Today, I spoke with a wonderful Christian lady whom I love dearly. She lives quite a distance away, so we do not get to see each other as often as we like. However, when we do talk, it is as if we hadn't skipped a beat. We pick up where we left off. We talked, cried, prayed, and quoted Scripture. It was a wonderful time spent with one another and God. When I hung up the phone, I realized that we had spoken and prayed for almost two hours. God's presence was amazing! It only seemed like we had spoken for minutes. It is amazing how God can minister to you when you come together with other believers and seek Him. The power was there! Praise the Lord!
As I hung up the phone, God spoke to me about a blanket I was trying get all of the lent and string off of. I had washed three blankets together, one being black. When I got all three blankets out of the dryer, I noticed that the handmade quilt I had washed had a hole in it. As I pulled out the black blanket, I saw that it was covered with lent and string from the quilt. I was a little frustrated. I hadn't noticed the tear in the quilt. It was beautiful, and I use it often. However, the pieces that shed from the inside of it left my other blanket in a mess. I got the lent roller out and began trying to get it all off. It seemed like it was taking forever. I even put it down for a while because my hand was tired. When I went back to work on it again, it looked like I hadn't even began to work on it. I kept rolling it with the lent brush and picking off the large pieces with my fingers. Needless to say, when I had done all I was going to do, it looked better, yet it still had pieces of lent on it. This is when God spoke to me, "Do not be misled: Bad company corrupts good character." (2 Corinthians 15:33 NIV). God tells us to not be yoked together with unbelievers. He also says, "Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted. (Galatians 6:1 NIV). God wants us to reach the lost, but He also warns us to be careful so that we do not get pulled in their direction. We have to be very careful who we hang out with, who we spend our time with. Today when I got off of the phone, I felt wonderful - happy, uplifted, joyful, rested and peaceful. My time had been well spent. My dear friend is someone with good character. It is crucial to stop and take a look at who you spend most of your time with. Make sure that it is around individuals who will lift you up, encourage you, support you and build you up.
When we hang around the wrong people, their attitudes, demeanor and personalities can drag us down, even causing us to sin. When this happens, the after effects of the sin still remain. It is sometimes hard to fight off the sin that the devil is using to entangle you; just like trying to get the lent off of the black blanket. It takes time, commitment and dedication to fully clean off the blanket. Once I got tired and frustrated, I just stopped. I said, "We will just have to live with it." This is how we react to our own lives as well. We mean well. We want to do what is right, but yet when it doesn't happen over night, we give up. You can't do this!!! You have to keep fighting the fight! God will bring forth victory in your life! Just don't give up!
Regardless of what you are facing and/or battling at this moment, please do not grow tired and weary. Stay focused and persevere. You can make it. You can achieve anything you set your mind too as long as you keep your eyes focused on God. Let's pray for one another! God is a God of miracles. Let's stand in agreement right now for one another.
Dear God, we love You so very much! You are such a wonderful, powerful and loving God! We praise You for all things! Lord, God, we thank You that You can take what is bad and turn it into good. Hallelujah! We thank You that we are the head, not the tail. We thank You that we are blessed going in and blessed going out! We thank You that we are more than conquerors in Jesus name. We thank You that He that is in us is greater than He that is in the world. Hallelujah! Praise You, Lord! We praise You in advance that You are going to help each and everyone of us overcome the sin that we battle with on a daily basis. We thank You that You are going to set us free! We praise You for the victory! Hallelujah! Dear God, please weed the people out of our lives that You do not want us spending as much time with. Send to us the people that You would have us fellowship with. Send us prayer partners, accountability partners - people that can be trusted so that we can grow closer to You! We praise You God for Your Word! We praise You for You! In Jesus name, Amen!
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