Friendship With God

Text: Proverbs 18:24; John 15:13; James 4:8

Make no mistake about it, God wants to be your friend. Sad to say, there are not too many people who have this type of relationship with God but it’s available to all of us. To be friends with God one must first understand what friendship is.

Proverbs 18:24 says, “A man who has friends must himself be friendly, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.” The Living Bible says, “There are friends who pretend to be friends…” There are two different types of friends. There are “pretenders” and there are those “who stick closer than a brother.”

Most of the people we call friends are not friends at all. They’ll talk to you, laugh with you, work with you, and play with you. They appear to be friends with everybody but the Amplified Bible says, “A person who is a friend to everybody in the world is a bad friend.” They are there during the good times but are nowhere to be found when things get rough.

There is, however, a kind of friend who will stick by you through any problem, circumstance, and trial. They’re there for you during times of sickness, financial woes, marital problems, and any other type of need. David and Jonathan had a friendship like this. They laid their lives down for one another and their relationship went far beyond the bonds of blood kinship. This is the type of relationship God wants to have with you.

There are certain kinds of friendships that you can enter into and be involved in that when you get into a bad situation you’d rather get hold of your friend than your own brother or sister. This is the kind of friend that God would like to be with you, the kind of friend that won’t run away during times of trouble.

God wants to enter into this type of relationship with you and He wants you to enter into this type of relationship with Him. We need this “stick closer than a brother” attitude with our spouse, other believers, and especially with God. This type of relationship with God goes beyond the normal father/son relationship. It goes way beyond that. Yes, it encompasses that relationship but it encircles more than that.

You must, however, let God be your friend. If you don’t want this type of relationship with God He won’t force Himself off on you. When Jesus set free the mad man of Gadera the people asked Jesus to leave and go away from them. They didn't want to be friends with Him. So what did Jesus do? He left. He didn't argue with them and He didn't force Himself on them. Remember, God won’t force Himself on anybody.

Why did the people of Gadera (Mark 5) tell Jesus to leave their presence? Why did they do this? People come against what they don’t understand. Even today people reject Jesus and don’t accept Him with opened arms because they don’t understand Him. They think He’s standing over them with a baseball bat ready to clobber them on the head if they trip up and fail. They don’t understand that God is a loving God, that He is kind and merciful. The problem in marriages and most other relationships is some form of misunderstanding.

What people don’t understand, they will come against. Too many people don’t understand God and what He is like, who He is, and how He does things. Because of their lack of knowledge and understanding they’re against having a close relationship with Him. It takes time and effort to understand God and what He wants to do in your life. Also, most people don’t want to make the commitment to do this. The good news is that when you understand that God wants to become your friend then you won’t have any problem becoming His.

We read in Exodus 33:11a, “So the Lord spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to a friend.” A friend is a person you can talk to about anything and the Lord talked to Moses as a friend, face to face. Why did God do this with Moses? Because of the desire in the heart of Moses to know Him. Vs. 13 says, “Now therefore, I pray, if I have found grace in Your sight, show me Your way, that I may know You and that I may find grace in Your sight.”

Moses wanted to be friends with God. He wanted to know God in a personal way. When he said, “Show me Your way” he was saying he wanted to know God better and have an intimate knowledge of who He is. He wanted to know God! How did God respond to his request? “Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘I will also do this thing that you have spoken; for you have found grace in My sight, and I know you by name.’” The more you know God and understand Him the more His grace will be poured out into your life. The question to be asked is this: Does God know you by name? Do you know Him by name?

------ To be continued ------

*** Written by Randall Brewer ***

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Fixed Right

Text: Proverbs 3:5-6; Psalm 50:15; Romans 8:18

I once heard a story of a preacher who had a son disturbing him while he was preparing a Sunday sermon which was the next day. In order to distract the son so he could focus, he picked a magazine and tore a sheet. On the front page of the sheet was a world map while behind the page was a man’s figure. So he tore the world map into bits and said to his son: “fix the world map back.”

The father was happy as he felt it would take the son long hours to do so, giving him more time for his work. In ten minutes the son was back. “What else do you want again? The father asked. “I’m through”, the son replied. “How were you able to finish in ten minutes”, the father asked in astonishment.

“I figured out that if I fix the image of the man right at the other side, the world will also be fixed right on this side”, the son replied. The preacher made a deep sigh as he finally got a sermon – when a man is fixed right, his world will be right.

You can only be right by accepting Jesus’ righteousness and living it out. This is the only way for your world to be fixed well. So fix your world right by living right today.

*** Written by Onyezia C. Amanda | Malibet Digest ***

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Casting Down Reasonings

Text: Romans 12:2, 13:14; Ephesians 4:23; Isaiah 55:7

Key Verse: "Casting down imaginations [reasonings], and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ" (2 Corinthians 10:5)

Many people’s minds have never been renewed with the Word of God. They may be saved, filled with the Holy Ghost, and members of a Full Gospel church, but their minds still need to be renewed with the Word of God.

Second Corinthians 10:4 and 5 says, “For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds; Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.”

