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

Who are your closest friends? Good friends are hard to come by in a world of superficial acquaintances and shallow relationships. "Hanging with the crowd" can give us a false sense of belonging, but often leaves us wounded and alone in times of trouble. Open, honest, supportive, and loving relationships don't happen without investment.

Ask the Lord to lead you to close friends in His family. Minister to and serve those around you as you listen to their requests, faithfully upholding them in prayer. Trust God will give you a "stick-through-thick-and-thin-friend." Development of Christian friends is an investment of effort and time, they are friends with whom we can share with always.

In His Love, Do All You Can, While You Can, As Long As You Can, To All You Can….Have a Beautifully Blessed Day!

"`If you can'?" said Jesus. "Everything is possible for him who believes." Mark 9:23

Jesus is the ultimate one "who believes." All things ARE possible for Him. Guess what? He longs to do great things through us, too! In fact, He promised He would do even greater things through us than He did himself because He is now at the Father's side helping us! See John 14:12-14.

Isn't it time we quit talking about what we can't do, and start believing in the one who can do great things? Paul put it this way: God can do "more than we can ask or imagine by his power at work in us." Ephesians 3:20-21

In His Love, Do All You Can, While You Can, As Long As You Can, To All You Can….Have a Beautifully

"My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the Lord. "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts." Isaiah 55:8-9

No matter how hard we try to perceive the awesomeness of God, he is still God and we are not. We must forever remember that the original, and still primary, sin was to try to become like God in terms of knowledge and understanding. We are to know God, but we can never fully know everything about him. We are to take on his character, but we cannot approach his majesty, righteousness, or holiness on our own. This is both exciting and frustrating. But, the promise remains that one day we will be like him and see him as he is (1 John 3:1-3) and know fully even as we are fully known (1 Corinthians 13:11-12).

“The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.” 1 John 2:17

So much of what we pursue is fleeting. Once we acquire it, we have to try to preserve it because we know it will soon be gone. God has promised us that just as He is eternal and will live forever, so also are those who pursue a relationship with Him and are committed to do His will.

Let's sit down and look at how we spend our time, our money, and our efforts and ask if what we are pursuing is really something that is worth having. Then let's ask one more important question: "Even if it is worth having, is it going to last long enough to make a difference?"
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In His Love, Do All You Can, While You Can, As Long As You Can, To All You Can….Have a Beautifully Blessed Day!

God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. 2 Corinthians 5;21

Righteousness! That's what we are. We are not righteous. No, it is much bigger than that. We are God's righteousness. We are the testimony of how holy, just and gracious he truly is because, in Jesus, we are his righteousness!

Thank You, Almighty God, for making us righteous in the blood of your son's death. May people see in us, a reflection of your holiness, justice, and mercy as we try to share with them your grace.

"Now you are the people of God; you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy." 1 Peter 2:10

As a result of God's mercy, we have become a people who are uniquely and exclusively cared for by God. The fact we are the recipients of His mercy makes all the difference in the world as to how we respond to difficult times.

God watches over us with enormous interest. Why? Because of His immense mercy, freely demonstrated in spite of our not deserving it! One day grace will be gone! (Romans 6:1-2)
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In His Love, Do All You Can, While You Can, As Long As You Can, To All You Can….Have a Beautifully Blessed Day!