“Why Care”

 

“God is strong and can help you not to fail” Jude 24a

 

How many of you can ride a bike? Riding a bike is a lot of fun and great exercise for kids. Most of us learn with training wheels between the ages of three and eight. I hate to admit this but I didn’t learn to ride a bike until my freshman year in College. I had those grown up-fears and nerves that my peers would find out my secret. However, so in the dead of night, learned how to ride a bike. I was undaunted by those failures because I possessed the child like faith that pointed to the training wheels needed that does not question whether God will show up and aid me. You see God’s help is like training wheels. When we think something bad will happen, God will be there to help us. When we get older, we still need God. God always acts like a pair of training wheels. He’s there to hold us up when we think we’re going to fall.

 

“I walk in the way of righteousness, in the paths of justice, “Proverbs 8:20

 

The above scripture says, Jesus leads in the way of righteousness--

An eager leader, “Lady Wisdom”, will take you through life. This trailblazer

 never fails. Every follower has had a successful life. How expensive is she? Free! Hear her offer (Pr 1:20-23; 9:1-5) The only cost is to trade in your foolish notions and apply a little effort to find and accept 

If you follow, you will find the way of righteousness – doing what is right in God’s sight. You will learn the paths of judgment – discerning things prudently and responding correctly and fairly.

 

Lately I’ve pressed my inner self to really examine my motivations of thinking of that causes me/us to act in a certain way and ponder out loud,” Why Care”. Discussions of spiritual and faith have always been exciting and stimulating for me but at times I wonder, Is following god a risk? Is going with the crowd, safe? How is your conformity and rewards for rebellion? You see our mixed-up world sometimes can lead, dictate us toward playing it safe, what we view, read or how to fit in. What’s the point of faith based, “Training Wheels”?

 

Obeying god can often feel risky. Do you ever think giving up what this world holds dear appears to be too much and costly? Are you hungry? Not physically hungry, but do you have a hunger for something more in life? At some point we must be willing and bold enough to proclaim the message of salvation through Jesus Christ to the world. Do you ever feel like you are locked out of life? Have you tried so many doors, only to find that what is behind them is empty and meaningless? Are you looking for an entrance into a fulfilling life? If so, Jesus is the way of salvation! Jesus declared, “I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. He will come in and go out, and find pasture” John 10:9. 

 

“Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. For our God is a consuming fire.” Hebrews 12:28-29

 

As we begin growing in faith, God often gives us training wheels. We lean into community with other Christians, we study the Bible, and we learn to pray. In time, we learn to hear God’s voice and listen for his direction. As we learn to go to God for everything, we learn to rely on following where he leads. At some point, though, he wants us to take off the training wheels and learn to use what we’ve learned.

Jesus is the way! Jesus said, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty” John 6:35. 
god offers one way of salvation.

Well, sometimes we forget and do you wonder why we stopped riding? Are you tired of living your life for things that only rot or rust? Do you sometimes doubt whether life has any meaning? Do you want to live after you die? If so, Jesus is the way of salvation! Jesus declared, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die” John 11:25-26.

What is the way? What is the truth? What is the life? Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” John 14:6.

The hunger that you feel is a spiritual hunger, and can only be filled by Jesus. Jesus is the only one who can lift the darkness. Jesus is the door to a satisfying life. Jesus is the friend and shepherd that you have been looking for. Jesus is the life—in this world and the next. Jesus is the way of salvation!

How can this problem be solved? I remember the day a moment God helped me with that kind of faith training wheels, more clearly than I remember learning to ride a bike. I’d just come through a very dark season in my life. One where I’d had to rely on God to illuminate each next step in my path. A season where the path forward was so shrouded in uncertainty I didn’t know where to step, except to pray and listen intently for his response. 

 

That night, before I could even form the question in my prayer, I heard God whisper, “You already know the answer.” With that my mentor/tutor invited me to join him in reading daily scripture. This invitation became a lifelong course; one I knew would require a significant investment of my time. I was torn about signing up and asked him, Why do You Care! His reply was, “I Love You and those who have faith are blessed” Galatians 3:9. Wow, that is when we turned to 2 Corinthians 5:21

 

Why Care? Jesus answered that question Himself: “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends” John 15:13. God will show up for you in your trials and in your triumphs, you are strengthened for the next time you face adversity because you are His and you are precious to Him. So, let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be strong in character and ready for anything

 

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” John 3:16. 

