The Lord is highlighting what it means to be a ‘friend of God’ as He wants His people to move into seeking the path of intimate friendship. I believe the Lord is going to release very detailed revelation to those He calls close friends in this season as it is a strategic season and one where great acceleration of God’s plans and purposes will be seen. In the coming months, the Lord is positioning His people and bringing alignment so they will be ready for the new thing He will release. The Lord is going to unveil and highlight those He calls intimate friends as they will be given a greater voice. They will also operate in a greater authority and anointing. His close friends will sound the trumpet and call the body of Christ to awaken to the hour at hand and partner with the Lord in the strategy for advancement He releases. They will sound the alarm for strongholds that need to be brought down, and plans of the enemy that need to be aborted. They will receive deep revelation on how to align with God’s plans and ways. The revelation received will not just be for individuals but for regions and nations. We become closer friends with the Lord by growing in intimacy with Him. As we draw near to Him, He draws ever nearer to us (James 4:8).

 

Revelation is given to God’s close friends –

 

We share our intimate thoughts with those we trust; with our true, close friends. This is also true of the Lord. Abraham is referred to in the bible as being a ‘friend of God’ (2 Chronicles 20:7, Isaiah 41:8). In Genesis 18 we read that the Lord reveals His plans for Sodom and Gomorrah to Abraham because God had a close relationship with Abraham and called him a friend. In John 15 Jesus calls the disciples friends because He revealed to them everything He heard from the Father.

 

Genesis 18:17-19 (AMP) – And the Lord said, Shall I hide from Abraham (My friend and servant) what I am going to do, since Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed through him and shall bless themselves by him? For I have known (chosen, acknowledged) him (as My own), so that he may teach and command his children and the sons of his house after him to keep the way of the Lord and do what is just and righteous, so that the Lord may bring Abraham what He has promised him.

 

John 15:15 (AMP) – I do not call you servants (slaves) any longer, for the servant does not know what the master is doing (working out). But I have called you My friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from My Father. (I have revealed to you everything that I have learned from Him.)

 

God speaks closely to His intimate friends. From scripture we learn how God communicated intimately with Moses. The bible says the Lord spoke to Moses face to face. The Hebrew word for friend used in Exodus 33:11 is ‘rea’ which suggests companionship and intimacy. Throughout the life of Moses we see open conversation with God. This level of relationship or friendship requires us to be purposeful as we need to be intentional about developing intimacy with the Lord. The Lord is calling His people into deeper intimacy and those He calls close friends will receive and release detailed strategy for kingdom advancement.

 

Exodus 33:11 (NKJV) – So the Lord spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend.

 

Numbers 12:8 (NKJV) – I speak with him face to face, even plainly, and not in dark sayings; and he sees the form of the Lord.

 

Close friends of God know Him and trust Him –

 

Abraham had great faith in God, built from His close relationship with God and his understanding of who God was; His character and ways. The Lord is calling His people like never before into deeper understanding of His ways and kingdom principles. From that place His people will then stand against those things that are not in alignment with His word and His ways, in accordance with strategy the Lord will release to them through His Spirit. The word friend used in James 2:23 is the Greek word ‘philos’ which is the same word that would be used of the type of friendship you can count on as you have been through a lot together. Close friends of God have great faith in Him and they have been through many battles and trials and have seen the faithfulness of God through those times. They know His heart and have an intimate understanding of His ways. Close friends of God are arising who have great faith and will partner with God to see His justice released and His will established.

 

Because Abraham had great faith in God, he stood on the promise God had given him even though in the natural it looked impossible. The Lord told Abraham he would be the father of many nations and he believed God even though he and his wife Sarah were of an old age and Sarah was unable to have children. Abraham was fully convinced that what God has spoken, he was able to perform as he knew God was faithful to fulfil His word. Close friends of God are those who have seen the faithfulness of God and will stand and partner with the Lord for the promises He has given for themselves, regions and nations, knowing He faithful to bring them to pass.

 

James 2:23 (NKJV) – Abraham believed God and it was accounted to him for righteousness. And he was called the friend of God.

 

Romans 4:19-21 (NKJV) – And not being weak in faith, he did not consider his own body, already dead (since he was about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah’s womb. He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform. And therefore “it was accounted to him for righteousness.”

 

God’s friends are obedient –

 

Another reason God called Abraham his friend was due to his obedience. The word of God tells us that God made a covenant with Abraham and passed those promises on to Abraham’s son Isaac because Abraham obeyed God and kept His commandments.

 

Genesis 26:1-5 (NKJV) – Isaac went to Abimelech king of the Philistines, in Gerar. Then the Lord appeared to him and said: “Do not go down to Egypt; live in the land of which I shall tell you. Dwell in this land, and I will be with you and bless you; for to you and your descendants I give all these lands, and I will perform the oath which I swore to Abraham your father. And I will make your descendants multiply as the stars of heaven; I will give your descendants all these lands; and in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed; because Abraham obeyed My voice and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws.”

 

Abraham obeyed the Lord when God called him to move to a new place and he didn’t even know where God was sending him. He submitted to the direction of God. The Lord is looking for close friends who trust Him so deeply that they will step out in obedience without even knowing all the details as they know God is faithful and they are submitted to His direction in their lives. If we look at the various victories that are recorded in the bible we find that each victory was a result of the obedience of the children of Israel rather than their ability.

 

Hebrews 11:8 (NKJV) – By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going.

 

Abraham also obeyed God through being willing to offer his son Isaac. We know God intervened and provided a ram for the sacrifice instead but Abraham was so yielded to God he was willing to sacrifice his own son. A friend of God lays everything down in total surrender to the Lord. A friend of God has no boundaries but places everything on the altar of sacrifice for God.

 

Jesus stipulated that His friends were those who did what He commanded. A servant serves out of duty but a friend serves out of devotion. The Lord looks at our heart and He searches for those who are yielded to Him and serve Him from a place of devotion. The Lord is calling His people to be obedient to His leading and His ways but our obedience flows from our intimacy and trust in the Lord. Obedience as a response to divine love always leads to intimacy and dependence on God. Obedience is critical if we are to walk in the fullness of the plans the Lord has for us especially in this time of acceleration into God’s plans and purposes.

 

John 15:13-14 (NKJV) – This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends. You are My friends if you do whatever I command you.

 

John 14:23 (NKJV) – Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.”

 

The Lord will reveal much to His close friends in this season and their area of influence will increase as they partner with Him to see His kingdom advance.