Friendship Book

"His love is alive--moving, working, renewing--in us, around us and through us. It's three-dimensional. God loves us. He models love for us and loves others through us. He even loves us through people he places in our lives." The Friendship Book by Steve Wingfield

In most conflicts, friendly fire is a very dangerous thing to encounter. The spiritual realm does not follow the same rules as the physical realm. I believe we are in the midst of the most beautiful onslaught (friendly fire) known to man. God's three-dimensional love working on us in and from multiple ways and aspects!

God has us surrounded with His all encompassing love. It began when He fashioned us out of his love on the potter's wheel and continued through the longsuffering that was and is being endured by the Lord Almighty from all the countless rejections and abandonments we have given Him. The price paid to come to earth, leave heaven behind, and to suffer those rejections--criticism, physical pain, the required abandonment by the Father, and ridicule all suffered IN THE FLESH! Jesus died for us so that we may be brought back to intimacy with God. He died so that the Father would be glorified by the Son's humbleness and obedience. A love knowing no bounds is given freely to us everyday of every year. All we have to do is accept it!

We get the experience of loving one another after the fashion of Jesus. We show and grow love in different ways through its use of caring and ministering to one another. Sacrificial love is shown by the Son. The tendency to stay up late (giving up sleep) to talk over problems and concerns with one another. We will also give up our time to go do activities which make others truly happy! Love needs to be shown to one another, for another's words only carry so far alone. Give hugs with wild abandon and show your love and mean it! Open up your life, home, and heart to one another so there are no facades or pretenses. The partitions in your life are kicked down and fresh life is breathed deeply. An open corridor is created in your life, heart, and soul. God is the same way, and He wants you to see Him through an open corridor with no partitions.

We experience love via others showering us with love that we do not always deserve or earn! Sound familiar? God's love is soooo good and it is EVERYWHERE. He knows that we have to have outside help so He brings people in our path to show us the different loves that we need! New shades of love must be added to our palette! God does this with all the different people that he brings into our life, for He knows that everyone has different ways of loving. You never know what you are going to pick up from one another! Tis another reason you should make new relationships and love others with wild abandon. "Grounded in a personal relationship with God, we are freed to love people with confidence and abandon." Steve Wingfield (pg. 6 The Friendship Book) Friends are filters for the Lord. They filter the Lord's love in different ways for we are all uniquely and individually made. The mold has been forever broken on each and every one of us. We should treasure what we learn from those around us!

It is a glorious attack that God surrounds us with! Friendly fire comes in the form of bullets of love. These bullets do no damage to us but they actually do us good and growth. They show us the different facets of love, kindness, and compassion which we may never have experienced! He knows what we need and becomes the Great Provider to minister to our souls. He will do it through Himself, directly in our hearts, and indirectly through others! It is a barrage that I am thankful to be caught in the midst of and to partake in unleashing the ammo that God has given me. Do not stay on the sidelines and look glum! Grab your heart and jump into the fray! You will take hits but love mends its own wounds! You will be better for it!

kenny

Proverbs 9:7-8A

"He that reproveth a scorner getteth to himself shame: and he that rebuketh a wicked man getteth himself a blot. Reprove not a scorner, lest he hate thee:" Proverbs 9:7-8A

Caution is the word! We have to be cautious in handling unbelievers. This is a point in which I have contemplated on a bit of late. How do you approach unbelievers?

My time was chaotic before I met Christ. Anyone talking religion or God to me instantly received an argument from my end. Those who tried to call me down or change my ways only fed the fire. People told me not to cuss, be perverse, or behave only threw gasoline onto the fire. My sins only flourished in view of their "righteousness."

I clearly remember the first time that I believe God tried to reach me. Revival was in full swing at the local church. The preacher clearly seemed to be talking to me when he called the invitation. He even walked over to me and put me on the spot. My sister and a friend of mine were flanking me. They were crying and begging me to accept Christ. I knew entirely too much of their affairs, wondering how they could promote this with all the junk in their life currently and consistently happening! Its hard to wrap your mind around when you know nothing of the Bible.

