Category: Friendship

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Grateful for Friends

The last couple of days Dave and I have been visiting friends. It has been wonderful!

We left home on Thursday morning stopping in Tucson and spending time with old friends. Then on down the road and another short visit with friends and neighbors. We spent time with family and then the last two nights and a day in the home of more friends, enjoying their company.

Last night we gathered for a time of feasting where we made some new friends. It was a great time for us. We felt part of the family, We shared delicious food, the joy and the laughter, the hopes and the dreams. It was wonderful!

It’s amazing how God’s love knits hearts together.

Do me a favor. Stop for a moment and think about the friends you hold dear. As their names and faces are fore front in your mind pray for them and thank God for them. Now, think about the qualities in your relationship with them. What makes them the special friends they are?

Those qualities and those people are a blessing from the Lord! They are a gift.

Did you know that God has friends? The Bible tells us that Abraham was a friend of God. Jesus said to his disciples that they were friends.

“ You are My friends if you do what I tell you. 15 I do not call you servants that I own anymore. A servant does not know what his owner is doing. I call you friends, because I have told you everything I have heard from My Father. 16 You have not chosen Me, I have chosen you. I have set you apart for the work of bringing in fruit. Your fruit should last. And whatever you ask the Father in My name, He will give it to you.” John 15:14-16 NLV

How great it is to be called God’s friend!

Friends share heart to heart, they share one another’s sorrows, they encourage and build one another up. It’s a relationship of giving, of openness, of loving.

“A friend loves at all times…” Proverbs 17:17 NLV

“A man who has friends must be a friend, but there is a friend who stays nearer than a brother.” Proverbs 18:24 NLV

We have a friend in Christ – a friend who loves at all times, a friend who stays close by in every situation.

The warmth of last evening will be with me for a very long time. It is imprinted on my heart. It is just another confirmation of how dearly the Father loves me. It is also a reminder of the type of daily relationship He wants to share with me. Jesus said he wasn’t keeping secrets from his friends. God said the same about Abraham, his friend.

“And the Lord said, “Should I hide from Abraham what I am about to do, 18 since Abraham will become a great and powerful nation, because good will come to all the nations of the earth through him? ” Genesis 18:17-18 NLV

I truly believe that God wants to say about each one of us what He said about and experienced with Abraham. He desires to share His heart with us, to not only be our Father but our friend.

Yes, I am grateful for friendship!

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Grateful for You

“Every time I think of you, I give thanks to my God. 4 Whenever I pray, I make my requests for all of you with joy, 5 for you have been my partners in spreading the Good News about Christ from the time you first heard it until now.” Philippians 1:3-5 NLT

Last night was one of those times when I just lay awake praying. I started by telling the Father how thankful I was for my family, praying for each one of them by name. Lifting their concerns and needs in prayer and thanking Him for the joy of each relationship.

From there it led to our closest friends – with the same prayer – again praying for each one by name. Recalling the sweet times we’ve shared and those that were bathed in tears. I told the Fath” er for every name that came to mind I would pray.

“Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere.” Ephesians 6:18 NLT

With sixty-nine years of life, there were a lot of names, a lot of friends. There are friends who have lost their mates and parents in the last ten years. I prayed for them in a special way.

And then there are most of you. Since I don’t know most of you personally I prayed for you and the different states across the nation that you live in.

Friends who faithfully share your mornings with me. Friends that I have yet to meet face-to-face. If I were to meet you today I would hug your neck, squeeze your hand, look you in the eye and say thank you. I would pray with you and when our time together came to an end I would hug you again, kiss your cheek and tell you I love you. I really do.

I am grateful for you dear ones. You encourage me with your comments, with your “likes” and your “loves”. I’m praying for you!

The Apostle Paul said “you have been my partners” and you have. A number of you have told me that you share my blog with your family and friends because some days it’s just what “they” need to hear.

“So we have not stopped praying for you since we first heard about you. We ask God to give you complete knowledge of his will and to give you spiritual wisdom and understanding.” Colossians 1:9 NLT

My desire, each morning, is to encourage you with God’s love and goodness. I pray that you find strength to face each day with strength and not fear. I want each of you to know the depth of God’s love for you.

