God Running is a place for anyone who wants to (or even anyone who wants to want to) love Jesus more deeply, follow Jesus more closely, and love people the way Jesus wants us to.

In our last post from the book of Acts we saw how Paul, under the leadership of the Holy Spirit, avoided conflict by choosing a route that was out of his way geographically. And we looked at some of the instances where Jesus avoided conflict. And we saw what that means for you and for me. If you’re interested you can learn more here: “How to Avoid Becoming a Christian Doormat–Acts 20:3-4”.

In today’s post we’ll talk about the company Paul chose to keep.

Acts 20:3-4

There he spent three months, and when a plot was made against him by the Jews as he was about to set sail for Syria, he decided to return through Macedonia. Sopater the Berean, son of Pyrrhus, accompanied him; and of the Thessalonians, Aristarchus and Secundus; and Gaius of Derbe, and Timothy; and the Asians, Tychicus and Trophimus.

Acts 20:3-4

I find this interesting how the names of Paul’s friends who accompanied him on his trip are listed specifically: “Sopater the Berean, son of Pyrrhus, accompanied him; and of the Thessalonians, Aristarchus and Secundus; and Gaius of Derbe, and Timothy; and the Asians, Tychicus and Trophimus.”

And I think it speaks to how Paul modeled his choice of friends after Jesus.

Jesus’ Friends

This segment includes content from the book Love Like Jesus: How Jesus Loved People (and how you can love like Jesus).

In these days he went out to the mountain to pray, and all night he continued in prayer to God. And when day came, he called his disciples and chose from them twelve, whom he named apostles: Simon, whom he named Peter, and Andrew his brother, and James and John, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon who was called the Zealot, and Judas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.

Luke 6:12-16

We know their names. We know the twelve. We know the apostles: Simon-Peter, Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James, Simon the Zealot, Judas the son of James, and, finally, Judas Isacariot the one who would betray Jesus.

But how were they chosen? How did Jesus decide with whom he would spend the next three years of his life?

We see the answer in Luke 6:12-16. Jesus “went out to the mountain to pray, and all night he continued in prayer to God.”

Jesus was so deliberate about who he chose to surround himself with! He went off to a place where he could be alone and undisturbed. And there in this quiet place Jesus stayed up all night praying about his decision!

I would wager anything, Paul did something similar. I believe the seven men we see named in today’s text, Sopater, Aristarchus, Secundus, Gaius, Timothy, Tychicus, and Trophimus were chosen in a very prayerful and intentional manner.

Your Friends and My Friends

I saw a commercial the other day and at the end of the commercial they said:

“People are good for you.”

I believe that’s partially true. But I think a much more accurate statement is:

“A specific sort of people are good for you.”

And those people have these traits:

1) They love Jesus with a deep abiding love and they’re passionate about following him closely.

2) Their faces light up when they see you.

3) They have gratitude toward God.

4) They khesed like Jesus. (To learn more about the word khesed read “Khesed Like Jesus”.)

5) They’re enthusiastic about receiving correction when their behavior is inconsistent with the character of Christ.

Jesus’ closest friends and Paul’s closest friends all had those attributes.

The older I become the more I realize the importance of how Jesus and Paul chose their friends. And the more I realize the importance of how intimate they were with each other: doing ministry together, living together, traveling together.

If you’re wondering why you’re not experiencing the joyful life Jesus said he wants for us, I think there’s a good chance it’s because you haven’t done what Jesus did and what Paul did. (see John 15:11)

The difference it makes is absolutely enormous!

I’m experiencing that difference right now. The contrast is especially evident after the three year period of relative isolation due to COVID.

Life is so much better if we’ll only do this:

Very prayerfully and intentionally ask our Father who He wants you to surround yourself with.

Intentionally seek out groups who have the 5 attributes described above.

Connect yourself with one or more of these groups of people.

Faithfully continue to be with these people regularly.

Watch what God does in your life.

“If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.”

Jesus Christ, John 13:17

Notes:

Image of people serving together in a soup kitchen via picryl–public domain

Available on Amazon! Love Like Jesus: How Jesus Loved People (and how you can love like Jesus) Love Like Jesus begins with the story of how after a life of regular church attendance and Bible study, Bennett was challenged by a pastor to study Jesus. That led to an obsessive seven year deep dive. After pouring over Jesus’ every interaction with another human being, he realized he was doing a much better job of studying Jesus’ words than he was following Jesus’ words and example. The honest and fearless revelations of Bennett’s own moral failures affirm he wrote this book for himself as much as for others. Love Like Jesus examines a variety of stories, examples, and research, including:

• Specific examples of how Jesus communicated God’s love to others.
• How Jesus demonstrated all five of Gary Chapman’s love languages (and how you can too).
• The story of how Billy Graham extended Christ’s extraordinary love and grace toward a man who misrepresented Jesus to millions.
• How to respond to critics the way Jesus did.
• How to love unlovable people the way Jesus did.
• How to survive a life of loving like Jesus (or how not to become a Christian doormat).
• How Jesus didn’t love everyone the same (and why you shouldn’t either).
• How Jesus guarded his heart by taking care of himself–he even napped–and why you should do the same.
• How Jesus loved his betrayer Judas, even to the very end.

With genuine unfiltered honesty, Love Like Jesus, shows you how to live a life according to God’s definition of success: A life of loving God well, and loving the people around you well too.

A life of loving like Jesus. (Kindle, hardcover, and paperback now available on Amazon.)