Video Bible Lesson - The Need for Friendship

1/2 Hour of God’s Power with Scott Ralls
8/7/2020 

The Need for Friendship

2 Timothy 4:9-22Independence is a prized attribute in our culture, but biblically, it isn't a worthy aspiration. Nowhere in Scripture will you find the erroneous quote, "God helps those who help themselves." The very fact that the Lord formed the church--a community of believers--should tell us that He did not create people for self-sufficiency or isolation.When we place faith in Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit indwells us so we can have a fulfilling relationship with the Lord and satisfying friendships with one another. In God's design, a close, committed biblical friendship between two believers serves to build both toward Christlikeness. Look at any of the saints in Scripture, and you will find evidence of reliance upon a close friend or confidante for support. Paul, in particular, spoke freely and often of his dependence upon dear companions and encouraged others to form intimate partnerships as well (2 Tim. 2:22).It's interesting to me that our modern culture seems to be headed in the opposite direction. The farther our nation drifts from God, the more pervasive our self-sufficient attitude becomes. Neighbors treat each other with suspicion instead of congeniality, and that mindset has invaded the church as well. We're hesitant to give to others, which in turn makes us reluctant to receive.Scripture tells us to love one another, bear our brothers' burdens, and confess our sins to fellow believers (John 13:34 ; Gal. 6:2; James 5:16). In other words, we're to give ourselves away to others and receive from them in return. That's how church members can stimulate one another to Christlikeness.

#Jesus, #Christian, #Bible, #Salvation, #Heaven, #God, #HolySpirit

Streams in the Desert

Streams in the Desert

And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together, and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost and they spake the word of God with boldness. And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection (Acts 4:31-33).

Christmas Evans tells us in his diary that one Sunday afternoon he was traveling a very lonely road to attend an appointment, and he was convicted of a cold heart. He says,

"I tethered my horse and went to a sequestered spot, where I walked to and fro in an agony as I reviewed my life. I waited three hours before God, broken with sorrow, until there broke over me a sweet sense of His forgiving love. I received from God a new baptism of the Holy Ghost.

As the sun was westering, I went back to the road, found my horse, mounted it and went to my appointment. On the following day I preached with such new power to a vast concourse of people gathered on the hillside, that a revival broke out that day and spread through all Wales."

The greatest question that can be asked of the "twice born" ones is, "Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed?" This was the password into the early Church.

O the Spirit filled life; is it thine, is it thine?
Is thy soul wholly filled with the Spirit Divine?
O thou child of the King, has He fallen on thee?
Does He reign in thy soul, so that all men may see
The dear Savior's blest image reflected in thee?
Has He swept through thy soul like the waves of the sea?
Does the Spirit of God daily rest upon thee?
Does He sweeten thy life, does He keep thee from care?
Does He guide thee and bless thee in answer to prayer?
Is it joy to be led of the Lord anywhere?
Is He near thee each hour, does He stand at thy side?
Does He gird thee with strength, has He come to abide?
Does He give thee to know that all things may be done
Through the grace and the power of the Crucified One?
Does He witness to thee of the glorified Son?
Has He purged thee of dross with the fire from above?
Is He first in thy thoughts, has He all of thy love?
Is His service thy choice, and is sacrifice sweet?
Is the doing His will both thy drink and thy meat?
Dost thou run at His bidding with glad eager feet?
Has He freed thee from self and from all of thy greed?
Dost thou hasten to succor thy brother in need?
As a soldier of Christ dost thou hardness endure?
Is thy hope in the Lord everlasting and sure?
Hast thou patience and meekness, art tender and pure?
O the Spirit filled life may be thine, may be thine,
In thy soul evermore the Shekinah may shine;
It is thine to live with the tempests all stilled,
It is thine with the blessed Holy Ghost to be filled;
It is thine, even thine, for thy Lord has so willed.

Proven Faith..... Dr. Charles Stanley

Proven Faith

Dr. Charles Stanley

1 Peter 1:3-9

Faith is perhaps the most central element in the Christian life because it is the means by which we enter into salvation. But that’s only the beginning. From then onward, our faith—or lack of it—shapes our lives and determines what happens to us when the winds of adversity blow. Some Christians never lose their footing even in hurricane-force winds, but others are toppled by the slightest gust. To understand why this is true, we need to examine the source of our faith.

Inherited faith: If you grew up in a Christian home, you probably adopted some of the beliefs of your parents. This kind of godly foundation is a wonderful gift from the Lord, but eventually, each person must assume responsibility for his own beliefs.

