Theeneighbourwoodwriter - Theeneighbourwoodwriter

Eight: Call me old-fashion, but marriage should be about a person aligning forces with a trusted ally to consolidate power and destroy common enemies.

Mood 2019

“Know therefore that the LORD your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commandments.”

— Deuteronomy 7:9 NIV 

Protect your heart. Read God's word daily. Speak with other Christian's that you can trust. Do what you can to defend yourself from evil.

We feel the pain and loss now, and we do not see the end from the beginning, as God does, yet God tells us that the sufferings we have to endure in this world are not worthy to be compared with the glory He has laid up for His people in heaven (Rom. 8:18).

R.C. Sproul, Everyone's a Theologian

All my worth is found in His blood, in being forgiven and filled fully and overflowing with Him, so in Him I have everything I need and no longer will live at people’s expense to fill my cup. It’s not empty; it’s overflowing. He is the well that never runs dry. So that way my motive is pure and God will always support me with this understanding and will support my prayers as well - because my prayers will never come from a self-centered, broken place - they’ll always flow from compassion and love for Him and others.

I aint gonna articulate this right but I’ve noticed there’s this weird sub culture on tumblr where it’s frowned upon to say anything positive about your life. Like occasionally I see someone post something like “I love my job so much” and a few responses are like “wish I could find a job :/” or “must be nice to not have depression” and it’s really strange. A lot of people are pulling themselves out of dark places or finally figuring out how to be happy (no easy feat) and they don’t need you projecting your own demons on their moments of happiness they wanted to share.

True friendship

I’ve been trying to wrap my head around superficial friendships and genuine friendship. I have spent a lot of time trying to rate/categorise my relationships with all the people I consider “friends” and probably about 80% of them would fall in the superficial category. What do I classify as superficial? I see it as lacking in depth, character and understanding. Or rather, very little foundation of trust. Those relationships where you just scratch the surface of friendship love and God is never the topic of conversation. As a Christian, I crave a friendship where we can speak about God for hours, where we can help each other and lift each other up. The genuine love and understanding you have with each other and that Christians are meant to have. God put us in this world for the mere purpose to be in communion with each other and help each other, not just to scratch the surface. When loving one another is this kind of love: There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. (John 15:13). This is genuine love, being willing to die for your friends or being willing to dedicate your life/ time to holding your friends accountable in Christ. I’m tired of Christian friends who don’t speak about Christ. I’m tired of feeling like the very people I go to church with are more into superficial/worldly conversations than in God. I’m tired of friends who talk about materialistic things and have never mentioned God outside of church once. I’m tired of pretending to be into superficial conversations when I don’t understand a single thing. I feel like the very people you go to church with are the ones who forget the true meaning of friendship itself. God designed friendship to be a beautiful way of uniting each other due to a common factor in each friends heart (CHRIST!). As Christians, we should take Jesus’s example and fellowship and love the way He did. We should be different than worldy friendships, and rather be pure and gentle and bear with each other in honesty and love. Some questions I’ve had to ask myself have been: “What makes me a Christian?”, “Do I act differently to those in the world?”, “Is my life a living testimony that I AM a Christian?”, “Does the topics of my conversation with friends glorify God?”, “Do I pray for my friends? ”, “Do I speak about God as much as I should? ”, “Can I really speak about God on a deep level with people I think are genuine friends?” I honestly haven’t been able to give a yes answer to either one of those questions, and I feel deeply condemned. As a Christian, I should be open about my faith, especially with the very people I think I’m closest with. I shouldn’t try and be accepted in a group if most of it is superficial stuff. I shouldn’t try and hide the fact that I’m a Christian but I should BOAST about it. I should make it know to everyone. And I should surround myself with people who do the same too. So my challenge this year is to be able to answer yes to every single one of those questions. God bless you and keep you, make His face to shine upon you and give you His peace.