"I no longer call you slaves, because a master doesn't confide in his slaves. Now you are my friends, since I have told you everything the Father told me."[John 15:15]
We may look at the life of Moses in the Scriptures and say, "I wish I could have been Moses. I wish I could have a friendship with God like he had."
But the friendship that a Christian can have with God is actually closer than the friendship Moses had with God.
Although Moses was God's friend and was greatly used by Him in so many ways, Moses lived under the Old Covenant. Under the Old Covenant, God would manifest His presence in the tabernacle (and later in the temple), and the high priest would represent the people.
God was distant, even to those who were His friends, like Abraham and Moses. God revealed certain aspects of Himself to them, but He didn't live inside of them.
The new covenant is different, however. Jesus died on the cross for us because Jesus is our Mediator between the Father and us. We don't have to go through a high priest or any other person. We go directly to the Father through Jesus Christ.
Hebrews 10:19–20 puts it this way: "And so, dear brothers and sisters, we can boldly enter heaven's Most Holy Place because of the blood of Jesus. By his death, Jesus opened a new and life-giving way through the curtain into the Most Holy Place."
Jesus said, "I no longer call you slaves, because a master doesn't confide in his slaves. Now you are my friends, since I have told you everything the Father told me" (John 15:15). You are a friend of God.
We don't always understand Him, but He tells us to follow Him and obey Him because He loves every one of us. This God showed His love in a tangible way by sending His Son Jesus to die on the cross for our sins.
Share this today:
Jesus said, "I no longer call you slaves, because a master doesn't confide in his slaves. Now you are my friends, since I have told you everything the Father told me" (John 15:15). You are a friend of God.
Today's Bible Reading
Isaiah 60:1 “Arise, shine [Yerushalayim],
for your light has come,
the glory of Adonai
has risen over you.
2 For although darkness covers the earth
and thick darkness the peoples;
on you Adonai will rise;
over you will be seen his glory.
3 Nations will go toward your light
and kings toward your shining splendor.
4 Raise your eyes and look around:
they are all assembling and coming to you;
your sons are coming from far off,
your daughters being carried on their nurses’ hips.
5 Then you will see and be radiant,
your heart will throb and swell with delight;
for the riches of the seas will be brought to you,
the wealth of nations will come to you.
6 Caravans of camels will cover your land,
young camels from Midyan and ‘Eifah,
all of them coming from Sh’va,
bringing gold and frankincense,
and proclaiming the praises of Adonai.
7 All the flocks of Kedar will be gathered for you,
the rams of N’vayot will be at your service;
they will come up and be received on my altar,
as I glorify my glorious house.
8 “Who are these, flying along like clouds,
like doves to their dovecotes?
9 The coastlands are putting their hope in me,
with the ‘Tarshish’ ships in the lead,
to bring your children from far away,
and with them their silver and gold,
for the sake of Adonai your God,
the Holy One of Isra’el, who glorifies you.
10 Foreigners will rebuild your walls,
their kings will be at your service;
for in my anger I struck you,
but in my mercy I pity you.
11 Your gates will always be open,
they will not be shut by day or by night,
so that people can bring you the wealth of nations,
with their kings led in procession.
12 For the nation or kingdom that won’t serve you will perish;
yes, those nations will be utterly destroyed.
13 “The glory of the L’vanon will come to you,
cypresses together with elm trees and larches,
to beautify the site of my sanctuary —
I will glorify the place where I stand.
14 The children of your oppressors will come
and bow low before you,
all who despised you will fall at your feet,
calling you the city of Adonai,
Tziyon of the Holy One of Isra’el.
15 “In the past you were abandoned and hated,
so that no one would even pass through you;
but now I will make you the pride of the ages,
a joy for many generations.
16 You will drink the milk of nations,
you will nurse at royal breasts
and know that I, Adonai, am your Savior,
your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Ya‘akov.
17 “For bronze I will bring you gold,
for iron I will bring you silver,
bronze in place of wood,
and iron in place of stones.
I will make shalom your governor
and righteousness your taskmaster.
18 Violence will no longer be heard in your land,
desolation or destruction within your borders;
instead, you will call your walls Salvation
and your gates Praise.
19 “No more will the sun be your light by day,
nor will moonlight shine on you;
instead Adonai will be your light forever
and your God your glory.
20 No longer will your sun go down;
your moon will no longer wane;
for Adonai will be your light forever;
your days of mourning will end.
21 All your people will be tzaddikim;
they will inherit the land forever;
they will be the branch I planted,
my handiwork, in which I take pride.