 

God Bless You And This Ministry!

 

“Smooth Jazz, like a Poem”

Wide open words, like a “Poem”. Why? Because poetry requires careful focus on individual word as well with mindful analyses of competing actions. A clue, focus on the moment, be mindful, loving authentic and honest with the question, So, what is the breath of God?

 

‘What are you doing for others?’ This question makes me think of the means by which we live today are so out distanced to the spiritual ends for which we should live.  Finding ourselves caught up in a messed-up world for a cast your vote battle, centered on a narrative of “self-love” helping to disguise hate, and that is the basis of the problem. 

 

“But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, Luke 6:27

 

Despite what we might feel, the political and cultural chaos that engulfs us, in my opinion, gives us an opportunity to champion the Kingdom of God in this time and in this place. Instead of ‘Through’ our particular “man talent bias speech” we’ve made of the world, a neighborhood at odds.

 

 Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: Isaiah 6:5 saw his sinfulness, and the sinfulness of his people, mainly in terms of sinful speech. Is it through our moral and spiritual genius we’ve failed to make of it a spiritual brotherhood? Is that You? Jesus said He would send the Spirit to us to be our Helper, Comforter, and Guide. Lord, I pray, “How we do need to receive the Holy Spirit”? 

 

We receive the Holy Spirit by simply receiving the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior! The seal of salvation for all those who believe: “Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.”

 

Of all the gifts given to mankind by God, there is none greater than the presence of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit has many functions, roles, and activities. First, He does a work in the hearts of all people everywhere. The Spirit applies the truths of God to minds of men to convince them by fair and sufficient arguments that they are sinners. Responding to that conviction brings men to salvation. Ephesians 2:10 

Genuine salvation is entirely of God and it inevitably results in a life of good works.

You've seen them out there. They stand on the corner across from the football stadium on Saturday nights or Sunday afternoon. Almost like a guardian they plunk down on the sidewalk with their sign labeled with John 3:16, “perhaps the most famous bible verse, but also perhaps one of the least understood” yelling out to those who parade the street at night. But what are they doing there? Step forward and talk to them and you'll realize they aren't protesting anything - in fact it's the opposite. These men are just trying to tell everyone about the love of Jesus Christ. If you observe long enough the soulfully concealed chaperon indwelling Spirit will give evidence of new life by producing the fruit of the Spirit in the believer’s life Galatian 5:22-23. What is your journey of “Purpose” with the help of our Lord? 

 “A call for unity among God’s people”. This is my cry, “How will God communicate those provisions"? Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.  Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. Ephesians 4:2-3

 

The above scripture signifies a humble, forgiving attitude towards each other naturally which helps to fulfill this gift of the unity of the spirit. God never commands us to create unity among believers. He has created it by His Spirit, our duty is to recognize it and keep it. It is evident in the quick fellowship possible among Christians of different races, nationalities, languages, and economic classes. Human beings are fallible. No one gets it right 100 percent of the time. The wisest and most godly among us are still subject to human error. We set ourselves up for disappointment and often disaster when we build our lives or ministries based upon the counsel of just one person or the worldly bias media. It is good to submerge ourselves with the trusted adviser, the holy spirit. 

 

 What you will find starting to happen to you is that words or revelations coming from the Holy Spirit will “jump” at you, I use to call this my play “invisible ball”. My mature mind, today, says it’s the Holy Spirit “quickening” these words to you in order to help give you His knowledge, wisdom based on truth in-which you have been searching for action.

 

“without counsel, plans go awry, but in the multitude of counselors they are established.” Proverbs 15:22

 

The Holy Spirit the third person of the Trinity made of God the father and his son Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit is difficult enough to teach to adults, teaching about his nature and work to children is that much more difficult. Sometimes games can help illustrate a truth that hours of teaching cannot. 

