Friendship and Faith in General – Friendship Myths Conclusion – Purity 1342
Purity 1342 05/03/2024 Purity 1342 Podcast
Purity 1342 on YouTube: Coming Soon!
Good morning,
Today’s photo of a hazy late afternoon sun and what appears to be low flying clouds or a fog bank of Lake Ocoee, aka Parksville Lake, comes to us from Fred Dimmick who shared this scene from his visit to the oldest lake in the Cherokee National Forrest on social media back on April 20th.
Well, It’s Friday, Thank God, and Fred’s photo just says “peace” to me and that is my prayer for all my friends for today and the weekend ahead.
As we draw to the end of another work week, we also draw to a close to our current series on friendship myths and I want to thank Sarah Epstein for her 2022 Psychology Today article (https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/between-the-generations/202202/8-destructive-beliefs-about-friendship) from which we have drawn inspiration and much of the content of our study on the destructive beliefs we can hold about friendship.
So as we walk away from the topic, I felt moved to share Epstein’s opening and closing comments on the matter to bring us home. Epstein wrote:
“Our messaging around friendship is one-dimensional. We often speak of friendships in platitudes like “best friends forever” and ignore the complexity of these important relationships. Out of this simplicity, myths have emerged.”
We spent the last nine blog posts presenting and doing our best to debunk those myths from a biblical worldview perspective and we hope we have put friendship in its proper place – as something good that can be twisted and distorted by false beliefs to cause pain or separation – but that shouldn’t take the place of our relationship with God. Friendship with our fellow man should be subservient to our relationship with God and likewise, our evaluation of this world should also fall under the truth of God’s word.
Common sense is a good thing, but Biblical Truth is better and Epstein’s concluding remarks about the danger of “myths” or destructive beliefs give us an insight as to why that is the case. The marriage and family therapist concluded her article by writing:
“What is the real problem with these myths? They are blanket statements. No relationship will ever adhere perfectly to them. Those in the friendship will have to examine their beliefs about friendship, challenge myths and stereotypes, and build the kinds of relationships that work best for them.”
“Common sense” and Blanket statements usually fail to cover everything adequately and are often threadbare when it comes to dealing with the complexities of life. Epstein’s advice about friendship relationships could just as adequately describe our Christian experience and our relationship with God and the world. As Christians, we will have to:
- Examine our beliefs – We not only need to know what we believe and why we believe it. We have to know what the Bible actually says by having a relationship with it – a regular if not daily spiritual practice of reading and studying its wisdom – and working to apply it to our lives.
- Challenge Myths and Stereotypes about Faith and Being a Christian – Paul spoke about Christian maturity – that many were still babes in Christ – and we can grow a lot in our faith when we actively engage in walking in the Spirit by challenging the status quo of “Churchianity” and seeking the Lord’s will and ways for our life in earnest. I’m not telling you to question the authority of the Lord, but we should consider following Jesus’ example by challenging the people and institutions that practice legalism, manipulation, and control, or the opposite extreme of false doctrines and licentiousness.
- Build the kind of relationship that works best for us and God. Our faith life is personal – it’s not about the things we do – as in a list of rules of do’s and don’ts or a set of practices that we “must” do to be a Christian – it’s about having a deep personal relationship with the Lord – a friendship with Jesus if, you will, that is defined by our love for Him and the various ways we can express it. With this, we shouldn’t worry about how our relationship with God measures up to other Christians but only seek to follow where He leads us and to share the love we receive from God with others.
So have a wonderful weekend and go out there to experience the joy of the life God has given you in Christ and be bold in sharing His love with those you meet along the path of Christian Discipleship.
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For those who want more evidence for Christianity than my simple encouragements provide, I offer apologist, Frank Turek’s website, https://crossexamined.org/ .
Today’s Bible verses come to us from “The Quick Scripture Reference for Counseling” By John G. Kruis.
( While Bible verses on various topics of Counseling can be found with a quick Google search, we encourage you to purchase this resource to support the late author’s work. (https://www.amazon.com/Quick-Scripture-Reference-Counseling-Kruis-ebook/dp/B00CIUJZT2?ref_=ast_author_dp )
This morning’s meditation verses come from the section on Death and Eternal Life
1 John 3:1-2 (NLT2)
1 See how very much our Father loves us, for he calls us his children, and that is what we are! But the people who belong to this world don’t recognize that we are God’s children because they don’t know him.
2 Dear friends, we are already God’s children, but he has not yet shown us what we will be like when Christ appears. But we do know that we will be like him, for we will see him as he really is.
Today’s verses fall under the twenty-first point of our counseling reference guide resource’s section on Death and Eternal Life.
21. After Jesus comes again, believers will be like him.
Today’s verses confirm the precious promises that come from our faith in Jesus Christ. If we have faith in Jesus we are children of God, God loves us, and He will change us to be more and more like Jesus!
God’s love for us is apparent in the coming of Jesus – who shared the truth about life, death, and having a relationship with God and then sealed our way of salvation by paying the penalty for our sins on the cross. Jesus then rose from the dead to show us that, yes indeed, he was more than a “good teacher”. He was not only the Son of God – He was God the Son! My Lord and My God! as the Apostle Thomas said when He met the resurrected Christ. So the gospel is true and when we put our faith in Jesus, the Apostle John assures us that we are children of God.
And beyond that John, tells us that God will change us – here on earth through sanctification – becoming more holy and less sinful, and in eternity where we will have a resurrected body of our own, just like Jesus. So rejoice brothers and sisters in Christ, rejoice.
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As always, I invite all to go to mt4christ.com where I always share insights from prominent Christian theologians and counselors to assist my brothers and sisters in Christ with their walk.
Today we continue sharing from “According to Your Word: Morning and Evening Through the New Testament” By Stephen F. Olford – A Collection of Devotional Journals: 1940-1941.
As always, I share this information for educational purposes and encourage you all to purchase Olford’s books for your own private study and to support his work. This resource is available online for less than $10 at many sites.
EVENING READING: ACTS 13
“A man after My own heart, who will do all My will.”
– Acts 13:22
With all David’s failures, he was still a man after God’s own heart. The reason for this lies in the fact that David’s heart was always set on fulfilling all the will of God. Though he very often failed and on one occasion grievously sinned, the real attitude of the heart never changed. This is a fact that must be assumed, for God would otherwise never give utterance to such words as these. Moreover, while man looks on the outward appearance, God looks on the heart.
The heart here means the affections or desires. David had set his affections on things above. His desire was to fulfill all the will of God – “that good and acceptable and perfect will of God” (Rom. 12:2).
Enable me thus to live, O Lord.[1]
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“The views, opinions, and commentary of this publication are those of the author, M.T. Clark, only, and do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of any of the photographers, artists, ministries, or other authors of the other works that may be included in this publication, and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of any entities the author may represent.”
Encouragement for the Path of Christian Discipleship
[1] Stephen Olford and Heather Olford, According to Your Word: Morning and Evening Through the New Testament, A Collection of Devotional Journals 1940-1941 (Nashville, TN: B&H Books, 2008).
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