Friendship with God

 The friendship of the LORD is for those who fear him, and he makes his covenant known to them. Ps 25:14 NRSV

There are Christians who do not take God's holiness seriously, but they approach Jesus as if he were their mate who should tolerate all their excesses.

Real friendship with God looks very different. Jesus said we must trust God like little children.

A Jewish girl grew up in a strange family. Her parents were active in a conservative orthodox synagogue. Her father behaved like a devout Jew, but at home he was a dogmatic atheist.

This was difficult for the girl to understand, but God had a plan to reveal his love to this girl. The girl had a secret. Even her parents didn't know about it.

This girl had secret conversations with her invisible friend. She believed her friend was God.

In her adolescence, she experienced traumatic disappointments, and she no longer believed in God.

As a teenager, she loved horses, but she experienced a tragic accident. The horse she was riding fell on top of her and crushed her.

She had a near-death experience and her soul left her body. In the heavenly world, she met Jesus, who spoke to her with love. She recognised him as the secret friend from her childhood. When doctors revived her, she remembered her encounter with Jesus, and she firmly believed.

Jesus wants to be your friend, but not your mate, who is comfortable with the bad stuff in your life.

We all have serious faults. God loves you anyway, but he wants to restore and purify your life. He doesn't want to condemn you, but like a real friend or therapist, he wants to help you so that God's image can shine through in you.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Jn 3:16–17 NIV