Ofttimes, lifestyles are detrimental to witnessing. It is key how you handle yourself, how you speak, what you watch, and what you do. The change must be consistent throughout your lifestyle, a true change in other words. Others will find faults if we try to hide them, for eyes are always watching. The brimstone and fire technique does not work. It has always caused me to buck up against the system. So, what do we do? Be a friend, a loving friend!! Show them the love which Jesus put into our lives and hearts. Love will work to melt their heart and the way of life will show the dark areas in their life. Light will show the shadows everytime. Allow the Jesus in your heart to do the work for the extremely hard cases. It is how God worked on me through people. Friendship works wonders! A life following Christ supplies a divine example that will provide the conviction needed!

kenny

They Have No Wine

They Have No Wine

"Not always did He do as His mother would have Him; but this was a case in which He could do so, for it would interfere nowise with the will of His Father...The Son, then, could change His intent and spoil nothing: so, I say, can the Father; for the Son does nothing but what He sees the Father do." George MacDonald

Example. Christ is the one and only true example. He has set the standard for us which God set the standard for Him! Christ learned all from the Father. "And the sword shall abide on his cities, and shall consume his branches, and devour them, because of their own counsels. And my people are bent to backsliding from me: though they called them to the most High, none at all would exalt him. How shall I give thee up, Ephraim? how shall I deliver thee, Israel? how shall I make thee as Admah? how shall I set thee as Zeboim? mine heart is turned within me, my repentings are kindled together. I will not execute the fierceness of mine anger, I will not return to destroy Ephraim: for I am God, and not man; the Holy One in the midst of thee: and I will not enter into the city." Hosea 11:6-9 God changed His mind in mid-thought. The change went from righteous judgement to tender mercies in the blink of an eye. Why can we not learn from them to change our mind from selfish to unselfish in mid-thought?

We have to keep such examples in the front of our mind! Others may anger us, but we cannot let it set in! Love will find a way to forgive. Do not let anger(or envy, jealousy, lust, etc.) take root, be aware of it's presence and dash it upon the rocks of God's love! By God's grace, we can change our mind and not allow sin to creep in our heart. He will provide the longsuffering needed. The Son watched the Father to learn this, and we pick it up from Jesus. We are the youngest of the family, joint-heirs with Christ. "And he stretched forth his hand toward his disciples, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren! For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother." Matthew 12:49-50 The older brother discipling the younger brother/sister in need of guidance!

The scriptures repeatedly tell us what to do in all situations. Even in the midst of being gripped by a powerful emotion, love and goodness can turn the tides of misfortune! We just have to take a step back in our mind, a deep breath, and look again at the situation before us. Sin can be overcome by the presence of Jesus inside. He gives us the edge over our easily swayed body! We must keep a Christ-centered perspective!

kenny

Cornerstone

Jesus is the only way to God; He is love incarnate. The cornerstone of your relationship with God is Jesus. In turn, He is the cornerstone for every relationship you have. Every relationship should and must be based off love. This is a fact for new AND old relationships!

Every new relationship HAS to be built off of Jesus. A cornerstone of love is what gives the possibility of constructing a house of love. You have to start with the right building materials: LOVE. Jesus gave out His love from the overflow of his heart regardless of age, race, gender, or religious background. He built his relationships not off what others could do for Him, but off what He could do for others! They were always giving relationships in which he took part. The recipient often didn't have any means or anything to offer in return for the gifts Jesus gave. Jesus only wanted love and affection returned to him. An insubstantial item taken for granted by the world. We must give in our relationships and NOT EXPECT a return. It is given with no strings attached. We must break the mindset we possess that it is a competition. Give freely with no expectations!

All old relationships (not founded with His building perspective) has to be torn down and started afresh. An example of this type relationship was recently written about by myself. It was in the Celine Dion devotion. One of my family member's relationship with myself was built off bitterness and hatred on my end. A recipe for making a disaster! Our relationship has never been good, and it will never be good unless I seek to change the foundation. Forgiveness is in order, and the old foundation must be ripped out and given to God. He will throw it into the Sea of Forgetfulness. The old house is demolished; time has come to construct a new one off the love of Jesus. He will give us the tools and the ONE AND ONLY FOUNDATION to build a new and God honoring relationship upon!

