BBD 08.24.16 Defriended (Classic)
Posted by: theburningbushdevotional <theburningbushdevotional@...>
Classic from 2009
Burning Bush Devotional
24 August 2016
Defriended
For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man
someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in
that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having
now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. -
Romans 5:7-9 NKJV.
These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of
God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to
believe in the name of the Son of God. - 1 John 5:13 NKJV.
Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who
sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed
from death into life. - John 5:24 NKJV.
If you have been a member on any of the social networks
like Facebook for very long you have probably been deleted from someone’s
friend’s list. Your friend looked at your profile, your photo, your
information, and they clicked on the delete button removing you from their
friend’s list. You were just not good enough for them. Kind of makes you feel
bad for a little while. Of course, it’s not like they are your next door
neighbor (I hope not!), or your friend you have known since grade school. But
still it hurts a little knowing you did not measure up in someone’s eyes.
In the world it matters what you look like, what you do, and how you present
yourself. I have had prospective friends ask me to change my profile photo. Ouch!
That hurts. It’s like asking me to change my face, and that is kind of hard
to do. Some of us are just not as photogenic as others. I have had others to
put conditions on our relationship as in; if I do not message them or email
them frequently enough then they will delete me. Since they do not know me
personally many feel free to really say what they feel. In other words,
sometimes they let you have it with both barrels. To be honest I have deleted
some people from my friend’s list too. Usually I have deleted them because of
something obscene that they have said or posted on my profile. I have also not
accepted some people as friends for the same reasons.
Thankfully, Jesus has different standards than we do. What if Jesus had the
same standards as us? If He did, He might say something like this: “God
demonstrated His love for those who were not too ugly, for those who behaved
appropriately, for those who never say any bad words, and for those who never
abuse alcohol or illegal substances.” He might also add: “My friends who
are heavy ladened you have come to me and my yoke is light, but I do require
that you be in constant contact with me (1 Thessalonians 5:17), and never
ever break any of my commandments. I will give you a trial run for about three
weeks, but if you can’t cut it, I will delete you as a friend and there is no
way that I will ever add you back.”
Compare our defriending standards with the defriending standards of God: “Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also
risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for
us. WHO SHALL SEPARATE US FROM THE LOVE OF CHRIST? Shall tribulation, or
distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is
written: ‘For Your sake we are killed all day long; we are accounted as sheep
for the slaughter.’ Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through
Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that
neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things
present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing,
shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our
Lord (Romans 8:34-39).”
Aren’t you glad that Jesus does not have the same requirements for His friend’s
list as we do? I know that I am!
Copyright © 2009-2016. Ed
Wrather. The Burning Bush website has been online since January 31, 1998. On
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