Continuing from yesterday on friends, we began by using Amnon and Jonadab as our case study.
…maybe if his friend had not given him that counsel, he might have lived longer. So the question is, who is your friend? Your friend is the definition and description of your life. Watch the friends you have. Friendship is by choice and not by force.
If you are still single and probably living with your parents, can you confidently introduce your friend to your parents? If your friend is a goal-getter, he will influence you. If she is a gold digger, she will also influence you.
A friend is defined as a person you know well and regard with affection and trust. So you really want to be careful who is covering your back.
Don’t lie down with dogs or else you rise with fleas. Disconnect from those distracting your destiny. The one telling you that you cannot be rich unless you sell your body is not a friend.
The one telling you that you are a bush girl for being a virgin is a foe disguising as an enemy. The one telling you to cheat on your spouse and taste stolen waters is not a mentor but a tormentor of destiny!
The one telling you that you cannot make it unless you become crooked and con is not really a friend.
A good friend will bring progress into your life, but a bad friend will usher you into retrogression!
I love these translations of Proverbs 13:20
Become wise by walking with the wise; hang out with fools and watch your life fall to pieces. –Proverbs 13:20 (MSG)
Keep company with the wise and you will become wise. If you make friends with stupid people, you will be ruined. –Proverbs 13:20 (GNB)
So make up your mind today. Disconnect and reconnect where necessary. Friendship begins with friendship with Jesus. He will then lead you and guide and help you choose good friends who will add to your destiny.
May God, the lover of your soul guide you to choose good friends that will advance your life!
CONFESSION FOR THE DAY I have the strength to disconnect from bad influences. I will no longer be subject to weak and beggarly elements. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. I have God’s Spirit and He helps me to choose my friends. I am not naïve, I am decisive in God.
PRAYERS FOR THE DAY God, deliver me from the snares and traps of wrong association. Open the eyes of my understanding, O Lord, and flood my heart with your light.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY There are friends who may be a man’s destruction, but there is a lover who keeps nearer than a brother. – Proverbs 18:24
ACTION PLAN FOR THE DAY Make a list of your friends. The good, and the bad. Keep the good and disconnect from the bad ones. It is your choice.
Friends are powerful. They can make or Mar. In history, friends have been known to be foes in disguise, while perceived foes have turned out to be great friends.
Friends are a great influence, and they will influence for good or for worse. You may not be able to choose the circumstances of your birth and the milieu of your family, but you can choose who you want as friends and discard those who are parasites.
But Amnon had a friend, whose name was Jonadab, the son of Shimeah David’s brother: and Jonadab was a very subtil man. -2Samuel 13:3
Amnon died a premature death. Ever before his light could shine, the flames were extinguished in a fit of the revengeful act. He lost the opportunity to bloom and blossom, his destiny was cut short, and his potential never saw the light of day.
He was a prince, a king’s son, but his royal blood was wasted, and his life terminated in the midst of days.
Amnon wouldn’t have died, if he has not been advised by a ‘friend’ Years before, he had heeded a counsel from a FRIEND whose counsel eventually canceled his destiny.
Jonadab was his friend, but his friend became the source of his nemesis. He had hopelessly fallen in love with his half-sister to the point of sickness. Jonadab advised him on how to get his sister’s attention. Singles, Be Careful How You Choose Your Friends
He followed his friend’s advice, feigned sickness, and eventually raped Tamar, his half-sister. Absalom who is also Tamar’s brother made sure he revenged. He went too far.
Two years down the line when Amnon thought all was gone and forgotten, Absalom ensured his murder. He murdered him. Singles, Be Careful How You Choose Your Friends
To be continued…
CONFESSION FOR THE DAY I have the strength to disconnect from bad influences. I will no longer be subject to weak and beggarly elements. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. I have God’s Spirit and He helps me to choose my friends. I am not naïve, I am decisive in God.
PRAYERS FOR THE DAY God, deliver me from the snares and traps of wrong association. Open the eyes of my understanding, O Lord, and flood my heart with your light. I will choose rightly, I will not marry wrong.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY There are friends who may be a man’s destruction, but there is a lover who keeps nearer than a brother. – Proverbs 18:24
ACTION PLAN FOR THE DAY Make a list of your friends. The good and the bad. Keep the good and disconnect from the bad ones. It is your choice.
SINGLES – How To Survive Hurts And Disappointments
Continued from yesterday…
Forgiveness is releasing the offender in your heart only to discover you are freeing yourself. The offender or the person that hurt has moved on, and it is even probable he might meet Jesus along the way, retrace his steps and do well. It is you that must not resign to fate because of some past occurrences, let go and let God!
Why must you forgive hurts? God says so. You also want Him to forgive you anyway.
It will be too much to hold a person or persons in bitterness in your heart. Free yourself and allow God who is the re-writer of history to rewrite your life. Allow God who can collapse years to recompense every lost year. Allow God who is the restorer to help you to the point that you will forget the shame of your youth!
Yes, he really hurt you. He jilted you. She deceived you. He pushed you into abortions. She eloped with your money. He raped you. Your cousin violated you. Your big sister abused you. Your father slept with you. Your house-help did this and that…the issues are endless…It has happened!
