Many people think they know Jesus and churches are full of people who talk about Jesus, sing about Jesus, but do they know the real Jesus?
Real people need real friends!
Many people today do not have real friends. A friend they can confide in. A friend they can trust with important matters. A friend that will not judge them. A friend that won’t lecture them when they make a mistake. A friend that will cheer them on. We have heard that man’s best friend is a dog! You can’t deny the loyalty of a precious puppy. But my best friend is Jesus! Before you go and say, “Oh, here we go again, some Jesus freak,” please allow me to share this unique and personal relationship with the honest Jesus. It is so incredible! And He has asked me to share with you about my friend now because He desires an intimate friendship with you too.
Honest, Jesus is a real friend!
It all began at age fifteen when I contemplated suicide. As I put a belt around my neck, my friend, Jesus, interrupted my thought and spoke to my heart. He told me my life was precious and had a plan for me. My honest friend, Jesus, saved my life. Then again, in a crisis, when I was twenty-one and married, my wife ran off with the next-door neighbor. She left me all alone with our two beautiful children. I suddenly became a single parent. My honest friend, Jesus, spoke to my heart that evening in the living room of my mobile home and said, “It is going to be all right.” My friend, Jesus, gave me a “peace that surpasses all understanding” Phil 4:7.
The honest Jesus Encourages!
When I was twenty-four, I wanted to start a production company, and all my friends laughed at my dreams. My honest friend, Jesus, never laughed at my goals but encouraged me to pursue them. Today my company is thirty-three years strong. Then there was the time when I hit burnout in 1998. I confided in my friend, Jesus, that I was scared and didn’t know what to do. He told me my time had arrived. My friend, Jesus, moved me into my divine destiny. My honest friend, Jesus, became my mentor, teacher, life coach, and hero.
The honest Jesus pushes us into destiny!
In 2001 an unexpected opportunity came to be on Christian Radio. My reaction was to think, but I had never done radio before. My honest friend, Jesus, said, “I will teach you.” My real friend, Jesus, taught me and inspired me with words of encouragement, eventually leading to me becoming General Manager. My honest friend, Jesus, gently pushed me into my destiny. When the radio station closed, and I was terminated, perhaps the most challenging time of my life, my friend, Jesus, said, “Remember what I told you at age fifteen. The best is yet to come.” My real friend Jesus was re-positioning me to begin promoting the honest Jesus. I have shared here just a handful of the many times my fair friend, Jesus, took care of me. I hope you see why I am a promoter of the greatest friend you and I could ever have.
The honest Jesus is a real friend as we face the future!
So now, here it is, 2016, and it looks like the world is falling apart without my real friend Jesus; I would be fearful and want to hide in an underground tunnel. But my honest friend, Jesus, said, “Ron take comfort in me. I did not come to condemn the world but to save the world. You will see and experience trials and tribulations, but I have overcome the world. It would be best if you had no fear, for I am holding you in my hand, and nothing can take you away from me. I am your strength, advocate, inspiration, wisdom, and everything you could need.” Jesus has proved to me that this is true. I believe the future looks better than ever, and more people will discover the honest Jesus, the real friend, not the irrelevant Jesus that many churches and the media have created. I want to be a part of this exciting future, and I pray you will join me!
The honest Jesus will talk with you!
I want to end with a story from Max Lucado about a priest visiting a dying man in the hospital. As the priest entered the hospital room, he noticed an empty chair by his bed. So the priest asked, “Did you just have a visitor?” The man answered, “No, the chair is for Jesus.” Puzzled by this, the priest asked him to explain. The dying man smiled and explained that a friend had once told him that prayer was as simple as pulling up a chair and talking with Jesus. So the man said, “Ever since that day, I always pull up a chair and talk with Jesus.” Several days later, this man’s daughter visited the priest in the parish house to inform him of her dad’s death. She told him, “I only left him for a few hours; he seemed so content; strange thing though, his head wasn’t on the pillow when he died; His head was lying on an empty chair beside his bed.”
The one thing you must know…
My friend, the honest Jesus, loves you so much; you can crawl into his lap and sit or even lay down with your head in his lap. You are His precious child with an excellent plan He has made for you. This is your time to spend quality time with a real friend who will never leave you!
“…But there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.” Proverbs 18:24 NIV
“And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:7 NIV
One Response
Ron, thank you for sharing your personal relationship with Jesus! I love Jesus and I know He has been there for me all of my life. ….through my younger wild days and through my totally changed life since then. God is so very good. He has led me through the bad and the good days. I know I just have to keep praising Him even when Satan tries to draw me away from Him. I have a great pastor and church family that God truly blessed my family and me with. GOD L❤️VES you!!! Thanks again for your beautiful message.