Being a Friend!

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  Being a Friend! 

   "That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither - whatever they do prospers!  Not so for the wicked!  They are chaff that the wind blows away.  Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.  For the LORD watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked leads to destruction.  Proverbs 18:24"

  
  

  God has laid on my heart today to write about what it takes to be a friend! Often I write about subjects that I have struggles with in my own life that I literally run to talk to God about.  He is such a good listener and a friend.  You know in John 1:1 - it says that the word is and was God.  So when I want to sit down and have a chat with my Father, I know right where to find Him.  Please take time today to read this.  It definitely is something to think about.

  To be a friend it takes two people to form a relationship.  In today's society there is such a high rate of divorce and angry people walking around.  Some of us like to take the easy way or lazy way out when it comes to friendships and relationships.  You may be surprised to know - that YES, there are expectations that should be met by all parties involved when it comes to a relationship.  Often we don't think about it, but God has a great deal to say about friendship.  

  Even He seeks and wants to be a friend with us, but God himself has boundaries, as so should we have boundaries when it comes to friendships.  He talks about how a friend loves at all times, found in Proverbs 17:17.  Did you know that in order to be considered God's friend you need to keep His commandments? - He tells us this in John 15:12-15 (look it up, it may surprise you?).  (This is God's expectation of us.) So what should our expectations be in our own friendships with others here on earth?

  
  

  Below I want to share some of what God says about friendship found right in His word.  Then I want to talk about what keeps us from developing good, healthy and uplifting friendships.  You may be surprised how you obtain instruction from the Father, our author and finisher of our faith - Hebrews 12:12

  
  

  Think about some of this advise the next time you are in the midst of developing a new friendship or revitalizing an existing one:  After reviewing some of the spiritual rules God has set forth - Lets talk about what prevents us from having a relationship that glorifies God.

  
  

  (soak it up and think about these words)

  Proverbs 22:24-25 - "One who has unreliable friends soon comes to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. ( I think unreliable friends could be people with addictions to things of this world - meaning they don't have time for you because they are focused on their own addictions. (we will talk more about this later.)

  
  
Proverbs 13:20 - "Do not make friends with a hot-tempered person, do not associate with one easily angered or you may learn their ways and get yourself ensnared."

• Proverbs 27:5-6 - " Walk with the wise and become wise, for a companion of fools suffers harm.

  Ecclesiastes 4:-10 - "Better is open rebuke than hidden love."  Wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses. 

   Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 - Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor: If either of them falls down, one can help the other up.  But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up. 

  
  

  John 15:12-15 - My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.  Greater love has no one than this: 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 servants, because a servant does not know his master's business.  Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.
  
  
•   Proverbs 17:17 - A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for a time of adversity. 

           Proverbs 27:17 - As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.
       
           Proverbs 12:26 - The righteous choose their friends carefully, but the way of the wicked
           leads them astray.

           James 4:4 You adulterous people, don't you know that friendship with the world means
           enmity against God?  Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes
           an enemy of God.

           Job 16:20-21 - My intercessor is my friend as my eyes pour out tears to God.  21 - On behalf
           of a man he pleads with God as one pleads for a friend.

          God has so much to say about friendship and relationships, only if we were to listen to His teaching and instruction?  You know, looking at my past relationships, the Lord has revealed to me why my relationships have failed.  I spoke briefly about addiction, but would like to talk more about it since this, I feel, has been one of the main culprits in my own past relationships.  And I am not necessarily talking about my partners.  I humbly approach this subject because it is so easy for all of us to become ensnared with strongholds.  What does God say in 1 Peter 5:8 - Relax, cast all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you!  Be sober-minded and alert! Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.  Resist Him, standing firm in your faith and in the knowledge that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kinds of suffering.  You see things were the same back then, as they are today.

How do you know there is an addiction involved with you or someone else?  Ask this question, is lying, cheating or stealing involved?  If the answer is YES, then there is an addiction!  First of all we lie to ourselves about strongholds in our life.  We cheat ourselves of an abundant life.  And we steal from God what belongs to Him!  But God says in His word that all addictions/ or strongholds will eventually lead to death   - God will not be mocked!  I don't want to scare you but this is what His word says, and I believe it.  Some of these strongholds are Food, Drugs, Sex, Money, Materialism and the enticing list goes on.  Anything we put before God, has potential to destroy us and ruins our relationship with Him (takes away our abundant life).  I know when these addictions are brought into a relationship it is extremely toxic!  The relationship is doomed before it even starts.  My suggestion is to deal with any addiction before trying to establish a healthy relationship with an individual.

The only one who has the healing power to overcome this world?  John 16:33 - " I have told you these things so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take courage; I have overcome the world!” (AMEN!)

I have been taking a course called Law and Grace and last week something just popped right off the page and went all over my heart.  I want to close today's blog with this.  When our convictions match our conduct this is called the Glory of God!  What a concept - How about we work on relationships and friendships that glorify God?  I think this is part of the the REAL Kingdom of Heaven our Lord talks about, don't you?   God bless you, as He speaks to your heart today.