Textbook faith: The Bible is the ultimate guide for establishing our beliefs. But that’s not the only source of influence. Books, preachers, teachers, and friends all impact our convictions. Our theology may in fact be sound, but faith is merely mental acceptance until it’s put to the test.

Proven Faith: Only when we trust the Lord through the fires of adversity will we have faith that can stand. It is no longer based on what others have told us or what we’ve accepted as true but on our firsthand experience of His faithfulness.

To evaluate your faith, consider how you react to adversity. Do you cling to the Lord or get angry at Him? Is your attitude one of rejoicing because He’s making you more like His Son, or are you bitter? No one can escape adversity, but those with proven faith will benefit from it.

Loving Beyond Labels..... LYNN COWELL

Loving Beyond Labels
LYNN COWELL

“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.” John 13:34 (ESV)

Growing up, I switched schools several times, so starting over was a normal part of life for me. The thing I never got used to was trying to make new friends.

While I might’ve been noticed and labeled as “Lynn, the new girl” the first time it happened, that’s where the acceptance ended. The girls I went to school with saw me as that label, not “Lynn.”

I felt invisible. 

And then as spring gave way to summer, and the sweltering heat rolled in, a moving truck pulled into my neighborhood and parked across the street. I saw a couple of girls my age pop out of the truck.

I couldn’t believe my eyes! For the first time since moving into this neighborhood, there were girls who would be my new neighbors! I decided I would no longer be “Lynn, the new girl.” I would be “Lynn,” and I would be their first friend.

Marching up to my bedroom, I pulled out my orange- and white-striped shirt, the one with “LYNN” screen-printed in bold, block letters. Slipping it over my head, I bravely made my way across the street, practicing exactly what I would say. After I rang the doorbell, a heavy door opened, and I boldly proclaimed to the girl who answered the door, “Hi, I’m Lynn.” (How creative!)

That summer, I offered to these new friends who moved to our town exactly what I wish I had when I began my new school and attended our new church: acceptance.

Looking back, I’ve learned a big lesson from that brave little girl in her “LYNN” shirt. She taught me I might be a little too comfortable now and that other people with labels need to be loved and accepted for who they are, too.

Jesus modeled this best and without fail. He showed us how to love others without any conditions based on the labels the world gives. By leaving the comfort of His home, His family and His neighborhood, He demonstrated what it means to truly love. The same way He unconditionally loves and cherishes us, we are to love and cherish others.

Today’s key verse says, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another” (John 13:34).

Loving others is easy when they fit into our comfort zone.

But what about when that’s not the case? When it requires us to step out of our comfort zone? Then it’s harder.

But the truth is, every girl, every woman —
no matter where she’s from,
no matter her skin color,
no matter her label,
no matter how different she is from me
— needs and deserves to know that as God’s creation, she’s loved and cherished. There is not one condition behind that truth.

But friends, there’s more to our assignment. We can’t just talk the talk; we’ve got to walk the walk. Let’s not just tell our neighbor we love her; let’s live it out and show we love her.

Let’s do what Jesus did when He came to earth. Let’s go into homes. Share meals. Listen to one another. Pray together. Make T-shirts that spell our names in big, bold letters (OK, maybe not that, but I had to throw that idea in there).

This starts in the heart and in the home. Our children need to know that because they’re unconditionally loved and cherished, they can love and cherish others, too.

Dear Jesus, thank You for loving me unconditionally. Thank You for being a friend who listens to me and never leaves me. Help me be the same friend to others, unconditionally. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

TRUTH FOR TODAY:
Romans 12:10, “Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves.” (NIV)

Playing Second Fiddle..... by Stephen Sanders

Playing Second Fiddle
by Stephen Sanders

“Love from the center of who you are; don’t fake it. Run for dear life from evil; hold on for dear life to good. Be good friends who love deeply; practice playing second fiddle.” (Rom. 12:9-10, MSG)

Shortly after I decided that I wanted to write a blog post on this passage of scripture, a funny thing happened. For the second time this week, I received a work email from one of my fellow employees titled, “free Hanover Tomatoes in the break room!”

Now, as a lover of all types of tomatoes, especially those of the Hanover variety, I got this email and quickly rushed down the steps to the break room where I found a couple more of my work mates. With a speedy “hey guys,” I made a beeline for the table where people place all the free stuff.

