We each have a hole in our heart. A need to be loved just as we are. A need to be seen, known very well, and to be accepted and appreciated with all of our quirks, problems and troubles. We need to have our feelings understood and validated.

We need to be cared for intimately, tailor-made for us, intimately and personally. No person - man, woman or child - can ever come close to fulfilling all of our needs, so utterly and perfectly. It takes a God, a Perfect and all-loving Holy God that is so intimate that He covers us completely and lives inside of you and me. One Who never leaves you or forsakes you and changes you from within. But you and I must be intimate with Him for this to happen, and always remember that He is holy, holy and holy.

How is your loneliness meter? Does it usually run high? Do you often feel insecure or inadequate? Are the thoughts in your mind usually criticizing yourself or others? Does your loneliness usually fluctuate with the weather, depending upon who blows into your life? Or do you daily struggle and cling more and more to the Hand of the Master, Who created you with that hole in your heart - which is sooo big that only He can fill it?

Friend defined by Webster's Dictionary as :

1. A person whom one knows well and is fond of.
2. A person on the same side in a struggle, an ally.
3. A supporter or sympathizer.

Well, we certainly have all of these in the Lord Jesus Christ, don't we! He knows us well, in fact better than anyone. He is very fond of us, enough take our penalty for sin so we can live with Him. He is on the side of right, which is hopefully the side we are on, so Jesus is our greatest ally, and definitely our supporter and sympathizer!! Hopefully He would consider us a friend of Himself as well.

The Wycliff Bible Dictionary goes one step further:

Friend, neighbor, companion, deep affectionate friend, beloved.

This definition speaks of the intimacy in the relationship between two friends.

The combination of these two definitions makes up the friend that God is to us, that we are to be to Him, and that we are to be to others, as well.

This morning we will discuss four points

1. How is God your friend? 
2. How are you and I to be God's friend?
3. How are you and I to be a friend to others?
4. How will God carry you and I through?

I. How is God your Friend?

God is a friend to all people. However, there are two different groups of people in God's eyes. Those who are not His children and those who are His children. God's Word says:

God is a friend to all people in very specific ways.

1. God "causes his sun to rise and set, and sends the rain on the evil and the good, Matt 5:45
2. The eyes of the LORD are everywhere, keeping watch on the wicked and the good. Prov 15:3
3. The living God, who made heaven and earth gives rain from heaven and crops in their seasons." Acts 14:15-17
4. God feeds the birds of the air and clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and gone tomorrow. Matt 6:26,29-30
5. God has unfailing love. Psalm 6:4 Compassionate and gracious is God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness. Psalm 86:15
6. The Lord says "I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness." Jeremiah 31:3
7. God invites many to Himself. Matt 22:14
8. Behold, the Lord's hand is not too short to save. Isaiah 59:1
9. The Lord is patient, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. 2Peter 3:9
10. God acts in accordance to His Name, His Character. God is Love. 1Jn 4:8 &16 God is the Rock, his works are perfect, and all his ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is He. Deuteronomy 32:4
11. "I the LORD do not change." Micah 3:6

God's Word states that God takes care of everyone the same way.

However, there is a distinct group of people who are privileged beyond measure by God. They are the ones who have recognized their own sinfulness. They know they have fallen short of God's measure to attain heaven. Because of this, they have made a conscious decision and choice to accept Jesus Christ's death on the cross as the penalty for their own personal sins and have chosen to make Jesus Christ Lord of their life, in charge of it all, surrender it all to be under His control every day.

When people do this, then God makes them a new creation - Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! 2Cor 5:17 "I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. Jer 31:33 Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come. 2Cor 1:21,22 No longer do those who are born of the Holy Spirit belong to the world system, but now they belong to God and their home is now heaven.

1. To all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God -- Jn 1:12-14
2. Jesus says, "I have called you friends." Jn 15:5
3. In my Father's house are many rooms. I am going to prepare a place for you and I will come back to take you with me. Jn 14:2,3
4. Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you. Hebrews 13:5
5. I will do whatever you ask for in my name. John 14:13
6. I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever - the Spirit of truth. John 14:16-18
7. "I am the LORD your God, Who teaches you what is best for you, Who directs you in the way you should go. Isa 48:17
8. "I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. Jer 31:33, 34
9. "I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more." Jer 31:33, 34
10. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, and I will remain in you. John 15:3,4
11. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. John 14:27
12. If God is for us, who can be against us. Nothing in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:31-39
13. Know therefore that the Lord your God is God; He is the faithful God, keeping His covenant of love to a thousand generations. Deuteronomy 7:9
14. Jesus says, "My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand." John 10:27-30

Jesus Christ is our ultimate Friend. Scripture says, "Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends." Jn 15:13 and A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity. Prov 17:17

Jesus Christ, God's only Son, who is fully God and fully man did much to prove His love for you and me, personally.

        All because Jesus Christ loved you, personally. He had no "rights", no pride, no ego - just service in love and obedience to God the Father.

1. The greatest among you will be your servant.. Matt 23:11
2. The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. Heb 1:3

Bring me to> How are you and I to be God's friend?  or

How are you and I to be a friend to others?  or