We are all sinners and have committed transgressions against the Lord. No matter what our sins may be, large or small, there is equal justice according to each one of our iniquities. When we realize that Christ died for all our sins, it humbles us. So the next time we get the urge to judge someone, we should remember, we’re all guilty of falling short of the glory of God. The only redemption we have is faith in our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.
Matthew 7:1-5—“Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye. (NIV)
Be confident in this, that once you are a child of the Lord Jesus Christ, you always will be. When you come to the Lord with a sincere heart, full of repentance, your sins are forgiven. How great is His love for us! We are truly blessed to be a part of His family.
Romans 4:7-8: Saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin. (KJV)
As sons and daughters of the living God, we understand the value of human life. We are created in the image of our Father in heaven. We were personally molded and crafted by our Lord with a unique soul. It is a gift and a blessing that has been bestowed upon us. The Father knew our souls before we were formed inside of our mother’s womb.
Jeremiah 1:5: Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations. (KJV)
As Christians, our prayers have an influence on the course of our country and its leadership. When we pray for those in authority, the Father takes it into account. The Lord listens to His people when they pray for godly men and women to govern the affairs of their country.
1 Timothy 2:1-3: I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; (KJV)
As Christians, we can sometimes get burdened by our sins of the past. Pondering on our old transgressions only inhibits God’s plans for our future. Jesus’ sacrifice breaks the bondage of our sin allowing us to start anew. Through Jesus, we are able to complete God’s heavenly purpose for our lives.
The Apostle Paul reminds us of this in Philippians 3:13-14.
Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. (KJV)
Last year was the loss of Leonard Nimoy and today the loss of my first childhood crush Carrie Fisher. Another representation of my childhood passes with someone who helped create hours of entertainment and enjoyment for a young six year old boy who dreamed of being as cool as Han Solo.
[courtesy Startpage Images]I have spent many hours of my childhood with Carrie Fisher watching the first trilogy of Star Wars films…over and over again. I always wanted to be Han Solo, like so many other young boys of the late 1970’s and early 1980’s. Han was just a cool dude, but one of the reasons I wanted to be Han Solo was because Han got the girl, that girl being, Princess Leia Organa.
Carrie played a character that was not only beautiful on the outside, but a character that to me would epitomize a heroine with strength, compassion, and femininity.
Princess Leia is a character type rarely seen in today’s film and TV. These days it seems like secular culture is trying to turn female heroines into oddly weird versions of men. The heroines of today generally have to be as crude, physically imposing, and as cold hearted as a man traditionally has been in film and TV. Something has clearly been lost in true feminine empowerment since the early days of Star Wars and the beautiful girl who dawned the now famous bun hairdo.
Carrie played the perfect female heroine. Women wanted to be her, and all the guys wanted her. I dare say many of today’s heroines of film and TV are not the kind girl who a guy would want to take home to mom.
With today’s secular world constantly bombarding us with trying to confuse gender roles, it’s nice to recall what real strength, power, compassion, and femininity used to look like and be admired by all.
So, thank you Carrie Fisher for your representation of Leia Organa, your talent, and honesty in life. You will be missed.
Is the true meaning of friendship becoming lost? Has the meaning and the depth of friendship between two people been reduced to dinner parties and get-togethers? Has friendship been placed on the same level of what used to be called an acquaintance? Do we still understand what friendship is supposed to be about and the benefits of life long ties with someone?
[courtesy Startpage Images]More and more, I hear people proclaiming others to be friends, without any real sacrifice or cost ever having taken place. People who go to dinner parties, share a few jokes, and talk about a few similar interests all of a sudden proclaim they are good friends–really? The fact is, it’s easy to call someone a friend, but are they really? It’s a little different to call someone a friend when the chips are down, and talk is no longer just lighthearted or sociable fun.
In this new cultural age of digital friendships like on Facebook and Twitter, friendships are becoming little more than ego boosts. Friendship is being reduced to how many friends you have on Facebook or how many followers you have on Twitter. People have become so consumed with public status and how they are perceived, that less and less people look for true friendships that represent things such as: loyalty, trust, consideration, self-sacrifice, honesty, protection, safety, security, commitment, and integrity.
