If you have a friend you are very fortunate. Real friends are priceless. We can confide in them and they in us. At times we may be of help to them; they stand ready to help us.
“The only way to have a friend is to be one. A friend is a person with whom I may be sincere. Before him I may think aloud. Happy is the house that shelters a friend. A friend may well be reckoned the masterpiece of nature. Let the soul be assured that if somewhere in the universe it should rejoin its friend, it would be content and cheerful alone for a thousand years.”– Ralph Waldo Emerson
Scriptures to remember:
Proverbs 18:24
A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly: and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother.
Proverbs 27:9
Ointment and perfume rejoice the heart: so doth the sweetness of a man’s friend by hearty counsel.
John 15:13
Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
John 15:15
Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.
You love your friend; your friend loves you. if both of you love Jesus then your friendship is secure.
WHAT A FRIEND WE HAVE IN JESUS
Text: Joseph M. Scriven, 1820-1886
Music: Charles C. Converse, 1832-1918
What a friend we have in Jesus,
all our sins and griefs to bear!
What a privilege to carry
everything to God in prayer!
O what peace we often forfeit,
O what needless pain we bear,
all because we do not carry
everything to God in prayer.
Have we trials and temptations?
Is there trouble anywhere?
We should never be discouraged;
take it to the Lord in prayer.
Can we find a friend so faithful
who will all our sorrows share?
Jesus knows our every weakness;
take it to the Lord in prayer.
Are we weak and heavy laden,
cumbered with a load of care?
Precious Savior, still our refuge;
take it to the Lord in prayer.
Do thy friends despise, forsake thee?
Take it to the Lord in prayer!
In his arms he’ll take and shield thee;
thou wilt find a solace there.
LISTEN (ALAN JACKSON)