Who are you walking with, dear child? Friendship in life is very important. As children, the kinds of friends you keep go a long way to determine the kind of future you will have.
Have you ever considered the word ‘friend’? did you notice that the last words are spelled ‘end’? this simply means your friend will determine your end.
How do you want to end in life? That question can only be answered by your choice of friends.
But Amnon had a friend, whose name was Jonadab, the son of Shimeah David’s brother: and Jonadab was a very subtil man. – 2 Sam 13:3 [KJV]
The summary of the story we see above is that Amnon wanted to do something, but he couldn’t. by the time he told his friend, he suddenly had the energy to do what he couldn’t do initially.
See how Amplified Bible describes Jonadab.
But Amnon had a friend whose name was Jonadab son of Shimeah, David’s brother; and Jonadab was a very crafty man. – 2 Sam 13:3[AMP]
The company you keep determines what accompanies you! In the final analysis, you will act like the company you keep, smell like the company you keep, and in fact, you look like the company you keep.
My question for you this morning, dear children, is this; who are your friends or associates? Who are you walking with? Who are those that will determine your end?
If you walk with a crafty person, you will learn his ways. If you walk with passionate people, you will catch their passion. If you walk with people who are on fire for God, you will catch their fire as well.
Here is my concluding verse.
Don’t fool yourselves. Bad friends will destroy you. – 1 Cor 15:33 [CEV]
May God help you to make the right decisions. Amen.
Declaration: I make the right decisions in the name of Jesus.
Prayer Point: Lord, help me to make the right decisions.
Action Point: Review your friends in the light of this article.
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.
Continued from yesterday. You can read part 1 HERE
Some ladies fall in love before trying to find out about his character and flaws. So many young ladies with great destinies have jeopardized their future by getting involved with the wrong person.
Stop falling in love with a stranger on Facebook! It is not ideal. There are so many marital casualties today as a result of unguarded and careless relationships. Profiles, timelines, and Twitter pages cannot be used as a conclusive decision on marriage!
Ladies, don’t wait till you are head over heels in love, with flying butterflies in your tummy before probing who he is. You should find out a lot when you are first of all friends before becoming lovers. That is why friendship is very important. You would have seen enough traits that will help you make up your mind about who you want.
Sisters, have friends. That is where relationship will develop from. If you don’t have platonic friends, then you are left with strangers to approach you, and most of the time when strangers come, they are looking for sex.
That is why most sisters would say things like “it is always unserious people that approach me.” The question is do you have friends?
For guys, become friends first before you make your intention known. Do you know there would not be issues of ‘nails’ or rejection because you are already friends? She would simply tell you ‘No’ politely because she would not want to offend her friend!
When you are already in love without friendship, the likelihood is that your feelings for him will block every form of reasoning and sense of judgment.
You know he drinks, but you don’t care. You know she smokes, but you close your eyes. There are some character traits you can watch out for while just friends.
It is a simple principle of “make the tree good and the fruits will be good.” A guy can’t make a good husband if he doesn’t have a good character.
CONFESSION FOR THE DAY I declare that my steps and relationships are ordered.
PRAYERS FOR THE DAY Lord, help to get the right friends in Jesus name
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY Job 19:19 KJV All my inward friends abhorred me: and they whom I loved are turned against me.
ACTION PLAN FOR THE DAY List the names of your friends.
As sister Sube walked down the road, her mind was stormy and depressed. This is in contrast with the calm and unusual tranquil weather. Without was so peaceful, but within were rumblings of the murky waters of despondency!
Every step she took down the road was punctuated with deep-seated sighs. What is her problem? She feels something is wrong with her because nobody is proposing to her and age is no longer on her side!
On the other hand, Brother Zerubabbel too is so worried that he is almost bending over. What is his problem? Brother Zeru is angry with all the so-called sisters because he has proposed to thirteen sisters in the same church and each of them gave him a nail.
The nails, sorry, the spikes were so painful. It was as if the sisters all had a meeting on him, actually, they did.
The above scenarios are issues that bother on cultivating friendship the right and healthy way.
Never forget that how to get a friend is more important than how to get a lover. Lovers don’t drop from the sky; they are made from friendship as the foundation.
Loving is a process that should start with friendship. Don’t fall in love with someone who is not your friend. It is not advisable to toe the line of ‘love at first sight.’ Why? You can only love who you know! You might have some body chemistry at first sight, but certainly, it is not falling in love like we normally allude.
Love is a spiritual entity that happens not just in the intellectual realm but in the emotional and spiritual realms as well. When you have a one–night stand with a stranger, it is nothing but lust and lack of discipline. You don’t even know the person and yet the moment you are sexually involved, your histories become intertwined, afflictions and demonic influences are exchanged and dangerous habits creep into your life after such reckless sexual encounters.
To be continued…
CONFESSION FOR THE DAY I declare that my steps and relationships are ordered.
PRAYERS FOR THE DAY Lord, help to get the right friends in Jesus name
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY Job 19:19 KJV All my inward friends abhorred me: and they whom I loved are turned against me.
ACTION PLAN FOR THE DAY List the names of your friends.
This is the concluding part of the series. Let’s go further as we unravel the mystery behind having a model marriage.
3. Be submissive
Hmmm ….here we go again. Must we always be submissive and must we always talk about this?
Yes o, my dear sister. We got to emphasize it because that is the way things in the marriage will work. That’s how God ordained it and it cannot be reversed. So darling, just align yourself to it.
Anything that has two heads is a monster. So someone has to be the head and that is your husband. Allow him to be the head. Relinquish the right to lead you to him. Let him have the baton. That’s how you have a model marriage
You too have ideas, your ideas can only work when you put them under his leadership. Submission is ‘mission under’, put your own mission under his.
Don’t give your head a headache or migraine. If he has a headache, he won’t be able to do what he should do. If the head is good, the body enjoys it.
Did you miss out on yesterday’s devotional, we’ve got you covered kindly go HERE. For KHC video Devotionals kindly go HERE
4. Be his friend
I know it may be a little difficult. For some ladies that were not really friends in courtship or were friends but life happens and it seems the friendship is going down the drain.
Listen, you can develop friendship again. You are in a life-long relationship and you don’t want to spend it with an unfamiliar person. You don’t want to spend the rest of your life being stuck with someone not your friend. Your journey together is much easier and more fun if it is spent with a friend.
5. Be a helper of his destiny
What is his destiny and purpose? Where is he going? To be his helper of destiny, you have to understand his destiny and how to come in at every different season of his life to help him. He will go far with your help.
There is no king without a kingdom. A king cannot do everything by himself. By his position, a king must be helped for the throne to be established. The more subjects the king has, the more his kingdom is established.
What makes a king different from another? They all occupy thrones, but the more those who are helping him, the greater. And his wife should be the number one helper.
We are the queens. Have you seen a king without a queen? He is just not complete. Be that queen you were created to be and the Lord will help us to have a model marriage.
God bless our marriage
CONFESSION FOR THE DAY I am supportive of my husband in all areas.
PRAYER FOR THE DAY Lord, teach me to be supportive of my husband in Jesus name.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY 1Ti 2:1 I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men;
ACTION PLAN FOR THE DAY Begin to look at areas you can give your support and begin to give it.