Don’t ostracize yourself like Mephibosheth to Lo-debar, a land of no communication because he was dropped by his caretaker and broke his ankles. Rather, allow God to make a message out of the mess. Allow Him to turn the mistakes into miracles. That is How To Survive Hurts And Disappointments.
Allow God to birth a dream out of the doom. Allow him to showcase you to the world that when He covers anybody with His glory, the shame and the embarrassments become a thing of the past, and the broken become masters at mending.
The first step is to forgive hurts. I pray for strength for you today in your inner man to let go. Some of you have bottled it for years and it has kept you captive like when a lion holds its prey at the jugular.
Don’t allow bitterness and strife to lock their jaws on you and keep you immobilized. If you need somebody to talk with to initiate the healing process, feel free to give me a call on +234 802 3507395. If I don’t pick up your calls, keep trying, I might be in a meeting.
Don’t just become a survivor. Become a forgiver!
It’s a new day for you!
You will succeed!
Your life will be a testimony!
You are blessed!
How To Survive Hurts And Disappointments
CONFESSION FOR THE DAY My future is colorful and bright. I will not allow an unforgiving spirit to rob me of it. I receive grace to forgive all hurts and offense
PRAYERS FOR TODAY Lord, I ask you to give me a loving heart like Jesus. Give me a heart that forgives hurts and prays for those who despitefully use us.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY Mat 6:14For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you:
ACTION PLAN FOR THE DAY Make a list and forgive all and don’t keep an unforgiving spirit
SINGLES – How To Survive Hurts And Disappointments
Today’s devotional is about a decision we all have to make. Some people have been badly abused, cheated and taken for granted in their past relationships. They feel justified to hold their offenders in unforgiving spirit but the truth is that an unforgiving spirit holds you as a prisoner to the past.
You cannot be pregnant of yesterday and expect to deliver of your tomorrow and enjoy your today. Nature detest vacuum. It is either your heart is filled with the bitterness of yesterday or filled with the joy of today and the hope of tomorrow.
Some of you were rejected and forgotten by your fathers. Some of our mothers were not there when we needed them. They failed in their responsibilities to bring us up. Some mothers even abandon their babies. Some of those we love and hold in respect disappointed us, even abused and violated us.
For some, a trusted friend, aunty, brother, sister, cousin or even a fiancee betrayed your loyalty.
No matter the case, God understands. He knows the pain of the hurts. He loves you so much as you are but He also loves you too much to leave you the way you are. He desires your healing.
Remember He is a Doctor, the Physician. Doctors prescribe the medication for your recovery. The patient will have to trust the expertise of the doctor to receive his health back. No matter how painful or bitter the medication is, the patient has to follow through patiently. You endure the pain knowing it is just for a while…
Most medicines, injections, drips, operations or any recovery procedure are not palatable, but because our health is also very important, we endure them all.
I want you to see yourself as a patient today and Jesus as the doctor, telling you to forgive as a medication to heal your hurts and make you free again to live, love and laugh.
Remember you are not perfect either and always need the gift of forgiveness from God. The fact is that as long as you are still alive, you will hurt people, people will hurt you and you will need each other’s forgiveness.
To be continued…
CONFESSION FOR THE DAY My future is colourful and bright. I will not allow an unforgiving spirit to rob me of it. I receive grace to forgive all who have hurt and offended me
PRAYERS FOR TODAY Lord, I ask you to give me a loving heart like Jesus. Give me a heart that forgives and prays for those who despitefully use us.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY Mat 6:14For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you:
ACTION PLAN FOR THE DAY Make a list and forgive all and don’t keep an unforgiving spirit
The Samaritan woman had met so many men… but then when she met the man, the lover of her soul, she couldn’t but express the difference that turned her life around!
The woman then left her waterpot, and went her way into the city, and saith to the men, Come, see a man… -John 4:28-29 (KJV)
Respond to God’s love today. Refuse the emotion of guilt! You see the moment you have asked your father to forgive you, He forgives and forgets. The devil tries to bring guilt so that you can feel unworthy and thereby prevent you from coming into God’s presence boldly.
But you see, this issue is a family affair! If your earthly father has forgiven you of an offense, what else can the servant in the house say? You simply tell him to shut up!
That is the way you handle the devil. It’s none of his business. God forgave you, period.
Tell the devil to shut up, it’s between you and your father, it’s a family affair and it is settled! He should stop poke nosing.
The blood of Jesus handled it already! If he tries to remind you of your past, remind him of his future, it’s the bottomless pit! Make sure you stop sinning.
That is what God does not want, continuous and habitual sins. Grace cannot abound when sin continues! Only hearken to what Jesus said to that adulterous woman caught in the act.
… And Jesus said unto her, neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more. –John 8:11 (KJV)
The fact is that you did something wrong.
The lie is that you will never be forgiven.
The truth is that you are already forgiven and it is forgotten! Embrace the truth today and let it set you free! Truth is superior to the fact!
CONFESSION FOR THE DAY Sin will not have dominion over me. I am able to follow God’s injunctions. I put my body under. All my sins are forgiven. I am a new a creature
PRAYERS FOR THE DAY Lord, strengthen me in my inner man. Help me to comprehend with all the saints what is the length, breadth and height, and depth of your love for me.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY He touched my mouth with the coal and said, “Look. This coal has touched your lips. Gone your guilt, your sins wiped out.” –Isaiah 6:7 (MSG)
