FRIENDSHIP MATTERS

...But there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. Prov 18:24

As I sat down in the hotel lobby waiting for a young lady who is like a daughter to my mum and a sister to me, I reflected on the past three days. I came to celebrate the 50th birthday of my best friend. We've been friends now for nearly thirty-three years, I was sixteen and she was seventeen. The love of reading romance novel brought us together  and our lives has been inter-woven since then. She met her husband through me and I got gifted with the god-motherhood of their two children. 

It was a weekend of laughter and joy. A fellowship with friends since my college days - thirty years ago. This weekend made me reflected on the importance of friendship; deep abiding friendship that has been cascaded to the next generation. My friends' children have been friends since their childhood. The friendship that is not about being better than the other but being there for each other, celebrating and empathizing with each other. Friendship that is family. One that is nurtured and has matured. 

I also reflected on the mercies of God that apart from one of us who died over twenty years ago, God has kept all of us and in good health. It is worth being thankful, every day for the rest of our lives.

God is proud of you

I remembered how proud I was when my eldest daughter completed her University education. I was filled with joy, sharing with family and friends. I'm sure my parents were also proud when they came to my own graduation many years ago.

As a parent, you love your child(ren) unconditionally, however there is something different about being proud of them as your child and who they are in character.

I could imagine the pride in the heart of Yahweh when He was showing off Job,“Then the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil?”” Job 1:8 NKJV.

This of course led to a season of testing for Job. He lost everything. Many of us would not want to be tested like he was. But this message is not about his test but the pride Yahweh had in him. What a precious and priceless commendation - none like him, blameless, upright, fears God and shun evil.

Look at what he got for it: a hedge around him, around his household, and around all that he had on every side. Yahweh blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions increased in the land. (Job 1:10).

The Almighty loves you because He created you but would He be proud of you?

BITTER PILL

And He said to them, “Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses.” Luke 12:15

Material wealth is good. Joseph of Arimathea was a wealthy man who used his influence to get the body of Jesus buried in his new Tomb. Zaccheus was a rich man that was privileged to set dinner before Jesus. Elohim also told us He is the One that gives us the power to make wealth. But our material wealth should not become our god. It should not be the reason why we seek the True God – Elohim. Yahshua and the Apostles never used material wealth as a preaching point or the way to the Kingdom of Yahweh.

Material wealth is not the same as spiritual wealth. Prosperity preaching does not turn the heart of man to Jesus for the right reasons. It does not impact the spirit man but the soulish realm (lust of the eyes, lust flesh and pride of life). This is why even if you have all the material riches in the world, your life can still have a void that money can’t fill.

 So we have all these wealth, what do we use it for? Mansion in all the countries of the world? Fleet of cars? diamonds, gold? weekend parties with dollars as a carpet?

Jesus taught us one of the best ways to use material possessions. Throw a party and invite the needy in the Church, in the community. Luke 14:¹² Then He also said to him who invited Him, “When you give a dinner or a supper, do not ask your friends, your brothers, your relatives, nor rich neighbours, lest they also invite you back, and you be repaid. ¹³ But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind. ¹⁴ And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you; for you shall be repaid at the resurrection of the just.”

 This is unfortunately a bitter pill to swallow for many.