Friends and Love are Synonymous

Proverbs 18:24 "24 A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who stays closer than a brother."

When someone is our friend, what is important to them is important to us and what is important to us is important to them. This is the true nature of friendship.

Those who only want to boast of their own things and have no interest in ours, especially things of the Spirit, then they are not friends. They may be occasional acquaintances but they are not people we share our deepest heart with, we remain distant to protect what is precious to us.

Jesus Christ is our best friend. We can take everything to Him at any time of the day or night and know He cares and will respond to us.

John 15:15

"No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not understand what his master is doing. But I have called you friends, because everything I have learned from My Father I have made known to you."

Those who ignore us, gossip against us and diminish our calling and heartfelt desires are not our friends.

Proverbs 17:17

A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity."

A friend loves at all times, walks through everything with us encouraging us to do and be seeking Christ.

Proverbs 27:10

"Do not forsake your friend or your father's friend, and do not go to your brother's house in the day of your calamity; better a neighbor nearby than a brother far away."

Our brothers and sisters in Christ are our family and they love as Christ loved.

1 Corinthians 13:4-8

"4 Love is patient, love is kind, it is not jealous; love does not brag, it is not arrogant.

5 It does not act disgracefully, it does not seek its own benefit; it is not provoked, does not keep an account of a wrong suffered,

6 it does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; 7 it keeps every confidence, it believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things."

God has shown us what love looks like in His word, if our friend does not demonstrate this love then they are not a friend but someone to avoid.

2 Timothy 3:1-5 "3 But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come.

2 For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, slanderers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy,

3 unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good,

4 treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,

5 holding to a form of godliness although they have denied its power; avoid such people as these."

May we be grateful for those friends who care deeply about us and may we care deeply about our brothers and sisters in Christ. They will be the ones we will spend eternity with and who enjoy Christ more than anyone or anything else.

Do You Have Eyes To See!?!? JESUS Is At The Door!!!

Interview with Tom Wadsworth by @chaplainbear

A Strong Dilution

The strong dilution is here, many "Christians" are looking for a political leader they can follow and who will promise and provide happiness and safety. We know of one who will come on the scene soon and will promise everything but will destroy.

 
John 10:9-11 "…9 I am the gate. If anyone enters through Me, he will be saved. He will come in and go out and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I have come that they may have life, and have it in all its fullness. 11 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.…"

 
1 Thessalonians 5:3
"3 Now, brothers and sisters, about times and dates we do not need to write to you,
2 for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.
3 While people are saying, “Peace and safety,” destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.
4 But you, brothers and sisters, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief.
5 You are all children of the light and children of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness.
6 So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be awake and sober.
7 For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night.
8 But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet.
9 For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.
10 He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him.
11 Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing."

Many believers are so busy focusing on having a better life and living in safety on this earth that they miss the joy of hope in what we know God is going to do.
This life is a training ground and a mission field for the gospel, it is not our home. We do not look to this world for our purpose, we look to Christ and His purpose.

 
Hallelujah!

Lulled into a False Sense of Righteousness

Many people have been lulled into a false sense of righteousness by their particular brand of politics. They think that if they have the right government or rules, they will be elevated above others who do not have the same love for these affairs of state.

Christians ought to be different from those who cherish their politics. We do not look to the government or a set of man-made rules to make us feel superior or righteous. We look to Jesus Christ Who is the only righteous One Who drives the inner heart.

One of the excuses used to justify the political overemphasis is the quest for freedom to be able to spread the gospel. I don't see in any Scriptures that say we must save a government in order to preach the gospel. Often the church grows under hardship because when it comes those who have been safe and comfortable suddenly realize the need for Christ when they are no longer in control of their lives.

Another prayer modern Christians quote is for God to "delay the decay." I see no evidence or mandate in Scripture that we are to somehow turn back the tide of evil so we can enjoy political peace. This is what the antichrist will promise the world, it is not what God tells us will happen in these end times.

As believers, we look to Jesus Christ and the Spiritual oneness with Him that leads us to think with HIs mind and not with the collective minds of others who share a particular political view.

I have been in company many times with those who share the same political and even moral values that I do but the relationship falls short because they do not love Jesus Christ or seek Him rather they love their self-righteousness because of the set of rules they follow.

Jesus Christ is added to their life in the form of "religion" that they practice with the hope of gaining heaven for the way they live. They rarely if ever speak of Christ but are full of political jargan that makes them feel safe and superior.

They do not understand that their own righteousness will not get them to heaven. In fact, their own righteousness stands in the way of the righteousness of Christ that they do not trust in or care about. As long as these self-exalted people depend on their own righteousness they will never have a relationship with Jesus Christ.

2 Corinthians 5:20-21 "20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21 He made Him who knew no sin to be sin in our behalf so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him."

There are conservative unsaved people and conservative saved people. They think alike when it comes to the rules and better living but they do not share the same mindset that raises Christ above everyone and everything.

1 Corinthians 1:30

"30 But it is due to Him that you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, [b]and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption,"

Our country has become very proud of how righteous the people think they are based on their political views claiming they are salt and light through politics.

When Christ told us to be salt and light He was telling us to live out His righteousness and to bring the gospel to the lost. When believers in Christ spend more time speaking about politics than they do of Christ we know their focus is better living for themselves rather than the gospel to the lost.

Politics will not save anyone, religious rituals will not save anyone, and having a "positive" attitude around pleasure and personal gain will not save anyone.

Many people boast about their political leanings but never boast openly about Christ.

Romans 10:1-4 "10 Brothers and sisters, my heart’s desire and my prayer to God for them is for their salvation.

2 For I testify about them that they have a zeal for God, but not in accordance with knowledge.

3 For not knowing about God’s righteousness and seeking to establish their own, they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God.

4 For Christ is the end of the Law for righteousness to everyone who believes."

The modern Christian adds their own righteousness to some aspects of God's principles and pays far more attention to their own idea of their goodness, resulting in political leanings, than they do to being sold out to the Lord Jesus Christ.

What comes out of our mouths is what we love the most.

John 10:27-28 "27 My sheep listen to My voice; I know them, and they follow Me. 28I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them out of My hand.…"

John 10:14

"I am the good shepherd. I know My sheep and My sheep know Me,"

When our mind is focused on Christ we do our due diligence to live a peaceful life as far as we are able, but our mandate from God is the gospel, not a political entity, not a set of religious rituals, not glorifying self, but to glorify Christ because we walk with HIm.

Galatians 3:5

"Does God lavish His Spirit on you and work miracles among you because you practice the law, or because you hear and believe?"

Colossians 3:16

"Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God."

1 Thessalonians 2:13

"And we continually thank God because, when you received the word of God that you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but as the true word of God--the word which is now at work in you who believe."

Hebrews 4:2

"For we also received the good news just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, since they did not share the faith of those who comprehended it."

May those who have believed in Christ turn their focus back to Him!