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Proverbs of a 40 yr. old man
There are friends who are friends, and there is a friend that is closer than a brother. Relatives are born to share our troubles. Earthly families are born of natural descent and of human passion and plan. Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life. What a gift to have friends that are more loyal than your own bloodline. The world lives by the flesh and dies by the flesh. People are consumed with the pride of life and only care about their family, their nation, and their race. But there is a special bond that the Spirit of Christ makes with people making them family through the blood of Jesus. No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not understand what his master is doing. But I have called you friends, because everything I have learned from My Father I have made known to you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. Amen. A godly friend loves at all times with the love of Christ. Giving heartfelt counsel that is as sweet as perfume and incense. There rebuke can be trusted because you have cultivated strong relationship with God and each other. Let the godly strike me! It will be a kindness! If they correct me, it is soothing medicine. Don’t let me refuse it. But I pray constantly against the wicked and their deeds. We are called as believers and members of the Body of Christ to love each other as family. There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all, in all, and living through all. Let us learn to love our neighbor as we love ourselves. Who is our neighbor? Our family and friends, and even our enemies we must share the love of Jesus with. Little by little, we will see how a friend can stick closer than brother. The Holy Spirit connects us all if only we would cultivate friendships in our lives. Friendship with the world means enmity against God. So, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. The LORD is passionate that the spirit he has placed within us should be faithful to him. And he gives grace generously. As the Scriptures say, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” Humbly ask Jesus today to make you a friend that sticks closer than a brother. The family of God grows daily and Jesus adds brothers and sisters, fathers and mothers through the power of His Blood. Here’s the lesson: Use your worldly resources to benefit others and make friends. Then, when your possessions are gone, they will welcome you to an eternal home.
Study John 15:14
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