Thanks for being my Friend

Job 2:11 Now when Job's three friends heard of all this adversity that had come upon him, each one came from his own place--Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite. For they had made an appointment together to come and mourn with him, and to comfort him. 12 And when they raised their eyes from afar, and did not recognize him, they lifted their voices and wept; and each one tore his robe and sprinkled dust on his head toward heaven. 13 So they sat down with him on the ground seven days and seven nights, and no one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his grief was very great.

Job 6:14 "To him who is afflicted, kindness should be shown by his friend.

Proverbs 17:17 A friend loves at all times, And a brother is born for adversity.

Proverbs 18:24 A man who has friends must himself be friendly, But there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.

Proverbs 22:11 He who loves purity of heart And has grace on his lips, The king will be his friend.

Proverbs 27:9 Ointment and perfume delight the heart, And the sweetness of a man's friend gives delight by hearty counsel.

Proverbs 27:10 Do not forsake your own friend or your father's friend, Nor go to your brother's house in the day of your calamity; Better is a neighbor nearby than a brother far away.

Proverbs 27:17 As iron sharpens iron, So a man sharpens the countenance of his friend.

Philemon 1:1 Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother, To Philemon our beloved friend and fellow laborer, 4 I thank my God, making mention of you always in my prayers,

James 2:23 And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, "Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness." And he was called the friend of God.

James 4:4 Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.

I really enjoy doing Word Studies, and with the great resources that are available today from the internet, it is really so easy. This morning, I did a quick word study on the word Friend. I have a good numbers of friends. It wasn't always this way. For a good portion of my live, I've only had a handful of friends. The reason I believe is that I simply wasn't friendly. Like the word says, in order to have friends, one must be friendly. I haven't been, but for the past year, I've been trying real hard. I've had to really break out of my introverted shell and go out of my way to be friendly. It has been hard, but it is getting easier. It is a struggle to go against my natural tendencies of being a quiet person, to being a more outgoing person. I still have a lot of social skills that I must learn and practice.

I have also learned over the past year that having a number of friends has made my Christian walk much easier. Alone, I was well... alone. But when I am with my friends, I have learned to be friendly, and I have learned to open up and share. And, I've discovered that my friends have a lot of the same problems and difficulties and struggles that I do. How neat it is to know that I can use such a great resource as my friends for encouragement. But it's not a one way street. In order to use such a great resource, I also must be made available to my friends, and be willing to help in what ever way they need. Reminds me of the song from tobyMac - I'm For You:

Whatever I gotta be I'll be for you,
Whatever you need from me
To see you through
Everyone of us has stumbled
Everybody's humbled
We hit the ground and our lives crumble
Whatever I gotta be
I'll be for you
I'm for you
Everyone of us will fall
Have our backs against the wall
And everyone shares a need to be loved
You've always been for me
So I will be for you
That's just what it means to love
Whatever I gotta be
I'll be for you
I'm for you

Thanks to all my friends. I appreciate you being there for me. I appreciate your prayers, and please know that I'm praying for you too. And to all the friends I haven't met yet - I apologize for not yet meeting you. I am trying, please be patient with me.

Am I listening to what God is saying in His word?