Friend Of God

The most shocking part of faith might not be God’s power, it might be His closeness. We start with something simple and human: music. A song can pull up fear in an instant, or flood a room with celebration, or bring tears without warning. That same gift can also lift us, steady us, and remind us what’s true when we wake up anxious or unsure of the road ahead. 
We talk about why Christian worship music and gospel music matter even when a song isn’t trying to cover every theological detail. Some songs are built to do something else: remind us how God sees us, rehearse His promises, and re-center our hearts on a personal relationship with Him. From the hymns many of us grew up singing to modern worship, the message keeps resurfacing: Jesus is not distant, and we are not alone. 
Then we lean into Israel Houghton’s “Friend of God” and the Scriptures beneath it. John 15:13–15 reframes discipleship with one stunning word: friends. We also connect that to Proverbs 18:24 and the lived reality of prayer, like walking by the beach or through the woods and speaking to God honestly about frustration, uncertainty, hopes, and dreams. If you’ve ever wondered whether God is really listening, this is a five-minute reset worth taking. 

Here is the youtube link to Friend of God

https://youtu.be/IkDcnw666xQ?si=X5zPiWZI3aNkIrLy 

Transcript

Music As A Gift From God

What Worship Songs Can Do

From Hymns To Friend Of God

Scripture Behind Jesus Calling Friends

Talking To God Like A Friend

Song Clip And YouTube Link

SPEAKER_00 0:05

Good morning and welcome to Starting Right with Danny Mack. I'm going to be here every Monday to Friday to help you get a great five-minute start to your day. So grab your cup of coffee, sit back, relax, and let me help you start your day right. I am so grateful that God has given us the gift of music. Music has this ability to connect with our emotions. Sometimes it will connect with fear. Who can forget the theme song from Jaws? Sometimes it causes us to celebrate. Just think of Happy Birthday when your family's together, or joy to the world at Christmas time. Other times it just sounds really, really good. And one of the things I really like about music is that there are so many good songs that speak to our hearts and speak to our lives and encourage us and lift us up. And some music you listen to and you just it'll almost bring tears to your eyes just from hearing the music. It is a beautiful and powerful gift that God has given to us. One of the things that I really like about our Christian music, our gospel music, is that sometimes there are songs that speak to us, and they speak to us maybe not in deep theological terms, maybe they're not great for evangelical meetings. They may not be powerful in declaring the gospel story from beginning to end. They don't do those things sometimes. Sometimes worship songs are meant to talk about our relationship to God and how he sees us and how much we love him. Sometimes they're meant to help us remind ourselves of something God has promised us. Sometimes we need to be reminded about the personal relationship that each of us individually has with God and how he views us and how he wants to work in our lives. And there's power and beauty in that. When I was growing up in church, we didn't sing many choruses, we sang hymns. And one hymn that was very common was What a Friend We Have in Jesus. We would sing it and it would be a blessing to us because it's good to know that Jesus is a friend that we can rely on. Well, just a few years ago there was a song similar to that that came out, written by Israel Houghton. The song was called Friend of God. This song is all about being amazed that the God of all creation, the all-powerful, all present, all knowing God, who knows everything about me and is so big and so great and so awesome, he loves me enough to accept me and to call me his friend. Man, there are times when I really need to know that and really need to be reminded that God is there for me not only as my Lord and as my Savior, but He's my friend as well, and I can rely on Him and talk to Him like He's my friend, and know that He is there to listen to me and always to hear me. The basis of this song really comes from a couple of places in Scripture. The key one being in John chapter 15, verses 13 to 15. Jesus is speaking to His disciples, and He says, There is no greater love than to lay down one's life for one's friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you slaves, because a master doesn't confide in his slaves. Now you are my friends, since I have told you everything the Father told me. Jesus was calling them friends, and what made them friends? Doing what he commanded. If we do what he commands, Jesus is not only our God, our Lord, our Savior, the majestic King of heaven, he is also our friend. There are times when we are struggling, when we are uncertain of the future, when we are uncertain of how pieces are going to come together, that we don't know what to do, and we just need someone to talk to. There have been a number of times when I've gone down to the beach near our house or wandered through the woods and just had a chance to talk to God. Talk to God like He was my friend walking beside me, where I had this conversation with him, telling him what I was feeling, and letting him know all of my frustrations and all of my uncertainties and even my hopes and my dreams. I can just talk to him. I am still in awe that he knows who I am, that me, little old me, who's this little blip on the face of the earth for a short period of time, he knows me and he cares about me. This is where the words of the song particularly strike me. They say, Who am I that you are mindful of me? That you hear me when I call. Is it true that you are thinking of me? Oh, how you love me? It's amazing. I'm a friend of God. I am a friend of God, I'm a friend of God, he calls me friend. Proverbs 18 and 24 tells us there is a friend who sticks closer than any brother. That friend is Jesus. He not only wants to be your king and your savior and your lord, he wants to be your friend, he wants to be there for you and with you. And there are times when we need to just talk to him like we would talk to a friend, and let his grace and his mercy speak to us and encourage us. I'm gonna leave you with just a short clip of Israel Huton singing Friend of God. And in your show notes, there's the YouTube link where you can click on and listen to the entire song. You will enjoy it.