 

As a former Sunday School teacher, I would play the pretend, invisible ball game. I would convince them to look into the clear blue sky and imagine; that I was holding an invisible ball in one hand and a big bag in the other hand. I would Hold out my empty hand, slightly cupped in their view. It’s beautiful? What? You have some doubt that I have an invisible ball! Well, how can I show you? I know, I’ll throw the ball into the air and catch it in the bag. As I throw the ball into the air.  I Follow it with my eyes. As the ball lands in the bag, I would snap my fingers with the bag held between my thumb and fingers. It sounds like something is falling into the bag. Did you hear it? It’s a heavy, invisible ball. Let’s do it again. After doing this several times, each time tossing the ball higher in the air, following it with my eyes until it falls into the bag. Even bouncing the ball off of a wall with so much enthusiasm and imagination. Giving the ball to one of the children to throw at me, they quickly get into the game. That’s an amazing ball, isn’t it? You can’t see it, but you know it’s there by what it does. Wow, “The Power of God-Given time and imagination”!!

 

When you accept Christ as your Savior Romans 10:9-13 the Holy Spirit takes up residence in your heart, bringing with Him an entirely new life of love, relationship, and service to the Lord, that’s what the Holy Spirit is like. We can’t see the Holy Spirit, yet we know what the Holy Spirit does. The Spirit causes faith to grow in us. Galatians 5:22-23 says, “But the Spirit gives love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.” Even though we can’t see the Holy Spirit, we know the Holy Spirit works among us by what we see, hear and know in our hearts.

 

God Bless You And This Ministry!

 

 

  

My dialogue, “Love”?

 “I give you a new command: Love each other. You must love each other as I have loved you”. John 13:34

 So today, during this political divide can we define what is love? When Christians love political power more than people, division is created instead of unity. We refuse to see everyone as made in God’s image and divinely loved, and categorize them based upon their race, religion, and creed.  I say, tis the season to celebrate love for all. Every year when Valentine's Day comes around, most of us focus on romantic love.   But when you stop to think about it, there are many levels and types of love: We love our spouse, families, friends, pets, career or even love warm nights. 

How many of you remember a song, poems, novel or movie in which starry-eyed love becomes one of the most enduring focus that touches your heart for an illustrative life time. It is a complex mixture of emotions, behaviors that’s based on something seen. Maybe, what we can’t touch? My first thought is, it’s a willingness to trust in, to rely on and to cling to… “self-love, loving self”? whereas the world’s love is characterized by selfishness. 

 

I use to cling to the game of,” Mother may I”. I loved that simple game. The person who plays the part of the mother tells you to do something. Then you have to do it. It sounds simple? But if you don’t say, “Mother, may I?” you’re out of the game. Image giving a series of commands such as “jump up”, “sit down,” “sit down”, “scratch your blank” and shake hands with four people during this slowly at first then faster and faster. If you forget to say, “mother may I” you’re out of the game. That’s a hard game, isn’t it? We get going so fast we forget to ask, “Mother, may I?”

 

It’s was the same for me as a Christian that coexisted as a football coach. At the time, I didn’t know the formal way to express my "philia" which is friendship, and divine love which is known as "agape" to my football players. Love can be a challenge to define at the level of how a person experience it. Love can involve personal affection, sexual attraction, platonic admiration, brotherly loyalty, benevolent concern, or worshipful adoration. To accurately answer the question “what is love?” we need to go to the beginning of love. The Bible tells us that love originates in God. 

 

“Love is patient, love is kind. 

It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.” 1 Corinthians 13:4-5

 

How could I to put into action, “Mother may I” and lead my team with biblical love without being viewed as a strange oddity. My decision to employ a Christian biblical life as a football coach with God’s leading at the time challenged me to be more actively engage in helping others along the way. The first day of meetings with my players, with no gimmicks or coaching quotes, I asked them simply, like the game, “Mother may I” What is my role as your Coach? 

 

Some of their response:

 

·      Coaching Games.

• Coaching Training Sessions.
• Leading the team to state.
• Leading the Team to win.
• Managing a Performance Environment to get a scholarship.

·      Leadership and attain their individual goals.

