FRIENDS COME & FRIENDS GO, BUT.....

Friendship can be a tricky connection. Its one of those life experiences that can start strong but time and circumstances can cause it to turn a corner and run off the track.
As the King of Israel for 40 years, I doubt Solomon had a lot of close friends because of the necessity to maintain his personal security. Every person in a privileged position of authority over others always has to make friends with a measure of caution because many come bearing gifts of friendship, mouthing the right words, but with an underlying motive.
Solomon wrote - "Friends come and friends go, but a true friend sticks by you like family." Proverbs 18:24 MSG
And this - "A friend loves at all times and a brother is born for adversity." Proverbs 17:17 NKJV
True friends are few, probably a number you can count on two hands, or one hand, or half a hand. They are the ones who stick it out, NO MATTER WHAT! They hang in there with you when your or their life is pounded by the inevitable hurricane of adversity. They always seem to be among the first to rejoice with you over your victories or sit down to weep and pray with you in the storm. They always tell you the truth rather than dodge the real issue with empty flattery. They love you warts and all with a love that can only come from God.
I am very proud to have some of those true friends in my life. I am fortunate to have married the one who tops that list. But, my list doesn't stop there because we have produced three great friends that we both count heavily on for encouragement, advice and spiritual insight, our kids. My most trusted and treasured man friend in all this wide world is my son Michael Kent Sutherland. We share everything. But doing so on the telephone is a poor substitute for eyeball to eyeball. I miss him.
Beyond my family I can honestly say that God has put some really good people in my path, all for which I am deeply thankful. A few have stuck it out but most have now become virtually invisible. But, that's okay because there are always new friends to discover and try again to make that special connection.
So, here is what I've learned in nearly 70 years - hold all of your friends forever in your heart and let them know you still treasure that connection. If all of you are truly blessed by the Father, eternity will be one huge party just catching up.

TELL ME ABOUT YOUR GOD

Psalm 145 is one of the few songs of David that is lacking his usual pleas with God to destroy his enemies. In this song he rises above his anger or fear or depression to just give absolute praise to Yahweh.
"I will extol you, my God and king, and bless your name forever and ever. Every day I will bless you and praise your name forever and ever. Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised, and his greatness is unsearchable." Psalm 145:1-3 ESV
If someone asked you to "tell me about your God", how would you answer that request? I seriously doubt that quoting a lot of scripture would be what most people would be wanting to know from you. Having had this experience more than a few times in my years of service in His kingdom, I have done a less than adequate job of testifying about my Father to someone who didn't know Him. I guess my instinct as a minister and teacher has generally been to assume that reading scripture with them is what they wanted to know. Without question, we do have to get to the word of God at some point because that's how we lead others to Jesus and His kingdom. However I have learned that generally they just want to know if I KNOW God and what that means for my life.
I think most people who ask that question of Christians aren't looking for us to try to "prove" something to them but just to convince them that we truly know who our Father is and what that might mean for them. David's understanding is that "his greatness is unsearchable". To me that means God isn't some idea or hypothesis that can be proven by scientific testing in a lab. We can only know Him by seeking to make an honest connection within our own spirits. There are multitudes of folks who can quote a lot of scripture but don't really KNOW God or His Son. There are many who attend some kind of religious worship gathering regularly whose lifestyle betrays their professed beliefs.
So, tell me about your God may not mean "quote me some Bible scriptures", but "how do you feel about your God?"
We will pursue this thought further as we go through Psalm 145.