::my journey with Loving God::: Saturday, October 18, 2014

A Genuine Friend - Our Daily Bread

Read: 1 Samuel 20:32-42
Two are better than one. —Ecclesiastes 4:9

Bible in a Year:
Isaiah 53-55; 2 Thessalonians 1

In the novel Shane, a friendship forms between Joe Starrett, a farmer on the American frontier, and Shane, a mysterious man who stops to rest at the Starrett home. The men first bond as they work together to remove a giant tree stump from Joe’s land. The relationship deepens as Joe rescues Shane from a fight and Shane helps Joe improve and guard his farmland. The men share a sense of mutual respect and loyalty that reflects what Scripture says: “Two are better than one . . . . If they fall, one will lift up his companion” (Eccl. 4:9-10).

Jonathan and David modeled this principle as well. Circumstances tested their friendship when David suspected that King Saul wanted him dead. Jonathan doubted this, but David believed it to be true (1 Sam. 20:2-3). Eventually, they decided David would hide in a field while Jonathan questioned his father about the matter. When Saul’s deadly intent became clear, the friends wept together and Jonathan blessed David as he fled (v.42).

You have a genuine friend in Jesus if you have accepted His offer of salvation—a friend who is always loyal; one who lifts you when you stumble. He has shown you the greatest love one friend can have for another—love that led Him to sacrifice His life for you (John 15:13).What a friend we have in Jesus,
All our sins and griefs to bear!
What a privilege to carry
Everything to God in prayer!

—ScrivenJesus is your most trusted Friend.

The Right Foundation- ODB

Read: Matthew 7:24–29
Whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock. —Matthew 7:24

Bible in a Year:
Isaiah 56-58; 2 Thessalonians 2

“I’ve got bad news for you,” said the builder, who was renovating an old house I had inherited. “When we started to convert the back half of the garage for your office, we found that the walls had almost no foundation. We will have to demolish them, dig proper foundations, and start again.” “Do you have to do that?” I pleaded, silently calculating the extra cost. “Can’t you just patch it up?” But the builder was adamant. “Unless we go down to the proper depth, the building inspector won’t approve it. The right foundation is vital.”

The right foundation makes the difference between something that lasts and something temporary. Jesus knew that though foundations are invisible, they are vitally important to the strength and stability of the house (Matt. 7:24-25), especially when it is battered by the elements. He also knew the hearts of His listeners. They would be tempted to take the easy way, find shortcuts, or do things by halves to gain their objectives.

Other foundations may be quicker and easier. Building our lives on the right foundation is hard work, but God’s truth is the only bedrock worth building on. When the storms of life hit, houses built on and held together by Him stand firm.Father, the winds of life’s storms can be
powerful and threatening.

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a worry list

Years ago, in an article in seminary magazine, Paul Borden gave some helpful suggestion for worries:

1.start a worry list- write down what you're worried about.

2. Turn your worry list into a prayer list- Ask the Lord to work in those situations you're concerned about. Pray specifically for your needs and depend on Him.

3. Turn your prayer list into an action list. If you have any insight that there's something you can do about your cares, do it. As we turn our worries into prayer and action, Borden says, " Paralysing anxienty can be replaced by concern for the responsibilities of life."

WHAT YOU HAVE MADE A MATTER OF PRAYER SHOULD CEASE TO BE A MATTER OF CARE.

THE LIVE I WANT TO BE......THIS IS MY LIFESTYLE.....

I want that Humility, I want to be humble, Lord I humble myself before you. I believe in a breakthrough this year. I don't want to waste anymore time on pride and let satan rob me from the wonderful blessings God has in store for me. I want to walk humbly. I'm created to serve you and the body of Christ, to worship you, to build relationships, putting others before me, loving one another, lift each other up. I'm hungry for more of you Jesus, draw me close to you. I understand it is a life long process. I understand humility is one of the highest graces and the hardest to attain. I understand it's not an easy walk, but I know I serve a mighty God and believe with all f my heart that You are with me and delight in such pursuit. Come Holy Spirit and teach me humility.

As I go through all kinds of feelings and experiences in my journey through life -- delight, surprise, chagrin, dismay -- I hold this question as a guiding light: "What do I really need right now to be happy?" What I come to over and over again is that only qualities as vast and deep as love, connection and kindness will really make me happy in any sort of enduring way. No one is in control of your happiness but you; therefore, you have the power to change anything about yourself or your life that you want to change. To change one's life: 1. Start immediately. 2. Do it flamboyantly. 3. No exceptions. Reverence for Life affords me my fundamental principle of morality, namely, that good consists in maintaining, assisting, and enhancing life and that to destroy, harm, or to hinder life is evil. Affirmation of the world -- that is affirmation of the will to live, which appears in phenomenal forms all around me -- is only possible for me in that I give myself out for other life. I think that taking life seriously means something such as this: that whatever man does on this planet has to be done in the lived truth of the terror of creation, of the grotesque, of the rumble of panic underneath everything. Otherwise it is false. Whatever is achieved must be achieved with the full exercise of passion, of vision, of pain, of fear, and of sorrow. How do we know ... that our part of the meaning of the universe might not be a rhythm in sorrow? Even after all this time, The sun never says to the earth, "You owe me." Look what happens with A love like that. It lights the whole sky. There is nothing we like to see so much as the gleam of pleasure in a person's eye when he feels that we have sympathized with him, understood him. At these moments something fine and spiritual passes between two friends. These are the moments worth living.