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

Today, let’s investigate how to prove ourselves as friends.

Today’s scripture, James 2:21‭-‬24 (NLT), shares how Abraham proved his friendship with God…
Don’t you remember that our ancestor Abraham was shown to be right with God by his actions when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? You see, his faith and his actions worked together. His actions made his faith complete. And so it happened just as the Scriptures say: “Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith.” He was even called the friend of God. So you see, we are shown to be right with God by what we do, not by faith alone.

Consider…
Yesterday we unpacked how loving others like Jesus, our friend, is being an extension of Him. It was also made crystal clear that loving others like Christ loved us is a requirement to be His friend.

Today we’re pivoting from knowing the requirement of friendship to learning how to prove ourselves as a friend of God. Our teacher for this lesson is Abraham. In Genesis 22 we see that:

• God tested Abraham’s faith. According to 1 Peter 1:6‭-‬7, God tests our faith too.
• Abraham obeyed, by faith, to pass God’s test. And Jesus said, “You are my friends if you do what I command.” – John 15:14 NLT
• By obeying, Abraham showed God that He loved Him most. And Jesus tells us, “If you want to be my disciple, you must, by comparison, hate everyone else—your father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even your own life. Otherwise, you cannot be my disciple.” – Luke 14:26 NLT
• Also, Abraham never doubted God in the midst of His test. The Apostle Paul encourages us to remember, “that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.” – Romans 8:28 NLT
• Finally, God provided what Abraham needed, a ram, in response to his faith in, and prioritization of Him. In Matthew 6:33, Jesus promises when we prioritize God He will provide everything that we need. And 2 Peter 1:3 (NLT) says, “By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence.”

Today’s scriptures show us that our obedient actions show God our faith, and that without faith it’s impossible to please God. I must admit, I used to think Hebrews 11:6 was just about believing in God, but now I realize that if we don’t have faith that God is real, then we won’t seek to do His will. We also know from 1 Samuel 15:22 that what pleases God most is our obedience.

Thanks to Abraham we know that by believing and obeying God is endearing to Him. In fact, the scripture says because of Abraham’s proof of faith, God called him a friend. Now that you know, let your obedience, by faith, show you too love God more than anything!

Today’s song is…
More Than Anything

Blessings 4HG (1 Corinthians 10:31)