·      Inspire

 

I said to them, “all are great attributes of a Coach's responsibilities” But my role is to Love you! "It's not about me." It’s about You! Some of the kids used, “weird”,” strange”,” creepy “and even your odd coach. But the more I said it every day at the end of practice it started to sink in like, “mother may I”, To love You! I even added, what is your role? Immediately they said to love each other! 

 

I've been telling my players, coworkers, friends, people who I advised, trained, or counseled that attitude of love ever since, “my purpose of life is to serve and love you”! 

 

When Jesus talked to his disciples, he gave a simple command. Jesus said, “Love each other.” Period. You don’t have to jump up or sit down or scratch you know what or shake hands with people. All you do is love each other.

 

That sounds simple, doesn’t it? Well, it isn’t. In fact, sometimes that commandment is hard because some people are hard to love. And because we’re sinners, we aren’t able to love the way Jesus loves. But, when Jesus says “love,” and you ask, “Jesus may I?” Jesus will give you the power of the Holy Spirit to love just as he loves. So, this week and beyond, love others just as Jesus wants us to. And ask him to help you do it. Now I say, “as we join Jesus on his mission”. You will ask, “Mother, may I?” Yes, you may! Go in Jesus love!

 

No matter the choice, it is important to remember that "he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus" Philippians 1:6. Jesus said we are to love as He loved us, so how did He love? “But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” Romans 5:8. Romans 12:1-2 says, “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. 

 

Remember, God receive glory when we serve? The transforming power of Jesus Christ is on display in the lives of those who have traded selfishness for selflessness. We love others based on God’s abiding love for us in Christ. In response to this love, we share it with all whom we come in contact with—our “neighbors.” Someone who is worried that he doesn’t love himself enough has the wrong focus. His concern, biblically, should be his love for God and his love for his neighbor. “Self” is something we want out of the way so that we can love outwardly as we ought. And that difference in our lives causes people to examine the life-changing nature of a relationship with Jesus Christ. It validates our faith in front of others.

 

“Love God more than anything, and love others sincerely”. Mark 12:30-31. At the judgment seat of Christ, those who are faithful to the Lord who saved them will hear those words, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” No true servant of the Lord could ask for more.

 

God Bless You and This Ministry!

 

 

“Carol Character”

  

“Let’s come to him with thanksgiving. Let’s sing songs to him” Psalm 95:2

 Let us sing to the LORD Psalm 95:2 says.  It first mentions honoring God with song and doing so in community. Singing is not the only way to give honor and worship to God, but it is a chief and important way. Also, importantly, the exhortation is let us sing – that it should be done with the community of God’s people.

 

Today I’m in a dandelion notion as a sinful child of God. There are times in my “I” searching in vain to find my being as a human, some of the compassion our creator has, believing that we are just and that our indignation is righteous. I simply refuse to forgive “self”, as I response, overlooking enough to wrong the dandelion in my life. Ah as I ponder, What is a good heart? Is it essential as a part of our Christian life? Denying yourself before seeking the good of others before looking out for yourself. 1Corinthians 10:24

When I lived in Colorado I looked forward to walking past different neighbor’s houses. One particular neighbor kept his lawn perfectly mowed, with blooming flowers and healthy, shady trees. It was obvious that the neighbor worked hard to have a beautiful lawn. But one day as I was walking past my neighbor’s house, I noticed in the middle of this beautiful lawn one enormous yellow dandelion. It looked so out of place that it surprised me. Why didn’t his neighbor pull it out? Couldn’t he see it? Of course, it’s just one dandelion. And some people think dandelions are weeds. They pull them up from their lawns and throw them away. Dandelions are everywhere. And since we get used to them, we forget how reasonably unattractive they are. Dandelions remind us that conclusion is over and start is here. 

 But this dandelion bothered me so much that I wanted to do something about it out of blind metaphoric obliviousness. Should I go back and spray it with weed killer? Perhaps if I went at night, I could remove it secretly. The dandelion was on my mind as I approached my home. Walking into my house without even glancing at my own front yard—which was covered with hundreds of yellow dandelions! Is my ignorance, an adequate excuse for sin or misdeeds?" Are we, teachable, are we ready to learn?

