Like a shepherd, He tends His flock.
He gathers the lambs in His arms
carries them in his bosom,
and gently guides nursing ewes.”
-Isaiah 40:11 TLV
Symbiotic Relationships
Proverbs 27:17 states “As iron sharpens iron, so a person sharpens the countenance of his friend.”
If you’re surrounded by people who encourage you in your Faith & Walk with Jesus, who lift you up not tear you down, push you to be better, hold you accountable, but love you as you are: these are the Proverbs 27:17 friends.
They are the friends we need and need to be in this life, and they are hard to find…
In nature there are three kinds of relationships called Symbiotic Relationships.
1.) Mutual (or Mutualism)
2.) Common (or Commensalism)
3.) Parasitic (or Parasitism)
In a mutual relationship both organisms benefit, such as a bee and a flower. In a Common relationship one benefits and the other isn’t affected at all. A Parasitic relationship is great for one but harmful, and sometimes fatal, for the other.
Which best describes you and your relationships? Think about the closest people in your life right now and reconsider… Are you both building and encouraging one another or is one person really gaining from your relationship and the other, not so much. Are you suffering cruel actions or discouraging words to your detriment and the destruction of your self-esteem, while the other profits in mind, body, and soul?
Jesus tells us,
“Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love.
Therefore I have drawn you with lovingkindness” (Jeremiah 31:2 TLV)
and that
“No one has greater love than this:
that he lay down his life for his friends.” (John 15:13 TLV)
Jesus loves you so much that He died for you and has granted you everlasting life, love, and mercy.
“A man with many friends may be harmed by them,
but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.” (Proverbs 18:24 TLV)
Jesus is our best and truest friend, one who sticks closer than a brother, loves us unconditionally, and walks with us everyday of our lives; through the good and bad.
Friends, if Jesus loves you and tells you that you are valuable, that you have unconditional, everlasting, never-ceasing love from the Father, then don’t surround yourself with people who say otherwise.
Jesus said “The thief comes only to steal, slaughter, and destroy. I have come that they might have life, and have it abundantly!” (John 10:10 TLV)
If you are not living life abundantly in your relationships, relationships of a mutual standing, it’s time to let them go.
I like this quote from Booker T. Washington, it says, “Associate yourself with people of good quality, for it is better to be alone than in bad company.” -Booker T. Washington
And that’s a true statement, it may not be fun being alone, I know, but you are not harmed, hurt, or worse-off all together in bad company. And best of all when you’re in a season of being friendless , that’s when you see God’s love and glory and closeness in your life more than you ever have before. And that is the most beautiful and all-satisfying thing!
The Bible clearly leads us on the path of choosing good friendships saying,
“The righteous choose their friends carefully, but the way of the wicked leads them astray.” -Proverbs 12:26
“A friend is always loyal, and a brother is born to help in time of need.”-Proverbs 17:17
I hope this blog encouraged you my friends, to know that you are valuable, loved and worthy of good relationships! I pray that Jesus’s Love and the Truth of His word will fill you and bring you peace and blessings!
Shalom🕊& God Bless you! ☀️
Friday Morning Prayer 🙏
Lord, teach me to be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to anger.
I bless Your name Abba Father, King of the Universe
In Jesus name,
Amen
“Know this, my dear brothers and sisters: let every person be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger.”
-Jacob (James) 1:19 TLV
Perfect Peace
You keep in perfect peace
one whose mind is stayed on You,
Because he trusts in You.
Trust in ADONAI forever…
for the LORD ADONAI is a Rock of Ages
-Isaiah 26:3-4 TLV
“Day by Day”
Blessed be my Lord!
Day by day He bears our burdens-
the God of our salvation! Selah
-Psalm 68:20
Emmanuel -God With Us
Emmanuel means “God with us.” But, what does it mean to say God is with us?
