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OUR FAVORITE FIVE Proverbs 27:19
What kind of friends do you hang around? Friends are GREAT! Friends can help you! Friends can comfort
you! Friends will do the things you like to do. Friends certainly influence you whether you realize it or not. That is why
we need to be especially careful when you choose friends, because – friends will influence. Prov. 22:24 & 25, says
"Make no friendship with an angry man, and with a furious man do not go, lest you learn his ways and set a snare for
your soul." As Christians let us look at our favorite Five Friends:
GOD- MAKE GOD YOUR FRIEND-Matthew 6:33; Matthew 7:21-23 As Christians, your First responsibility is not to yourself, Not to your Friends, but to
God. Does your Bible say in Mark 12:30 "And you shall love your Friends with all your heart, with all your soul, with
all your mind, and with all your strength"? No! Your FIRST Responsibility is "to love God with all your heart".
To love Him, to Serve Him and to follow Him - FIRST. Yes you will love your friends, but God must have the Supreme place in
all that you do. Including who you choose as friends!
It’s the fact that we interpret what we see and experience through filters. By “filters”
I mean certain ingrained perspectives through which we sift our impressions, and that dramatically affect our conclusions.
This doesn’t mean, of course, that our filters always work against us. When our assumptions are accurate, so are our
conclusions. Clear filters lead to clear perceptions. Yet too often our filters are clouded by misleading notions, which lead
us to conclusions that hit wide of the mark of reality.
This
fact has critical implications for our walk of faith. Apart from the benefit of biblical revelation, we see God through an
unfortunate filter: We instinctively think of him as our adversary, not our friend. We assume that he dislikes us and is displeased
with us; only through the most heroic effort to live an exemplary life can we possibly hope to win his favor. Even then we
fear that he is probably too busy with global concerns to take an interest in the little details of our life.
The gospel
message strongly challenges our natural assumptions about God. It declares that he loves us infinitely and takes such providential
control of our lives that whatever happens is to our benefit (Rom 8:28). It provides us with an exceedingly positive filter
for viewing God and his work in our lives.
Most
of us find that our view of God vacillates considerably. When things seem to be going well, we assume he is pleased with us
and affirming us--that he is our good friend and companion. When circumstances appear unfavorable, we assume our worst fears
are being confirmed: God doesn’t like us after all. He’s finally getting even with us and working to thwart our
plans
May God
grant us the grace to see our lives from the standpoint of grace. May the biblical message of Christ’s protection, provision,
forgiveness, and perfect love for us be the filter through which we interpret everything that happens to us. And may we have
the divine capacity to think twice whenever we suspect that God is acting against us or loves us with less than the infinite
love that Scripture promises. May we have the ability to change filters quickly whenever our view of God gets clouded by legalistic
or punitive notions.Let us strive for a view of God that
never vacillates but sees him consistently as our closest friend. Far from an aberration, Christ’s goodness to us is
an ongoing reality each split second of our lives.
MAKING A HEALTHY RELATIONSHIP WITH MYSELF-1 Thess 5:12 One of the cornerstones
of the art of living is the capacity to know and to understand ourselves in the context of our surroundings. The first
relationship that we must consider as we begin our spiritual unfolding is the relationship with ourselves.
Carnival fun houses have distorted mirrors that can make us appear taller; fatter or shorter than we really are. But
this doesn't bother us, because we know we're getting an inaccurate picture of ourselves. It's just a bit of harmless fun. Carnival mirrors illustrate
the distorted view we have of ourselves. We appear to ourselves to be far different than we really are. The Bible
says that we deceive ourselves (Gal. 6:3, 1 Cor. 3:18). What's not fun is
the fact that many of us look at ourselves through a different kind of distorted mirror. We let other people in our lives--from
parents and siblings to friends and coworkers--create a reflection of who we are, but it's rarely accurate..
What's not fun is the fact that many of us think more highly of ourselves than we ought these days through
the distorted mirror of postmodern culture. Instead of allowing Jesus Christ to change us through a relationship with
Him (Eph. 4:20-24), we allow the world (1 John 2:16),
the flesh (John 6:63) and the devil (1 John 3:8) to influence
the way we perceive ourselves. We read about ourselves in magazines and self-help books like The Purpose Driven
Life, we indulge every appetite we have to excess, and we are continually bombarded with the idea that if we just think
positively and confess what we want we will get it. To truly love yourself (the phrase "love yourself" is
not in the Bible), you need to know Jesus Christ (1 John 3:16). You will then discover
that it is not all about YOU, but about HIM.
