Choose Your Friends Carefully
“As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another…A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for a time of adversity…The righteous choose their friends carefully, but the way of the wicked leads them astray…
Walk with the wise and become wise, for a companion of fools suffers harm…
One who has unreliable friends soon comes to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a (sister)…
Do not make friends with a hot-tempered person, do not associate with one easily angered, or you may learn their ways and get yourself ensnared…The mocker seeks wisdom and finds none, but knowledge comes easily to the discerning. Stay away from a fool, for you will not find knowledge on their lips…A violent person entices their neighbor and leads them down a path that is not good…
Two are better than one because they have a good return for their labor: If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up… Do not be misled: “Bad company corrupts good character.”
Proverbs 27:17, 17:17, 12:26, 13:20, 18:24, 22:24-25, 27:17, 14:6-7; 16:29
Ecclesiastes 4:9-10; 1 Corinthians 15:33
Why You Should Choose Your Friends Carefully
This is important.
There is much at stake.
Throughout God’s Word, He warns over and over and over again the consequences of yoking oneself outside of His will.
You must be very careful.
Let Me be very clear, I am not telling you not to associate with unbelievers at all. Your association is required to share your testimony and evangelize as God leads.
However, this should always and only be as He leads, because “…if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted.” Galatians 6:1
You must be on your guard.
The enemy knows what attracts your flesh and will send it your way when you are weakest and most vulnerable.
Stay yoked to God.
Your turn …
Take an inventory of who you spend your time with.
Who is influencing who?
Are they influencing in God’s direction or the direction of the world?
End any close relationships yoked in sin. Allow My Spirit to lead and guide you gently and with great humility.
Quietly go to God and pray…
“Vindicate me, LORD, for I have led a blameless life; I have trusted in the LORD and have not faltered. Test me, LORD, and try me, examine my heart and my mind; for I have always been mindful of Your unfailing love and have lived in reliance on Your faithfulness. I do not sit with the deceitful, nor do I associate with hypocrites.
I abhor the assembly of evildoers and refuse to sit with the wicked. And, I wash my hands in innocence, and go about Your altar, LORD, proclaiming aloud Your praise and telling of all Your wonderful deeds.”
Psalm 26:1-7
“Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?…
But among you, there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people. Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving.
For of this, you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person—such a person is an idolater—has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God’s wrath comes on those who are disobedient. Therefore do not be partners with them.”
Ephesians 5:3-7; 2 Corinthians 6:14
How to do this as a weekly Bible study
Day One: Experience
Read the entire devotion. Do any verses stand out to you? If so, write it down and work on memorizing it over the week. I personally love the app “Scripture Typer.”
Day Two: Observe & Read
Chain. Look up and chain verses (For example on how to chain verses, see this video).
Day Three: Interpret
Read through the chain of verses starting with the first one. What do they say? Do you notice when it says “never” or “always” or “If, but, however, therefore, all…..”
Day Four: Application
Do “Your turn” and make a list of people that God has put on your heart when you read this.
Day Five: Testify
Who in your life, right now, can you share this with? There is somebody in your life that needs to hear this. Close your eyes. What name came to mind?
Would you like to get more involved in the beLydia Movement?
Parents and friends, there are kids being sold for sex right now and they are still going to school and their parents have no idea.
They are being tricked, (often through social media and texting apps) into sharing compromising photos and then trapped into selling more or are tricked into having sex.
WE CAN PREVENT THIS THROUGH SHARING AWARENESS.
Learn more about how you can get involved and prevent child sex trafficking
