Jesus as Friend – Part 2 (Daily Encouragement)
A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity. – Proverbs 17:17
On Monday, we said that true friendships take intentionality. Friendship…must be carefully, intentionally cultivated through face-to-face time together. And in a busy culture like ours, it is one thing that is often squeezed out.
If this is true with the friendships we have with others, how much more so with our friendship with Jesus? It takes time and intentionality to grow in our relationship with Jesus. In his book “Habits of Grace”, Dave Mathis lays out three primary avenues we have to experience and enjoy God: hearing God’s voice, having God’s ear, belonging to his body.
The Habits: We cannot earn God’s grace or make it flow apart from his free gift. But we can position ourselves to go on getting as he keeps on giving. We can “fight to walk in the paths where he has promised his blessings.” We can ready ourselves to remain receivers along his regular routes, sometimes called the “spiritual disciplines” or even better, “the means of grace.” Such practices need not be fancy or highfalutin. They are the stuff of everyday, basic Christianity—unimpressively mundane, but spectacularly potent by the Spirit. While there’s no final and complete list of such practices, the long tally of helpful habits can be clustered underneath three main principles: hearing God’s voice, having his ear, and belonging to his body. Or simply, word, prayer and fellowship.” – Habits of Grace
The goal: We need to make clear what is the greatest grace along these paths: Jesus himself. The great end of the means is knowing and enjoying him. The final joy in any truly Christian discipline or practice or rhythm of life is, in the words of the apostle, “the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord” (Phil 3:8). “This is eternal life,” and this is the goal of the means of grace: “that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent” (John 17:3). – Habits of Grace
What “habits” have you developed that help you grow in relationship with Jesus through his word, prayer and community? What means of grace would you like to intentionally make time for and grow in to experience and develop your relationship with Jesus?