 

“The prudent person sees trouble ahead and hides, but the naïve continue on and suffer the consequences” Proverbs 22:3

 

If by “excuse” we mean that because of our ignorance God will overlook our wrongs, then there are no adequate excuses for wrongdoing.

God commands us to repent of our ignorance and seek Him with all our hearts Acts 17:30; Jeremiah 29:13. The opposite of spiritual ignorance is wisdom, and we are told to seek wisdom above all things Proverbs 3:13-18. Fortunately, wisdom is readily accessible; the book of Proverbs personifies wisdom as a noble lady who is calling out to all publicly: “To you, O people, I call out; I raise my voice to all mankind. You who are simple, gain prudence; you who are foolish, set your hearts on it” Proverbs 8:4-5. Every time the Bible commands us to “listen” or to “hear,” God is giving us a chance to trade ignorance for His wisdom.

 

 

 When Adam and Eve were first created, they did nothing that was contrary to the perfection of God Genesis 1:27-31. They were created in a perfect state and remained flawless until they gave in to temptation Genesis 3:6-7. It could be argued that, having never seen death, they were somewhat ignorant about the severity of sin’s consequences. But that did not excuse their sin.

 

I’m not sure why we are able to tell people how to fix their problems so well, while we often have difficulty seeing our own. But we need to see ourselves clearly. We must approach our Heavenly Father with teachable minds. We must be willing to learn and change. As we do so, God will lead us by the hand. God gives us so many good things. But since these good things are around us all the time, we sometimes forget about them especially during times of trial. I know I do and sometimes the toughest and most discouraging trials are when we are called to obey God’s will when the fulfillment of His promise seems so far away. This is why we need endurance. Often, we forget to thank God for things like this the food on the table, the clothes we wear and the home we live in with the weeds. We expect these things to be there-just like the dandelions-and we forget to sing songs to him. Faithfulness during the time when the promise seems unfulfilled is the measure of your obedience and spiritual maturity.

 

It’s  good to give thanks to God he is our Father, and He loves His children Romans 8:15. He does not delight in punishing us but in conforming us into the image of His Son Romans 8:29. He does not tolerate excuses, including the excuse of ignorance; rather, He gives us opportunities to learn from our consequences so that we make better choices. He knows what each of us has been given and holds us responsible for what we do with it Matthew 13:11-12; Acts 17:30. We’ve all committed sins in ignorance, but God does not leave us ignorant 1 Peter 1:14. He has given us His Word to show us how to live, and He expects us to apply it to our lives and seek holiness, “without which no one will see the Lord”. Hebrews 12:14

 

“He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” If ignorance does not excuse fault, then feigned ignorance is even worse.

 

God Bless You And This Ministry!

 

 

 

 

“I have a Pray Zoom at 10:00”

  

 

Lately, I’ve been thinking about, "What We Will Do to Hold American Together"

In our, “of this world age” the battle rages not only over the question of religion, politics and cornavirus in our public life. The very concept of faith is under attack. Sarcasm and unbelief mock faith and the sacrifices it brings forth. Yet no nation can long endure if it does not have among its people a deep reservoir of faith in all its forms knowing the truth that God is always there. But with in the dark tears, it seems you just don’t want to know. What is your song of prayer for America?

 

Psalm 91 is a protection Scripture that believers have turned to for thousands of years whenever there is danger. As the Times of Trouble are upon us, the prayer of Psalm 91 is comforting and effective when prayed from the heart by those who love God and are in relationship with Him.

 

When a trial or hardship occur and problems erupt from every angle. Hearts are broken. Emotions are all over the map. Self-worth and confidence plummet. Fears take root about what the future will look like. As a child, I would often say, “will I cope of being alone, I need my mother”. Every seemingly unanswered prayer request — laced with tears and repetitive requests of my needs, big and small — personified my fears that God wasn’t hearing or singing my prayers and pleas.  I certainly didn’t have the power to change anything, no matter how hard I tried. This is when I would say to myself, “when thrown against the wall of hard times will I be a tennis ball or an egg. One cracks one bounce back, which one will you be”. How bright is your prayer light? 