Many people are in a battle between their head and their heart. This is spiritual warfare, and these verses say that our weapons are not carnal, or natural. They’re not guns, swords, or even fists. But our weapons are mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds (2 Cor. 10:4).

Paul is referring to “casting down imaginations.” Imaginations can also be translated reasonings, which involve people’s minds.

As long as Satan can hold you in the arena of reason, he’ll defeat you in every battle. But if you hold Satan in the arena of faith, you’ll defeat him in every battle. How do you do that? The Scripture says to “cast down imaginations (reasonings).”

*** Written by Kenneth Hagin | www.hopefaithprayer.com ***

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Live Through You

Text: Galatians 2:20; Psalm 115:1; Ephesians 2:10

Key Verse: “But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some to honour, and some to dishonour. If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master's use, and prepared unto every good work” (2 Timothy 2:20-21)

Sometimes in the past I would cry – Oh Lord, let me live for you. The more I tried, the more I struggled. But I thank God for knowledge now. You see, God is not asking us to live for Him; He is asking us to let Him live through us (Gal 2:20).

The Christian life is not a changed life but an exchanged life (Andrew Wommack). Christianity is allowing the Christ you have received live through you; it’s allowing the world read His life in you, that is, becoming a letter from Him to them, becoming so transparent that they can see the Jesus you carry. It is positioning yourself that the world may see Him and not you in all you do.

Allow the world see, feel and taste Christ through you. Give Christ an expression by your existence. You might be the only Jesus some people will ever see, your life might be the only Bible some people will ever read. Therefore, let your life be available for the Master so He can live through you.

He is not a ‘use and dump’ God rather, He is ‘use and make’ God. Allow God make you today by saying: “Here I am Lord, live through me.”

*** Written by Onyezia A. Cynthia | Malibet Digest ***

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In Spite Of Them

Text: John 15:18-27

Key Verse: But this cometh to pass, that the word might be fulfilled that is written in their law, they hated me without a cause (John 15:25)

The service of God Almighty demands cross-bearing. And in this solemn address to His disciples, Jesus made it clear that temptations, trials and persecution would attend our sojourn on earth. He pointed out to them that they needed not the applause of men, stressing that since He was hated of the world, they would also be hated.

He made it clear that if they could so treat Him despitefully, the disciples must be prepared for more humiliation. Although He came to the world and rendered selfless service to humanity, the world still hated Him without a cause.

From the above text, being a Christian exposes one to attacks from haters of the Gospel. Believers who are not aware of the manipulations of the devil often misinterpret the source of their problems. God may allow a believer to pass through some trials in the hands of the evil men. It is not a sign of weakness or as though God cannot deliver His own. The believer ought to know that “we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God (Acts 14:22).”

Believers are to count the cost of their determination to serve the Lord. Following Christ is fraught with challenges, but with courage and determination, we shall make it to the end. Whatever trials we may be passing through; whatever afflictions and persecutions we may be experiencing, we must realize that our Redeemer and Captain also suffered.

Moreover, in times of adversity, we must not give in to self-pity and regret. We must commit all things to God who judges righteously. All we need to do is to keep praying, trusting and believing that He who keeps us never sleeps or slumbers.

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Wisdom

Text: Proverbs 4:7, 9:10; Ecclesiastes 12:1-8; Zephaniah 2:3

If age doth speak of wisdom learned,

And battles won, and sorrows earned,

Then youth doth boast of hopes to come,

Of strength to waste, and wisdom shunned.

But if youth could seek instead the wise,

and see life through more vintage eyes

And turn to God while still they sow

The seeds of harvest they've yet to know,

They might then be blessed to reap

A bounty they'll delight to keep,

And share with those who come behind

A harvest of a richer kind.

*** Written by Vicki Baird ***

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Richness Towards God

Text: Luke 12:16-21; Matthew 6:33, 16:26

I heard in the news months ago when Forbes Magazine announced the list of the richest people in Africa. These people were the cream de la cream and top business mogul of the world. On seeing the list, I wasn't really surprise at the #1 person on the list and as for others, never heard of them before until that moment. I read the article thoroughly and was challenged by these people’s vast net worth and how much they had achieved in life.

I knew I couldn't match their standards at the moment but it made me reflect over my life and how I had imagined my future to be like. I considered my age and felt I ought to have achieved more and done more so that in few years time, I could be mentioned, perhaps, among the top 50 richest people in Africa.

There and then, a question came to my mind that if these people on Forbes’ list are recognized as the richest people in Africa and the world over, how rich could they be towards God? This question changed everything and redirected my thoughts. I recalled Jesus in the book of Luke warning two brothers fighting over an inheritance to beware of covetousness that life consists not in the abundance of things one possesses (Luke 12:15).

I also recalled the parable Jesus told of “a rich man whose ground brought forth plentifully and thought to himself, saying, what shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits? And he said, this will I do: I will pull down my barns and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and goods. And I will say to my soul, soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry…” (Luke 12:16-19).

