Purpose: To understand deep inside that Jesus is always with us.  He is always present by my side and if we are assured of His presence we must also talk to the one who gave us life in prayer. 

Key Verse: Matthew 28:19-20
¹⁹ Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

Also In

1 Corinthians 1:9

God is faithful, by whom you are called into fellowship of His son, Jesus Christ our Lord

Remember, You’re Always Have A Friend In Jesus!

Who is your best friend? 

Pick the one person who is always there for you no matter what.  Now write down all the things that makes this person stand out more than the others.

All the qualities that you have are probably important but they don’t really get to the core of what your best friend means to you in your heart and mind. Jesus is the kind of companion you’re looking for and then some.  His good qualities have no measure in this world and what is even better is that He says He will never leave you or forsake you.   If you’re like me you have had a number of best friends that have either moved away or for some reason have faded from your life.

I remember one of my childhood friends and I started many times over that we were going to be lifelong friends.  To my dismay Lee and his father soon moved out of the neighborhood and we lost contact with each other.  I have since talked to Lee but it is just not the same as it used to be.  The friendship Lee I once had is no more, but isn’t it great to know that with Jesus that is not going to happen. 

Jesus is always present right by our side even when we do things that make us feel like He is no longer there. 

1 Corinthians 1:9 says that “God is Faithful, by whom your were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord”

This verse shows us that we always have a fellowship with Jesus Christ and can be assured of His continued presence.

What does the assurance of Jesus presence mean to you?

Now write a letter, poem or song to Jesus thanking Him for His continued presence and friendship towards you.

Invest time in your heart for your friend, Jesus!

The problem is that in our hearts our friendship with Jesus many times is very one sided. 

Jesus said that he would never “leave us or forsake us” can you say the same thing? 

Take a few minutes to examine your heart and see how many times Jesus was replaced by something or someone else.

It is pretty sobering to know that our love for Jesus is not a continuous thing.  Jesus gave and continues to give His love to us while we in our hearts sit back and take His love for granted. 

Read Revelations 3:20 and picture the scene in your mind.

Now picture what you’re doing on the other side of that door.

Isaiah states that “we like sheep have gone astray and each has turned to their own ways.  

The Bible is accused of being an irrelevant book these modern times but all you need to do is take a look around you to see that this verse is as true today as it was in Isaiah’s time.  The world feels that God is no longer there, if He ever was there, because of the shape the world is in.  You would think that Christians would be immune to this type of thinking, but we’re not.  We as Christians still continue to turn our backs on God and His word, and then we have the nerve to say that we no longer feel His presence.

We as the body of Christ here in America no longer take our relationship with Jesus Christ seriously enough.   We are willing to spend hours upon hours with our earthly friends discussing all manner of topics including personal problems but never take the time to tell or ask the ever-present Jesus for help or even include Him in the conversation.   There are times that we will even go so far as to seek professional counseling and then buy into all the secular theories of how or why we got into the mess we are in, once again without taking the time to take to great healer, Jesus. 

As Christians we need to remember that we are in the presence of God 24/7 and 365 days a year.  God knows our every thought word and deed.  There is nothing that we can hide from Him.   It is amazing to me how many Christians feel that they can hide their sinful thought from everybody, but God hears your thoughts.  To me that is a humbling recollection, that God knows how bad and sinful my mind can be.  Modern Psychology states that your thoughts will lead to your actions, your actions will become your habits and your habits will shape your lifetime.   Jesus understood the importance of having and intimate relationship with God.

What do the following verses teach you about have an Intimate Internal relationship with God?

Mark 1:35

Luke 5:16

Luke 6:12

These verses show that Jesus understood the importance of taking away all the earthly distractions so that as He Prayed He would feel in His heart the presence of His Father.  This is not the emotional high you feel when you are at an alter call or other event this is a genuine feeling that Jesus is there with you at all times.

What do these verses show you about what to expect from our quiet time in the presence of God?

Ø      1 Peter 2:2-3

Ø      Hebrews 5:12-14

Ø      Psalm 119:103-104

Ø      John 15:4-5

Ø      1 Corinthians 1:8-9

Ø      Hebrews 4:16

Not only we need to invest in the time we spend in our hearts in the presence with our best friend Jesus we need to take the time to be open and honest with Jesus.

Honesty in the face of God

How honest are you with your friends?  I mean do you tell them everything or do you hold back those things that you feel would tarnish their impression of you? 

Honesty is a major element in enjoying a heartfelt presence of Jesus Christ throughout our Christian walk.   If we are truly honest with ourselves we will discover that our inability to feel the presence of Jesus in our live has nothing to do with Jesus’ withdrawal from out lives and everything to do with our withdrawal from Him.   Our communication and intimacy with Jesus is blocked because we treat our relationship with Jesus in the same manner as we treat our earthly relationships, never taking the time to listen for His voice or feel His love in our hearts.   Our lives are filled with to many things that can block the presence of Jesus. 

How many times have you sat down to watch your favorite tv show instead of reading your Bible?  How many times have you tuned God out because you feel you can do ti better your way?  How many times have you let un-confessed sin stand in the way of a more intimate relationship with Christ?  Jesus told his disciple that it is not what goes into a man that makes him unclean, but what is already inside the man that makes him unclean.  This means that each of our thoughts, deeds and lives should be examined and dealt with according to whether we are living the life to God has called us to live.  Someone once asked me to judge my actions on the basis of Jesus’ physical presence in my life.  This is to say whatever I do or say, would I still do it if I were physically walking with Jesus.  I would have to answer by saying that I am physically walking with Jesus by my side everyday and if I do something that would offend Jesus it should also offend me.  I need to live my life being open to the presence of Jesus by my side so that I will always be respectful, open and honest toward Jesus and all my other friends, this will allow God to show me how to be a better friend to all.

Be the Best Friend God Has Called You To Be

Take a minute to think about what kind of friend you are.

Now write down your thoughts on your friendship with others.

Up to this point have your thoughts about your friendship with others taken into consideration the continual presence of Jesus” at your side in your daily walk?

What I mean to say is that in your daily walk as you talk and interact with your friends do you remember that Jesus is there among you?   He is there to hear what you’re saying, doing and thinking.   He knows every motive behind the actions of your heart.  He knows when you’re faking it and when your heart is not really in it.  It is a sobering think to know that Jesus is always present in my life.   It is also as we have talked about quite humbling.   I may have the ability to fool others but I can never fool my ever-present friend Jesus.   Friendship is a wonderful thing because if your heart is in the right place you will always get out of friendship so much more than you put in.

You already know in your heart what kind of friend you are to others, but do you really know what kind of friend Jesus is?  Have you really sat down to look at the Gospels and view His life and death through the eyes of a true friend?

Read the following passages to find out.

Psalm 73:23

Psalm 145:18

John 15:26