FBC Daily Devotional – November 12, 2020

week has been going well. You've gotten through the middle of it and you're on the downward slope and heading toward another weekend.

So how are you doing in your friendships? I've been talking this week about that subject of friendships.

I mentioned the other day that friendships can be delicate just because of the assaults that can come against them.

Yesterday mentioned the fact that friendship can be difficult to find because a faithful man, one who's faithful and loyal to his word, his commitments, to his friendships, they're hard to find.

And if you are that kind of a friend, God bless you for it. If you've found friends like that, thank

God for the blessing of good loyal friends. But today

I want to just kind of wrap up this little discussion on friendship, just pointing out the fact that friends and friendship really can be a delight.

It can be a delight. When you found a good friend, it can be delightful. I have one friend

I can think of that's like that. He's been a friend for over 20 years.

He was one of my deacons at a church I pastored in Vermont. We moved away and then they eventually moved away from Vermont to Pennsylvania.

Through the years we've just maintained contact and continued to call each other often and share with one another and try to encourage each other, pray for one another and so forth.

And that's a mark of a true friend. A true friend will stick with you through the good times and the bad times.

I think of this verse in Proverbs 18. It says, Are you on Facebook, one of those social media things?

If you're on Facebook, you're watching this on Facebook Live, look over on your friend list.

They have a few of them that are highlighted and then there's this little box that tells you, a little parenthesis that tells you how many friends you have on Facebook.

How many of those are really friends? How many of them are just companions?

Well, a true friend is going to be one who sticks closer to you even than a brother.

He'll be with you through the thick and the thin, through the good times and the bad times. And a friend like that is truly a delight to have.

And I hope you have one or more friends who stick with you through those times as well. And then another delightful thing about a good friend is that a true friend will love you anyway.

They'll love you anyway, regardless of what you're going through, regardless of your little idiosyncrasies that may be a little unpleasant, you know, from time to time.

But Proverbs 17, 17 says this, A friend loves at all times, and a brother

I can remember, I was going through a particular incident several years ago now, and it was pretty devastating.

And word of it got around, and anyway, I mean, it wasn't anything,

I mean, it was just something that was really hard for our family to go through.

And, you know, some of this, a friend of mine,

I'm driving down the road, and I'm talking to some people, and I'm actually driving in the car, and all of a sudden the phone rang.

And this was prior to Bluetooth and prior to, you know, laws about hands -free and all that kind of stuff.

So don't judge here, don't judge. So I'm driving down the road, and my cell phone rings, and I pick it up and flip it open.

Okay, that tells you how long ago this was. I flip it up, and this friend of mine, he didn't even say who he was.

He just, I could recognize his voice. He said, Oh Brian, I don't know what to say.

I'm just really, really, really sorry. And I want you to know that, and he mentioned his wife's name, and I are praying for you guys, and we just just don't know what else to say.

And you know what? He didn't need to say anything else. I mean, that was it. That was it. And in that phone call, he expressed a love that transcended this difficult situation, this adversity, this time of adversity.

Loved anyway. And then a third way in which a friend is a delight is that he will give you good, sound, helpful, biblical advice.

And he'll give that to you, regardless of whether or not you want to hear it.

You know, sometimes that advice, it's good, but it hurts.

And when we get advice like that, that hurts, we have to think of it as hurting good.

And if it's coming from a friend, a good friend, he will risk that hurt, because he knows it's for our good.

Again, Proverbs says a lot about friendships, doesn't it? The book of Proverbs. Chapter 27, verse 6 says this, faithful are the wounds of a friend.

Faithful are the wounds of a friend. Profuse are the kisses of an enemy. So when you need to be, when you need to get some advice or you need to be rebuked or challenged because of what you're doing and what's going on in your life, or maybe a way, you know, a way you're thinking or talking or an attitude or whatever, and a good friend, he sees that.

And he comes to you and he holds your feet to the fire. He says, wait a minute now.

Hey, whoa, this isn't right. You're doing the wrong thing here. A good friend will do that.

A good friend is willing to do that. The enemy, he'll just try to smooth things over.

He's not really interested in your welfare. He's interested in whatever himself.

But anyhow, a faithful friend is going to give you good, helpful, sound, biblical advice, even if it hurts, because he knows it's a good hurt.

It's a hurt you need to experience for your own welfare. But sometimes that advice will be healing and soothing and refreshing.

Proverbs 27 goes on in verses 9 and 10 and says this, oil and perfume make the heart glad, and the sweetness of a friend comes from his earnest counsel.

I know there have been a few times that I can look back on and I sat down with a friend who challenged me and really confronted me with something, and it hurt, it stung, but I knew it was right.

I knew it was right and accepted it. And I wondered, what is he really thinking about me?

How does he really feel about me? Is this friendship over kind of a thing? But it wasn't. And he stuck with me, and rightly so.

I mean, good friends do that. And after the fact, when everything settled down, I realized just how helpful that advice was, and just how really sweet, because it improved me.

It helped me to make some changes and take some steps in my life. It made me a better person and made me a better pastor to him and to others.

So it was sweet counsel. It was sweet counsel that he offered, and in the end, it was refreshing and soothing.

But, you know, I don't want to just focus on negative there. I mean, because sometimes we need the friend to come along and, you know, kind of chide us and rebuke us and challenge us.

But, you know, a good friend will also come alongside of us and put his arm around our shoulders and encourage us and say, hey, you know what?

You're doing the right thing. Keep going that direction. You're doing the right thing. Hang in there. Hang in there.

Don't let him get you down. Do the right thing, and so forth. And that's refreshing. That's reinvigorating.

That earnest counsel is a sweet encouragement when the heart is down.

Well, again, I ask, do you enjoy the delight of good friends?

I hope you do. I hope you do. And I hope also that others are delighted by the friendship that you offer to them.

Our Father and our God, we thank you for the friend that is our

Lord Jesus Christ. He embodies all that is good in a good friendship.

He sticks with us through the thick and the thin. He will love us anyway, and I thank you that also he will, by his word, through your word, and through the ministry of his

Spirit, he will give us good, sound, biblically helpful advice.

Sometimes it stings, but it's always good. Sometimes it's a word of encouragement.

It's the arm around the shoulder. We thank you for our friend, the Lord Jesus Christ. Help us to be a friend like he is, and this we pray in Jesus' name.

Amen. All right, well, I hope you have a good rest of your day today.

The Lord will bless you in it, and maybe you've been challenged or encouraged today to phone a friend.