In the book of Isaiah, the prophet foretold the coming of Messiah Yeshua, Jesus Christ:
“Behold, the virgin will conceive. When she is giving birth to a son, she will call his name Immanuel.” (Isaiah 7:14 TLV)
And in the book of Matthew, the prophecy of Isaiah 7:14 is fulfilled as well as the meaning of Immanuel told:
“…and they shall call His name Immanuel, which means God with us.” (Matt. 1:23 TLV)
Matthew 1:23 is not only a fulfillment of prophecy and the definition of Emmanuel, but also a promise. It promises that those that accept and believe in Jesus Christ, who died for our sins, as Lord and Savior will know that God is with them.
So what does it mean to me that God is with me?
It means Do not be afraid-(Isaiah 41:10, Psalm 56:3, Joshua 1:9, Psalm 118:6)
To know that as His Child, He blesses and protects your coming out and going in (Deuteronomy 28:6, Psalm 121:6)
Believing that If God is for us, who can be against us? (Romans 8:31 TLV)
And most importantly it means that Jesus Loves you!
“Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love.” (Jeremiah 31:2 TLV)
And remember I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
-Matthew 28:20 TLV
Love
1 Corinthians 13- TLV “The Superior Way of Love”
If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels
but have not love,
I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.
If I have the gift of prophecy
and know all mysteries and all knowledge,
and if I have all faith so as to remove mountains
but have not love,
I am nothing.
If I give away all that I own
and if I hand over my body so I might boast
but have not love,
I gain nothing.
Love is patient,
love is kind,
it does not envy,
it does not brag,
it is not puffed up,
it does not behave inappropriately,
it does not seek its own way,
it is not provoked,
it keeps no account of wrong,
it does not rejoice over injustice but rejoices in the truth;
it bears all things,
it believes all things,
it hopes all things,
it endures all things,
Love never fails–
but where there are prophecies,
they will pass away;
where there are tongues,
they will cease;
where there is knowledge,
it will pass away.
For we know in part and we prophesy in part;
but when that which is perfect has come,
then that which is patial will pass away.
When I was a child,
I spoke like a child,
I thought like a child,
I reasoned like a child.
When I became a man, I put away childish things.
For now we see in a mirror dimly,
but then face to face.
Now I know in part,
but then I will know fully,
even as I have been fully known.
But now these three remain—
faith, hope, and love.
And the greatest of these is love.
Do Not Be Afraid
Jesus says to them,
I am.
Don’t be afraid
-John 6:20 TLV
Your Great Name
Lost are saved, find their way, at the sound of Your Great Name
All condemned, feel no shame, at the sound of Your Great Name
Every fear, has no place, at the sound of Your Great Name
The enemy, he has to leave, at the sound of Your Great Name
Jesus, worthy is the Lamb that was slain for us, son of God and man
You are high and lifted up, that all the world will praise Your Great Name
Your Great Name
All the weak, find their strength, at the sound of Your Great Name
Hungry souls, receive grace, at the sound of Your Great Name
The fatherless, they find their rest, at the sound of Your Great Name
Sick are healed, and the dead are raised, at the sound of Your Great Name.
Redeemer, my Healer, Almighty
My Savior, Defender, You are my King
Jesus, the name of Jesus
You are high and lifted up and all the world will praise Your Great Name.
Song by: Natalie Grant, Michael Neale, Krissy Nordhoff
He Makes Wars Cease
God is our refuge and strength,
an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth change,
though the mountains topple into the heart of the seas,
though its waters roar and foam,
though the mountains quake at their swelling.
Selah
-Psalm 46:1-4 TLV
Sometimes it may feel like many parts of your life are crashing down all around you, just like a mountain toppling into the sea. Circumstances that at one time seemed so strong and sure never to be changed or moved.
But if the mountains do come crashing down, know that God is still in control and God is at work in your life.
God made the mountains and seas and He made you. He knows that in seasons like this, we need Him.
He wants you to know today that you are in the palm of His hand.
Safe.
He is a God that is at work in heaven, and on earth, and is fighting for you.
