Can you see the red?
Good Morning
John 15:14-16
Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you. 15 Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you. 16 Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.
I would converse with Thee from day to day,
With heart intent on what Thou hast to say,
And through my pilgrim-walk, whate’er befall,
Consult with Thee, O Lord! about it all.
Since Thou art willing thus to condescend
To be my intimate, familiar friend.
Oh! let me to the great occasion rise,
And count Thy friendship life’s most glorious prize!
In the New Testament the Christian’s relation to Christ
is represented as a personal acquaintance with Him.
This acquaintance ripens into a close and tender friendship.
A friendship such as this is our Lord’s own ideal of discipleship.
He invited men to come to Him.
He asked them to break other ties
and attach themselves personally to Him.
Those invited were to leave all and go with Him.
He must be first in the affections of His followers.
He claimed full allegiance of their hearts and lives.
He must be first in their obedience and in their service.
Christ offered Himself to men,
not only as a helper from without,
not merely as one who would save them
by taking their sins and dying for them
but as one who desired to form with them
a close intimate and indissoluble friendship.
It was not a tie of duty merely,
or of obligation or of doctrine or of cause,
by which He sought to bind His followers to Himself,
but a tie of personal friendship. ~~J. R. Miller
With my prayers, desiring yours, Leslie
Thoughts of Grace 