22 The smallest will grow to a thousand,
the weakest will become a mighty nation.
I, Adonai, when the right time comes,
will quickly bring it about.”
61:1 The Spirit of Adonai Elohim is upon me,
because Adonai has anointed me
to announce good news to the poor.
He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted;
to proclaim freedom to the captives,
to let out into light those bound in the dark;
2 to proclaim the year of the favor of Adonai
and the day of vengeance of our God;
to comfort all who mourn,
3 yes, provide for those in Tziyon who mourn,
giving them garlands instead of ashes,
the oil of gladness instead of mourning,
a cloak of praise instead of a heavy spirit,
so that they will be called oaks of righteousness
planted by Adonai, in which he takes pride.
4 They will rebuild the ancient ruins,
restore sites long destroyed;
they will renew the ruined cities,
destroyed many generations ago.
5 Strangers will stand and feed your flocks,
foreigners plow your land and tend your vines;
6 but you will be called cohanim of Adonai,
spoken of as ministers to our God.
You will feed on the wealth of nations,
and revel in their riches.
7 Because of your shame, which was doubled,
and because they cried, “They deserve disgrace,”
therefore in their land what they own will be doubled,
and joy forever will be theirs.
8 “For I, Adonai, love justice;
I hate robbery for burnt offerings.
So I will be faithful to reward them
and make an eternal covenant with them.”
9 Their descendants will be known among the nations,
their offspring among the peoples;
all who see them will acknowledge
that they are the seed Adonai has blessed.
10 I am so joyful in Adonai!
My soul rejoices in my God,
for he has clothed me in salvation,
dressed me with a robe of triumph,
like a bridegroom wearing a festive turban,
like a bride adorned with her jewels.
11 For just as the earth brings forth its plants,
or a garden makes its plants spring up,
so Adonai, God, will cause victory and glory
to spring up before all nations.
62:1 For Tziyon’s sake I will not be silent,
for Yerushalayim’s sake I will not rest,
until her vindication shines out brightly
and her salvation like a blazing torch.
2 The nations will see your vindication
and all kings your glory.
Then you will be called by a new name
which Adonai himself will pronounce.
3 You will be a glorious crown in the hand of Adonai,
a royal diadem held by your God.
4 You will no longer be spoken of as ‘Azuvah [Abandoned]
or your land be spoken of as ‘Sh’mamah [Desolate];
rather, you will be called Heftzi-Vah [My-Delight-Is-In-Her]
and your land Be‘ulah [Married].
For Adonai delights in you,
and your land will be married —
5 as a young man marries a young woman,
your sons will marry you;
as a bridegroom rejoices over the bride,
your God will rejoice over you.
6 I have posted watchmen
on your walls, Yerushalayim;
they will never fall silent,
neither by day nor by night.
You who call on Adonai,
give yourselves no rest;
7 and give him no rest till he restores Yerushalayim
and makes it a praise on earth.
8 Adonai has sworn by his right hand
and by his mighty arm:
“Never again will I give your grain
to your enemies as food;
nor will strangers drink your wine,
for which you worked so hard;
9 but those who harvest the grain will eat it
with praises to Adonai;
those who gathered the wine will drink it
in the courtyards of my sanctuary.”
10 Go on through, go on through the gates,
clear the way for the people!
Build up a highway, build it up!
Clear away the stones!
Raise a banner for the peoples!
11 Adonai has proclaimed to the end of the earth,
“Say to the daughter of Tziyon,
‘Here, your Salvation is coming!
Here, his reward is with him,
and his recompense is before him.’”
12 They will call them The Holy People,
The Redeemed of Adonai.
You will be called D’rushah [Sought-After],
‘Ir Lo Ne‘ezvah [City-No-Longer-Abandoned].
John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God.
2 He was with God in the beginning.
3 All things came to be through him,
and without him nothing made had being.
4 In him was life,
and the life was the light of mankind.
5 The light shines in the darkness,
and the darkness has not suppressed it.
6 There was a man sent from God whose name was Yochanan. 7 He came to be a testimony, to bear witness concerning the light; so that through him, everyone might put his trust in God and be faithful to him. 8 He himself was not that light; no, he came to bear witness concerning the light.
9 This was the true light,
which gives light to everyone entering the world.
10 He was in the world — the world came to be through him —
yet the world did not know him.
11 He came to his own homeland,
yet his own people did not receive him.
