September 18, 2007

This Thursday evening, to begin our Bible study, I am planning for us to sing, “I Am a Friend of God,” written by Chris Tomlin. It is a song and a thought that has been on my mind for several days. It is based on a passage in James 2:23, “And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, ‘Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.’ And he was called the friend of God.” The fulfilled Scripture to which James refers is (2 Chron. 20:7), which reads, “Are You not our God, who drove out the inhabitants of this land before Your people Israel, and gave it to the descendants of Abraham Your friend forever?”

Imagine that! God called Abraham His friend. Since we are the spiritual children of Abraham, we too are the friends of God. Even better than that, those who have personally accepted Christ as Lord are God’s children. Think of that. We are children of the Sovereign God of the universe. Wow! What a blessing.

I don’t know what you are going through today, but I want to encourage you by reminding you of these wonderful truths. You are not alone. You are not going through these difficulties by yourself. The Bible tells us, “For He Himself has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’" (Hebrews 13:5) This is the promise of the God who cannot lie.

There are times when we do not sense His presence as at other times, however, we have the assurance that He is right here with us and in us. Therefore, don’t despair. Don’t lose heart. Don’t worry. You are not alone.

In addition to this marvelous fact, you also have your brothers and sisters in Christ at SouthPoint loving, caring, and praying for you. How cool is that? We are in this thing together.

I want you to know that I pray every day for those who attend SouthPoint Church by name. I look at your picture and pray for you and each member of your family. I’m not saying this to boast but to assure you that we care about you. More importantly, God cares about you and is taking really good care of you.

May I encourage you to be faithful to attend services on Sundays and Thursdays? I realize that all of us must miss Church occasionally and I understand that completely, however, let’s strive to be committed to worship the Lord together. This is a natural means of encouragement for every believer. The writer of the Book of Hebrews understood this and gave us this injunction, “And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.” (Hebrews 10:24-25).

When we worship together and feed on God’s Word together, we are naturally blessed and genuinely encouraged in our walk with Christ, something all of us need. Don’t try to live the Christian life alone. You are God’s friend and you are our friend.

I am anxious to see each of you on Thursday and Sunday.

Pastor David