This rich man Jesus talked about having thought he had enough for many years to come could find time to rest, go easy on life, eat and make merry all day long, not knowing that life and everything in it is but vain and vanity, and that the only meaningful thing in life is to please God and daily live for His glory. He forgot that death is sly and attacks unexpectedly; he forgot that as God made light for the day, He made the rich because of the poor.

The rich people of our time as glorified by Forbes Magazine also multiply and hoard their wealth in various Swiss Bank accounts, believing all that they have is an earned result of their hard work, diligence, vision, motivation, courage and perseverance alone. They forget that “a man can receive nothing, except it be given him from heaven…and that every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning” (John 3:27; James 1:17).

The world may exalt you today as the richest person ever on earth but can God say the same about you? Do we only lay treasures on earth that soon fades away with each tick of time and not treasures in heaven that faileth not, where no thief approacheth, neither moth corrupteth?

“But God said unto the rich man, thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided? So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God” (Luke 12:20-21).

“We brought nothing into this world and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and raiment let us be there with content. But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith and pierced themselves through with many sorrow…” (1 Timothy 6:7-12).

Our goal as believers should always be to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness… (Matthew 6:33); follow peace with all men and holiness without which no man shall see the Lord (Hebrew 12:14); fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto we have been called… (1 Timothy 6:12); …denying ungodliness and worldly lust, we should live soberly, righteously and godly in this present world; looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ… (Titus 2:12-14).

As heavenly minded pilgrims, our confession should be as Apostle Paul’s: “what things were gain to me, those I count loss for Christ. Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord…that I may win Christ and be found in Him…that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His suffering…forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forth unto those things which are before and pressing toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:7-14).

It’s not a sin to be rich and have your name published in Forbes Magazine as one of the richest people on earth. But of what use is it if with all the riches, you are not recognized and rich toward God?

“…Verily I say unto you, that a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven. And again I say unto you, it is easier for a Carmel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God” (Matthew 19:16-29).

*** Written by Jacobs Adewale (Admin) ***

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Oft In Danger, Oft In Woe

Text: Luke 9:62; Jude 1:3; 1 Timothy 6:12

Oft in danger, oft in woe,

Onward, Christians, onward go;

Fight the fight, maintain the strive,

Strengthened with the Bread of Life.

Shrink not, Christians: will ye yield?

Will ye quit the painful field?

Will ye flee in danger's hour?

Know ye not your Captain's power?

Let your drooping hearts be glad;

March in heavenly armour clad:

Fight, nor think the battle long;

Soon shall victory tune your song.

Let not sorrow dim your eye,

Soon shall every tear be dry;

Let not fears your course impede,

Great your strength if great your need.

Onward then to glory move,

More than conquerors ye shall prove;

Though opposed by many a foe,

Christian soldiers, onward go.

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How Much More

Text: Luke 11:11-13; Philippians 4:19; Romans 8:32

Key Verse: “If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?” (Matt. 7:11)

Would you, as a parent, plan, purpose, and will for your children to go through life poverty-stricken, sick, downtrodden, downcast, down-and-out, with their nose to the grindstone? No! Assuredly not!

My younger brother had a difficult time getting his education. Our father left when this brother was only six months old. He graduated from high school during the Depression by working the 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. shift at a local cotton mill and then going to school immediately after work.

In time, this brother married, had a son, and became a very successful businessman. He said to me – and I guess this has been a driving force in my brother’s life – “I’d rather let my boy die now than to have it like I had it. But I’m going to see to it that he doesn’t have it rough like I did.”

My brother worked hard to provide a better life for his family than he had known growing up. Just looking at it from the natural standpoint, he did all this because he loved them. And that’s what Jesus meant when He said that if natural men know how to give good gifts to their children, how much more will our loving Heavenly Father give good things to those who ask Him!

*** Written by Kenneth Hagin | www.hopefaithprayer.com ***

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Welcome to 2016: It Can Only Get Better

Text: Isaiah 14:27, 43:18-91, 40:28-31

From The Truth Media family,

Happy New Year!!!

God by Himself hardened the ground that raised great men to carry Him through all the nations of the earth. Don’t shake when your foundation shakes ~ Smith Wigglesworth

Sometimes we experience certain issues that look like God is absent or cruel. Neither of the two is correct because God loves us more than we love ourselves. The trainings of a soldier by a senior commander or by a father to a son might be vigorous but will always bring out the best in him. It’s all about timing and the ability to trust.

When the ground on which you stand is not hardened enough to fulfill purpose, God steps in to solidify your ground through some experiences which will equip you for the journey ahead. Gold doesn’t come out pure until it passes through the furnace, neither does a lipton bag reveal its real content until it’s placed in hot water.

If 2015 is that year of testing with adversity and severe challenges you had to endure, be certain that testimonies await you in 2016. Sometimes, things only get better from the wealthy wisdom of experience gotten from adversity. Instead of blaming God, just bless and praise Him, knowing that it can only get better.

If circumstances and people brought you down in 2015, beleive that there is a lifting up in 2016. Happy New Year!!!

*** Culled from Malibet Digest | Onyezia C. Amanda ***

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