Second Friend Day - Elmer Towns

There were two thieves on the cross, both enduring the same suffering, both staring death
in the face. The unsaved thief wanted deliverance from where he was, the repentant thief wanted
deliverance from what he was. The unsaved thief cried out, "Save thyself and us." The repentant
thief cried out, "Remember me when thou cometh into thy kingdom. " May God give you the
desire to be delivered from what you are, rather than praying for ease of life.
As Jesus approached His last night, the Bible says, "Having loved his own which were in
the world he loved them to the end" (Jn. 13:1). When He prayed for His followers, He
specifically requested, "I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou
shouldest keep them from evil" (Jn. 17:15). Because Jesus knew all things, He knew they slept
while He interceded alone. Yet he loved them and prayed for their protection. Perhaps the
greatest expression of love, apart from Calvary, was this prayer: "Let them be in the world but
keep them from falling."
In prison, Paul didn't pray for relief. He didn't even pray for an easy time in jail. His
prayer was "For utterance that I may preach the gospel."
The early Christians, who had the hardest times, also had the best times. They were so
anointed with the Spirit that on the Day of Pentecost their accusers said they were drunk. They
lived in the best of times because they were filled with the Holy Spirit and joy. If they were
drunk, they stayed that way through the book of Acts. They outlived and outlaughed their
enemies. And the disciples' love won their enemies to Christ (Acts 6:7).
In the early days of the Salvation Army, a little boy asked, "Who are those funny-looking
people who march up and down the street singing, 'Oh, how I love Jesus?' "
"Those are people who love Jesus," the mother responded. The little boy never forgot
that love for Jesus must show in life, and Charles Sonfeldt spent 55 years in one church loving
his people.