Tag Archives: Holy Spirit

Glorious Friendship

Glorious Friendship

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Have you ever received a GLORIOUS email or letter from a friend? I love it when I get either a beautiful letter (snail mail type letter) or a touching email from a friend.

One Saturday morning, I received an early morning email from a friend saying she had the day free if we wanted to get together. I had told her there was something the Lord wanted me to talk to her about. Understandably, she perceived it as something she did not want to hear. In fact, she said, “Let’s get it over with!”

Even so, plans were made. My husband was going to be gone. She came over and as I usually do when I am with this friend, I make a list of everything we need to cover to be sure we don’t miss any vitally important conversational topics. Yes, I am a list maker — mainly because I don’t want to forget anything I want to talk about.

My friend came. Sitting on my two couches was not intimate enough, so we ended up on the floor leaning against a couch, chatting, sharing family pictures on my computer, and going through the list. She was pleasantly surprised that what I wanted to share with her was not what she was expecting to hear, but she was willing to come expecting a Word from God through me. She did get a Word from God, but not the one she was dreading me to share with her.

We laughed; we were serious; we ate chocolate cake and drank hot “British” tea. We hugged. We parted.

After an entire afternoon of chatting, laughing, and catching up with my friend, the next day I received the following email from her.

Thanks a million for yesterday, ’twas an awesome mother-daughter roll up-your-sleeves and sit on the floor fun day catching up & chowing down a great chocolate cake. We should have one more before you hop home for Christmas. Enjoy a lovely week.

That is what friends are for. To share, to encourage, to love, to give, to receive, to laugh, to be serious with, and to have fun with.

Make time for your friends. Enjoy those times with your friends and be grateful for them. And, if you don’t have friends like that, I pray that you will be able to have the courage to invite someone to share life with you.

In God’s goodness, I turned to my Bible reading plan today. And, guess what? My reading was about the deep friendship David and Jonathan embraced in the Old Testament. As I read 1 Samuel 18-20, I gleaned some dynamic traits found in true friendship.

Characteristics of a Good Friend

  1. The souls of friends are knit together; 1 Samuel 18:1
  2. Friends love each other like themselves. 1 Samuel 18:3
  3. Friends are generous towards each other. 1 Samuel 18:4
  4. Friends delight in each other. 1 Samuel 19: 1-4
  5. Friends protect each other from harm. 1 Samuel 20:9
  6. Friends help each other discern what is best [for each other] and then share it with them. 1 Samuel 20:12-31a
  7. Friends desire to spend time together. 1 Samuel 20:13b
  8. Anticipate through the course of a close friendship, others may be jealous of the friendship. 1 Samuel 18:6-16

Bible Verses:

And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him. Colossians 3:12-14

Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. John 15:13

Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. 10 For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up! Ecclesiastes 4:9-10

A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. Proverbs 18:24

Prayer:

O Gracious Heavenly Father, I need a real friend — someone I can share my feelings, my past, and my future desires with. I am asking you to give me that kind of friend. I need someone who I can email, call, and visit with without judging me. Let me be the kind of friend I need to be to the friends you bestow upon me. God, you are all-powerful. I know you can move friends around the world just for me if you want to. I love you and I am waiting for the blessings of friendship. In Jesus’ Holy Name. Amen.

God Bless.

PATTIGREENE.eps-(1


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Shoes, Sin, and Savior

My excitement began when I put on my brand new pair of silver high-heeled shoes! While I don’t have an obsession with shoes, most women [like me] feel pretty confident slipping their feet into a new pair of sandals, wedges, boots, flats, heels, or tennis shoes. I am no exception.

Yesterday, I was “pumped” gracing my feet in this new pair of shoes for their first time. My shoes and I were going out-on-the-town for the first time to Sax Fifth Avenue in Houston’s Galleria to enjoy lunch with my good friend Dorothy. I stepped out of the house with my serotonin level bouncing high!

As I pulled out of my driveway, I noticed my garbage man (okay, sanitation worker) had come, and I needed to bring the garbage can to the back of the house. I exited my car and dragged the garbage can to its resting place. But then the unthinkable happened. I was heading back to my car and I stumbled on the front of my right shoe. Right then and there, I experienced grief, regret, and discouragement all at the same time. Nothing affects a girl’s mood more than getting a tear in a brand new pair of shoes tear the first time they wear them.

