Lately, I have felt God wanting me to open up and deepen friendships I have and develop new ones as well. I honestly have had some difficulties with friendships. I don't think I'm a bad friend, but I do know that at times I have let friends have more of the say in our relationship. Partly that is due to my personality. I am not a confrontational person so that has allowed people to take advantage of me at times. Because of that I am pretty guarded in my friendships and that isn't such a good thing if you want to make your friendships deeper.
So, lately God has brought some new friends into my life. I have truly enjoyed getting to know them. It makes me happy to know that He has helped me to get to the point in my life where I am free enough to make new friends. I have also loved having friendships deepen. Once again, it is nice to be at a point where I can open up more so my friendships can deepen.
This past week I spent a lot of time at a conference with one of my friends. I had a good time with her and I think we connected even more than before. It makes me feel happy to see this friendship grow. We have a significant age difference, but that doesn't seem to matter. I have been a Christian since I was nine and she has recently given her heart to God. We honestly don't have too much in common when I really think about it, but that doesn't seem to matter at all.
She asked me to join her book club recently. Honestly, I wasn't sure about it. I love to read, but I don't do much secular reading and I knew this club would be reading secular books. Even though I wasn't sure about it, I went ahead and did it. The first meeting went well, even though I didn't have time to read the book. It was nice hanging out with the group and talking, about the book and other things. Then came the time to pick a new book. Slowly people came up with suggestions and we got on our smart phones to find out about the books.
One of the books is something I would not read, well actually more than one, but I stated that it wasn't something I would read. It is a psychological thriller and I just don't do that genre in reading or viewing. I know that for me spiritually this is not a good choice for me.Unfortunately, that is the book they decided to read.
Well, I won't be reading that book nor any book that I feel is wrong for me or morally wrong. I truly believe that the Scripture that tells us that we are in the world but not of it makes it clear for me what to stay away from. Not to say I am perfect and always make decisions that aren't worldly. I wish that I did always make the right choice, but I am imperfect and that means I will make the wrong choices from time to time. Hopefully less often as I go along.
So I wasn't sure how to deal with this situation. I don't want to come across as judgemental or as a prude, but I have to do what I know is right according to His Word. So I clicked on my verse of the day and it is Philippians 4:6-7. “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
I think these verses make it very clear that I need to go to Him in prayer. He promises His peace, that surpasses understanding, and this verse also says that His peace will guard my heart and mind. That is key for me because I feel that exposing my heart and mind to certain things will damage them. That is something I am not willing to do.
Now, for my "preachy" moment. I truly as concerned about the road that I see too many women going down of late. I am truly concerned about how much women are delving into things that truly are not of God. That may be concerning to me, but when I see Christian women reading books about sexual relationships, attending parties with sex is the focus, and exposing themselves to evil I really grow deeply concerned. The one thing that woman of faith have been known for over the years is standing for what is right, according to His Word. Even though men have fallen prey to porn and affairs, women have, for the most part, stood strong. Over the last few years I see more and more Christian women delving into the same things men have been struggling with. The fact that women flock to a movie about male strippers disgusts me. A few years ago when there were some very popular movies with female strippers that men were flocking to. Women were appalled and marriages were even negatively affected by the men viewing of these movies. So I find it sad that women are now the ones going to such movies and defending their actions. I even recently heard someone claimed, when her husband objected that she wouldn't be happy if it was the other way around, that she wouldn't mind. Wow, not only are women falling prey to exposing themselves to quite frankly sin, they no longer care that their husbands do too. It literally breaks my heart and I don't know what to do about it. I guess I can go back to my verse and bring it to Him in prayer.
There preach over, and if I offended you, good! Maybe you need to examine why you are offended and see if it lines up with God or not.
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