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Showing posts with the label Isolation

Islands form how?

Baltasar Gracian wrote: " True friendship multiplies the good in life and divides its evils. Strive to have friends, for life without friends is like life on a desert island... to find one real friend in a lifetime is good fortune; to keep him is a blessing ."  Life without friends is like life on a desert island - both barren and isolated!  It is empty - almost as though it were depleted and fruitless.  To go through life without the discovery of a close friend is to walk without legs!  It is possible to get through life, but the journey is so much tougher! A true friend loves regardless of the situation, and a real brother exists to share the tough times.  (Proverbs 17:17 VOICE) What does an island symbolize to you?  The first thing which comes to mind is a body of land surrounded by water on all sides.  It may be kind of lush in appearance, as there is much greenery upon that island, surrounded by some beaches. Did you know there are really...

Insulated and Isolated

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I beg you from the bottom of my heart: smile,  be gracious to me just as you promised.   When I took a long, careful look at your ways,  I got my feet back on the trail you blazed.  I was up at once, didn't drag my feet,  was quick to follow your orders.   The wicked hemmed me in—there was no way out— but not for a minute did I forget your plan for me.   I get up in the middle of the night to thank you;  your decisions are so right, so true—I can't wait till morning!  (Psalm 119:58-62 The Message) It is not an uncommon thing to tell God that we want ALL his blessings - each and every good thing that he has promised to us.  I wonder how many of us really know how to receive what has been given!  Most of us do a good job with the "asking" part -- but when it comes to "receiving" we stink!  We simply don't believe the provision is true, or we just don't reach out and make the blessing fully ours. ...

Isolation gets pretty lonely

15-17 Don't love the world's ways. Don't love the world's goods. Love of the world squeezes out love for the Father. Practically everything that goes on in the world—wanting your own way, wanting everything for yourself, wanting to appear important—has nothing to do with the Father. It just isolates you from him. The world and all its wanting, wanting, wanting is on the way out—but whoever does what God wants is set for eternity. (I John 2:15-17) Today, we will consider two important commands:  1) Don't love the world's ways, and 2) Don't love the world's goods.  At first, when we read this passage, we might gloss over these commands, but there is much value in considering them when you read the consequences of being too caught up in the ways of this world system or in seeking after what it offers.  John reminds us that when we are in love with this world and what it offers us, we isolate ourselves from God. The first command is to not love the world...