“We Have One True Friend” “Destructive forces are at work in the city; threats and lies never leave its streets. If an enemy were insulting me, I could endure it; if a foe were rising against me, I could hide. But it is you, a man like myself, my companion, my close friend, with whom I once enjoyed sweet fellowship at the house of God, as we walked about among the worshipers.” ~ Psalms 55:11-14 NIV Have you ever wonder what Jesus must have felt when He was betrayed by Judas and then denied by Peter. Remember Jesus Christ teaching on the End Times, He said that many will turn away from the faith and will betray their friends who choose to remain faithful (Matthew 24:10-11). Throughout the Bible we can find many examples of betrayal by family and friends. Cain betrayed his brother Abel; Joseph was betrayed by his own brothers; Jacob betrayed his brother Esau. And David recounted numerous instances of his friends turning against him, read Psalm 31:11; 38:11; 41:9; 55:12-13. It pays to choose friends wisely, though even a wise choice doesn’t guarantee loyalty. True friends are made for adversity, Proverbs 17:17, and there are friends who can be more loyal than family, Proverbs 18:24. One way to cultivate true friendships is by being the kind of friend you desire to have, Proverbs 18:24. We must always give thanks everyday that Jesus Christ is our truest friend, and please take a moment today to meditate on John 15:14-17. “What a friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and griefs to bear!” ~Joseph M. Scriven “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” ~ John 15:13 NIV Amen…

Read Galatians 2:16 “…know that a person is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no one will be justified.” Think We are addicted to adding things. It starts young—gold stars on a chart, grades on a report card, trophies on a shelf. Do more, get more. Earn more, deserve more. By the time we’re adults, the math is so deeply embedded in how we think that we don’t even question it anymore. Everything is a transaction. Everything has a price. Everything requires input to produce output. So when we hear the gospel, we instinctively add to it. Faith plus good works. Faith plus church attendance. Faith plus the right moral track record. Faith plus baptism in the right tradition. Faith plus tithing. Faith plus volunteering. Faith plus, faith plus, faith plus. We just can’t help ourselves. The idea that the most important thing in the universe requires nothing from us except open hands feels too simple. Too easy. Too good. But Paul says it three different ways in one verse, just to make sure we don’t miss it. Not justified by works. Justified by faith. By the works of the law, no one will be justified. He’s not being redundant—he’s being emphatic. He knows how badly your pride wants to contribute something. So he says it again and again: faith. Not faith plus anything. The gospel doesn’t have a plus sign. The reason we keep adding is that addition gives us control. If salvation requires something from me, then I get to take partial credit. I get to stand before God and say, “You did your part, and I did mine.” I get to measure myself against the person sitting next to me in the pew and feel like I’m ahead because I’ve been showing up longer, giving more, or sinning less—at least visibly. But faith with no math destroys all of that. It levels every person on the planet. The lifelong churchgoer and the person who walked in off the street five minutes ago are justified the same way. By faith. Not by seniority. Not by accumulated good deeds. Not by a spiritual résumé full of impressive credentials. Romans 3:22-23 makes the playing field unmistakable: “There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Same problem. Same solution. Same faith.

“No More Suffering” “Very truly I tell you, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy.” ~John 16:20 NIV Some Bible verses are like twins, they say exactly the same thing in slightly different words. Compare, for example, these two verses about looking at our suffering in life from the perspective of eternity: I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us—Romans 8:18 (NIV). For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all—2 Corinthians 4:17 (NIV). When we go through life’s suffering events, it’s important to look ahead to the wonder and joy that we will experience in heaven with our Heavenly Father someday. When we learn to look at life from the perspective of eternity, we gain a unique perspective that lightens any difficulty situation. Just before His crucifixion Jesus promised the disciples that their sorrow would be turned to joy. The same is true for us. The Bible says, “Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning” (Psalm 30:5). So every morning we must start our day asking God to help us put our daily suffering into perspective, by praying for understanding that today’s difficulties are not to be difficult in comparison to the wonderful wonders of heaven. “If you could see the everlasting crowns of the saints in heaven, and the great glory wherein they now rejoice. How could you dare to complain?” ~ Thomas à Kempis “Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” ~2 Corinthians 4:16-18 NIV Amen

“Did Your See That Sign To Turn” “Then you will understand what is right and just and fair—every good path. For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul.” Proverbs 2:9-10 NIV Life is a journey filled with symbolic road signs, detours, stop signs, and yield signs that guide our decisions, growth, and safety. Sometimes we all need a sign. I don’t mean a miracle, I mean a readable directional sign. Throughout this "road trip" we call life our Heavenly Father, God has given us a practical life map, His Word. But we also need to pay attention to the "signs along the way", road signs to help us make sure we get to our heavenly destination. To keep it simple, we have three life road signs: the directional sign, the honestly sign, the construction sign. So we must ask ourselves does our daily decisions fit what the road signs in our Bible tells us what we should do on our trip down this road of one time earthly life? Is my our decision honest following Jesus Christ message He has given us? Will Gods decision for our life build us up or tear me down? These are the directional signs we must look for daily. Every verse in Psalm 115 except two deals specifically with following God’s directions, take time today and meditate on these verses. Here’s the point: if we are unwilling to follow God’s Word as the starting point, we might as well forget the rest of the signs. The road signs will mean nothing if you are going the wrong direction down the road. “While traveling our separated roads through life, we are also either road signs or potholes on the roads of others.” ~ Eugene J. Martin ““Unless you people see signs and wonders,” Jesus told him, “you will never believe.”” John 4:48 NIV Amen…

“Waiting On A Rain Drop Blessing” “I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life. This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.” ~ 1 John 5:13-15 NIV Do you know how long it takes a raindrop to reach the ground? The height at which the drops fall from clouds varies, but the drops fall at an average speed of 14 miles per hour. So if the cloud is hovering at 2,500 feet above earth, it would take a raindrop about 2 minutes to hit you on the ground. But the most important question is how long does it take for our Heavenly Father to send down the answers to our prayers? He hears us instantly, and sometimes He answers even before we’ve asked, read Isaiah 65:24. Sometimes He answers instantly, see 2 Kings 20:1-6, and on other occasions we wait for His timing to coordinate all that is necessary to send down His showers of blessings, meditate on Psalm 27:14. The Secret of Prayer written by Enoch Edwin Byrum wrote, “There are many who occasionally receive blessings, and whose faith is honored by God, but they are living so far below the standard of truth that their showers of blessings are not very frequent.” To receive our showers of blessing we must daily pray consistently, continuously, and confidently. By asking God to meet our needs today, and He will send His answers to us like rain from the sky. “God promised to bless the works of our hands. If you do not work, what is God going to bless you for?” ~Israelmore Ayivor “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.” ~ Ephesians 1:3 NIV Amen…