Matthew 22:37-38 (NIV)

"Jesus replied: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment."

Friendship with Jesus entails a deep loyalty and commitment, much like any meaningful relationship. Jesus calls us not just to follow Him but to walk closely with Him in every aspect of our lives. In return for His sacrifice and love, He desires our wholehearted love and devotion. It’s a beautiful exchange where we offer ourselves completely to Him, and in doing so, we experience the beauty and wonder of friendship with Him.

As we fast and pray this week, let us reflect on this charge to wholehearted devotion and commitment to our Lord. He is not just our Saviour but our dearest friend, always ready to walk with us through every joy and challenge. What a privilege it is to know Him and to be known by Him in such an intimate way.

Reflecting on Wholehearted Friendship

• Deep Loyalty: Friendship with Jesus invites a loyalty that permeates every part of our lives. Just as we value and prioritise our closest earthly relationships, our relationship with Jesus can hold the highest place in our hearts. This means making decisions that honour Him and seeking His guidance in all we do.

2. Wholehearted Love: Jesus invites us to love Him with all our heart, soul, and mind. This encompasses our emotions, our innermost being, and our thoughts. It's an all-encompassing love that goes beyond mere affection or duty. It’s a profound, consuming devotion that influences how we live each day.

3. The Beauty of Exchange: In offering our whole selves to Jesus, we experience a divine exchange. We give Him our worries, burdens, and sins, and in return, He gives us His peace, joy, and righteousness. This reciprocal relationship deepens our bond with Him and allows us to experience His love in transformative ways.

John 15:4-5 (NIV)

"Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing."

In John 15, Jesus uses the metaphor of the vine and the branches to illustrate the importance of abiding in Him. This abiding is essential for building and maintaining a deep, fruitful friendship with God. Just as branches draw life and nourishment from the vine, we draw spiritual vitality and strength from our connection with Christ.

1. Understanding Abiding

To abide means to remain, stay, or dwell. In the context of our relationship with God, abiding in Christ involves staying connected to Him through continual fellowship. This is not a passive state but an active, ongoing commitment to cultivate our relationship with Him.

2. The Importance of Abiding

Jesus makes it clear that apart from Him, we can do nothing. Just as a branch cannot bear fruit unless it remains attached to the vine, we cannot produce spiritual fruit unless we remain connected to Christ. This fruit includes the development of Christlike character (Galatians 5:22-23), effective service (John 15:8), and answered prayer (John 15:7).

3. Reflect

Take a moment to reflect on your current relationship with God. Are you actively abiding in Christ? Consider how you can deepen your connection with Him today by:

• Committing to Daily Devotion
• Reflecting on your alignment to His ways
• Asking Holy Spirit to help and empower you
• Allowing others to encourage you in your journey
• Trusting God to be a faithful friend

John 10:27 (TPT)

"My own sheep will hear My voice, and I know each one intimately, and they will follow Me."

Jesus makes a profound statement: if we belong to Him ("My own sheep"), we will hear Him. Hearing in this verse is associated with belonging to Him, speaking of His life in us that has reawakened our spiritual ears. Because Jesus has said this, we know it’s possible. From that place of belonging, let us realise afresh and be thankful that we can hear Him as a part of our relationship with Him.

Much is written about hearing God’s voice, but little is written about listening. Listening involves our cooperation. While this verse says we can hear, our God is very respectful and will mostly not interrupt us unless the situation is urgent. He will not talk over us. He will wait for our attention.

God’s words are more than just words. His words carry life in a creative way. John 6:63 says, “…the words I have spoken to you are Spirit and they are life.” His conversations with us are not just to be heard but to be experienced. They carry power to lift us up, to equip, heal, encourage, and comfort us. God desires that we experience all that is sent within His words. Therefore, to experience and clearly hear all that His words carry, it’s essential to give Him our full attention.

