Good Friends

I was looking through some old pictures and I came across this picture of me on my 11th birthday with two of my close friends/cousins. I've been really blessed with having good friends to grow up with. I don't think most people realize the power of friendships. We have the chance to provoke each other to good works, or we have the power to drag others down. I don't know about you, but I don't want to drag people down in their spiritual lives.

So here's a list of a few things that my friends have done for me over the years to keep focused on what's really important. 

1. They've encouraged me to hand out gospel tracts, and kept me accountable to make sure I actually was sharing the gospel.

2. A friend of mine and I both have notebooks that we write down what we read for our devotions in it, and every week at church, we swap notebooks. I can't tell you how much this has impacted me. It's so easy to forget to do my devotions, or to put it off, but when I know I'm being held accountable, it makes it harder to skip.

3. In recent years, some of my friends and I have been having a prayer meeting after church every Sunday. Being able to get together with other Christians, share what the Lord's doing in your life and your struggles, and praying for each other is a huge blessing. 

4. When I complain, or I'm having a rough day, my friends don't just tell me it's okay, they remind me that God commands us to be thankful in everything, and to rejoice evermore. 

So think about it, what kind of friends do you have? Do your friends point you to Jesus and remind you to trust Him? Or do your friends make you go against your conscience?

Or maybe the better question to ask is, "What kind of a friend are you being?" Do you make excuses for your friends so that they don't feel so bad when they're not serving God? Or do you challenge your friends to trust the Lord?

When you text, e-mail, write, or however else you communicate, do you show forth the love of God?

1 Corinthians 15:33 - Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners.

Proverbs 27:17 - Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.

Hebrews 10:24 And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works:

So THANK YOU to all the people in my life who have taken the time to encourage me in serving Christ!!

On another note, yesterday, at our church, I was extremely blessed by a very talented group of musicians. It was such an encouragement to get to listen to their music, and see how they're allowing God to work through their lives. It was truly amazing to see how they allowed God to send beautiful music through their finger tips. If you're not familiar with the Mieczkowski Family, I highly recommend that you check out their family website by clicking here where you can listen to samples of their music and buy their CD.