What is true friendship according to the Bible?

Answer:
The LORD Jesus Christ gave us the definition of a true friend in John.
“Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for
his friends. Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.
Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what
his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I
have heard of my Father I have made known unto you” (John 15:13-15).
Jesus is the pure example of a true friend for He laid down His life
for His “friends.” What is more, “who so ever will” may become His
friend by trusting in Him as their personal savior, being born again
and receiving new life in Him.

Jesus also gave a parable concerning friendship in Luke. “And he said
unto them, Which of you shall have a friend, and shall go unto him at
midnight, and say unto him, Friend, lend me three loaves; For a friend
of mine in his journey is come to me, and I have nothing to set before
him? And he from within shall answer and say, Trouble me not: the door
is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give
thee. I say unto you, Though he will not rise and give him, because he
is his friend, yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him
as many as he needeth. And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given
you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.
For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and
to him that knocketh it shall be opened” (Luke 11:5-10).

In other words not even friendship could move this person to open the
door in the middle of the night but the “importunity” or the
persistence of the knocker persuaded the friend to open to him. The
lesson here is that some times human friendships have their limitations
and that persistence reaps benefits.

There is an example of true friendship between David and Saul’s son
Jonathon, who in spite of his father Saul’s pursuit of David and
attempts to kill him, stood by his friend. You will find that story in
1 Samuel chapter 18 through chapter 20. Some pertinent passages are 1
Samuel 18:1-4; 19: 4-7; 20:11-17, 41-42.

Proverbs is another good source of wisdom regarding friends. “17 A
friend loveth at all times, and a brother is born for adversity”
(Proverbs 17:17). “A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly:
and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother” (Proverbs
18:24). The issue here is that in order have a friend one must be a
friend. “Faithful are the wounds of a friend; but the kisses of an
enemy are deceitful” (Proverbs 27:6). “Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man
sharpeneth the countenance of his friend” (Proverbs 27:17).

I am also reminded of the principle found in Amos. “Can two walk
together, except they be agreed” (Amos 3:3). Friends are of like mind.
The truth that comes from all of this is that friendship is that
relationship that is entered into by individuals and it is only as good
or as close as those individuals choose to make it. Some one has said
that if you can count your true friends on the fingers of one hand, you
are blessed. A friend is one whom you can be yourself with and never
fear that they will judge you. A friend is someone that you can confide
in with complete trust. A friend is someone you respect and that
respects you, not based upon worthiness but based upon a likeness of
mind.

Finally, I must return to the real definition of a true friend. “For
scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good
man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth his love toward us,
in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:7-8).
“Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for
his friends” (John 15:13). Now, that is true friendship!

http://www.gotquestions.org/

Blessings

I am truly blown away by the generosity of others and how God always seems to find a way to include my wife and me. My wife had been out of town for a few days in California helping her mother through eye surgery. It is a good thing to have some short separation periods, but I certainly had been missing her and was ready for her to return. She finally came home Sunday night, (actually Monday morning with all the flight delays) to my awaiting arms.

During her journey to return home, she encountered a lady in the airport in Sacramento who was traveling on the same flight as her. Through several exchanges, this lady ended up giving her a magazine to read while on the flight. Unaware of her final destination, my wife befriended this lady and made small conversation with her, which is the essence of who my wife is.

Well, as it turned out, this lady was bound for the same destination (KC) as my wife. This is where the story kind of takes on a cool twist. As we were waiting to gather the luggage at the KC Airport, my wife again encountered this lady. Being the observant woman that she is, my wife could tell that she had a problem and needed help.

As it turns out, she was traveling alone and was told that there would be a shuttle for her to take from the airport to her hotel in Overland Park. But, due to the delays in their flights, and it being so late the shuttles were gone for the night. The only other option was for her to take a taxi from the airport all the way to overland park at 12:30am. By the way, did I mention that this lady was 75 years old and traveling alone?

My wife and I talked and decided to offer her a ride since we were generally going in that direction anyway. Usually I am very reluctant to offer to travel with people I do not know, especially in our current relevant times. But we both had a calming sense about taking her to overland park, so we set off on our journey.

Turns out, this lady was in town to play tennis (did I mention she was 75 years old) for the week. She has been an avid tennis player for most of her life and teaches tennis back in California. We talked about her husband and her life back in California and her and my wife had many things in common. It was very nice to see my wife so happy and jovial when talking to this lady, it was a side of her I had not seen in a while.

We ended up showing her were the restaurants and shopping areas were around her hotel, and then we gave her a quick tour of the Sprint Campus before dropping her off. She had heard about the Sprint Campus, and stated she would like to see it in person. Since we were right there, we just gave her the 60 second tour and hopefully did it justice in her mind. It’s amazing that she heard about the Sprint Campus all the way out in California.

This is where the neat part comes in. I received an email Tuesday afternoon from a really good friend offering me 4 tickets and a parking pass to the Royal’s baseball game that very evening. Being apart from Pat for the past several weeks and having not really spent much one on one time together, it was a blessing for us to get some time out together.

I am not really sure that these two events are related or connected in any manner whatsoever, but it is just way to coincidental to not think of it that way. Either event could have happened without the other and it still would be a great gift from God, but having them both together just proves that making the right decisions and always having a heart for other people is what life is all about.

I am very thankful to my friend for offering us this night out, it was good for us. But the best part was helping this lady, with no expectation of gaining anything in return. She tried several times to pay for the gas and to give us money for dinner, but we respectfully refused and would not take anything. The reality for us was it was about 20 miles and maybe 40 minutes out of our way, which was not even an inconvenience whatsoever. For her, she probably saved $75 to $100 in taxi fees, not to mention being scared from not knowing where she was going or with whom. We did everything we could to make her feel warm and welcome and I think my wife certainly does that very well.