 

The longer time passed and prayers went unanswered, I began to feel those problems were just impossible for even God to fix. I secretly resolved to believe some of my prayer requests were simply unanswerable. 

 

Ambiguous, unresolvable Cry:

 

So, you have hours of darkness pain many nights.

Sobbing so many hours.

Seeking to make it right.

Just didn’t have the spiritual power.

It seemed closed eyes to all of my tears.

In hope they’d disappear.

I tried not to let it show. Yearning for a daily Valentine’s Day Love.

Don’t You want to know; My presumption… Do you just want guesstimate?

 

I hated the place in which I’d found my apathetic heart; I didn’t want to be there.  I wanted to believe that my prayers/cries were important to God, that He listened intently like a loving Father and considered my desires carefully. I wanted to believe that He was working for my good and not just answering prayer requests arbitrarily, like I pictured Him doing while He sat on his throne: “One for ‘to be answered’, three for ‘to be ignored’, two for ‘to be answered’, ten for ‘to be ignored.’” 

Prayer is supposed to be matter-of-fact for Christians, taken for granted as part of the faith environment. Yet for me it was one of the most difficult resources to use appropriately and effectively in my relational life. “I don’t even know why I’m praying for this anymore,” I told myself spiritually, between sobs on a cold winter night while at the temporary children’s home. “It seemed like every time I prayed for something really big, God says ‘Thank you for your prayers, but that’s not My will; please accept this.’” I sat there perplexed, angry, hurt, and wanting to understand what was so difficult to grasp, For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive…The last enemy to be destroyed is death.

We are so thankful for prayer, we have God’s promise that our prayers are not in vain, even if we do not receive specifically what we asked for( Matthew 6:6; Romans 8:26-27) “What a Friend we have in Jesus” he has promised that when we ask for things that are in accordance with His will, He will give us what we ask for (1 John 5:14-15). 

 

Many Christians have either lost part or all of their faith in the Lord as a result of getting hit with some severe torpedo shots. It took me a long time to full understanding as to why God will sometimes allow bad things to happen to good people in this life. Even though my personal faith levels in the Lord was shaken to its very core because of the severity of the storm cloud that had just struck me.

 

I realized that sometimes He delays His answers according to His wisdom and for our benefit. In these situations, we are to be diligent and persistent in prayer (Matthew 7:7; Luke 18:1-8). Prayer should not be seen as our means of getting God to do our will on earth, but rather as a means of getting God’s will done on earth. God’s wisdom far exceeds our own.

 

 

It is every Christian’s right and responsibility to pray with others as the opportunity arises. A major reason people are reluctant to pray with others is their uncertainly as to how to go about it. They are unsure about why they should pray with others when to pray, how to pray, what to pray about and even if praying helps. For the Christian, praying is like breathing, easier to do than to not do. We pray for a variety of reasons. For one thing, prayer is a form of serving God (Luke 2:36-38) and obeying Him. We pray because God commands us to pray (Philippians 4:6-7). Prayer is exemplified for us by Christ and the early church (Mark 1:35; Acts 1:14; 2:42; 3:1; 4:23-31; 6:4; 13:1-3). If Jesus thought it was worthwhile to pray, we should also.

 

We pray to demonstrate our faith in God, that He will do as He has promised in His Word and bless our lives abundantly more than we could ask or hope for Ephesians 3:20). Prayer is our primary means of seeing God work in others' lives. Because it is our means of “plugging into” God’s power, it is our means of defeating Satan and his army that we are powerless to overcome by ourselves. Therefore, may God find us often before His throne, for we have a high priest in heaven who can identify with all that we go through Hebrews 4:15-16). May God glorify His name in our lives as we believe in Him enough to come to Him often in prayer to heal the divide.

 

God Bless You and This Ministry!

 

 

“Friend of Sinners”

 

The fact that Jesus is a friend of sinners means that He is our friend and is waiting for us to acknowledge His presence and availability. God’s love for us is almost beyond imagining. To be a “friend of sinners,” Jesus subjected Himself to living in a fallen, depraved world, for we “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). Despite our sinful condition, Jesus desires a relationship with us.

