirls

Greater love has no one than this, 
that someone lay down his life for his friends.
John 15:13

After my husband had moved out, I didn’t know who I could trust.

I wanted to tell my friends but I felt that if I had any hope of reconciling with my husband, I needed to keep our matters private. So I only told my family. But after over a month of silence, the weight loss and my disposition were giving away my secret. I had to confide in my close circle of friends because I needed them. It was scary to speak my shocking truth. No one expected it – I had always spoken highly of my husband and all of my friends knew that I adored him.

While it was scary to say out loud what was happening in my life, the tidal wave of love and support I received was exactly what I needed. Every morning I woke to a living nightmare but as I stumbled into my kitchen for coffee, there sat multiple bouquets of flowers from my friends.

I felt loved.

God used those flowers to comfort me and help me feel His presence.

In Matthew 6, Jesus tells us to not worry and then he uses the example of how God cares for the lilies of the field. If He takes good care of the lilies of the field…then certainly He will take good care of you.

In John 15:15, Jesus says:

No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.

Jesus calls you his friend!

He loves you and you love him.

He knows your heart and you know his.

He cares about what matters to you and you care about what matters to him.

Jesus does not just love you as His creation and as His sheep, but Jesus loves you as a friend.

He is there for you when you wake and when you are lying in bed asleep.

He never leaves you nor forsakes you.

He is completely faithful.

You are not alone and because He is with you – you never have to live in fear.

Rest in your friendship with Jesus today.  Enjoy your time with Him.  He’s the best friend a girl can have!!!

Reflection Question:

How does knowing that you always have a friend with you, bring you rest?

Walk with the King,

Courtney

~This post is an excerpt from the Rest and Release Bible Study Guide

 

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21 Comments

  1. I liked this. Love that Jesus is MY friend. I know I’m supposed to be a friend to others and serve them and love them and be an example and bring them food and go to church happy so they see my joy and send cards and take His help so I can pass out to others and I should ask about their trouble and help them with their kids and ask them to coffee and on and on, and I do …I mean certainly not perfectly and there’s always more to do, but in this valley of hearing from my church that I don’t go to church for myself, instead I go to church for others and it’s like I’m wrong and bad for taking a Word for MY heart, for WANTING to hear something meant for me, for going with my load and the heavy in my heart… because while he cares for others through me, and definitely without me, He cares for ME TOO and has something for me! Because He sees me and loves me and really does care about me, too!

  2. I am so thankful that Jesus is my friend. When I am mistreated I know that He sees, hears, knows and takes all into account. He is faithful even when our worlds seem to be falling apart. It is so painful when someone you love wounds you emotionally, and hard to understand why it is taking place at all. But God knows why and He knows the outcome…it is all for the good of we who love Him.

  3. My youngest daughter was just diagnosed with a progressive neurodegenerative disease that there is currently not a cure for. My husband and my oldest daughter do not have a very good relationship because she is 14 and being disrespectful. I feel like typical teenage stuff not like extreme over the top disobedience. Every small wrong move she makes she is reprimanded. Such as all privileges taken away. The other night she wasn’t allowed to go to a game because she got in bed one minute late. My husband talks to me as well as our children like we are under him. Very demeaning and degrading. If I mention this to him he gets very upset and it causes and big drawn out conflict of day’s even weeks sometimes. With all that is going on with our daughter and our oldest actually told us she feels left out and was reprimanded by him for saying that she was. My husband suffers from depression, anxiety and a personality disorder. He even told me and my daughter that if our youngest passes he will proabably leave because he can not handle this. I am so mentally exhausted. He also told me one day while I was crying shortly after we got the diagnosis that I was stressing him out and he didn’t need me upset and crying at the moment. Prayers for our family please. I have been doing the rest and release and it has really helped. I am tired of arguing, I’m tired of being silent. I feel like I need to honor my and respect my husband but I also feel like I need to protect my daughter. Just so sad. I don’t know what to do. Seeing a psychologist so I can get some kind of understanding or coping skills. Thank you for listening. Love your online studies Courtney. Praying for your family as well.

      1. Thank you so much. Wow the response. Love you ladies, thank you for the support and comfort. Trusting in God through this. I did address the situation with my husband as I felt that is what God was leading me to do. It was not pretty but then next day he did say he had been thinking about what I had said. He is still trying to blame me for my daughters teenage daughters actions but I will hold my faith and not back down. I will let God deal with him and in he mean time continue to have trust and faith. He does see a psychiatrist and is going back for a follow up soon, that’s a blessing. I have made an appointment with a Christian counselor so I can learn to cope and deal with the situation in a healthy way. My husband refuses to go to counseling or talk to our preacher. I feel like it is more of a pride thing. Thank you all for your prayers and suggestions. Such a blessing to have a group of Christian ladies to share with!