All in all, we know this was a good thing we did and even had we not been offered the tickets, we know we did the right thing. If I could pass on a message about this experience, it would be to let your heart lead you and know that God is with you always. Take time to show others that they matter and that God is relevant and cares about everyone. Do it because it is right and reflective of Christ, and not because you expect to gain something in return.

BTW, through various conversation topics, it turns out this lady is a Christian. We talked about our faith and our church and how God has truly blessed us and placed us on a good journey.

For His Glory,

Christian Success Tips

Here are a few helpful tips I thought made sense and that I could easily apply… These were written by Sean Mize, Christian entrepreneur and Christian time management author… Read through them, and if they make sense in your life, apply them… If these do not fit into your life plan, then just forget them and continue the journey to seek other ways to improve your health, relationships and life in general… Joshua 1:7-9

10 Steps to Christian Success

1) Spend time with Jesus Christ every single day. I cannot stress that enough for the success minded Christian. So often we spend our time working on things that have no bearing on our future Christian success (nor any current success value) because we haven’t taken the time to focus and understand what Jesus Christ wants for our lives and our success.

2) Study the Word and discover what the top five (or six) Christian success priorities in your life should be. For example, for you it might be: Christ, spouse, children, work, retirement. For another, it might be: Christ, a hobby, work, retirement, missions work. And for yet another: Christ, spouse, work, a hobby, physical fitness. For each of you, Christian success priorities might be a little different in the number 4, 5, or (6) spots, but the first two or three are probably Christ and family. Once you know your success priorities, you are ready for step 3)

3) Develop a “progress plan” for each of your areas of top success priority. When you look at your life six months from now, especially in these areas of success priority, you should be further along and better adapted in each of these areas than you are today. Look back six months ago. Have you improved in each of your success priority areas? If not, you need to take action. Now.

4) Find a Christian success mentor. This success mentor should be someone who can be concerned primarily for your personal growth in these areas of success priority. They should be able to listen to your success priorities, help you develop a game plan for meeting them, and be able to criticize you when you aren’t doing what you game plan to do. Because of that, they should probably perhaps be someone from a small group at church or someone recommended to you by your pastor.

5) Break each of your success priorities down into individual goal steps. These “steps” should be small enough that you can focus on that one step at a time and they shouldn’t be too hard to accomplish individually, and yet when you have completed all of the steps you have gained significant ground in your priority for the given period, e.g. six months.

6) Write down all of your success priorities and your goal steps for accomplishing them. Leave room next to each goal step to write the date you started the goal step and the date you finished it. At the end of the six months (and during it too) you will be able to specifically track your progress.

7) Eliminate unnecessary things in your life which do not help you accomplish your success priorities. Try unplugging the TV three nights a week until your success priorities are accomplished. Have an “email free” day of the week. Take Sunday off from everything. If the telephone is an incessant nuisance, turn it off two nights a week.

Evaluate your rest…are you getting enough sleep? What can you do to get more sleep? What about recreation (non-TV)? Are you walking, hiking, reading, meeting with friends regularly? Are you spending enough time with your family without interruptions by the phone or work? Do what it takes to get rest and recreation and include the family in this step.

9) Evaluate your success regularly. There isn’t much that substitutes for assessing your progress last week and making goals for the coming week. Sure, some weeks you will fall short, but in others you will easily meet your personal success expectations. As you follow these 10 steps, setting success priorities, making goal steps, and following through on all of it will get easier.

10) Just do it! Start somewhere, start today! Don’t just close this page and forget all this! You took the time to read this; if you do nothing with it you will continue to fall short of your own personal expectations.

Written by: Sean Mize, Christian entrepreneur and Christian time management author.

Try Natural Insomnia Relief

Insomnia affects almost two out of three Americans. That’s a lot of people lying awake at night! If you are tossing and turning all through the night, you are missing out on the most crucial key to maintaining your health, energy, and immunity. Read on to learn plenty of ways to be sure that you are getting the best quality sleep.

A Sleep-Enhancing Atmosphere
Of the many patients I have treated for chronic sleeplessness, one particular case stands out as an example of the powerful energetic influences our living environment can have on us. This patient lives in a lovely townhouse with an open loft space.

When she first moved into her home, she slept in a small bedroom off in a back corner, but visiting friends convinced her to sleep in the loft space. Initially, she had no trouble sleeping, but as the years wore on, she began to suffer from insomnia. Eventually, she showed up in my office seeking relief from her sleeplessness.

After trying several treatments with no noticeable difference to her sleep, I asked about her bedroom arrangement. When she mentioned the open and spacious loft with lots of light and no drapes, I realized that was the most likely culprit.

At night when you are asleep, you need to feel safe and protected in a cocoon-like atmosphere. Otherwise the sensory organs will stay awake to “guard” you from danger and the things that go bump in the night. I suggested that she try sleeping in the small bedroom; her chronic insomnia has disappeared and not returned since.

As the example above shows, it makes a huge difference to your quality of sleep that your snoozing environment is soothing. Do everything possible to establish a quiet and cozy atmosphere.

Your bedroom should ideally be located in the quietest and less trafficked area of your home. The lighting should be dim and any music that is played should be peaceful. Keep the décor minimal, with nothing busy to detract from your sleep. Colors should be in the realm of blues, greens, and grays. