Thursday, February 5, 2015

A friend is a blessed thing




A Blessed Thing
 
A blessed thing it is for any man or woman to have a friend;
One human soul whom we can trust utterly;
Who knows the best and the worst of us, and who loves us in spite of all our faults;
Who will speak the honest truth to us,
While the world flatters us to our face and laughs at us behind our back;
Who will give us counsel and reproof in the day of prosperity and self-conceit; but who, again,
Will comfort and encourage us in the day of difficulty and sorrow,
When the world leaves us alone to flight our own battle as best we can.
 
Anonymous
 
Reminds me of one of my favorite hymns -
 
"What a friend we have in Jesus,
All our sins and griefs to bear.
What a privilege to carry,
Everything to God in prayer."

Jesus prayed many times, according to all four Gospels. In fact, Jesus even gave us instruction on just how to offer up prayers to our awesome Creator. You can find the text of the Lord's Prayer, given to us by Jesus Christ in the book of Matthew, Chapter 6, Verses 9-13 (NIV).

You can also read it here:
“This, then, is how you should pray:
“‘Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
10 your kingdom come,
your will be done,
    on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us today our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our debts,
    as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation,
    but deliver us from the evil one.
 
Of course it's always good to have good friends, especially one as described in the poem that began this post. I have friends like these and I thank God for them every day.
 
But, I do not know where I would be without my best Friend.
 
I can't pray to Kathy; I can't give Charlie my troubles and expect him to fix them (even though I know he would do his best to do so); I can't ask for eternal forgiveness from Katherine.
 
These issues, as with most everything else, belong to God.
 
It's Him I pray to; it's Him I give my troubles to; it's Him I confess my sins to and ask for His grace of forgiveness. It's Him...lock, stock and barrel.
 
Put everything in His capable hands. As I have said many times in the past, you'll be glad you did.
 
May the Lord bless you and keep you today and every day. Amen.


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