Here are SOME biblical truths that form the basis
of a healthy self-image. - Accept
yourself. Don't chase after other people's
approval. Too much of what we do, say, buy or wear is motivated by our deep desire to be accepted by others. God accepts us
unconditionally, and in His view we are all precious and priceless. Focus on this and you will not waste any time and effort
trying to be someone you're not. Deny yourself. Don't chase after vanity. The Bible tells us that if we would have abundant life (John 10:10) we must deny ourselves and follow Christ (Luke 9:23) by taking up our cross and following him to death. God only accepts us on the basis of our belief in (Rom. 10:9) and relationship to (John 14:23) His Son Jesus Christ (Acts 4:12), Who He sent to die (1 John 4:10) to pay the penalty (Rev. 5:9) of death (Rom. 6:23) for our sins (Rom. 3:23). God does NOT accept us outside of His Son (John 14:6). When we are in Christ we become "precious and priceless". God loves all people He has created so
much that He sent His only Son (John 3:16) to die as the only sacrifice (Heb. 10:12) of forgiveness possible (Col. 1:14, Acts 4:12), but God hates wickedness (Ps. 97:10, Is. 61:8, Mal. 2:16, Prov. 6:16-19), and only those who turn away from wickedness (2 Tim. 2:19), repent (Acts 3:19) and accept the Lord Jesus Christ (Rom. 10:9) as their Savior (John 4:42, 1 Tim. 4:10) will be called "children of God" (John 1:12).
- Love yourself. "The mountains and hills may crumble, but my love for you
will never end," says the Lord. God is not fickle and He does not have grouchy days. A man asked his wife, "When
was the first time you remember really feeling loved by God?" She said it was more than 25 years ago, when their marriage
was falling apart and they decided to get counseling. After they got home from a particularly painful session, she lay down
on their bed in the dark, praying. In that moment of deep distress and self-doubt, she focused on God and was overwhelmed
with the feeling that "God really does love me--without strings attached!" It was a breakthrough to freedom for
her, and for our marriage. Love Jesus Christ.
God said in reference to His chosen people Israel "Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing
love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed," says the LORD, who has compassion on you."
(Isaiah 54:10 NIV) So this has little to do with the Gentile readership of Ladies Home Journal. But moving on
... God is not fickle and He does not have "grouchy days" but God is a righteous judge and will send those people
who are "lovers of themselves" (2 Tim. 3:1-9) to judgment (Rom. 2:5) and hell (Rev. 21:8). Where is the concept of "feeling loved" mentioned in the Bible? The answer is nowhere. God
has given us the ability to feel, but our feelings can be misled by ourselves, others, the world, and the enemy. To
base a relationship with the Lord on how you "feel" is totally subjective, and provides an opening for the devil
to deceive. The enemy does not deceive with bad things, but with "good" things including "good"
feelings (2 Cor. 11:14). God does love world (John 3:16), but the world is judged (John 12:31, 1 Cor. 11:32). God loves people (Matt. 18:14), but they are on their way to judgment without hope (Rom. 1:20, Rom. 3:23, Rom. 5:12). God has many creatures (Gen. 1:1-2:25), but the only people who can call God "Father" (Gal. 4:6) are those who are saved by His Son and have a personal relationship with Him (Titus 3:7). There can be no "breakthrough" without you allowing the conviction of the Holy Spirit (John 16:8) through the Word of God (2 Tim. 3:16) and the Gospel preached (Rom. 10:14) to break your hard heart (Heb. 4:7) so that you confess you are a sinner (1 John 1:9). You must repent of your sins (2 Tim. 2:19) and turn to the Lord Jesus Christ to experience sonship (Rom. 8:15).
- Be true to yourself.
Accept and enjoy your "shape,' and by that I'm talking about far more than the contours of your physical body--although
you should rejoice in those too. To get to know yourself, make a list of your abilities and be as honest as you can. Ask friends
for their input too. Then consider your heart--what you love to do--as well as the strengths and weaknesses of your personality.
Don't deny your weaknesses; we all have a bundle of them. Be content with them. Be true to Jesus Christ. Accept and enjoy a new life in Christ (Rom. 6:4) when you become one of His children (1 John 3:1). He will lift you up (James 4:10). He foreknew everyone who would be true to Jesus Christ (2 John 1:9) and because of that they are predestined, called, justified, and glorified (Rom. 8:29-30). Get to know Jesus Christ (John 17:3, 2 Pet. 3:18). Let God who created your gifts and abilities (James 1:17) use them (Ps. 100:1-5), but more importantly He gives you spiritual gifts as well (1 Cor. 14:12). These are to be used to build up others, not spend them on your vanity. We are weak, but the Lord is strong
(2 Cor. 12:9-10). But we are not to be content in our weakness (sins), but strive through Christ to live holy lives (1 Thess. 4:7, 2 Tim. 1:9). No one can do this without being born again (John 3:3).
- Forgive yourself.
