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Friendship
•Proverbs 17:17
•A friend loves at all times, And a brother is =
born
for adversity.
•Proverbs 18:24
•A man of too many friends comes to ruin, But <=
/span>=
there
is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.
•Proverbs 27:6
=
•Faithful are the wounds of a friend, But =
deceitful
are the kisses of an enemy.
Loneliness
<=
span
style=3D'font-family:"Arial Rounded MT Bold";font-size:107%;color:#FF99FF'=
>–<=
span
style=3D'font-family:"Arial Rounded MT Bold";font-size:107%;color:#FF99FF'=
>But
No One To Share Our Struggles
Loneliness
Job
19:14-19
My relatives have failed, And my intimate friends =
have forgotten me. Those who live in my house =
and my maids consider me a stranger. I am a =
foreigner in their sight. I call to my servant, bu=
t =
he does not answer; I have to implore him with =
my mouth. My breath is offensive to my wife, =
And I am loathsome to my own brothers. Even =
young children despise me; I rise up and they =
speak against me. All my associates abhor me, =
And those I love have turned against me.
Loneliness
Psalm
55:12-14
For it is=
not
an enemy who reproaches me, Then I could bear it; Nor is it =
one
who hates me who has exalted himself against me, Then I could <=
/span>=
hide
myself from him. But it is you, a man my equal, My companion and my
familiar friend; We who had sweet fellowship together Walk=
ed
in the house of God in the throng.
Mankind
Need Friends
•Horizontally – Other People!
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Friendship
With God
Exodus
33:11
Thus the =
Lord
used to speak to Moses face to face, just as a man speaks =
to
his friend. When Moses returned to the camp, his servant =
Joshua,
the son of Nun, a young man, would not depart from the tent.
<=
/span>
James
2:23
and the
Scripture was fulfilled which says, And Abraham believed God, and it=
was
reckoned to him as righteousness, and he was called the =
friend
of God.
John
15:12-15
This is My
commandment, that you love one another, just as I have lov=
ed
you. Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his li=
fe =
for
his friends. You are My friends if you do what I command you. No long=
er
do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his m=
aster
is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I have
heard from My Father I have made known to you.
Friendship With God
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Some
Principles Of Friendship
•With Man
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Friends
Listen
I love you not only for what you are, but for what=
=
I am when I am with you;
I love you not only for what you have made of =
yourself, but for what you are making of me;
<=
/span>
I love you not for closing your ears to the <=
span
style=3D'font-size:97%'>discords in me, but for adding to the music in me =
<=
span
style=3D'font-size:97%'>by worshipful listening;
You have done it without a touch, without a word, =
without a sign. You have done it just by being <=
span
style=3D'font-size:97%'>yourself.
Perhaps that is what being a friend means, after <=
/span>=
all. —<=
i>Author
Unknown
Friends Listen
Psalm
91:15
He will c=
all
upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble=
; I
will rescue him and honor him.
Isaiah
65:24
It will a=
lso
come to pass that before they call, I will answer; and while th=
ey
are still speaking, I will hear.
Friends Listen
Luke
11:9
So I say =
to
you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; kn=
ock,
and it will be opened to you.
James
5:16
Therefore,
confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so
that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous =
man
can accomplish much. =
•The Lord Listens
Friends
Share Interests
–We Can Be Friendly With People of Different
Interests
–But Best Friends Share
Interests
–Always Some Common Denominator=
Friends Share Interests
=
<=
span
style=3D'font-family:"Arial Rounded MT Bold";font-size:120%;color:#99FF33'=
>•Common
Ground With The Lord
Philip=
pians
2:7
but
emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being mad=
e in
the likeness of men.
Hebrews
2:14
Therefore,
since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewi=
se
also partook of the same, that through death He might render <=
/span>=
powerless
him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, =
Friends Share Interests
•Common Ground With The Lord
Hebrews
4:15
For we do=
not
have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknes=
ses,
but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet =
w=
ithout
sin.
Phillips – “For ou=
rs is
no High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses —=
he
himself has shared fully in all our experience of =
temptation
except that he never sinned.”
Friends
Tell The Truth
<=
span
style=3D'font-family:"Arial Rounded MT Bold";font-size:120%;color:#99FF33'=
>•True
Friends Always Honest With Us
Prover=
bs
27:6
Faithful =
are
the wounds of a friend, But deceitful are the kisses of an enemy.&=
#13;
Oscar Wilde – “A true =
friend
always stabs you in the front.”
Friends Tell The Truth
<=
span
style=3D'font-family:"Arial Rounded MT Bold";font-size:120%;color:#99FF33'=
>•True
Friends Always Honest With Us
Ephesians 4:15 – “speaking the truth in love...”
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Friends Tell The Truth
Hebrews 4:12
For the word of God is living and active and <=
span
style=3D'font-size:97%'>sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing =
as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both=
<=
span
style=3D'font-size:97%'>joints and marrow, and able to judge the <=
span
style=3D'font-size:97%'>thoughts and intentions of the heart.
=
John 15:15
...but I have called you friends, for all things t=
hat I have heard from My Father I have made known <=
span
style=3D'font-size:97%'>to you.
Friends
Help Us Be Better
I love yo=
u not
only for what you are, but for what I am when I am with
you;
yourself, but for what you =
are
making of me;
another.
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Ephesi=
ans
5:25-27
Husbands,=
love
your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave
Himself up for her, so that He might sanctify her, having
cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, =
that
He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no sp=
ot
or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and =
blameless.
Friends Help Us Be Better
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Philip=
pians
4:12-13
I know ho=
w to
get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in
prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the
secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having a=
bundance
and suffering need. I can do all things through Him who
strengthens me.
Friends Help Us Be Better
•Jesus Brings Out Our Best
Friends
Overlook Our Faults
![](3D"slide0016_image022.gif")
•Dinah Craik’s poem called Friendship:
•O, the comfort –
=
the
inexpressible comfort of feeling safe with a person,
=
having
neither to weigh thoughts, nor measure words –
• but pouring them right out –
• just as they are –
• chaff and grain together –
Friends Overlook Our Faults
•Acceptance – Warts And All!
![](3D"slide0020_image023.gif")
Certai=
n that
a faithful hand will take and sift them –
•Keep what is worth keeping
–
=
And wi=
th the
breath of kindness blow the rest away.
Friends Overlook Our Faults
<=
span
style=3D'font-family:"Arial Rounded MT Bold";font-size:107%;color:#FF99FF'=
>–<=
span
style=3D'font-family:"Arial Rounded MT Bold";font-size:107%;color:#FF99FF'=
>But
Willing To Associate With Us To Bring About A
Transformation
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Friends Overlook Our Faults
Coloss=
ians
1:13-14
For He re=
scued
us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the
kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, <=
/span>=
the
forgiveness of sins.
Friends
Love
Prover=
bs
17:17
A friend =
loves
at all times, And a brother is born for adversity. =
The
Lord Loves Us
John 3:16
For God so loved the world, that He gave His only =
begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall <=
/span> <=
span
style=3D'font-size:97%'>not perish, but have eternal life.
1 John 3:16
We know love by this, that He laid down His life <=
/span>for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the=
<=
span
style=3D'font-size:97%'>brethren.
John 15:13
Greater love has no one than this, that one lay =
down his life for his friends.
What
We’ve Learned
•Friends Listen
• Friends
Love
•Friends Share Same Interests
•Friends Tell The Truth
•Friends Overlook Our Faults
•Friends Help Us Be Better
=
The Lord Is Our Friend!