Stream in the Desert May 9 The Friend of God "Abraham stood yet before the Lord" (Gen. 18:22).
Today's Scripture & Insight: Genesis 18:20-26 20 Then the LORD said, “The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so grievous 21 that I will go down and see if what they have done is as bad as the outcry that has reached me. If not, I will know.” 22 The men turned away and went toward Sodom, but Abraham remained standing before the LORD.[a] 23 Then Abraham approached him and said: “Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked? 24 What if there are fifty righteous people in the city? Will you really sweep it away and not spare[b] the place for the sake of the fifty righteous people in it? 25 Far be it from you to do such a thing—to kill the righteous with the wicked, treating the righteous and the wicked alike. Far be it from you! Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?” 26 The LORD said, “If I find fifty righteous people in the city of Sodom, I will spare the whole place for their sake.”
The friend of God can plead with Him for others. Perhaps Abraham's height of faith and friendship seems beyond our little possibilities. Do not be discouraged, Abraham grew; so may we. He went step by step, not by great leaps.
The man whose faith has been deeply tested and who has come off victorious, is the man to whom supreme tests must come.
The finest jewels are most carefully cut and polished; the hottest fires try the most precious metal. Abraham would never have been called the Father of the Faithful if he had not been proved to the uttermost. Read Genesis, twenty-second chapter:
"Take thy son, thine only son, whom thou lovest." See him going with a chastened, wistful, yet humbly obedient heart up Moriah's height, with the idol of his heart beside him about to be sacrificed at the command of God whom he had faithfully loved and served!
What a rebuke to our questionings of God's dealings with us! Away with all doubting explanations of this stupendous scene! It was an object lesson for the ages. Angels were looking.
Shall this man's faith stand forever for the strength and help of all God's people? Shall it be known through him that unfaltering faith will always prove the faithfulness of God?
Yes; and when faith has borne victoriously its uttermost test, the angel of the Lord--who? The Lord Jesus, Jehovah, He in whom "all the promises of God are yea and amen"--spoke to him, saying, "Now I know that thou fearest God." Thou hast trusted me to the uttermost. I will also trust thee; thou shalt ever be My friend, and I will bless thee, and make thee a blessing.
It is always so, and always will be. "They that are of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham." --Selected
It is no small thing to be on terms of friendship with God.
Today’s Hymns: What a Friend We Have in Jesus
You Know My Name
Scriptures to Respond James 2:22-23 22 You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. 23 And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,”[a] and he was called God’s friend. John 15:13-15 13 Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command. 15 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.
Reflection: It is an extremely beautiful thing for us to be called ‘God’s friend’. Are you willing to work hard to deepen your understanding of Jesus’ love and abide by Him?
Prayer: Lord, please help me understand your love more and give me a deeper desire for an intimate friendship with you. How beautiful it is to live in your love!
