I   HAVE   CALLED   YOU   “FRIENDS”

I do not call you slaves; a master doesn’t confide in his slaves. You are not the property of a taskmaster; neither are you subservient workers. I share My secrets, I explain My mysteries and I reveal my heart to My friends. I have called you “friends”. You are My friends if you continue to do whatever I ask of you; John 15:14-15. A friend of the king dines at the table of the king; he is chosen and appointed to sit with him there. My friends are not beggars who scurry after crumbs that fall to the floor. Those who are seated with Me are worthy companions; Matthew 10:37-38; they are cherished and honored at the feast I have prepared; Luke 13:29. I have chosen My friends from among the nobles, the officers, the princes, the priests and even the outcasts; Matthew 11:19. They are assembled with those who provide food for the king’s household; 1 Kings 4:5-7; John 21:15-17. A beloved friend leans upon Me at the supper; John 21:20. There is no need to raise My voice in noisy, angry tones to a friend; I need not shout aloud to My beloved within My shadow. I can whisper and speak softly to the one who is near to Me, touching Me; 1 Kings 19:11-13; John 13:23, 28.
My friends are faithful messengers; they have found grace in the eyes of the Lord. I trust the ones who walk in habitual fellowship with me. They instruct their children to keep the way of the Lord, to practice righteousness. And because they obey Me and fear My name, and because of My grace, redemption comes to their household; Genesis 6:8-13; 7:1; Acts 16:31. I tell My friends what I am about to do. What about the righteous Noah? Was he not given detailed instructions in preparation of an impending flood? I tell you, he perceived the grief in My own heart when he learned of the magnitude of the coming destruction; we both beheld the continual evil in the land. I was close at hand as he labored; we both saw and heard the mockers reject My message, still after an extensive period of time. I warned him just days before calamity came; he entered into safety and I shut the door; Luke 13:25. And so shall it be true of the present day.
 In the midst of the corruption and the violence of your surroundings, the Ark of My presence is there. Faith in Me and careful obedience is your way of escape. I do not hide from My covenant friends what I am about to do; Genesis 18:17. Abraham believed God, and was therefore called the friend of God; James 2:23. The one who believes and obeys is My friend. Abraham caught a glimpse of both My justice and My mercy; he appealed to Me based upon that revelation; Psalm 89:14. Entreating Me, he said “Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?” His intercession brought My mercy to his household; Genesis 19:15-16. Because of his persistence, a Friend at midnight arose to give him what he asked; Luke 11:5. Did I not deliver his kin prior to the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah? Shall I not also deliver and awaken My own family members and friends from their sleep; John 11:11; Romans 13:11; 1 Corinthians 15:51?
Did the cloudy pillar not stand at the entrance of the Tabernacle? Did I not meet with My friend, Moses, to talk with him there? When the people see the cloud at the door, they rise up and worship; Exodus 33:8-11. Yes, I am at the door; I meet with you there; John 10:9. Companions of a king are carefully selected. Was not Hushai, a friend of king David, 2 Samuel 15:37, strategically placed to deliver messages, to frustrate the counsel of Ahithophel; 2 Samuel 17:5-23? The king’s friend met with him at the top of the mount, during a time of revolt and conspiracy; 2 Samuel 15:30-32; 1 Chronicles 27:33.
Shall it not be so also for you? A friend loves at all times, and refreshes another when they meet together; Acts 27:3. What refreshment, what joy My own bring to Me, in sweet times of communion and worship; Mark 15:41. My heart leaps when My beloved  runs to meet with Me in fellowship and love. I am faithful and true; I am the Friend who sticks closer than a brother; Proverbs 18:24. I will never betray you, as others have. Remember, I too, was wounded in the house of My friends; Zechariah 13:6.
Friends of the bridegroom deliver the same message of repentance, and the strict demands of a straight and narrow path that leads to life; John 3:29. In that wilderness place, they are separated from the multitudes; they are as reeds shaken by the Wind. The Holy Spirit has shaken them and so they warn the others, and prepare them for My coming; Luke 7:24. The multitudes will travel to see a spectacle in the desert or a miraculous demonstration; they will gather when the loaves and the fishes are divided. Their bellies are filled, but they remain at a distance from Me. I do not share the secrets of My plans, the hidden things, with the multitudes. I love them, but they are not My intimates; Mark 15:8-11; Matthew 14:22-23. Neither can I confide in the career hirelings; they know not My heart; John 10:12-13. He who keeps My commandments is the one who loves Me; John 14:21. These are My friends, who love one another and not their own lives, even unto death. They have forsaken all to walk with Me; John 15:12-13; Galatians 2:20. And they, too, shall know the reality of the resurrection; they are raised on the third day; Hosea 6:2; Acts 10:40.
Oh, the glories that await My faithful friends! They taste the power of the ages to come, yet at the present time, rigorous demands are made upon them; hardship presses upon them from every side. I allow My beloved to suffer every inconvenience, every pain, every imprisonment that I deem necessary. I will not spare you or shield you from the requirements of a true son or daughter; no, not even for My friends. Trusted companions are in close proximity to Me; watching with Me, waiting for Me. I tell them what I am about to do: I say, “Come now and enter a ship, a vessel of safety; abide there. I will come to you while the turbulent seas, the masses of humanity are raging, and I will take you to the other side; Matthew 14:19-31; Acts 27:31. I alert My family, My friends, when calamity or departure is at hand; Genesis 7:1; 12:1; 49:29; Exodus 33:1; John 16:17; 2 Timothy 4:6. I tell you now, do not be afraid, when I pass through the land to execute judgment against the gods of the land; Exodus 12:12. What shall I say? Justice demands that wrath must fall upon the wicked. This is the heaviness that you feel; upheaval comes upon the present world order. You know, to a small degree also, the pain and the grief that I carry within My own bosom for those who have rejected Me. And yet you sense a great expectation, the immense joy of our reunion at hand. Is this not true? My friends share My burden for humanity; they weep as I weep; they rejoice as I rejoice; 1 Corinthians 2:16. I have told you what the Father has said. NOW GO, MY FRIENDS, to the lost, to the backslidden, to the prisoners, to the sick and to the poor. Go out, before the darkness fully descends, when no man can work. Go into the highways and compel them to come in, that My house may be filled; Luke 14:23. Show mercy to those whose faith is wavering; snatch others from the fire. Keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for His mercy to bring you eternal life. This is eternal life, that you may know Him the only true God, and Jesus, whom He has sent; John 17:3.

Terri Hill