Sharon Sharing God: "FAN THE FLAME" FRIDAY

Friday, September 21, 2012

"FAN THE FLAME" FRIDAY - Friendship

Welcome to "Fan the Flame" Friday.

This is a weekly post that will be "short and sweet" (kinda like me...)

Just a word and a phrase, a sentence or a question...just a little something to "fan the flame" of your creativity!

Today's word: friendship

What are some of the joys of friendship?

What is one thing that someone has done for you that cemented your friendship?

What does it mean to have a friendship with God?

Let me know what you think!!

"This is why I remind you to fan into flames the spiritual gift God gave you…For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline." (2 Timothy 1:6-7)

BLOG = "Blessedly Leaning On God!"

5 comments:

JanetSeptember 21, 2012 at 8:22 PM
You cemented your friendship with me when I felt unconditionally loved in such a way that I could share with you the pain I was going through and you loved me, walked with me and gave me hope.
To have a friendship with God is to be in relationship with him...to feel unconditionally loved by Him, and forgiven- I am blessed to be friends with Jesus and with you!
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CharlotteSeptember 22, 2012 at 10:40 AM
Friendship with God to me means I can talk to Him any time and He always has my best interests at heart. What a lonely world this would be without friends. My online friends have blessed me so much. Who knew we could get acquainted with people all over the world without actually ever even seeing them. What a joyous "get acquainted" time it will be when we can meet face to face in the next world.
Blessings,
Charlotte
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AnonymousSeptember 23, 2012 at 12:08 PM
Friendship with God...He is always there, as I abide in Him, and He abides in me, we live our lives together. My life is His, and He lives through me. Unconditionally. I recklessly abandon myself to Him and He never fails me. Grace.
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PamelaSeptember 23, 2012 at 8:07 PM
Love this hymn:
Friendship with Jesus!
Fellowship divine!
Oh, what blessed, sweet communion!
Jesus is a Friend of mine.
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SharonSeptember 27, 2012 at 12:14 PM
What are some of the joys of friendship?

The feeling of being accepted and loved unconditionally. Laughter and fun times. The comfort of secure conversation and sacrificial support.

What is one thing that someone has done for you that cemented your friendship?

There are many things that my friends have done for me that cemented their friendship. But, there was one time when I was struggling with a small ministry with the elderly. I was feeling burned out as I went weekly to give them a devotional. One week, a friend showed up, totally unexpected, just to support me. It touched me deeply to see her precious face in the back of the room. I could hear her heart - "Go on, dear friend, I'm here."

What does it mean to have a friendship with God?

When I really stop and think about it, friendship with God is really a rather amazing thing. He is the Almighty Creator of the universe. He could choose to be majestically distant and unapproachable. But, He came to earth to be just like me - in order to save me. Wow. That stops me in my tracks. To have a friendship with Him means to be able to have Someone who always listens, always cares - who will never leave me nor forsake me. Someone who ALWAYS has my best interests at heart. Someone who loves me, and loves spending time with me!

And all of you out there in Blog Land are terrific friends! I cherish all of you!

GOD BLESS!
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"So [I] have been greatly encouraged in the midst of [my] troubles and suffering, dear brothers and sisters, because you have remained strong in your faith. It gives [me] new life to know that you are standing firm in the Lord. How [I] thank God for you!" (1 Thessalonians 3:7-9)

Thanks for your comments - it is such a joy to be sharing my journey with friends like YOU!

(NOTE: Anonymous comments will be removed. Thank you for understanding.)

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MY WORD FOR 2016

GRATEFUL

Grateful: feeling or showing thanks to someone for some helpful act; appreciative of benefits received; warmly or deeply thankful; indebted; beholden.

Word origin: 1550's, "pleasing to the mind," also "full of gratitude," from obsolete adj. grate "agreeable, thankful," from Latin gratus "pleasing" – derived from the same word origin as the word "grace."

The trick to changing your behavior is to become more thankful.

The practice of gratitude involves a focus on the present moment, on appreciating your life as it is today and what has made it so.

Let us begin an eternal quest to express in new and creative ways our thanks to God.

So I'm breathing in Your grace,

And I'm breathing out Your praise.

Let our prayers be the overflow of a grateful heart to God.

Three steps in prayer:

PRAISE – praise, reverence, worship, adoration, and awe for who God is and what He does

ASK – honest, earnest, and intense requests

THANK YOU – always end with thanksgiving for everything

Pulpit commentary:

In everything give thanks.

In every circumstance – in joy and in sorrow; for everything – for prosperity and for adversity; in every place – in the house of God and on the bed of sickness.

Christians should not only be engaged in constant prayer, but in constant thanksgiving.

For this – this thankful spirit – is the will of God, His desire.

God by the gift of his Son has laid us under the obligation of perpetual thanksgiving. Our whole lives ought to be one continued thank-offering for all the blessings of redemption.

Gill's Exposition:

Thanks are to be given to him for all things…

For all temporal good things;

for our beings, the preservation of them;

for food and raiment, and all the mercies of life;

for the means of grace, the word and ordinances, and the ministers of the Gospel;

for spiritual blessings, for electing, redeeming, regenerating, adopting, pardoning, justifying, and persevering grace:

for a meetness for heaven, a right unto it, and a good hope of it;

and especially for Jesus Christ, for such a…Saviour, and advocate with the Father, as he is; and for life, peace, joy, comfort, righteousness, and salvation in him.

Thanks should be given to God in every circumstance of life; in adversity, as Job did; when not in so comfortable and agreeable a frame of soul as to be wished for…even under the temptations of Satan…since the grace of God is sufficient to bear up under them, and deliver out of them.

[Give thanks] in afflictions of every kind, since they are all for good – temporal, or spiritual, or eternal.

WHAT IS LOVE?

Love is when you are missing some of your teeth but you're not afraid to smile because you know your friends will still love you even though some of you is missing.

By Emma K. - Age 6

"Out of the mouth of babes..."

A friend is someone who knows the song in your heart and can sing it back to you when you have forgotten the words.

Anonymous

When you are uncertain, it helps to have someone remind you what is true – someone who knows you well, who sees you, and keeps track of you – not just your body but your soul.

Emily Freeman

Sharon Sharing God

Friday, September 21, 2012

"FAN THE FLAME" FRIDAY - Friendship

5 comments:

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HOW GREAT THOU ART

ALL FOR HIS GLORY

I'D RATHER HAVE JESUS

THE GLORIFIED ONE

SERVING THE MOST HIGH

HE IS ALWAYS THERE, AND EVER NEAR