Tools for the Journey pt. 3

I started this series of blogs and then school started back up and i haven’t finished it yet. so i’m picking it back up starting……NOW.

All of the following deal with how we relate to each other.

#3 Friends and fellow believers

This one is pretty cut and dry. Having other people with us on the journey helps a ton. you have people to laugh with, cry with, and share with. Being around friends is one of my most treasured things in life. I consider it one of God’s greatest gifts to mankind(besides Jesus). 

Here are some scripture that reiterate the fact that we need others to help us in life:

Proverbs 27:17

 17 As iron sharpens iron, 
       so one man sharpens another.

Galatians 6:1-2

Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. 2 Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.

Genesis 2:18

18 Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.”

 

 

#4 Confession (aka total honesty)

A specific action that fellow believers should do in connection with other believers is confessing our sins. James 5:16 says, “Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.”

Me and a close friend of mine have been starting to confess our sins to each other during this past semester  and continuing into this semester. It has been AWESOME and EXTREMELY humbling. I challenge all believers to find a fellow believer they trust and to do this at least once a week and to pray with one another too. This has been a continuous encouragement each week as well as a great pride breaker as i confess my short comings before God and My friend. By doing so you will be able to expose your evil deeds and bring them to light where they can be healed (Ephesians 5:11-14), and it helps you to not feel alone in your struggle toward Holiness. 

NOTE: we need to confess our sins to God as well. confessing to a friend does not excuse us from this. we must confess our sins to God because He is the only one that can forgive sin (1 John 1:9). 

#5 Pray

James 5 also says “to pray for one another.” In our relationships with other people–both brothers in Christ and friends–we should pray for them. We can’t make it through this life the way Christ intended us to without talking to the one that knows everything we need to know about living life.

Prayer in general is necessary in life. Paul says in 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” God longs for us to pray to Him. He made you, why wouldn’t he want to talk to you? so as the Nike commercials say, “Just do it.” 

#6 Serving in love

This can be both the easiest and hardest thing to do. For those that we get along with really well and are really close to it comes pretty easily, but when it is someone you don’t like(maybe even hate) or if it is someone you don’t know then we find this to be one of the hardest things in the world to do. All in all, it is worth it.  

here is what God has to say about it:

Galatians 5:13
For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.

1 Peter 4:8-11

Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins. Show hospitality to one another without grumbling. As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace: 11 whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

Mark 12:30-31

30 And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”

Hope

I was thinking about hope the other day, and had this thought: False hope is no hope at all.

what is the point of hoping in something that you will someday find out was completely wrong?

why hope in money, relationships, leaders, and/or entertainment, when the only true hope we have is in the one that made this world and invented hope(aka God)?

Isaiah 31:1 sums this up well:

Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help
and rely on horses,
who trust in chariots because they are many
and in horsemen because they are very strong,
but do not look to the Holy One of Israel
or consult the Lord!

Hope in what is true, not in what is meaningless.

Sure your false hope may help you sleep at night and get by, but in the end if you don’t turn away from sin and surrender COMPLETELY  to God you end up no better off than if you hadn’t hoped in those false hopes to begin with.

quotes to start off 2009

Guys…if you can’t pursue a woman with no strings attached…if you can’t be with a woman and it not have to be physical…then I say you are a pathetic wuss!  Show her you want to be with her…and not just for her body!  Step up and treat her like a LADY!

-Perry Nobel

Romans 8:5

5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit.

Romans 8:18

18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. 

Romans 6:2-4

2 By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? 3 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.

Romans 6:6

6 We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.

The answer is “yes” Lord!!!  Now what is the command?

-Perry Nobel

Your creed must bend to the Bible, not the Bible to your creed

-Charles Spurgeon

God Does not invariably make the doing of the right to be the means of pecuniary gain to us. On the contrary, it frequently happens that for a time men are great losers by their obedience to Christ. But the Scripture always speaks as to the long run; it sums up the whole life–there it promises true riches. 

-Charles Spurgeon

If a churches goal is to keep the Christians happy…then God probably isn’t happy!

-Perry Nobel

Romans 10:13-15

13 For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

14 How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? 15 And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”

Romans 11:6

6 But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace.

Romans 11:33-36

33 Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!

34 “For who has known the mind of the Lord,
or who has been his counselor?”
35 “Or who has given a gift to him
that he might be repaid?”

36 For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.

Romans 12:9-21

9 Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good.10 Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. 11 Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. 12 Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. 13 Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.

14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them.15 Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight.17 Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. 18 If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. 19 Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” 20 To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

“Evangelism is the natural overflow of a life lived in joy as a worshiper of God. Sadly, evangelism is often portrayed as something that Christians must do as a duty, rather than something that they get to do as a delight.”

-Mark Driscoll

I found this interesting…

I read this the other day on yahoo, and found it really interesting to know where the tradition of giving engagement rings came from. 

“Prior to the 20th century, engagement rings were strictly luxury items, and they rarely contained diamonds. But in 1939, the De Beers Diamond company changed all of that when it hired ad agency N.W. Ayer & Son. The industry had taken a nosedive in the 1870s, after massive diamond deposits were discovered in South Africa. But the ad agency came to the rescue by introducing the diamond engagement ring and quietly spreading the trend through fashion magazines. The rings didn’t become de rigueur for marriage proposals until 1948, when the company launched the crafty “A Diamond is Forever” campaign. By sentimentalizing the gems, De Beers ensured that people wouldn’t resell them, allowing the company to retain control of the market. In 1999, De Beers chairman Nicky Oppenheimer confessed, “Diamonds are intrinsically worthless, except for the deep psychological need they fill.”

In addition to diamond engagement rings, De Beers also promoted surprise proposals. The company learned that when women were involved in the selection process, they picked cheaper rings. By encouraging surprise proposals, De Beers shifted the purchasing power to men, the less-cautious spenders.”

Here is the link to the full article that includes 4 other traditions and how they came about:  http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/21211