A Friend of Jesus

https://odb.org/MY/2022/06/28/the-big-welcome

Today’s concept of accepting a friend of a friend as your friend is certainly interesting to look at from the perspective of us as a friend of Christ. I think we are familiar with this concept of A being a friend of Mr so and so and since we know Mr so and so, we accept A as our friend. This is often used in business for introducing contacts and networking but also socially to broaden our social circle and to extend or receive help or to support one another.

Applying it to us as believers and applying Matthew 10:40-42, if anyone accepts us because we are a friend of Christ, he or she accepts Jesus and since it is the Father who sent Jesus, he or she accepts God the Father Himself. More crucially, Jesus stated that whoever accepts a prophet as a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward and whoever accepts a righteous person as a righteous person will receive a righteous person’s reward. Therefore, just as the disciples were sent out to minister and reach out to the lost tribe of Israel (at that point, not yet to the Gentiles or Samaritans), we are likewise sent out to reach out to our friends, acquaintance and relatives and whosoever accepts us as a friend of Jesus, will be accordingly rewarded. God will bless and reward those who receive us the same way He would bless and reward those who had received the disciples during the time of Christ. Now who wouldn’t want the blessings and providence and grace and mercy of the Almighty God, the creator of heavens and earth and all of and in the universe? Perhaps they will receive the greatest blessings of all time, the gift of salvation, the gift of eternal life, the pathway to heaven and eternity?

The message this morning is not to be fearful or be daunted by the prospect of reaching out. As a friend of Jesus, we bring the Good News and the gift of salvation and most importantly if they receive us, they are receiving Jesus and receiving the one who sent Jesus and thus they will be receiving Father God, and Jesus had promised that whosoever receives us as a friend of Christ will be rewarded accordingly. Thus, my prayer for us today is that the infinite blessings of God will be upon those who receive us, even those who take the trouble to read this message and the many messages before in ODB or my blog or other writers who write for God to bless and encourage the brethren. May the heavens be opened and may His provision and protection be upon us all and all who gladly receive us and our messages even as we go through these tough and stressful post pandemic times and the ongoing Russian-Ukraine war, with escalating prices of almost everything and increasingly recessionary and uncertain economic outlook!