Archive for the ‘ Friend ’ Category
Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.
Romans 13:10, ESV
The love of Christ in us is not merely sacrificial, it is selfless, considerate, patient, and truthful.
Yes, it can be difficult living all of this out. But, in many ways, it gets easier to understand and do as you love them.
A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.
Proverbs 18:24, ESV
Even Jesus had a small band of close friends (12) with an even smaller set of really close friends (James and John and Peter).
If you have hundreds of friends, but no confidants, you may find yourself alone when trouble hits.
A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.
Proverbs 17:17, ESV
It is tough living with and loving other people. We can get on our nerves, and we are brothers and sisters in Christ.
Yet, Christ calls us friends. We must love each other, but His love should flow through us.
“For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.”
Matthew 7:8, ESV
All are welcome to seek and call on the Name of the Lord.
Those who repent and believe then only need ask.
How many times do we not ask God for what we need, or even want?
Follow the call of wisdom and head to Proverbial Thought!
Jesus said to many people, “Follow me.”
When He said it to Matthew (Matthew 9:9), we read that Matthew pulled out his smart phone, opened his Facebook app, found “Jesus of Nazareth”, and clicked “Add Friend”. Then he switched to the Twitter app, found @JesusofNazarethMessiah, and clicked “Follow”.
And the world was changed forever! @MatthewLevi and his 11 closest friends re-tweeted and shared everything @JesusofNazarethMessiah tweeted and posted, and lives were changed as all of their followers re-tweeted and shared everything again and again.
Then they all went out for a cup of over-priced coffee to talk about it.
. . .
Or maybe it happened differently? Maybe Jesus expects more from those who follow Him?
Is it enough to follow @JesusofNazareth on Twitter? Is it enough to “Like” or “Friend” Jesus Christ on Facebook? (For the record, I do these!)
Perhaps Jesus expects more of us. Perhaps being a Christian calls for a greater commitment than clicking “Like” or “Follow”.
Perhaps Jesus expects us to change our entire lifestyle and literally follow Him: become like Him, think like Him, walk in His footsteps.
Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul? For the Son of Man is going to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay each person according to what he has done. Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”
Matthew 16:24-28, ESV
Walk in wisdom with some help from Proverbial Thought!
This month I have discussed new year’s resolutions, the state of the Church, and overcoming our own faults.
The poem today is about realizing just how close our Lord is to us, and it is the result of overcoming due to our resolving to follow Christ.
Do you walk with Christ? Do you live in the power of the Holy Spirit? Do desire to walk with Him?
walking with
in our walk with our Savior
we long to be walking with
Him right next to us or
at least one of the angelic
we pray that we might see
with our eyes being trained
Him walking with us down the street
and to know we are safe
but our God tells us anew
that He has been there all along
He is always with me and you
and will be until He comes
Encourage your soul with some wisdom from Proverbial Thought!
12 Take care, brethren, that there not be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart that falls away from the living God. 13 But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called “Today,” so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. 14 For we have become partakers of Christ, if we hold fast the beginning of our assurance firm until the end …
Hebrews 3:12-14, NASB
This will be short and sweet today.
Relationships are very important. The Bible is all about God’s desire for relationships with us through His Son!
Therefore, I encourage you today to encourage each other.
Call your friends and family to tell them you love them.
Share Christ with family and friends who may not know Him.
Lift each other up in prayer, and tell those for whom you pray that you are praying for them!
Be with friends (“in spirit” if need be) who need friends: an ear, a shoulder, a helping hand.
Just love those who are close to you!
Take the time today to show those who are close to you that you care!
It took almost a full two and a half years, which I do not find surprising with a blog focused on theology and poetry, but today I received my 100th follower!
I know I owe some of this to my friends and fellow bloggers from Proverbial Thought, that great devotional site on the wisdom of Proverbs. Here is a special shout-out to Heather Joy at GrowUp318, because I met some of those friends through her blog!
I must say to each person who follows my blog, though, that this still comes with a warning of encouragement.
So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. Do not cause anyone to stumble, whether Jews, Greeks or the church of God— even as I try to please everyone in every way. For I am not seeking my own good but the good of many, so that they may be saved. Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.
1 Corinthians 10:31-11:1
Thank you to each of my followers! For those who have them, may your blogs be blessed by God as you bless God through your gifts.
A special thanks goes to my wonderful wife for dealing with the hours I have spent at my laptop or on my phone typing blog entries and responding to comments, and for the advice she has offered, whether requested or spontaneous, to make my words that much better!
For everyone who comes across this page:
The Lord bless you
and keep you;
the Lord make his face shine on you
and be gracious to you;
the Lord turn his face toward you
and give you peace
Numbers 6:24-26
Instead of my usual theological post, I am going a slightly different route.
You may have noticed that in every post I write I put a reminder to go to Proverbial Thought and read from my fellow contributors’ commentary on the book of Proverbs.
Of course I implore you to head on over there yet again, and, if you have not already, subscribe to this wonderful blog.
Last week we looked at reaching out to the lost and hurting in our broken world.
Today, I offer a reminder that we need to reach out to each other.
There is nothing like the fellowship of believers. We are able to encourage and lift each other up, and we can learn from each other.
Therefore, I am going to encourage you check out the blogs of my brothers at Proverbial Thought.
Our newest contributor, Chris out of Beausejour, MB, Canada, is also a prolific writer. He has two books, even more blogs, and writes a piece for his local paper. All I have to say is this man knows how to have fun, encourage, and spread the gospel! Go check out his blog here.
Nick started his blog, and his dad, David, joined him as a regular contributor. These wonderful British brothers in Christ each have their own unique understanding of the Bible, the Church, and God. They are not afraid to share their struggles, challenge Christians, or share the grace of God. To read their unique view and be both encouraged and convicted, go see Nick’s blog here.
Jason lives near our founder in Tennessee. His blog covers everything theological and fun as well as musical (such as his Christmas music bracket to decide the best song!). You may notice a theme in each of these men by this point, but his blog is a big encouragement! Go see who is really on first at his blog over here.
Grady only blogs at Proverbial Thought, so you know what you are getting! His post every month therefore is filled with thought and wisdom. Continually check out his monthly posts for his reminders of our need for our Lord and Savior!
The founder of Proverbial Thought, Anthony has been our leader and strongest encouragement. With how busy we all are, we know he is busy, too, but he fills in when we slack off! (There some truth in this, but I am exaggerating slightly.) He puts in a healthy amount of wit and humor within his posts, whether they be deeply theological or “Hey, look at that shiny thing!” in nature and everything in between. In his desire to not be too legalistic but to be loving and compassionate, he lets fun, encouragement, conviction, reminders, and reality fill his blog over here.
I am thankful for each of these men and the ways they impact my growth in Christ. Help me encourage them by visiting their blogs.
You will be encouraged, too!
I offer another friendly reminder to read the wisdom coming out of Proverbs over at Proverbial Thought.
Something great to understand is that even Jesus’ closest friends deserted Him at the crucifixion, yet Jesus never leaves nor abandons us. He is our greatest Friend, but we must never forget that He is also our Lord and Savior.
old friends
when it comes to relationships
Christ wants the best we can give
He wants to know us deeply
and talk with us frequently
this friendship He wants to have with us
involves the greatest of all trust
He desires the same Love He sends
He wants to treat us like old friends
an old friend is one that is always there
someone who thinks of you and really cares
someone who knows what you will say
someone who thinks of you everyday
Jesus is that kind of friend
He will be there through the end
His friendship is the best you will see
He loves us unconditionally
Taken from deeper words for God from a simple man of God by daniel m klem, page 134.
a simple man of God 