    1. Praying for you Sarah. While our circumstances are different you just described my family. I struggle with the choice to honor my husband or protect my daughter as well. This shouldn’t be a choice. Father, you want the very best for us and our families. You see our struggles and feel our pain. Lord we are weary from this battle and need You! Please cancel the plans of the enemy against us and our families and help us to stand firm knowing You’ve got this. Restore our families to You. Father increase Sarah’s peace and joy and trust in You this day and bless her and her family with Your Presence. In the Mighty Name of Jesus I pray. Amen.

      1. Precious Women of God, I am new to this post but I truly enjoy the Christian atmosphere where we can come for prayer and encouragement. My son was diagnosed with bipolar disorder at age 27. He has 3 beautiful children but his wife says that she can’t deal with his sickness. My son is afraid of losing his family.

        Sarah and Karla I just said a prayer for you and your family. May you find peace and rest in God.

        Courtney, thank you for all you do…for how you allow the Lord to work through you. I pray for your strength, peace, and rest. I Jesus I pray. Amen.

    2. Where is your pastor in this crisis and conflict? Confessing your trials and tribulations to him is like going to a medical doctor; your discussions are strictly confidential! But he can and should give you a godly perspective with a biblical prescription for your attitude and actions. Be constant in prayer! There is great comfort in prayer and reading God’s word as you go through this; I know, I was there once. Psalms are especially comforting.

    3. Sarah,
      I’m so sorry for your stress. I know how this feels. Would it be possible to encourage your husband to go see a doctor? I know most Christians think we shouldn’t need to do this if we have the Lord, but its not about being a Christian it is just the way we are made and sometimes we need help! Will pray for you.

    4. Sarah, I’m so sorry you’re going through all this right now. God sees you & He has not forgotten you. It would be good for you to talk to someone like a counselor… You have to take care of you too. I learned something recently, respect doesn’t mean you have to deal with the lack of love & support from your headband. It doesn’t sound like he’s honoring God in how he treats you or the girls… It may be time to talk to someone & make a move and trust God with your husband! I know it’s scary, that’s why you need someone to walk you through it.

  4. We al have trials and struggles, this is a given and another given is that if we are believers we can and should trust, rely and abide in the One who provides us strength beyond our corporal bodies, wisdom beyond our reckoning and peace. This I know because I have lived it with a hubby who was drinking alcohol and a son with schizoaffective disorder. Praise the Lord that He was and is with me daily.

  5. Courtney,
    Your first few paragraphs made me tear up. I was at that same spot in 2012. The feelings that you show here are the same feelings that I felt. It made them all come back to me. THEN, to see how God has moved in my life since then… AMAZING! No matter what other humans will do to disappoint and hurt us, our Heavenly Father has a plan for US! God has blessed me SO much more than I can ever imagine after my husband left me. Keep doing what you’re doing… because God has so many plans for you!

  6. The way you wrote this just makes it so clear that Jesus is a friend and we CAN have a relationship with Him. That’s what a relationship is – you know and understand someone and they know and understand you too. What a beautiful thing! Thank you for sharing!

  7. We teach the nursery kids at my church that Jesus is your friend. I love that even though we have heard it many times before it is good to meditate on knowing that Jesus is my best friend. It brings me rest and comfort knowing that I can trust Him with all my good times and bad times and he will still be my best friend.

  8. Uhaooo. Qué bueno leer y entender esta gran realidad, Jesús es mi fiel amigo, es mi dulce caminar. Gracias a Dios por ser tan bueno y por habernos escogido, animo y adelante El Señor es nuestro Pastor y con él nada nos faltará.

  9. Courtney,
    I don’t usually post things but I just wanted to let you know how thankful I am for you. I have been following you since I first heard about you on Rachel Ray. I’m 29 now so I was pretty young at that time. I didn’t have a mother who was a godly wife or even any role models to look to at that time. As a new stay at home wife, you were a gift from God to me. I am truly sorry for the circumstances you have faced/are facing. I can’t help but have that much more love and respect for you in how you are handling it. Of course, I know that it’s the Holy Spirit within you that is leading. Anyways, please know that you are an inspiration to me and that being able to see how graciously you are handling this situation gives me hope about facing trials in my own life. You are living proof that God is enough and Jesus really is all we need, our best friend. Prayers for you and all these other sweet ladies. Love and God bless! <3

  10. Courtney, you are amazing..thank you for your transparency here. I used to go a church with hardly any transparency so I used to feel like I had to be perfect around them. But thank God for a new refreshing church where everyone is transparent and it shows we are not perfect we all struggle but we are not alone in our struggles. I have made some amazing friends through their transparency and also through mine. I am still praying for you sister, I have been through divorce and it sucks…but God see me through it all. I wouldn’t be who I am today without going through that. So it’s a blessing for sure.

    Thank you sweet sis,
    Adrienne R

  11. Thank you for this Courtney! I’m really enjoying this study. Just knowing Jesus is my friend, gives me an instant peace. It’s nice to know that he’s always there.
    Sarah and Karla, I just said a prayer for you and your families. May God provide the peace and comfort that you need right now.

  12. Knowing that I always have a friend with me overwhelms me and makes me feel wanted and loved! I’m in awe that GOD wants me as a friend! Wow!

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