“ By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence. 4 And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires.” II Peter 1:3-4 NLT

You aren’t insignificant. God loves you and I am grateful that I get to share that with you. I am truly grateful for you!

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Child’s Play

I’ve been telling you for weeks how much rain we’ve been getting here in the mountains. Everything is very green and lush. It’s beautiful and now we are starting to see ponds where there have been none, not for a very long time.

A few of those are appearing in the campground, in the campsites. The ground has become so saturated with the rainwater that it’s not soaking in as quickly as it used too. One such pond is at the entrance, across from our check-in station.

We camp hosts were joking that the pond was big enough to stock with fish – or at least crawdads and tadpoles. So…Friday, when Dave and I went to town I bought 3 rubber ducks and 5 bathtub fish. When we came home, I put them in the pond. Saturday morning two of my favorite little campers came down to say good morning and spotted our newest “floating” camper residents. Since they were in their rain boots their mom and dad let them play and splash in the puddle.

New idea!

I drove to the marina and bought a small fishing pole, affixed a magnet to the end of the line, and secured something metallic to the back of each fish and duck. Now, we had a fishing hole for the littles. That evening my two friends came back on their evening walk, with their parents and grandparents, and they got to be the first to catch a big one.

They were so patient.

Believe it or not, it took some skill to get one of those rubber toys to the bank. They were so happy, and content. For about the next 20-30 minutes they took turns fishing and landing their catch.

Now you fisherman know that patience is as much an essential requirement as a good pole and the proper bait.

The same holds true spiritually.

“As Jesus walked alongside the Galilee Sea, he saw two brothers, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew, throwing fishing nets into the sea, because they were fishermen. 19 “Come, follow me,” he said, “and I’ll show you how to fish for people.” 20 Right away, they left their nets and followed him. 21 Continuing on, he saw another set of brothers, James the son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with Zebedee their father repairing their nets. Jesus called them and 22 immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.

23 Jesus traveled throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues. He announced the good news of the kingdom and healed every disease and sickness among the people.” Matthew 4:18-23 CEB

Jesus was patient and loving as He ministered to people. He didn’t demand to be followed, He invited people to join him. He built relationship by attending to their needs; He healed those who were sick and brought them good news! He showed them compassion and understanding.

We have also been called to be fishers of men. We do that by building relationship, showing love, being genuine. We shouldn’t get discouraged or give up.

There’s much to be learn from what some would call child’s play. The message of Jesus is good news and we should share it with joyful hearts and patience.

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Make the Most of It

Time robbers – they are all around us! We need to be aware of their tactics and stand on guard.

I’ll admit there are some time robbers that have infiltrated my daily routine. Now, before I go any further, I want to say that I am not condemning anyone but will simply be pointing out an area the Holy Spirit has pointed out in my life that He wants me to change.

I spend more time than I should each day playing on my computer. I like several different types of Solitaire. I feel it challenges my problem-solving skills and keeps me alert, however, I allow it to rob time from other things that need my attention.

For weeks, I’ve been saying that I need to write to a few people and encourage them – let them know I’m thinking of them and praying for them but that has gotten pushed to the background while I play “just one more hand”.

“ So be very careful how you live. Live wisely, not like fools. 16 I mean that you should use every opportunity you have for doing good, because these are evil times. 17 So don’t be foolish with your lives, but learn what the Lord wants you to do.” Ephesians 5:15-17 ERV

Use every opportunity for doing good.

Please hear me on this, relaxation is not wrong. We can become so busy that we neglect to rest. There is nothing wrong with playing computer Solitaire but if it robs my time and my energy and keeps me from doing other things that have a more lasting value then it’s a problem.

“God sent Jesus Christ our Savior to give us his Spirit. 7 Jesus treated us much better than we deserve. He made us acceptable to God and gave us the hope of eternal life. 8 This message is certainly true. These teachings are useful and helpful for everyone. I want you to insist that the people follow them, so that all who have faith in God will be sure to do good deeds.” Titus 3:6-8 CEV

Be sure to do good deeds.

This makes me think of the story of the Good Samaritan. Three people saw the man who had been beaten and robbed. Only one stopped to help. I don’t know why – maybe they were scared or just too busy, needing to get to their next appointment so they walked on by. The sad thing about this is one was a priest and one was a worker at the temple.