12 But to as many as did receive him, to those who put their trust in his person and power, he gave the right to become children of God, 13 not because of bloodline, physical impulse or human intention, but because of God.
14 The Word became a human being and lived with us,
and we saw his Sh’khinah,
the Sh’khinah of the Father’s only Son,
full of grace and truth.
15 Yochanan witnessed concerning him when he cried out, “This is the man I was talking about when I said, ‘The one coming after me has come to rank ahead of me, because he existed before me.’”
16 We have all received from his fullness,
yes, grace upon grace.
17 For the Torah was given through Moshe;
grace and truth came through Yeshua the Messiah.
18 No one has ever seen God; but the only and unique Son, who is identical with God and is at the Father’s side — he has made him known.
19 Here is Yochanan’s testimony: when the Judeans sent cohanim and L’vi’im from Yerushalayim to ask him, “Who are you?” 20 he was very straightforward and stated clearly, “I am not the Messiah.” 21 “Then who are you?” they asked him. “Are you Eliyahu?” “No, I am not,” he said. “Are you ‘the prophet,’ the one we’re expecting?” “No,” he replied. 22 So they said to him, “Who are you? — so that we can give an answer to the people who sent us. What do you have to say about yourself?” 23 He answered in the words of Yesha‘yahu the prophet, “I am
The voice of someone crying out:
‘In the desert make the way of Adonai straight!’”[John 1:23 Isaiah 40:3]
24 Some of those who had been sent were P’rushim. 25 They asked him, “If you are neither the Messiah nor Eliyahu nor ‘the prophet,’ then why are you immersing people?” 26 To them Yochanan replied, “I am immersing people in water, but among you is standing someone whom you don’t know. 27 He is the one coming after me — I’m not good enough even to untie his sandal!” 28 All this took place in Beit-Anyah, east of the Yarden, where Yochanan was immersing.
29 The next day, Yochanan saw Yeshua coming toward him and said, “Look! God’s lamb! The one who is taking away the sin of the world! 30 This is the man I was talking about when I said, ‘After me is coming someone who has come to rank above me, because he existed before me.’ 31 I myself did not know who he was, but the reason I came immersing with water was so that he might be made known to Isra’el.” 32 Then Yochanan gave this testimony: “I saw the Spirit coming down from heaven like a dove, and remaining on him. 33 I myself did not know who he was, but the one who sent me to immerse in water said to me, ‘The one on whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining, this is the one who immerses in the Ruach HaKodesh.’ 34 And I have seen and borne witness that this is the Son of God.”
35 The next day, Yochanan was again standing with two of his talmidim. 36 On seeing Yeshua walking by, he said, “Look! God’s lamb!” 37 His two talmidim heard him speaking, and they followed Yeshua. 38 Yeshua turned and saw them following him, and he asked them, “What are you looking for?” They said to him, “Rabbi!” (which means “Teacher!”) “Where are you staying?” 39 He said to them, “Come and see.” So they went and saw where he was staying, and remained with him the rest of the day — it was about four o’clock in the afternoon. 40 One of the two who had heard Yochanan and had followed Yeshua was Andrew the brother of Shim‘on Kefa.
41 The first thing he did was to find his brother Shim‘on and tell him, “We’ve found the Mashiach!” (The word means “one who has been anointed.”) 42 He took him to Yeshua. Looking at him, Yeshua said, “You are Shim‘on Bar-Yochanan; you will be known as Kefa.” (The name means “rock.”)
43 The next day, having decided to leave for the Galil, Yeshua found Philip and said, “Follow me!” 44 Philip was from Beit-Tzaidah, the town where Andrew and Kefa lived. 45 Philip found Natan’el and told him, “We’ve found the one that Moshe wrote about in the Torah, also the Prophets — it’s Yeshua Ben-Yosef from Natzeret!” 46 Natan’el answered him, “Natzeret? Can anything good come from there?” “Come and see,” Philip said to him. 47 Yeshua saw Natan’el coming toward him and remarked about him, “Here’s a true son of Isra’el — nothing false in him!” 48 Natan’el said to him, “How do you know me?” Yeshua answered him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” 49 Natan’el said, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Isra’el!” 50 Yeshua answered him, “you believe all this just because I told you I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than that!” 51 Then he said to him, “Yes indeed! I tell you that you will see heaven opened and the angels of God going up and coming down[John 1:51 Genesis 28:12] on the Son of Man!”
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Harvest Ministries with Greg LaurieP.O. Box 4000
Riverside, California 92514-4000 United States
Phone: 1-800-821-3300
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