As I opened the bag and reached inside, I discovered that there was just one delicious Hanover tomato left. I reluctantly picked it up and turned to toss the bag in the trash when one of my colleagues exclaimed, “Aww man! The last tomato?!?!”

“Here you go, man.” I said. After all, I still had a delicious Hanover tomato in the fridge from earlier that week.

He said, “No. I can’t. It’s fine, man.”

“No really,” I said emphatically, “please take it.”

“OK. If you say so,” he said. As I walked towards the door to head back upstairs, he said, “Wait. Here you go, man. It has a couple holes in it anyway.”

“Are you sure?” I replied as I reached out for the delicious Hanover tomato. “I’m positive”, he said, “I mean, you may want to slice it up or put it on a sandwich or something like that.”

“You guys are embarrassing me,” said my other workmate jokingly.

When we “play second fiddle”, or as the ESV says, “outdo one another in showing honor”, the world around us takes notice. It’s the defining mark of a Christian and ultimately what causes us to shine. Sure it might make things a little awkward or uncomfortable for everyone involved, but what’s so wrong with that? I mean, isn’t that kind of the point?

Just think about it; the Bible tells us emphatically that our walk with Jesus is one where we empty ourselves and then fill ourselves back up with Jesus Christ. The Apostle Paul was always talking about how it was no longer he who lived but Christ and that he actually died daily to be a follower of Jesus. Even Jesus Himself states that His followers are those who deny themselves and even lose themselves for His sake.

Denying your wants is not an easy thing. It may, in fact, cause you a lot of stress. After all, what happens if you give and give until you have nothing left?

In Matthew 6:25-34 (MSG), Jesus provides a remedy to our anxiety on this matter:

“If you decide for God, living a life of God-worship, it follows that you don’t fuss about what’s on the table at mealtimes or whether the clothes in your closet are in fashion. There is far more to your life than the food you put in your stomach, more to your outer appearance than the clothes you hang on your body.

Look at the birds, free and unfettered, not tied down to a job description, careless in the care of God. And you count far more to him than birds. Has anyone by fussing in front of the mirror ever gotten taller by so much as an inch? All this time and money wasted on fashion – do you think it makes that much difference? Instead of looking at the fashions, walk out into the fields and look at the wildflowers. They never primp or shop, but have you ever seen color and design quite like it? The ten best-dressed men and women in the country look shabby alongside them.

If God gives such attention to the appearance of wildflowers – most of which are never even seen – don’t you think he’ll attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for you? What I’m trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God’s giving. People who don’t know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works.

Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don’t worry about missing out. You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met. Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes.”

Intersecting Faith & Life: Surrendering to Jesus is the only way to supplement all of the discomfort we experience when we go without so someone else can receive. Be on the lookout for opportunities to display sacrificial love today while relying on Him for comfort.

For Further Reading
Mark 12:28-31
Philippians 2:1-4
Ephesians 5:14

Sing a New Song..... By Brent Rinehart

Sing a New Song
By Brent Rinehart

“Oh sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth!” -  Psalm 96:1

In 2012, Jefferson Bethke released a spoken-word video on YouTube titled “Why I Hate Religion, But Love Jesus.” It has since received nearly 35 million views and launched a best-selling book, Jesus > Religion. Its message is not the only thing that made it so popular. The art form itself is rooted in history and what encourages oral traditions, epics and tales to be passed on from generation to generation. His rhythm, delivery and use of alliteration and rhyme make it infectious.

Many of the world’s greatest pieces of literature began as spoken words – songs even – that were passed down. One example many of us read in high school – The Odyssey – comes to mind. Songs are a critical part of the human experience, so it stands to reason that the same is true of the Christian experience. In fact, there’s a whole book of songs (Psalms) to use as Exhibit A.

Martin Luther once said that “next to the Word of God, music deserves the highest praise.” Many of us can say “amen” to that statement as we gather with other believers to sing worship songs and hymns or when we feel God speaking through praise and worship music from our car radio’s speakers.

Throughout the Psalms, we are urged to sing, dance and play instruments as a sign of our worship of the Lord. But, Psalm 96:1 says “Oh sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth!” This idea of singing a new song appears again in Psalm 98 and 149. What does it mean to sing a new song?