The thing with time robbers is that many of them aren’t offensive, illegal or immoral but they do keep us from doing something better.

“God planned for us to do good things and to live as he has always wanted us to live. This is why he sent Christ to make us what we are.” Ephesians 2:10 CEV

If the Lord is showing you things that are robbing your time, ask for His help in correcting the situation. If nothing comes to mind, then praise God for right priorities.

Let’s all make the most of the time we have to do good things that will honor the Father and be a blessing to others.

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Life Is Not A Tweet

This morning I want to present you with another challenge. This is an important question, how well do you listen?

You’ve seen those challenges on FB – do you read a post with no picture attached? If it’s a lengthy post do you read it all or just partially and then skip to the next more “interesting” feed. Twitter’s whole premise is brevity, convey your idea in 244 characters. Make is short!

But life is not a tweet.

True relationships require listening.

Yesterday I had a man check in for his camp site. He was by himself and when I asked, is there only one in your camping group he replied, “yes, I trying this alone; my wife died two months ago”. He talked and I listened. With tears in my eyes, I reached through the window and held his hand for a few moments. Inwardly, I was praying for him and thanking the Father that I hadn’t been in too much of a hurry to listen.

We build relationships by listening.

If you have children or grandchildren you know how important it is to listen. They want to tell you about their day or their favorite game or toy or pet or… They want to be heard and it’s important that we listen.

Sometimes you don’t need to read alot in the Bible to get your direction for the day. That was the case this morning.

“Let people finish speaking before you try to answer them. That way you will not embarrass yourself and look foolish.” Proverbs 18:13 ERV

It isn’t always necessary for us to provide a solution or even an answer, what’s important is that we care enough to listen.

“My dear brothers and sisters, always be more willing to listen than to speak. Keep control of your anger.” James 1:19 ERV

Our Father is always ready to listen to us. He invites us to come with our joys and our sorrows. He welcomes us to come with our problems and our victories. He listens to His children with a loving heart.

But He also wants us to listen to His words of kindness and instruction.

“My son, pay attention to what I say. Listen closely to my words. 21 Don’t let them out of your sight. Never stop thinking about them.” Proverbs 4:20-21 ERV

The challenge: don’t be in a hurry. Listen to the Father’s words, learn from Him. When we learn to listen to Him we will be better at listening to others.

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Practice Kindness

Being kind goes a long way in life today. With so many being rude and self-centered kindness and genuine concern are like a cup of cool water on a hot day.

Practice Kindness just because you can!

Not sure what makes people who don’t know you think they can criticize or make hurtful comments but some feel they have a “right” to express their opinions without knowing anything about you.

What a difference it makes to say something kind!

I remember when I was young and learning to play the piano, I was required to practice every day. Mom would set the timer on the kitchen stove and I would have to sit on the piano bench and practice. On most days I would rather be out playing but I knew if I was going to improve I had to sit there and going through my scales, then my selected pieces and finally I would get to end with a song I really liked.

There was a little song that would go through my head, “Practice makes perfect, practice makes perfect”.

The same with kindness. The more we “practice”, it begins to become natural. A kind word, a gesture, a helping hand, a smile, a sacrifice of time, a listening ear, a touch. All of these are ways of saying I care.

“If you are guided by the Spirit, you won’t obey your selfish desires. 17 The Spirit and your desires are enemies of each other. They are always fighting each other and keeping you from doing what you feel you should. 18 But if you obey the Spirit, the Law of Moses has no control over you…

22 God’s Spirit makes us loving, happy, peaceful, patient, kind, good, faithful, 23 gentle, and self-controlled. There is no law against behaving in any of these ways. 24 And because we belong to Christ Jesus, we have killed our selfish feelings and desires. 25 God’s Spirit has given us life, and so we should follow the Spirit. 26 But don’t be conceited or make others jealous by claiming to be better than they are.” Galatians 5:16-26 CEV

We need to let the Spirit lead us even in the simple things of the day.

Let the Father’s love shine through! It’s time to practice.

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Some Things Amaze Me

Here we are, a couple days past Easter and I’m still thinking about the resurrection.

