Daily Inspirational Thoughts

 Daily

Inspirational Thoughts

to bless your life.

~

A multiple-day devotional page

Please scroll down to see everything.

~

By Beth McLendon

The topic this week is

Friendship

This page refers to "friends" as close friends.

Of course we agree that

God tells us to be kind to everyone.

Monday June 3, 2019

Your friends greatly influence the direction of your life.

Sharman Lawson

* Quote used by permission

Monday Mini-Devotion

We don't choose our family, but we do choose our friends.  Those people we choose to spend time with and call our friends make a huge impact on our life. Wisdom says to choose carefully.

People tend to become like the people they spend time with.

Tuesday

Staying faithful to God is easier

when you have friends who truly love God.

~

One of the most powerful things you can do to bless your life is:

Having friends who love God

and

encourage you to be faithful to God.

Wednesday

A mirror reflects a man's face, but what he is really like

is shown by the kind of friends he chooses.

Proverbs 27:19 TLB

The following are "Wednesday Reflection Points" for us to consider, and thoughts for us to share with our teenagers and pre-teens:

What kind of friends do you choose?

~ ~ ~

Do you choose your friends by their character

or by their popularity?

~ ~ ~

He that walketh with wise men shall be wise:
but a companion of fools shall be destroyed. 

Proverbs 13:20 KJV

Do your friends encourage you to obey God

or

discourage you to obey God?

~ ~ ~

Consider taking time to ponder

how a poor choice of friends

could destroy your life.

~ ~ ~

Do you choose to spend time with people

who will likely get you into trouble

rather than choosing to be alone with God?

Thursday

God wants each of us to choose

Him

as our best friend.

~

Would you describe your relationship to God
as one of best friends?

Are you satisfied with how close you are to God?

________________

The Highlighted Bible Verse

is

"The character of even a child

can be known

by the way he acts -

whether what he does is pure and right."

Proverbs 20:11 TLB

Take note that below -

there is a prayer

and then more devotional material

that will inspire and motivate.

Choosing friends and developing friendships

is one of the most

important things we do.

Praying for your Friends

Below is a prayer that you might like to pray

for one or more of your friends.

Please modify it for a male friend.

Lord,

You are the God who creates beautiful friendships. Thank you for my friendship with _____________.

I pray for my dear friend. She has been such a blessing in my life.

I am excited about the incredible things you are doing for her and through her each day.

Thank you for molding her, preparing her, and positioning her to fulfill her destiny.

Thank you for teaching her and counseling her so that she may walk in obedience and holiness to your calling on her life.

Thank you for your comfort that she may be refreshed and strengthened.

Thank you for your personal ministry to her past emotional wounds that they may be totally healed.

Thank you for your promise that goodness and mercy will follow her all the days of her life.

May she more fully receive your peace for daily life into her heart each day.

In Jesus' Name I pray,

Amen

Copyright © 2012 Beth McLendon of Inspirational-Prayers.com

This prayer is taken from our Prayer for Friend page.

We also have a page called Inspirational Prayer for a Friend

Leave it to Beaver

I am a fan of Leave it to Beaver.

I enjoy the antics of Beaver and Wally and even Eddie Haskell.

If you have watched the show, you know that Eddie Haskell is not the kind of teenager you pray for your child to become.  Yet Eddie does add a lot of drama and humor to the show.

However, if I was Mrs. Cleaver, I would not be excited about Wally choosing Eddie as a close friend.  Eddie isn’t really a “bad” teenager, but he is definitely leaning that way!

In real life, a person like Eddie could easily find himself in a big pack of trouble, and Wally just might end up being drawn into the situation and the consequences.

Reaching out to Eddie in the mindset of being a missionary is one thing, but choosing him as a good friend is another.

Notice that Eddie encourages Wally to do wrong things. Also notice that Wally is not really making a significant impact on Eddie's character.

Our friends exert a peer pressure toward us. They will either encourage us to follow God or not to follow God.

If Christians choose negative role - model friends, it is usually the Christian whose behavior is changed and not the other way around.

Christian parents assume that their children are and will continue to be invincible.

Many Christians give their children a lot of reign to be "missionaries." Yet think about it. We train missionaries before we send them out. We do A LOT of training before we send them out.

I submit that we must be careful about thinking that our children are strong enough to handle alone most "missionary" situations in their life. (The movie called The Secrets of Jonathan Sperry teaches about this topic in an entertaining way. See more about that further down the page.)

Christian adults and teens tend to think that we will be protected by God no matter what decisions we make concerning the people we choose to spend time with.

What does the Bible say?

The Bible tells us to consider carefully

who we choose as friends.

Proverbs gives us many verses

about choosing friends.

For example:

"Be with wise men and become wise.

Be with evil men and become evil.” 

Proverbs 13:20 TLB

That is a strong statement.

I submit that is a verse that we need to teach to our children.

- - -

The Bible also tells us to consider carefully

who we choose as heroes.

"I will make the godly of the land my heroes."
Psalm 101:6 TLB

When my son was growing up,

he knew that all my heroes were godly heroes.

For example, all my sports heroes were godly,
not just good athletes.

If one of them "fell" into public sin, then that person wouldn't be my
sports "hero" any more.
I would still pray for that person,
but to be my "hero" was a special honor.

The Consequences of
Choosing the Wrong Friends

Harold Morris

speaks to teenagers and adults

on the dangers of choosing the wrong friends.

I have been in attendance when Harold Morris was speaking to my church years ago.

I do not know anything about his program for schools.

The Secrets of Jonathan Sperry

Below is a great movie that expresses

Christian values and themes 

on the subject of friendship.

-

I highly recommend this movie.

This is a very inspirational movie!

-

Note the movie has been out for several years.

This movie will bring you closer to the Lord.

It will inspire you and motivate you.

It will give you insights into how to be kind
to those who oppose you.

It will give you tips on how to choose wisely

in your life.

-

Below is the trailer for the movie.

Below we have two sections

One for Singles and one for Married people.

Dating

Wisdom says only date those who are Christians.

Period.

2 Corinthians 6:14

If you go against this wisdom, you will later regret it.

Consider our Dating pages:

Dating insights for men

Dating insights for women

For Married Couples to consider

A wisdom note for married couples

Married men and women weaken their marriage by choosing
personal friends of the opposite sex. 

-

It is never wise for a married person to share personal problems or
emotions with a person of the opposite sex outside of a
professional counseling situation.

-

It is also not wise to be having multiple phone conversations
on your personal cell phone with the opposite sex.

-

Also be careful about Facebook and "old" friends of the opposite sex.
Many divorces began this way.

This page first presented: April 28, 2014