 

Faithful are the wounds of a friend; profuse are the kisses of an enemy. Proverbs 27:6

 

So, what can we learn from this proverb? What exactly is a “faithful wound?” To be faithful here means to provide strength and staying power. The faithful wound of a friend will help us be built up, supported, nurtured, established as an authentic friend, someone who sticks closer than a brother. Those kisses are one’s of an enemy…enough said. But it might help us to see how they are described. You see an enemy may give only deceitful kisses in my estimation. Thus, we learn that we cannot trust actions alone. When someone is giving us far more affection and congratulation than normal, we might want to be careful about basking in their hero worship and it might be deceitful in nature.

 

We also need to learn to accept the wounds of our friends as gifts rather than harsh comments that get on our nerves. It may be better to receive a wound than a kiss. For this may only be a prelude to something far worse, while the wound is given only for the purpose of blessing us in the end. The outward can be deceitful. As God says, “the issue is the heart”.

“Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ”. Galatians 6:2 

You ever progressed down that road of emptiness where you longed to find your, “roaring lion of a companion, that kills no game” A sense of acceptance would wash over you whenever people would unnerve your narrative and then, without any attempt to know them you indirectly would compare them to others that grasped your “why”, thinking they knew your nickname, as a spiritual friend. You then turn your mental focus on your milk toast “self”, as your character of ignorance would walk away. Asking why me lord, where’s the divine relational life.

 

It takes courage to face the truth. Have you ever tried to identify a grain of truth about yourself, feel in the blank, on your own?  What you would like to change or better yet, what does God want in creating us?  what God wants is friendship. When thrown against the wall of adversity you can be a tennis ball or an egg. One cracks, one bounce back, which one will you be. How bright is your light? I believe that God would also be pleased.

 

“In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven”. Matt 5:16

 

Can you relate? Have you ever felt like you had no real friends? While it is nice to reach out to others, you would be wise to realize that most people have a hard time striking up new friendships because of trust. So rather than showing antipathy, give an effort. How about you take the initiative toward building lasting brotherly love? Scrutinize things you might be doing wrong and change the course of your missional story as a reflection of Jesus and live the life given as a Christian comrade with love. Ask yourself: Is the essence of Christian friendship a companionship forged in the fire of Jesus that satisfy the soul and his kingdom. Isn’t it worth living for the who? Jesus! What is the wise thing to do?

 

“When there is no enemy within, the enemies outside cannot hurt you” African proverb

 

A wonderful biblical example of this type of closer-than-a-brother friendship is what existed between David and Jonathan. They became fast friends following the battle in which David killed Goliath. David wrote a lament for his friend: “Jonathan lies slain on your heights.  I grieve for you, Jonathan my brother; you were very dear to me” (2 Samuel 1:25-26). Their friendship was stronger than David’s relationship with any of his own brothers. we owe it to our neighbors to lovingly share with them the good news of the gospel and be a David to all!

 

“Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” Rom 12:2 We can make events in life happen for us instead of letting them happen to us!

 

Whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. 1 Corinthians 10:31

 

The world’s idea of tenderness in friendship is making much of one another: “I can’t live without you!” Kind words and assures of devotion quickly give a brief and false adrenaline rush of status and worth. We certainly need to encourage and affirm one another, but Christian friends should be far more focused on God’s authority and significance not their own or their friend’s. 

Like everything else, the end goal of our friendships should be God and his glory. Since our hearts are prone to wander away and worship other things, we need these constant reminders of his glory and his worth in our friendships. 

 

Remember, Jesus was known as a “friend of sinners” (Luke 7:34), and He has promised, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5). Jesus is truly the Friend who sticks closer than a brother, and blessed are those who have Him as their Friend (John 15:14). Jesus showed that “God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance” Romans 2:4. Jesus led a perfect, sinless life and had the “authority on earth to forgive sins” Luke 5:24. Because of that, we have the opportunity to experience a transformed heart and life.

When Jesus’ enemies called Him a “friend of sinners,” they meant it as an insult. To His glory and our eternal benefit, Jesus endured such slights and became “a friend who sticks closer than a brother” Proverbs 18:24.

 

God Bless You and This Ministry!