God doesn't expect perfection, but He does insist on honesty. When I honestly
admit my errors and ask forgiveness in faith, He doesn't hold a grudge, doesn't get even and doesn't bring it up again. We
should practice such a forgiving attitude with ourselves. Forgive others as God forgives you. God is perfection (Ps. 18:30, James 1:17). We are sinners (Rom. 5:12). But God expects believers to come to unity in the Faith (Eph. 4:13), to believe what is right according to the Word of God (Titus 1:9, 1 Pet. 1:23). God expects honesty (Eph. 4:15, Rev. 21:8). For a teacher like Rick Warren to have "honesty" as a "Christian" he would need to deal with
the issue of sin. But he does not. The only basis for wiping a person's slate clean of sins, again, is the blood
of Christ (Heb. 10:19) shed substitutionally on our behalf. We must confess our sins (1 John 4:9) and believe that only Jesus Christ can save us (Eph. 1:13). THEN ... God will not not "hold a grudge" but will remove our sins as far as the east is from the west
(Ps. 103:11-12). Jesus Christ has forgiven those who believe in Him (1 John 2:12). We in turn need to forgive others (Luke 11:4, Col. 3:13) . There is no mention about "forgiving ourselves" in the Bible. How can a guilty person forgive themselves?
- Believe in yourself. What causes a gnawing sense of insecurity and feelings of incompetence?
It's because people are still listening to old tapes from their past and acting on statements made years ago that weren't
true even then. How do you reverse this? Start affirming the truth about yourself! The truth is God has created you with talents,
abilities, personality and background in a combination that is uniquely you. Believe in Jesus Christ. What causes us to be plagued with pride and self-absorption?
It is because they are not listening to the prompting of the Holy Spirit (John 16:8), they are not reading God's Word (2 Tim. 2:15), but instead are completely caught up in the "me" culture that is in the world and in the churches thanks to people
like Rick Warren (Rom. 6:18). How do you reverse this? By coming to know the truth about yourself as a sinner (1 John 1:8), the truth about Jesus Christ as the God-man (Phil. 2:6-11), the truth about the world (John 14:17), flesh (John 6:63) and the devil (John 8:44), the truth about heaven (Heb. 12:23) and hell (2 Pet. 2:4-9). You can "affirm" and positively confess yourself all the way to perdition. But what good will it
do you in the end (Jer. 5:31)? The truth is that God has created you to come to the point where you bow your knee to the Lord Jesus Christ (Phil. 2:6-11) and make Him the Lord of your life (Luke 4:8) INSTEAD OF YOURSELF. You can bow now or be forced to bow before you are sentenced to the lake of fire (Rom. 14:11).
It's your choice. You can believe what others say about you, or you can
believe in yourself as does God, who says you are truly acceptable, lovable, valuable and capable.It's your choice (Joshua 24:15). All good attributes of a true believer originate with God. No man can be truly acceptable to God (1 Pet. 2:5), loved by God (1 Thes. 1:4), valuable in God's Kingdom (1 Tim. 4:8), or capable of love (1 John 4:7) without Jesus Christ (Phil. 3:8).
HAVE A GOOD RELATIONSHIP WITH
YOUR FAMILY Proverbs 24:3, Joshua 25:15 A family unit is a very important unit for anyone. People live almost
all of their lives with their families. Even if they do not spend lots of time together, still in most societies the culture
binds them with each other. A family basically is a domestic group. These people are related to each other by blood ties.
They usually share their surname. Wherever you go in this world, the family unit exits.
Family
ties are very important. Your family life will be able to shape you as a person. What to become in the future is very much
dependent on your family life. It is a common observation that those people who have a sound family life are more confident
and aggressive. Their attitude towards life is better and their drive is positive. These factors are all developed by a peaceful
family life. When a person knows that he or she has his or her parents and the siblings with him and he is not alone in this
harsh experience of life, it becomes easier to bear all the pain. As these people face the rough and tough of life together,
they are able to understand each other in a better way. These people are there to comfort each other in the time of need.
This strength is very important to people. Knowing that even if you are in trouble and you are facing some rough times, there
are people who care about you and who love you unconditionally whatever happens is a big consolation. Those people who belong
to such protected environments are always brave when it comes to facing the difficulties of life.
The family life is one major factor which affects your personality. It is your family life
and your experiences with your family which make you strong as a person. Those people who have a troubled childhood because
their parents separate or divorce or one of them dies are always a bit more complex as compared to the other people who have
had a normal family life. The children of those parents who leave each other for good are not that confident. Some of those
kids may be very aggressive. These people generally do not trust other people. They believe that the entire world is out there
to harm them and there is no protection for them in this world. This weakness basically is due to the fact that they have
experienced a broken family in the early childhood.