You have to glorify God in every way. Do not be legalistic about it, but keep Him in the forefront of your mind. New relationships are easier to start with Christ as the foundation; it’s the old ones that are the challenge. You have to have the audacity, forgiveness, and love of God to go back to the old stomping grounds and tear down those old selfish relationships. Knock them down with the wrecking ball of Jesus' love, and construct a new dwelling in the relationship. A home attracting God to come down and grace it with His glorious presence. A House of Love--full of the love of God to man and man to woman. Leave the self out in the cold!

kenny

Proverbs 17:17

"A friend loveth at all times, and a brother is born for adversity." Proverbs 17:17

"A true friend has unquenchable love that is not diminished by adversity." KJV Study Bible Where did we learn such tenacity in loving someone? Where did we learn such loyalty? GOD! He has always been in hot pursuit of us since Adam and Eve. We all bear our crosses. I believe God bears a cross of love. It is a voluntary cross mind you. He could throw it off at anytime if He wanted to! The thing is we are blessed to have such a caring and loving Father. "The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with loving kindness have I drawn thee." Jeremiah 31:3 Can you believe that? God loves us with an everlasting love. That means that even when we are his enemies, He still loves us. When we live in defiance of his laws, He still wants to woo us back to him. God seeks our affection back. "For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life." Romans 5:10 Dauntless is our God in his pursuit.

Now that we know where we got it from, all that is left is the application. Friends and loved ones surround us all. They are at various stages in their life. We must learn to focus our love on the person, and our prayer on the sin. We tend to get bent out of shape with the person. This must not happen. As C.S. Lewis said, "hate the sin but not the sinner." It should not be a personal affront to us should they fall or have never been saved. We cannot hate them in their moments of blindness. The love, that we have for them, has to be displayed in the best way we know how. Down on our hands and knees, praying for them earnestly and relentlessly. We must petition the source of our unquenchable fire to move not only on our behalf and their behalf, but on His behalf. A petition of love must be sent on behalf of our brothers and sisters; His sons and daughters.

This is why we are to love one another unconditionally as we love ourselves. That includes our enemies. "Ye have heard that it hath been said, THOU SHALT LOVE THY NEIGHBOR, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate ou, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;" Matthew 5:43-44 We are like their seeing eye dogs. They are led to where they NEED to go by our faithful devotion to them. If they do not have us acting on their behalf, who do they have? We must be their frontline of defense and prayer of salvation! They might be unappreciative and distant, but given time God has the means to wear down even the largest and thickest walls around one's heart! "By faith the walls of Jericho fell down, after they were compassed about seven days." Hebrews 11:30 If we provide the faith, God will provide the strength! The walls will come down, and all glory will be to God.

kenny

Echoes of Love

Echoes of Love

Beauty lies all around us. It also lies deep within our hearts and souls. Did you ever think that you could see an echo? An echo is usually thought as the repetition of a sound caused by the reflection of sound waves. It can also be one who closely imitates or repeats another's words, ideas, or acts. An echo can be seen and sometimes it will blow you away by the force of it!

I believe that I've witnessed just such an echo. An echo of love is the phenomenon that I witnessed. Love came from the Almighty. He is the author of this fabulous caress of the soul. "We love him, because he first loved us." 1 John 4:19 It all started with Him when He created Adam and Eve before they fell into sin. Life was perfection for they lived with the Holy One in perfect communion together. They shared unadulterated love between Him and them. Their souls basked in one million candlewatt power of God's brilliant pristine heart and never felt a tinge of a burn. A tragedy occurred when Adam and Eve sinned. They were separated from the immediate presence of the Almighty. Where do echoes come into this?

Our hearts resound with the love of God after all this time. From the time of Adam and Eve, God's love still makes our hearts reverberate with the power of His beautiful nature and awesome power. Whether we know him or not, love can shake the hardest of hearts and make an impact. The strongest impact can be made by one who truly loves God and respects Him and His Word and commands. Love shines through their eyes in a direct line from the brilliant and pristine heart of Abba. I have witnessed such echoes of love in the eyes of a person. It is an awesome feeling and one never taken for granted. The heart will flutter in the basking of such filtered love! Just take a moment....if you have ever felt such love before...imagine in your mind....the full onslaught of God's love upon your soul! Methinks mine heart would burst!! Echoes can be beautiful things, just as beautiful as shooting stars. Bask in its glory and see what you can do to return the favor by letting God's love so fill your heart that it bursts forth through your eyes to bless those around you!!

kenny