• Set aside some time to focus on Him and listen with an expectancy that comes from belonging.
• Be still in a comfortable place if possible. Stillness signifies our intent to hear. This is honouring to God.
• His voice always reflects who He is. Our Shepherd, as typified in this passage, speaks lovingly to His sheep, calming and reassuring them, drawing them to Himself. A loud, abrupt voice would terrify the sheep. Be encouraged to give your attention to Him today for His gentle, quiet voice.
• Do not compare how you hear and negate your experience because it’s different from others. His voice often sounds like your thoughts. Focus on the quiet thought and dwell there, giving attention to Him. When that thought arrives from nowhere, acknowledge it: “That is You, Lord. Thank You.”
• “…and they will follow Me.” Following is a result of experiencing His words, which then creates abiding. Dwell today in the experience of God’s voice as it draws you to Him. As Peter said, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” (John 6:68)

By embracing this process, we can deepen our relationship with God, hearing and experiencing His life-giving words in a profound and transformative way.

Luke 6:46-49 (The Voice)

“What good is it to mouth the words, “Lord! Lord!” if you don’t live by My teachings?  What matters is that you COME to Me, HEAR My words, and actually LIVE BY THEM”

PRAYER & FASTING are foundational and catalytic practices in the life of EVERY Christ follower that give us momentum on our discipleship journey as we simply & naturally ‘come to Him, hear His words, and actually live by them’ – the end goal being that we will FOLLOW in the WAYS that Jesus modelled for us in willing OBEDIENCE.

FASTING is all about valuing the gift of the personal closeness we have with Christ with the gift of our time, because TIME IS THE CURRENCY OF LOVE.  That time given to fast, where we DIVEST OURSELVES of all those things that the world would have us believe are priorities, will FORM IN US the lasting FRUIT of INTIMACY.  Kingdom FRUITFULNESS will then overflow FROM US as a natural consequence of our awakened DESIRE TO FOLLOW Christ in faithful & faith-filled OBEDIENCE to please our Father.

We will then live a life that is no longer SHAPED by the world around us, but has been RESHAPED in His PRESENCE, so that we no longer ‘become so well-adjusted to our culture that we fit into it without even thinking. But instead, we fix all our attention on God. Changed from the inside out we readily recognise WHAT HE WANTS from us, and QUICKLY RESPOND to it. Unlike the culture around us, always dragging us down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best OUT OF US and develops well-formed maturity IN US.’ (Adapted from The Message: Romans 12:2)

Today as you COME TO HIM and prioritise the Father’s loving embrace, take time to LISTEN and MEDITATE on His WORDS, hearing His promptings and directing. Allow His GRACE to EMPOWER you on the discipleship journey that Eugene Peterson calls “a long obedience in the same direction” – the always maturing life of a Christ follower that bears lasting fruit.

Psalms 126:4-5 (NIV)

Those who sow with tears will reap with songs of joy.

6 Those who go out weeping, carrying seed to sow,

will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with them.

Prayer is the pathway for communicating with God. Prayer is communion and involves both listening and speaking. True relationships develop when communication between two parties is strengthened and deepened. In your friendship with God, communication can often be withdrawn during times of disappointment or uncertainty. However, communicating through dysregulation or pain is crucial.

Psalm 126 offers helpful tools for developing communication in pain. The Bible equates your tears to seeds. Seed that is sown bears a harvest, while seed that remains unsown has potential but does not bear a harvest. The language here is agricultural: you can only reap a harvest when you sow the seed.

There is no harvest if you stuff your emotions in your pocket.

There is no harvest if you dump all your seed.

Rather, there is a harvest when you sow or invest your tears in prayer.

In other words, when you go through difficulty, don’t waste it. Don’t miss the opportunity to sow your tears and fears into the Lord. The Bible teaches that your tears will become joy if you invest them properly.

1. Communicate with God: During times of pain and disappointment, it’s essential to keep the lines of communication with God open. When we bring our tears to God in prayer, we are sowing them into His hands, trusting that He will transform them into a harvest of joy.

2. Pray with Honesty: Be honest with God about your pain. God values genuine communication. When you pour out your heart to Him, you are sowing your tears into fertile ground. Psalm 62:8 says, “Trust in him at all times, you people; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge.” Your honesty in prayer is a seed that God can use to bring healing and joy.

3. Expect a Harvest of Joy: When you sow your tears in prayer, expect God to bring a harvest of joy. This promise gives us hope and assurance that our pain is not in vain. God sees our tears and will turn them into a joyful harvest in His perfect timing.