“If ye shall ask anything in my name, I will do it. If ye love me, keep my commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you forever, Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth Him not, neither knoweth Him; but ye know Him; for He dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. I will not leave you comfortless; I will come to you.” John 14:15-18
Today’s Christian daily devotional
I am transported down memory lane as I rummage through old photos in my grandmother’s crawl space.
For every phase of my life, my grandfather made sure to capture the moment by taking a picture. Sometimes this pause would be the last thing I wanted to do in the middle of a celebration or holiday meal. But, now I see how right grandpa really was.
As I go over the stacks of envelopes separated by the year, I see that in every phase of my life I had a best friend. First, there was shy Sarah. She was my childhood buddy who was my trusty “horse” riding partner. I remember hitting the swings in her backyard with our big imaginations and our veins pumped with sugary pixie sticks. Those swings were our “Black Beauties”. To this day, every time I see a swing set, I feel compelled to hop on. And when I actually do, the breeze flowing through my hair takes me right back to those simple times.
Then there was quiet Tara. She was the master at building forts. Her mom was kind enough to let us take apart every couch in her house. We would take hours to build our temporary housing for countless sleepovers. Whenever I smell hot coca I think of “camping” in her basement.
Last there was my high school comrade, Joy. She always had a humorous way of balancing my melodramatic self. Every time I hear the band Journey, I think of the two of us singing along loudly as we headed to the tanning salon to do some damage. Joy was determined to defy her porcelain skin.
The comfort of a best friend is something priceless. Having someone to share our deepest thoughts, trade lunches with and sighs of secret crushes are precious.
One of the greatest milestones in my life was finding Christ. He was best thing that ever happened to me. But, in my discovery, came a bittersweet revelation. I also found that many of my “friends” wanted nothing to do with me, even my “best” ones. This broke my heart. Sharing life experiences was an important part of who I was. For the first time in my life I was lonely.
This when I saw the truth of John 14:15-18 come to life for me. God wanted to be my best friend. Jesus promised that when we asked Him into our hearts that He would leave a piece of Himself to comfort us and He would dwell inside.
In a way, I am glad that God allowed those friends to leave me. It was during those lonely days, that I found true comfort and my true best friend. Now, no matter what social circles I am in, I am secure. I have confidence because I know have a friend who will never leave me. When everyone else did, He was the only one that was there.
“Dear Heavenly Father,
I crave intimacy and relationship, sometimes to the point where I can get a bit too needy.
Thank you for the reminder of John 14:15-18. I know that Jesus abides in me and He will supply all my needs. When I need to hear the truth, He gently guides me into it. When I need to be loved, he generously supplies it. When my heart is broken He is the one that can heal me with something much more profound than a kind word and a Band-Aid. He provides the deep healing that makes me whole enough to reach out and be a source of healing for others.
Thank you, God for allowing Christ to live in me, help me never to forget to take care of my most important relationship and that is with the Christ who lives in me. In Jesus’ precious name, I am blessed to have a “bestie” like you, Amen.”
Thank you for reading today’s daily devotional.
Please check back and see what we have for you tomorrow!
Author: Julia Shalom Jordan
A special thank you to Tara, Sarah and Joy for the wonderful memories.