Feed Your Faith with Friendships

Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 Contemporary English Version (CEV)

It Is Better To Have a Friend

9 You are better off to have a friend than to be all alone, because then you will get more enjoyment out of what you earn. 10 If you fall, your friend can help you up. But if you fall without having a friend nearby, you are really in trouble. 11 If you sleep alone, you won’t have anyone to keep you warm on a cold night. 12 Someone might be able to beat up one of you, but not both of you. As the saying goes, “A rope made from three strands of cord is hard to break.”

Proverbs 27:17 Contemporary English Version (CEV)

17 Just as iron sharpens iron,

    friends sharpen the minds

    of each other.

I would like to start today with an analogy that a dear friend shared with me.  

When planting a seed, you don’t plant it in the darkness where it will not receive the nourishment it needs to grow.  You find the best soil, a place with little or no shade, and then nurture it with water and fertilizer.  

Sometimes we find ourselves in a dark place.  A place in which we are not getting the love and nourishment we need for our hearts to flourish.  We need to surround ourselves with people that encourage us.  We need to feed our minds with inspiration through reading, listening, or watching things that give us determination and grit.  We need to nurture our hearts, minds, and body.   

Friendship is a gift from God.   When you feel like you have a connection with someone that is going to align with your goals, you need to grab onto that friend and find more.  These relationships will continue to flourish and grow.   The definition of tribe means “a group of persons having a common character, occupation, or interest” (Webster).  Having different supportive tribes that surround you daily is so important.  If you don’t have a supportive tribe in your workplace, find something that fuels you.  Put inspirational quotes around you or listen to podcasts.  Be intentional on fueling your mind.  This is vital.  If you have a “tribe, be open to allowing others in to be nurtured as well.  Once you have that, don’t let it go.  

Be Blessed!

When God Gets In The Way

Philippians 4:6-7 New Life Version (NLV)

6 Do not worry. Learn to pray about everything. Give thanks to God as you ask Him for what you need. 7 The peace of God is much greater than the human mind can understand. This peace will keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

Jeremiah 29:11 New Life Version (NLV)

11 For I know the plans I have for you,’ says the Lord, ‘plans for well-being and not for trouble, to give you a future and a hope.

“Sometimes God gets in the way to show us the way.”  

So many unanswered prayers float around us.  We may never know why they were unanswered, or they may unfold completely differently than we had planned.  I have had several life events that have unfolded completely differently than I had imagined.   I have also had several unanswered prayers linger above me.  

I am really beginning to understand the power of prayer.  Everything that we pray for God can do, but there are a lot of prayers He answers “no” too.  There is a reason for the stern “no”.  However, those frustrations and disappointments stir up feelings/emotions within us.  Those feelings/emotions are a gift from God.  Those known to be spiritual growing pains.  What is God teaching us through those seasons?  Reflect on your life and look at how your life plan has had twists and turns.  What were the outcomes?   Were they different from what you imagined?  What were some lessons/growing pains you experienced?  The biggest test is whether or not we TRUST Him even when He doesn’t give us what we want.  

Be Blessed!

The Stepping Stones of Life

Psalm 84:5-12 New Life Version (NLV)

5 How happy is the man whose strength is in You … 6 As they pass through the dry valley…they make it a place of good water…7 They go from strength to strength….8 O Lord God of all, hear my prayer. Listen, O God of Jacob. 9 Look upon our safe-covering…10 For a day in Your house is better than a thousand outside. I would rather be the one who opens the door of the house of my God, than to live in the tents of the sinful. 11 For the Lord God is a sun and a safe-covering. The Lord gives favor and honor. He holds back nothing good from those who walk in the way that is right. 12 O Lord of all, how happy is the man who trusts in You!

Philippians 4:6-7 New Life Version (NLV)

6 Do not worry. Learn to pray about everything. Give thanks to God as you ask Him for what you need. 7 The peace of God is much greater than the human mind can understand. This peace will keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

Psalm 119:105 New Life Version (NLV)

105 Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.

Psalm 119:130 New Life Version (NLV)

130 The opening up of Your Word gives light. It gives understanding to the child-like.

The following vision was placed on my heart this week…We find ourselves standing on the banks of a river, called “Life”,  with whitewater rapids whipping all around us.  We take our first step into the rushing water and the power of the water takes us with it.  However, when we look down at our feet and we see a stepping stone being placed before us.  We know that we have to move forward so we do so anxiously and very fearful.  We find our balance and then another stone is placed before us.  We look around at the rushing water and start to feel anxious, but then find our focus on the one rock that is holding us steady.  It is our “safe-covering” and our strength in that moment.  Then another stone is placed before us.  It doesn’t look stable or safe, but we can’t do anything but go forward and have FAITH.  We say a prayer, take a breath, and then take the step, finding peace and strength once our feet are fully placed on the stone.  We move slowly from stone to stone, until we have found land, the valley in which we can celebrate and soak up the calmness around us.  

We can only get our strength in from Him.  We also can’t stress about how situations will turn out.  We have to focus on taking one step at a time, knowing what our goal destination is, but we have to focus on how He is getting us there.  If you are doing all you can in the moment you are in, that is all you can do.  If you are praying over each step that you take, even the scary unstable steps, you will be safe.  

The prayer from First 5 devotional today was this…

God, this has seemed so big and so overwhelming that I’ve almost given up.  All you ask of me is that I do the next right thing.  It’s easy for me to react in fear or uncertainty.  Yet You will lead me:  

          ONE CHOICE,

ONE RESPONSE,

ONE ACTION, at a time

through Your Word, and through the Holy Spirit.  

So today, take one step, one prayer, and one breath at a time.  

Be Blessed!