“You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.” John 15:14-15
“The LORD would speak with Moses face to face, just as a man speaks with his friend, then Moses would return to the camp.” Exodus 33:11
Friendship with Jesus kindles the flame of the Holy Spirit. He is your counsellor, teacher, comforter and helper. He will help to strengthen your relationship with your Saviour, Jesus Christ, and get you ready to rule and reign with Him in His coming Millennial Kingdom. Go to http://www.millennialkingdom.net to get prepared.
Friendship with like minded believers will help immensely to grow closer to our Lord. A beautiful reflection on friendship is bequeathed to us by Augustine of Hippo (AD 354–430). It comes from his classic work entitled, The Confessions of St. Augustine (IV, X, 13):
“All kinds of things rejoiced my soul in their company — to talk and laugh, and to do each other kindnesses.
“To read pleasant books together. To pass from lightest jesting to talk of the deepest things and back again.
“To differ without rancour, as a man might differ with himself, and when, most rarely, dissension arose, to find our normal agreement all the sweeter for it.
“To be impatient for the return of the absent, and to welcome them with joy on their home-coming.
“These, and such-like things, proceeding from our hearts as we gave affection and received it back, and shown by face, by voice, by the eyes, and by a thousand other pleasing ways, kindled a flame which fused our very souls together, and, of many, made us one.”
Friendship is a great gift, freely given and received. It is to talk and laugh, to be kind, to be good humoured and serious at times, to agree to differ, to forgive, to be fully present even amidst absence, to be affectionate not soppy, to experience unity — not uniformity — amidst diversity. As Proverbs 17:17 tells us, “A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.”
A beautiful reflection on friendship is taken from an article by Bishop Tony Percy, Auxiliary Catholic Bishop of Sydney – Awaken Friendship with Christ.