We talk a lot about the days that led up to the death of Jesus, His burial and yes, resurrection morning but what about the days that followed?

“I know the resurrection is a fact, and Watergate proved it to me. How? Because 12 men testified they had seen Jesus raised from the dead, then they proclaimed that truth for 40 years, never once denying it. Every one was beaten, tortured, stoned and put in prison. They would not have endured that if it weren’t true. Watergate embroiled 12 of the most powerful men in the world-and they couldn’t keep a lie for three weeks. You’re telling me 12 apostles could keep a lie for 40 years? Absolutely impossible.” ~ Charles Colson

This quote by Charles Colson has prompted me to think more closely about what must have transpired that first week after Easter.

“Pilate said to them, “Take the soldiers. Go and watch the grave.” 66 Then they went and made the soldiers stand by the grave. They put a lock on the big stone door.” Matthew 27:65-66 NLV

“They said, ‘Tell the people, “His followers came at night and took His body while we were sleeping.” 14 We will see that you do not get into trouble over this if Pilate hears about it.’ 15 They took the money and did as they were told. This story was told among the Jews and is still told today.” Matthew 28:13-15 NLV

Tradition and military protocol tell us that these soldiers would have been killed for dereliction of duty not given hush money. How many secret meetings were there to convince them to keep quiet?

And what about the disciples? Jesus appeared to Mary, He talked with two disciples on the road to Emmaus, Peter and John saw the empty tomb, but none of them were excitedly running through the streets of Jerusalem proclaiming the resurrection. They were behind locked doors, afraid that the Jews would come looking to arrest them.

“It was evening of the first day of the week. The followers had gathered together with the doors locked because they were afraid of the Jews. Jesus came and stood among them. He said, ‘May you have peace.’ 20 When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. When the followers saw the Lord, they were filled with joy.” John 20:19-20 NLV

Jesus appeared to them and spoke words of peace. That was the same message He gave them the night He was arrested, “Let not your hearts be trouble”. Christ, like a good shepherd, took every opportunity to bring peace and calm the hearts of his followers.

We know Thomas, one of the apostles, wasn’t there that night. He didn’t encounter Jesus for another eight days. I wonder when Jesus saw His mother and brothers; when did He make his first visit to Mary, Martha and Lazarus, his dear friends?

We aren’t privy to that information. It isn’t recorded in Scripture, but His loving nature would not have allowed Him to keep the details of His resurrection a secret. Yes, I imagine that the first days following the resurrection were just as event filled as those leading up to it.

There is a message to reveal to the world. “He is not here; He is risen as He said”!

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Ouch – That Hurts!

This morning I got up with a sore foot. I’m not sure what caused it but it hurts. As I sat here I rubbed on it and it began to feel better. Good.

A couple more sips of coffee, feet raised with the recliner and faces of friends and family began to come to mind. Some of them are hurting I know, they’ve shared their pain with me. As I lifted them in prayer, I asked the Father to ease their pain.

Just like my foot I wanted to alleviate their discomfort, their heart ache, their pain.

“…But God put the body together and gave more honor to the parts that need it. 25 God did this so that our body would not be divided. God wanted the different parts to care the same for each other. 26 If one part of the body suffers, then all the other parts suffer with it. Or if one part is honored, then all the other parts share its honor.

27 All of you together are the body of Christ. Each one of you is a part of that body.” I Corinthians 12:24-27 ERV

This is how the Father wants us to be when we relate to other Christians, we are all members of the body of Christ.

My head told my hand “Rub your foot, it’s sore and tired, if you rub it for a little while it will feel better” and it did. I saw this as a perfect example of how we are to care for those around us who are hurting.

My foot didn’t ask for help, it was just sore and left unattended I’m sure it would be hurting more and that would make me grumpy. We all have experienced grumpy people and they can be irritating. Maybe we should be asking, “are they hurting, do they need a helping hand”. Coming to their aid with love and compassion may be the best medicine for a hurting soul.

“Help each other with your troubles. When you do this, you are obeying the law of Christ.” Galatians 6:2 ERV

This morning’s teaching isn’t deep or profound, but I do believe it is a teaching we can all embrace, it’s part of our mandate from Scripture to love one another.

So, from my foot to your heart be on the lookout for hurting people and lend a helping hand!