But, I continued to the Galleria with the express thought that I would stop at the shoe repair store on my way home and see if the cobbler could somehow prevent my shoe from tearing more. On the drive to the Galleria, my tiny tear somehow became a BIG rip in my mind. When I walked into the Galleria, I was so conscious of the tear in my shoe that my mind even thought, “The Galleria is so fancy that no one should be wearing a torn shoe here.” Crazy, right!

After a lovely lunch with my friend, I decided to drive directly to the cobbler to fix this problem before it got out of hand. In my mind, the cobbler had all of a sudden become elevated to having a doctorate degree in ‘Shoe Repair.’ If anyone could fix my shoe, he could!

I arrived at the shoe repair shop, parked my car in the parking lot, and began pondering and contemplating whether I should go in or not. I finally decided that I was putting way too much emphasis on my new pair of shoes. To make a long story short, I decided not to spend $10.00+/- to get a small tear fixed when my shoes only cost $39.00. I drove home without entering the hallowed doors of my savior –THE COBBLER.

So, why am I compelled to tell my shoe story? It is because all through the day my mind was drifting to find a spiritual meaning to this event. For now though, let’s pretend the small TEAR in my shoe is SIN and the COBBLER is THE LORD.

Just like the cobbler wants to fix our shoes, God wants to fix us. When you and I first sin, we would be wise to go to the Lord immediately to get our sins forgiven and deal with it before we sin more. We all sin, but do we always turn to the Lord after one little bitty sin? Sometimes we do, but other times, we wait until our sins mount. The longer we wait to go to the expert, the problems and consequences of our sins (our tears) get bigger and bigger.

Take the prodigal son. He went off with his inheritance. Excited about his new adventure, he squandered his wealth and became involved in ungodly behavior. He enjoyed himself until one day, he found himself eating with the pigs. His sins accumulated, but finally he decided he had it better at home and he returned to his father. And, the good news is his father accepted him. It would have been best if the ‘prodigal son’ never left home and sinned, but he did.

Sometimes however, we  try to avoid our Father. When avoiding Him, He will be constantly pursuing us to come to Him or to come back to Him. When we postpone or reject God, our situation and consequences usually get worse. The longer we wait the harder it becomes, but remember that God continues to pursue us until the days of pursuing are over.

Whether we have been involved in a crime; had an abortion; deceived our spouse, or other actions, God still loves us. He cares about us, and He will continue to put spiritual people, spiritual literature, spiritual songs, and more in our pathway as he convicts us to return to Him. Our Heavenly Father sees the small tears (sins) in our life, and He wants to fix them as soon as possible before they turns into large tears that come with more dire consequences.

By deciding not to go to the cobbler, I didn’t get the small tear in my shoe fixed. But, it’s just a shoe!!!

Our lives are more important than shoes. God is there to heal all the small tears and big tears in our lives. When we turn to Him, we experience true freedom and well-being. Actually, it can mean the difference between heaven and hell. Wherever you are in your spiritual walk, choose God. Don’t wait. He loves and cares for all of us.

Make God the Master Cobbler in your life. Today!

Bible Verses:

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16 ESV

But if we keep living in the light as he himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. 1 John 1:7 NIV

And he said, “There was a man who had two sons.  And the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of property that is coming to me.’ And he divided his property between them.  Not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had and took a journey into a far country, and there he squandered his property in reckless living.  And when he had spent everything, a severe famine arose in that country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed pigs. And he was longing to be fed with the pods that the pigs ate, and no one gave him anything. “But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants.”’ And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate. For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’ And they began to celebrate. Luke 15:11-24 ESV

Prayer:

Dear Jesus, Thank you for being with me today. Lord, show me my sins – even those little ones that I barely notice. I confess both the small sins and the big sins to you right now. Let me quickly recognize when I hurt others. Lord, you are better than a cobbler who is limited to their expertise. You can fix everything. I ask you to fix me and forgive me for where I have failed you. And trust you as my personal Lord and Savior. Amen.

I hope you enjoyed my blog today, but I’ve got to run. I saw these really cute pair of red strappy sandals . . .

Patti

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