As humans, most of us love the familiar. There’s something comforting about a song we know by heart. One we can sing without even looking at the words. We can close our eyes and worship. A few weeks ago, my wife and I were introducing our kids to some old hymns we both use to sing out of the hymnals of the churches we grew up in. Some of these were songs our kids had never heard before, which is kind of strange when I think about how ubiquitous there were to me at their ages. “Blessed Assurance, Jesus is Mine. Oh what a foretaste of glory divine.” Or, “O Lord, my God, when I in awesome wonder. Consider all the worlds Thy Hands have made. I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder Thy power throughout the universe displayed. Then sings my soul, my Saviour God, to Thee. How great Thou art, how great Thou art!”

Powerful words from familiar songs are wonderful and can certainly focus our hearts and minds on who God is. But, here, in Psalm 96, the call is to sing a new song.

To sing a new song to the Lord, we need to experience Him in a new way today. It means being open to God’s leading today, producing new fruit for tomorrow. His mercies are new every morning, so shouldn’t our song be? Our experiences today, no matter how difficult, should lead us to new revelations of who God is and how He is working. And, we can trust that He is working.

“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything” (James 1:2-4).

Whatever trials we are going through today, we can trust that God is with us. We can trust that His mercies are new every morning. And, we can have faith that He is using our current circumstances to produce new worship material – a mature walk with the Lord that encourages us to sing a new song. We can’t control what happens to us, but we can control our response to it. Will we quit, or will we decide to sing a new song to Him?

A Prayer to Be Fully Satisfied by God’s Love..... By: Emily Rose Massey

A Prayer to Be Fully Satisfied by God’s Love
By: Emily Rose Massey

“But to all who did receive Him, He gave them the right to be children of God, to those who believe in His name,  who were born, not of blood, or of the will of the flesh, or of the will of man, but of God” (John 1:12-13, HCSB).

For the majority of my life, I struggled to feel truly loved by my dad, who was an on-again, off-again recovering alcoholic. Because of that missing piece, I longed to find love and constantly sought out approval and attention from boys, giving myself away piece by piece- first becoming entangled by pornography, then slowly moving toward sexual encounters beginning at the tender age of twelve and going on until I was about 22 years old- a whole decade of my life.

I knew John 3:16 by heart, but I didn’t fully understand it. I couldn’t shake the religious upbringing that taught me only about a vengeful, angry God who would smite me down if I were not perfect. I still felt like I had to work for forgiveness and love. That performance-driven mentality affected all areas of my life. No matter how hard I tried to be perfect, I never felt good enough.

I reached a point where I stopped trying and just lived. In college, I made plans to run away to Los Angeles. I would be an actress and prove to the world my worth, talent, beauty and charm. But, one Sunday morning, only a couple months after I graduated, my eyes were truly opened to my selfish and sinful existence.

I hadn’t been to church in years, but one morning I went with my mom and sister. During the worship service, I began to experience this deep conviction that I was living a reckless and selfish life; I had been running away from God. Immediately, I knew I needed to repent start running toward Him, back into the Father’s arms. In that moment, I realized where I truly belonged. Right there, with hands lifted in worship, and tears streaming down my face, I repented of my pride and rebellion; I told God I didn’t want to live this life on my own anymore, and I surrender to His plan.

But only a few short months after this change began in my heart, I received some traumatic news - someone murdered my father outside of a strip club. His lifestyle landed him in the wrong crowd, and it tragically cost him his life. Although I lost my earthy father, I discovered a Father’s love that is stronger than anything I’ve ever known.

Since that time in my life, God has completely healed me, transformed me, and shown me His overwhelming love as my Father, who will never leave me. The most powerful revelation I received once I started seeking God as found in the first chapter of the book of John.

“But to all who did receive Him, He gave them the right to be children of God, to those who believe in His name,  who were born, not of blood, or of the will of the flesh, or of the will of man, but of God” (John 1:12-13, HCSB).

What a powerful reminder for us! Jesus died so we could have unending fellowship with the Father. When you fully embrace Jesus, the Father embraces you. Jesus gave us the privilege of being called God’s child, and He made a way for us to have access to the Father. No  matter what you have done, you can never outrun His love. You are never too far gone for His reach. He will rescue you and use you for His purpose in the earth. Receive Jesus and the work of the cross and learn to stand in the most important position you will ever hold in this life- a child of God!

Father, help me learn to be satisfied with Your love above all else. You are the only One who can satisfy my longing to find love and acceptance. Help me have eyes to see when I’m tempted by lesser loves. I know your love is stronger than any love on this earth. Help me love rightly, Father. In Your Son’s Name I pray, Amen.