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Dear Friends,

That sounds like the salutation of a letter but it’s the greeting of my heart.

Yesterday I sent a friend a birthday greeting and this morning she replied with “thank you, dear friend”. Dear friend…we haven’t seen each other in years; our face-to-face friendship was only a few years long, but she is a dear friend, truly.

Some people are in our lives only for hours or for days; others grace our lives for months/a few years, while others come and camp in our existence for a lifetime. I have dear friends from all of these, and I even consider some as dear friends whom I have never even met face-to-face.

The Father fills our lives with relationships; it’s His way of sharing His heart. Since God’s love is unconditional – He loves us all the same and He wants us to give that same kind of love to those we meet. He may use us to encourage others and at times He uses them to encourage us.

The Apostle Paul traveled extensively for several years preaching and teaching. Some places he stayed for a few weeks or a season and other places he seemed to stay only a few days. However, the letters he wrote once he left were letters to dear friends. In that day the only way of staying in touch was through letters – no text, emails, Facetime or convenient travel.

“From Paul, Silas, and Timothy. To the church in Thessalonica, the people of God the Father and of the Lord Jesus Christ. I pray that God will be kind to you and will bless you with peace!

2 We thank God for you and always mention you in our prayers. Each time we pray, 3 we tell God our Father about your faith and loving work and about your firm hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. 4My dear friends, God loves you, and we know he has chosen you to be his people.” I Thessalonians 1:1-4 CEV

Dear friends, who are they? They are those people whose names come to mind and a smile comes to my face. They are those who, although I haven’t seen in years, I feel a closeness, a bond and a desire to be with again. We’ve shared laughter and tears, plenty and want, struggles and victories, heartbreak and healing. We’ve shared a cup of coffee and a morning blog. We’ve shared life!

“Dear friends, I love you and long to see you. Please keep on being faithful to the Lord. You are my pride and joy.” Philippians 4:1 CEV

So, dear friends, I am praying for you. Speaking God’s word into your hearts and trusting that you will be filled with joy, peace, love, kind deeds and faith.

May you be richly blessed!

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Forget Password?

Am I the only one who has trouble remembering some of my passwords?

In the last few days I have accessed some sites that I haven’t used in a year. Since I got my new computer over the summer those passwords aren’t a part of the memory on this unit. I have a little place that I record my passwords because of situations like this however, I have found out that I don’t ALWAYS record a new one.

Getting locked out is frustrating and time consuming. I find myself asking the question, “what do I have of any value that would make someone want to steal my identity anyway?”.

Then it came to me this morning – my identity has already been stolen and it was with my permission.

“Now we look inside, and what we see is that anyone united with the Messiah gets a fresh start, is created new. The old life is gone; a new life emerges! Look at it! All this comes from the God who settled the relationship between us and him, and then called us to settle our relationships with each other. God put the world square with himself through the Messiah, giving the world a fresh start by offering forgiveness of sins. God has given us the task of telling everyone what he is doing. We’re Christ’s representatives. God uses us to persuade men and women to drop their differences and enter into God’s work of making things right between them. We’re speaking for Christ himself now: Become friends with God; he’s already a friend with you.” II Corinthians 5:17-20 MSG

We’ve been created new – a new life emerges – we have a fresh start where all our sins are forgiven. New identity!

When God looks at us through Christ He sees someone who is clean, perfect, His child and friend! The Father has set up a new account for us, we have open access!

“With Jesus as our high priest, we can feel free to come before God’s throne where there is grace. There we receive mercy and kindness to help us when we need it.” Hebrews 4:16 ERV

But, what about the password? What if we forget it? Simple!

“On your feet now—applaud God! Bring a gift of laughter, sing yourselves into his presence. 3  Know this: God is God, and God, God. He made us; we didn’t make him. We’re his people, his well-tended sheep. 4 Enter with the password: “Thank you!” Make yourselves at home, talking praise. Thank him. Worship him. 5 For God is sheer beauty, all-generous in love, loyal always and ever.” Psalm 100 MSG

The password is easy – it’s our expression of gratitude! Open before us is our new identity, we sign in with grateful hearts and are given the right to His love, forgiveness, mercy, grace and help.

I will never forget that password – THANK YOU!

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