Welcome to another day the Lord has made that we should rejoice and be glad in. (Psalms 118:24)

This week the Holy Spirit, by way of my good friend Antonio, has chosen the ‘purpose, necessity and effectiveness of intimate friendships’ as the theme. Let’s begin with wisdom from the Lord regarding the commonality of friends.

Today’s scripture, Proverbs 27:17 (NLT), says…
As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend.

Consider…
Today’s verse compares the impact friends have on one another, to Iron. Notice itself that Iron is influenced and shaped by it’s like substance. The same influencing and shaping principle is true with friends.

Pause for a moment and think about what you and your friends have in common? What are your…

• Shared values?
• Shared interests?
• Shared goals?

How would you explain why you chose the friends you have to a five year old?

Four years ago, Dana and I did a Bible study using the Rick Warren book, ‘The Purpose Driven Life’. DAY 19 of the 40 day study was about ‘Cultivating Community’. The point Pastor Warren gave us to ponder was, ‘Community requires commitment.’ In that day’s study he explained how God uses our shared interests to build relationships and do life together.

Remembering that, runs my mind back over 30 years ago where my friend Ken and I joined a handful of like-minded brothers-in-Christ in attending Promise Keepers. Promise Keepers is a men’s ministry founded by Coach Bill McCartney. The stated purpose of the ministry is to bring godly men together to build a movement that spans generations and inspires men to live out their values with integrity, become strong family leaders, and keep the Lord at the forefront of their daily lives. Other things those brothers and I had in common was a love for football and competitive natures, thus we started a fantasy football league that Ken and I still are a part of today.

Also, 12 years ago I moved my family to Dallas and we joined North Dallas Community Bible Fellowship, where I still attend. The main thing that drew me to joining was my daughter, Deja’s excitement about the youth ministries. What solidified my connection was singing and fellowshiping with the ‘Men in Worship’, under the leadership of my sister-in-Christ Tambria. It was this choir that birthed my decade plus friendship with Antonio, a.k.a. Big T.

More recently, another good friend of mine, Kevin, started what I call a band of brothers devotional group. The handful of brothers, which included Ken and his dad, took turns choosing and commenting in weekly devotions from the BibleApp.

Sadly, the Promise Keepers group, Men in Worship, and the BibleApp band of brothers are all in the winter season of fellowship and spiritual sharpening.

However, despite the dissipation of the spiritual sharpening groups, my bond with friend-brothers Ken and Big T is stronger than ever. Don’t misunderstand, I have a wonderful small group of brothers and sisters, which includes my wife, that I am blessed to call friends, but Jesus’ Peter and John, are Ken and Big T for me.

If I had to explain to one of my grandkids why these two are my closest friends (not named Dana), I would tell them…

• We love God
• We love our families
• We love each other
• We enjoy sports
• We have shared struggles

The commonality and commitment to each other allows me to be in an intimate comm-UNITY with each of them. What that looks like, is us communicating…

• Intimately
• Regularly
• Openly (Honest and Transparent)
• and as a Necessity

You see, these brothers are my IRON sharpening friends that make me a better Kingdom man. That’s because, being Kingdom men, who live to honor our King is also something that we have in common and motivate each other to do.

As I conclude this ode to two of my dearest friends, I am reminded that Jesus is truly my best friend. The Holy Spirit showed me that He too desires to communicate with me…

• Intimately
• Regularly
• Openly (Honest and Transparent)
• and as a Necessity

That gives me a new perspective of Jesus’ words in John 15:14-15 (NLT)…
You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you slaves, because a master doesn’t confide in his slaves. Now you are my friends, since I have told you everything the Father told me.

Yeppers, Jesus is my IRON sharpening friend that sharpens me. I hope He’s your’s too! 🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾

The Holy Spirit is impressing upon me to stress the vital importance of talking Intimately, Regularly, Openly, and as a Necessity, to our best friend Jesus! ☎

Today’s song is…
What A Friend We Have In Jesus

Blessings 4HG (1 Corinthians 10:31)