Category: Isaiah

Relationship

On By SkyIn Enemies, Faith, Hardships, Isaiah, Relationship, UncategorizedLeave a comment
“Let the heartbeat of your Bible reading be this simple prayer: ‘LORD, move this from my head to my heart.”
– John Piper

Today let us examine our relationships. Which ones? All of them.

Your relationship with God should be first in your life. If this is not the case for you, then this is one area in your life you must cater to first and foremost. Next, if you have a spouse, you and them have become one flesh (Genesis 2:24). Thus because of this your relationship should also be of importance to you. It should be second on your list. Your parents, your imitate family (if they are in your life) should also be an aspect within your life that you can lean in toward. After all the command, “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.” (Exodus 20:12, ESV), still applies (Matthew 10:37, Matthew 15:4, & Matthew 19:19). Then everyone else accordingly. (Friends Proverbs 17:17, Bosses/Coworkers 1 Peter 2:18, Matthew 5:16, Colossians 3:22, the government(s) 1 Peter 2:18…..so on and so forth).

These are just some logistics before I begin, but this is not necessarily all we will cover.

Today, I would like to go over relationships as a whole. Meaning, this is something we should be doing in all of our relationships, no matter which one it is.

This ‘something’ is honesty.

“You have no idea the numbers of people that God may want to influence through you.” – Andy Stanley

Honesty is important in every single relationship. When you are not honest with someone, you are even lying to yourself. In reality, it is also relevant to note that when you are not being honest with yourself or the people around you, you are not walking in accordance to the spirit. Walking in step with the spirit means that our hearts and thoughts are aligned with the Father (Galatians 5:25). Honesty gives us a clear conscience.

“Whoever gives an honest answer
    kisses the lips.”

Proverbs 24:26, ESV

Being an honest person means you are being your truest self. Those who are free in Christ are free indeed (John 8:36). If you feel you cannot be honest with the people around you, then you really need to reevaluate who it is you are allowing yourself to be affected by. There are so many questions we could ask ourselves to get us back on track, but the key thing is that we must fix our faults as soon as we recognize them. The longer you wait, the harder it will be to get to the solution. Please, allow me to explain.

“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this world’s darkness, and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” (Ephesians 6:12, BSB)

As we spoke about in reading, “Sometimes“, we learned that the tough times we go through in this life are no exception to the Body of Christ. IF you accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior your life has become new in Him, but that doesn’t mean that everything is picture perfect. Despite now being a child of God, we are still temporally living in the world, but just because we are in the world, doesn’t mean we should respond the way the ones of the world do.

“So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.  For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.“

Galatians 5:16-18, NIV

Whether we are being honest or facing honesty, sometimes this can be a hard thing to handle. Sometimes we don’t want to face what is in front of us, but I encourage you today to fight against that. Stop running away from your problems and instead try tackling them and work through them.

By doing this and applying it to your life, you will be walking according to the spirit and will of God.

It might not be easy but that is okay. It may be a fight but it is a fight worth fighting for.

Our spirit is consistently fighting against our flesh, but it is up to us to reason it out (see Isaiah 1:18).

“Learn to do right” (Isaiah 1:17, BSB).

One last thing before you go.

To be honest, is showing you love the one you are being honest with. Is it not?

Thank you for reading. To read more on friendships please click here to read.

If this helped you and blessed you, I pray you will also take the time to be in the Word of God. 1 Peter Chapter 2 maybe! 😊

Old Friends, New Life

On By SkyIn Enemies, Hardships, Isaiah, Uncategorized7 Comments
“In the quiet of an early morning, honesty finds me. It calls to me through a crack in my soul and invites the real me to come out.”-Lysa TerKeurst from Uninvited

Have you ever lost someone extremely close to you? That go-to person when you felt down, or even when you have something exciting to tell? Someone who you expected to be there forever, yet they seemed to have left in a mere moment. Things like this happen far more often than we realize. We don’t recognize that fact until it actually happens to us personally.

Today, in the quiet of the early morning, in the silence of the beginning of my day, God came through. An old friend of mine resurfaced to my mind. It has been a few years now, but that doesn’t mean I don’t think of them and wish them the best. It doesn’t mean that the memory of them has disappeared and all our times together have become a distant reminiscence. & just as she was gone in an instant, God stretched out His hand and held on to me just as fast.

Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.-Matthew 6:34 (NKJV)

Our friendship lasted about 8 years. We often joked that a friendship that has made it to 7 will last a lifetime. I used to think that the moment it reached that, the enemy swarmed in and took my friend away. Maybe he did, because based on the circumstances it sure seemed it. Not only did our relationship vaporize, but the person within the relationship was too. One moment my strength, best friend, love, cheerleader, and more. To angry, misunderstanding, misinterpreting, stubborn, inattentive, the next.

When the Word says, “Do not be deceived: “Evil company corrupts good habits.” (or morals/character depending on the translation you are using), from 1 Corinthians 15:33, it is not kidding. Now, I am all for making new friends and being a light for everyone to see/feel, but in this instance when this person met another in particular, things shifted pretty quickly. New interests started to arise, new habits, and even new speech/attitudes.

Don’t get me wrong, I am not here to talk down on anyone. I am simply giving some background to one piece of my story.

I many times asked why. I frequently blamed myself, even though it wasn’t entirely my fault. Too many times to count, I wanted to run back to that old friend. I wanted to push myself onto them and force them to love me again in return. Yet the Holy Spirit within me was gently telling me to let go.

“whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.”

James 4:14, NKJV

Once I was truly able to, God began to teach me many things. He even brought new people into my life and showed me how to look at life through His lenses. Here are some of those things, to perhaps help you as well:

  • Not only is life a vapor, here now then gone the next, friendships/relationships can be at times too.
  • God sees what we do not see. He also hears what we do not hear. Therefore, this person in my life must have no longer been fitting for the new season God was putting me in.
  • Although the friendship has come to an end, and that person may have some remorse or bitterness against you, pray for them anyway.
  • God is in control.
  • “Instead of relying on your friend, rely on Me.” -God
  • God should be our go-to person. The One we tell our hearts desires, pains and aches, exciting moments, breaking moments, and more.

Cast your burden on the Lord, And He shall sustain you;
He shall never permit the righteous to be moved. (Psalms 55:22, NKJV)

So, how did God meet me in this morning? I invited Him in and He joined me.

(see-Psalms 91:1; Psalms23:3; Psalms 5:3)

Hear the whisper of the Lord, “When I remove you from something or someone you treasure, it’s healthy to grieve your loss. It is also important to draw closer to Me during this time. Cling to Me, beloved, for your relationship with Me will never be taken away from you.”

Wow, am I right?

Like I mentioned in my post, Repentance, God is a God of new.

“Behold, I will do a new thing, Now it shall spring forth; Shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness And rivers in the desert.”

Isaiah 43:19, NKJV

Now being a child of God, when I think of rivers I imagine refreshment. I imagine cleanliness. Smoothness. Purity.

This morning when I came to God, I came with full intention to surrender myself as I was. I came to begin my day with Him. This week for myself has become a mission. A mission to fulfill the longing within my heart. & when I did this He pointed out something within myself I had hidden away. Something I pretended not to notice, He brought to light. To reveal that just like that moment from the past, He is bringing something new to the table.

I am so thankful that God has shown me this. That I can now recognize when something new is going to occur, and I can wait expectantly in return.

“Sometimes God stays silent until we’re ready to listen.”

Hebrews 13:15 MEV

Through Him, then, let us continually offer to God the sacrifice of praise, which is the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name.