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

  “A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.”      Proverbs 18:24

 “My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this that he lay down his life for his 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.

“You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in My name. This is My command: Love each other.”  John 15:12-17

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Over the past few weeks I have learned a lot more than I ever wanted to know.  Last Monday and Tuesday my wife and I attended a Crisis Intervention Training class. Attending was not a priority – until Jesse Taylor drowned in the Kingfisher Park and it took 3 days to find him.

During the class we learned how hard traumatic events can be on fire personnel, EMTs and police officers. We also learned about how the events of 9/11 and the Oklahoma City bombing affected emergency personnel.

They taught us the value of debriefings and listening… of letting people talk through things without making a lot of suggestions. (I’m still working on that part!)

One of the greatest joys of my 38 years of ministry has been our time in Loyal. I hope it lasts for many years to come! Yesterday’s tragic accident involving members of our church and community certainly saddened our hearts since two died, and one is in ICU this morning.

Yet in the midst of this terrible situation we saw a wonderful outpouring of your love for God, for family, and each other.

We mourn the loss of a good friend; we rejoice that his daughter is recovering from her injuries. I am thankful that several of you called to make sure that we knew of the event so we could minister to the family. I stand in awe of the way you minister to each other and especially Jerry’s family.

And a big “Thank you” to the men and women that volunteer and keep our rural emergency services viable! It’s love in action!

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

Recently I visited with a friend in Oklahoma City and told him how quickly the people of this community jump in to help each other when there is a serious illness or accident. I’m not sure he believed me!

We love at ALL TIMES. Sure, we may grumble once in a while, but that’s okay. No one said we have to be perfect. However, when there is a crisis, boy, how we pull together. God is pleased!

 

What is a friend? Friends are people with whom you dare to be yourself. Your soul can be naked with them. They ask you to put on nothing, only to be what you are. They do not want you to be better or worse.

When you are with them, you feel as a prisoner feels that has been declared innocent. You do not have to be on your guard. You can say what you think, as long as it is genuinely you. Friends understand those contradictions in your nature that lead others to misjudge you.

With them you breathe freely. You can avow your little vanities and envies and hates and vicious sparks, your meanesses and absurdities, and in opening them up to friends, they are lost, dissolved on the white ocean of their loyalty. They understand.

You do not have to be careful. You can abuse them, neglect them, and tolerate them. Best of all, you can keep still with them. It makes no matter. They like you. They are like fire that purges to the bone. They understand. You can weep with them, sing with them, laugh with them, and pray with them. Through it all--and underneath--they see, know, and love you.

A friend? What is a friend? Just one, I repeat, with whom you dare to be yourself. C. Raymond Beran, in Bits & Pieces, September 19, 1991, p. 3-4.

 

People need people. William C. Schultz writes that three year-old Laurie was wise beyond her years. One night she requested his aid in getting undressed. He was downstairs and she was upstairs, and ... well. "You know how to undress yourself," he told her. "Yes," she explained, “but sometimes people need people anyway, even if they do know how to do things by themselves."  William C. Schultz, Bits & Pieces, December 1990.

In our verses from John 15, Jesus commands us to love one another. Love is accepting people just as they are – “zits (faults) and all.” I have also noticed that the people that irritate me the most are the ones that have the same faults and shortcomings I have!

God is more concerned about our attitudes and motives than He is our actions. Why? Because actions are the result of attitudes and motives!

God/Jesus will never ask more of us then they ask of themselves. If we will duplicate the life of Jesus as much as possible, we will lead God-pleasing lives!

God does not cause everything that happens. According to the scriptures, Satan is the god of this world, and he and his crew are at the root of many of our problems. Some problems, like yesterday’s wreck are accidents. No one is at fault. Yet in this terrible situation God will make things work for our good and his glory if we will be sensitive to the leading of God’s Spirit.

30 years ago T. I. Montgomery and I used to do worship services in the Kingfisher nursing homes. One day he said, “Leon, I don’t think you realize just how much I love you.” “What do you mean,” I asked. “Well,” he replied, “I just hate going to the nursing homes with you. I just go because it pleases you.”

He explained that every time he went he just cringed, knowing that at his age it wouldn’t be long until he had to live in a place like that!

I often wondered why he told me that. Last Friday I found out. I was making a chaplain visit to a nursing home patient in another community. She was wondering why her pastor never came to visit her there. I told her Brother Montgomery’s story and said, “Perhaps your pastor has a reason why he isn’t comfortable coming here.”

She thought a while and said, “I think you are right. His wife is crippled and he has to take care of her all the time. Now I understand!”

It was a simple story, and she gave a loving response. Fortunately, God does not have hang-ups. God can be where ever he is needed. In fact, no matter where you go, there God is!

How do we handle discouragement? Do we blame God and circumstances, or do we just deal with it like adults? People will let us down. How we respond makes all the difference in the world.

Former heavy-weight boxer James (Quick) Tillis is a cowboy from Oklahoma who fought out of Chicago in the early 1980s. He still remembers his first day in the Windy City after his arrival from Tulsa. "I got off the bus with two cardboard suitcases under my arms in downtown Chicago and stopped in front of the Sears Tower. I put my suitcases down, and I looked up at the Tower and I said to myself, 'I'm going to conquer Chicago.' "When I looked down, the suitcases were gone."  Today in the Word, September 10, 1992.

When something like that happens do we cut and run, or do we shrug our shoulders and keep on plugging? It’s our call. God will help you whichever choice you make if you will let Him.

 

Wilma Rudolph didn't get much of a head start in life. A bout with polio left her left leg crooked and her foot twisted inward so she had to wear leg braces. After seven years of painful therapy, she could walk without her braces.

At age 12 Wilma tried out for a girl’s basketball team, but didn't make it. Determined, she practiced with a girlfriend and two boys every day. The next year she made the team. When a college track coach saw her during a game, he talked her into letting him train her as a runner. By age 14 she had outrun the fastest sprinters in the U.S.

In 1956 Wilma made the U.S. Olympic team, but showed poorly. That bitter disappointment motivated her to work harder for the 1960 Olympics in Rome--and there Wilma Rudolph won three gold medals, the most a woman had ever won.   Today in the Word, Moody Bible Institute, Jan, 1992, p.10.

Love and persistence win every time. But sometimes, it takes a really long time. Are we willing to continually pay the price to fulfill God’s plan for our lives? We have pretty well perfected love. Today our challenge is to show our love for God by obeying Him in every area of our lives.