Are You A Friend Of God?

 

 

      

       One day, a man came up to me and asked, “Did you come up withKerygma?” 

“Yep,” I said, “Started it way back in 1990.”

“And after that, you published other magazines, like Didache, Gabay, Companion, Sabbath…”

“Yes,” I said.

He grabbed my arm and asked, “Bo, can I ask you a question?”

“Shoot,” I said.

“Where do you get all your ideas?  Man, I’m serious.”

To tell you honestly, I couldn’t answer him. 

Because I felt my answer would have sounded cocky.

       I wanted to tell him, “I’m a friend of God and He talks to me.”

Not with bolts of lightning and peals of thunder.  But through ordinary thoughts.  Why?  Because He’s my friend and friends talk to each other each day.

When I say this, I’m NOT saying everything I’ve done has been a resounding kawabangga success.  On the contrary, I’ve started a lot of stuff that crashlanded the day I launched it.  But even those failures weren’t really failures because I learned so much from them.

So even those failures, I felt God’s guidance and kindness on me.

And in case you’re thinking that I’m putting myself on a pedestal here, read my next sentence: If you look back at your life, you’ll realize that God has spoken to you too.  He has been guiding you throughout your life.  Because He’s your friend too.

       There’s nothing special about me.  I fart.  I snore.  I sleep with my mouth open.  I leave my dirty socks on the floor (My wife is holy because of me).

       YOU are God’s Friend. 

And God likes talking to you.

       Jesus says, No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. (John 15:15)

 

God Stands By His Friends

 

       Whenever I face a problem, I speak these mighty words out loud: I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me (Philippians 4:13).

       Let me tell you a story that happened to me a few years ago.

       One day, I got worried.

       Because we bought an Audio System for the FEAST (that’s what we call our prayer gathering)worth a staggering, mind-blowing P2.4 Million.

And I also promised the guy who sold it to us that we would pay him in three months time.

       Frankly, I didn’t know how in the world we could pay him in three months.

But after all these years, I’ve gotten used to my insanity, and so have my friends.

I figured I didn’t have a choice either, as our weekly FEAST was growing in number and we really needed the beefed-up Audio System.

So after I signed that piece of paper, I went on stage and spoke to our FEAST audience.  “Friends, we need to raise P2.4M in three months for our Audio System.”  The crowd in front of me looked at me with a huge question mark on their faces, waiting for a punch line.  They probably thought I was joking.

After my announcement, we passed the offering basket for the Audio System.  True enough.  On that day, we collected the humongous, astronomical, gigantic sum of… (drum roll please)… P12,000!  Wow, if this pace kept up, I calculated that we’d reach P2.4 Million in, oh, fourteen years.  Man, we needed a miracle.

During those three months, I don’t know how many times I said, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.  I’m a Friend of God!

And as the weeks went by, the miracles came.

First, the wonderful man who sold the Audio System slashed his price to P2 Million.  He said he no longer wanted to make a profit from us.  (Bless his soul and business, Lord!)  Second, a lot of people began to give sacrificially.  And the Audio System was fully paid at the exact time!

Right now, you may be worried about all sorts of concerns.  Perhaps it’s about your kids.  Or about your job.  Or about your health.  Or about your future. 

Declare today that God stands by His friends.

And you’re God’s friend.

 

Even more, trust in your Friend today.

 

May your dreams come true,

 

 

Bo Sanchez

 

PS. If you’re voting today… I pray for God’s wisdom upon you.  Be guided by the Lord’s voice in your heart.  And together, let’s pray for the Philippines–that we be led by men and women who will uphold life, serve the poor, and lift up our countrymen from poverty to God’s abundance, in Jesus name.  Amen!

 

PS2. Another Topic: If want to learn how to earn through creative Real Estate…  My friend and Real Estate teacher Larry Gamboa has aThink Rich Pinoy Seminar on June 1 at The Fort.  To read his letter about it, click here now.