Stories of Christian leaders who neglected their families
in order to concentrate on ministry activities are legion. Paul, writing to Timothy, had this to say about the priority families
ought to play in the life of the believer: “But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of
his household, he has denied the faith, and is worse than an unbeliever” (1 Timothy 5:8). This is a very strong admonition.
The context of this verse is not limited to financial support alone but extends to emotional support, counsel, companionship
and other aspects of support that a believer should afford those under his or her watchcare. It is interesting to observe
the example of the Lord Jesus in this regard.
The Apostle John tells us that as Jesus hung on the cross dying for the sins
of mankind, He instructed John to assume responsibility for His mother, “When Jesus therefore saw His mother, and the
disciple whom He loved standing nearby, He said to His mother, ‘Woman, behold, your son!’ Then He said to the
disciple, ‘Behold, your mother!’ And from that hour the disciple took her into his own household” (John
19:26-27).
For
the believer, the family should follow one’s relationship with God in terms of importance. If you are married, your
spouse should come before anything else in your life apart from your relationship with Christ. Ephesians 5:22-25 describes
the important roles husbands and wives are to fulfill in the marriage relationship. Children are a gift from the Lord—a
trust. Children are individuals the Lord has put in our lives to lead to Him and to nurture as disciples of the faith. Some
of the most distressing passages in the Bible are those that tell of godly men whose children did not follow God—men
such as Eli (1 Samuel 3:13), Samuel (1 Samuel 8:5), Hezekiah (2 Kings 21:2), Josiah (2 Kings 23:32) and David (2 Samuel 13-19).
The unbelieving world is impressed by families that “have it together”—not families that are perfect,
because there are no perfect families, but families in which the parents love and spend time with the children and in which
the children obey and respect their parents. Studies suggest that the average American father spends 37 seconds a day with
his children, an average of 2.7 daily encounters of ten to fifteen seconds (Morley, The Man in the Mirror, Thomas Nelson,
1992, p. 91). How could this happen if children were a top priority for dads and moms? A strong Christian family is a powerful
testimony to the unbelieving world that there is something to Christianity that merits investigation.
SMALL GROUPS- ECCLESSIASTES 4:12, PROVERBS 27:1
The purpose of our Small Group Ministry is to connect people in groups of biblical community
so they can follow Jesus together. Christians should be in a place where no one stands alone – a place where people
are connected and growing together.
A Small Group is a group of people who come together on a regular basis for a common
purpose and affinity, and are led by an identified leader who is assisting them in their progress toward Christ-likeness by
intentionally providing an environment for connection, community, and spiritual transformation.
In God’s family, everyone is important and each individual has something
unique to contribute to the life and growth of the church. That’s why, as the church continues to grow larger,
we should also committed to growing smaller. This insures that no matter how large the church body grows, every single
person will have the opportunity to build meaningful relationships, grow spiritually, and use their unique spiritual gifts
and talents to minister to others and build up the body of Christ. The book of Acts is very clear about how God intends for his people to grow and have
their needs met in the church. We will never be able to hire enough professional pastors to meet all the individual
needs of our family, and God never intended for it to be that way!
MY CIRCLE OF FRIENDS- Acts 16:31, Jeremiah 15:19,
Matthew 5:16 The thing about friends is that we learn each other's ways.
You pick up each other's habits, and sayings, likes and dislikes. Think of the clothes you wear and the little sayings you
have. Think of attitudes and likes and dislikes. Have friends influenced you in any of these areas? Yes, of course they can
and do influence you! That's why it's so important to have godly friends! You'll develop godly habits by following
them and spending time with them. Yet, quite the opposite is true if your friends are ungodly and don't care about pleasing
God.
Ponder the following truths from our Lord: 1Cor. 15:33, "Do not be deceived: Evil company
corrupts good habits." God's word says - evil friends, ungodly friends will corrupt you. Perhaps, some of us have already
experienced this. Friends have led us down the wrong path! Friends have influenced us to do wrong, to Sin! "But they
are my best friend" you say! "But I really like them!" "But they're really good looking!" Have
you ever prayed to God,"Lord, what do you think of my friends? Please lead me toward friends that will encourage me to
be closer to You God.
You need to choose friends that will lead you CLOSER to God. God warns us in Prov. 13:20 "He who walks with wise men will be
wise, But the companion of fools will be destroyed." Prov. 27:6 Faithful are the wounds of afriend, But the kisses of
an enemy are deceitful. A godly friend is going to warn you when he sees you going astray. A godly friend will really love
you enough to point out your sin. A godly friend will be concerned about your walk with God. A godly friend will encourage
you to be godly! A godly friend will encourage you to be faithful to God. Remember this, your goal as a Christian is
to become more and more like Jesus Christ. So choose friends that will help you toward that Goal.
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