Like so many other things that have lost their meaning or substance, friendship has become more self-centered by nature, than self-sacrificing with meaning.
A former close friend of mine, whom I greatly respected, told me—if I was to be his friend, he expected certain goals for me to achieve in order to maintain our friendship. Hearing my friendship with him being reduced to my goals in life was quite an eye opener for me. I had never been anything but sincere towards this person, and my intention was always for the betterment of our friendship. In that brief moment I realized, my definition of friendship was greatly different from his. In that moment, his idea of friendship was self-centered and not self-sacrificing. Back when this happened, I realized it was time to move on. It seems nowadays that this self-centered friendship mentality dominates the ideals of a truly genuine friendship.
Most people these days want friends, who help, listen, love, and are sympathetic to them without giving the same in return. This is a selfish, self-centered friendship, and is often only one-sided. Generally, these types of people remain lonely or lonesome and wonder why? They can have what they call “friends” in plenty, but somehow they still seem to find themselves feeling lonely or lonesome with all of their “friends” in their life.
Jesus explained Godly friendship in John 15:13 – Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. (KJV) Jesus laid down His life for us, and He is God. Jesus didn’t have to sacrifice Himself for us. But He loved us so much, He died for us. Now that is what I call a true friend.
Jesus called us friends, even though He had every right to call us servants. John 15:15 – Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you. (KJV)
Do you have a friend or friends that would lay down their life for you? Ask yourself if anyone you call a friend, would lay down his or her life for you? If you do, then you are a very blessed person. If you do have a friend that would die for you, would you be willing to lay down your life for that friend as well? Are you blessed enough to have that kind of strong and true friendship with someone? If not, why not? If a person is blessed to have even one friend such as this, that is a truly blessed individual. Ask yourself; are you a blessing to a friend in this regard? Are you that self-sacrificing of a friend to someone else?
[courtesy Startpage Images]Most people in this day and age rarely have friendships like the one Jesus describes in John 15:13. Most people today aren’t willing to give enough of themselves, or they have no desire to be self-sacrificing in order to have such a meaningful friendship like this.
In today’s culture most people are unwilling to sacrifice even the simplest of things to have the type of friendship that Jesus has shown us. The type of friendship that was shown to us by Jesus takes work, commitment, time, and obviously sacrifice. For us to gain the rewards of that kind of friendship, we must be willing to accept the costs it takes for a friendship like that to occur. We live in a “me first” culture, and because of that, we are losing one of God’s greatest gifts to us in real friendship.
Sacrifices that must occur in order to have true friendship are our: personal convenience, time, intimacy, comfort, prayer, and love. All of these sacrifices are mandatory to have a lifelong lasting bond with someone. I will explore each sacrifice or cost in more depth in the near future.
The following verse has been attributed to weddings and romantic love, but it’s more of a description of what love should be in general and can be applied to a multitude of different relationships, particularly friendships. 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 — 4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. (NIV)
The above verse clearly shows us what real or true friendship is supposed to be like. Verse eight also reminds us that the only thing that will last for eternity is love. Prophecies will end, spoken words will end, all knowledge will end and pass away, but LOVE, the cornerstone of a Godly friendship will last forever.
All the sacrifices and energies we spend on our own pride, ego, boasting, self-centeredness, stubbornness, non-forgiveness, and knowledge mean nothing compared to love in friendship that lasts an eternity.
In an age of digital friends and a fading understanding of what real friendship is, it’s just another portion of our human bond that is progressively suffering. Friendship has been reduced to dinner parties, hanging out, “like buttons” on Facebook, following Twitter feeds and short brief comments on someone’s internet post. Whether it’s the internet, dinner-parties or just acquaintances you call “friends”, the list could go on and on. The importance of genuine, self-sacrificing friendship is slowly being extinguished from our culture and the human condition.
If people don’t recognize the loss of what true and fundamental friendship really is, then the intimacy once regarded as sacred and necessary for human-beings to thrive and grow will continue to slowly diminish.
