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Weekly Wisdom Winnows
by Lisa Mendenhall
Friendship? What does that word mean to you? Does it mean a casual acquaintance? Does it mean through thick and thin? Does it mean to the death? Does friendship mean one who is a yes man to you all the time? Is there friendships in your life that you have put above God and His laws? Is there a friend in your life that you have to constantly bow down to their wishes to keep them happy? To keep their friendship?
I want to talk about God's kind of friendships. I believe that the Bible sets down rules and guidelines for godly friendships. Lets see what He says.
Proverbs href="http://members.liveasif.org/jscripts/fckeditor/editor/fckeditor.html?query=pr+27:17&translation=nkj&st=1&new=1&sr=1&l=en">Proverbs href="http://members.liveasif.org/jscripts/fckeditor/editor/fckeditor.html?query=pr+27:17&translation=nkj&st=1&new=1&sr=1&l=en">Proverbs href="http://members.liveasif.org/jscripts/fckeditor/editor/fckeditor.html?query=pr+27:17&translation=nkj&st=1&new=1&sr=1&l=en">Proverbs 27:17
JESUS is LORD over MY LIFE!- Lisa G. Mendenhall
Holy Bible: Easy-to-Read Version
A friend might hurt you sometimes, but he does not want to do this. An enemy is different. Even when an enemy is kind to you, he wants to hurt you.
A friend might hurt you sometimes, but he does not want to do this. An enemy is different. Even when an enemy is kind to you, he wants to hurt you.
The King James Version reads Faithful are the wounds of a friend...Sometimes friends may hurt you while trying to help you, but not with the intent to hurt. Sometimes we have to speak the truth in love, especially if we really love our friends and we want to see the best for them. We have to be led by the Lord when trying to help our friends to grow in Christ.
The bottom line is chose your friends carefully. Love them fully and be quick to ask their forgiveness when you accidentally hurt or wound them. I had rather have a few or even one true friend instead of many surface friends!!! Choose wisely and stick closely!!!
-A friend loves at all times, And a brother is born for adversity.
A true friend is always Johnny-on-the-spot, regardless of the time of day or night and no matter what the inconvenience to their own life. They look not only to their own needs but to the needs of their friends. They are sensitive to their moods and can most times do or say something to lift them up out of a pit of despair or depression. They are there for them at all times!(the only exception being if it goes against God and His word.)
As iron sharpens iron, So a man sharpens the countenance of his friend.
A true friend speaks the truth in love, to cause his friend to grow and get sharp in the things of God. He loves his friend enough to want him to grow up in Christ.
Proverbs 18:24 -Amplified
The man of many friends [a friend of all the world] will prove himself a bad friend, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.
The first thing I see is there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. I don't know if He is talking about Jesus or God or the Holy Spirit here. It doesn't say. But I do believe that there is a friend that is closer than flesh and blood. It is a true friend. But I also believe that our very best friend should be Jesus. He is the only one who knows us better than we know ourselves. He is the only one who chooses to forgive and forget all our faults. He is the only one who chooses to see the best in us and not the worst. He is an all around number one best friend. Next to Him all of our friends should pale in comparison, but a true friend should show the virtues and quality of character that Christ displays. If they don't they are not a friend that we need to be running buddies with!
I recently come across a situation where a friend decided to "stick by her friend" even though this friend was living in open sin. She put down the ones that backed away from friendship with her as the Word plainly says to do. So basically she was rebelling against the Word of God in the name of "friendship". That is totally against God's Word. Now this same person(the one who stuck by her friend) is living in the same open sin and her friend(that was in sin) is on the way to spiritual recovery with the Lord.
Proverbs 12:26 says
The righteous should choose his friends carefully, For the way of the wicked leads them astray.
You can't play with the world and not fall into it. Not even in the name of friendship if it goes against God's commands.
Rate it:
'To separate the chaff from (grain) by means of a current of air. To rid of undesirable parts. To separate or get rid of (an undesirable part); eliminate: winnowing out the errors in logic. ...separate grain from chaff...separate the good from the bad...examine closely in order to separate the good from the bad; sift...' (www.dictionary.com) 'This study gave me direction and focus for my teaching. God had placed a longing in my heart to teach the body of Christ how to separate from carnal thinking and rid themselves of old ways that hinder their Spiritual growth. I desire to see them live victoriously, by the 'higher ways' of God's wisdom.'
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