““As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.” John 15:9-15 (NIV); John 17:13-19(NIV)
Jesus was God in flesh and He is God in Spirit now to guide and help you as a friend living inside of you. This is the greatest achievement of God who wanted to save us from the fallen world. He can be within you if you receive Him and the anointing gives you power to do the impossible. God is holy and He wants you to be holy and without the in-dwelling of the Holy Spirit it is impossible to do all the teachings in the New Testament. Jesus said you are not of this world as I am not of this world. World is still fallen and corrupted so He wants you to be His friend by living a set apart, holy and spiritual life away from the world. 1 Corinthians 2:13-16(NIV)
- Keep all Jesus’ commandments to remain as His friend:
We are supposed to go on renewing our thoughts and deeds according to the teachings of the Lord Jesus and live a spiritual life. This is what should happen continuously as you go on learning His commands and putting them into practice with the help you get as Jesus being your friend. Transformation takes place in our hearts, which is our inner beings and it changes the deep thoughts benign which will result in clean life style. This is what I was taught by the Lord in my younger age to escape the peer pressure and wrong negative thoughts of other people. Teachings of the Apostles also full of the best advices and give proper instructions as to what to do. Just hearing and knowing the Word of Christ benefit no one unless or until you put them into practice. Jesus loves only those who obey His Commandments and calls them friends.
- Know all Jesus learned from His father to be His friend:
We should fall in love with Jesus knowing Him more by reading about Him. In my life when we were given confirmation in the church a New Testament was given to me and I was so blessed. I learnt all that Jesus wanted to convey in His teachings and I loved them and wanted to do them all setting my thoughts right. I prayed to the Lord to give me strength to do because I knew otherwise it was impossible to do. I prayed Lord make things happen in such a way that I need not lie to anyone. And the Lord answered my prayers. In this way I prayed for all my weaknesses to go and He gave me victory one at a time always. This way I always felt I have Jesus as my friend inside of me and I need not run around to get advices from others. I always go to the Lord to get council in my thoughts, just conversing with Him and He guides me with His Words. When we fill our minds with the Word of Christ it is easy to understand His heart.
Living hope—An inheritance never perish, spoil or fade:
“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.
In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honour when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.” 1 Peter 1:3-9 (NIV)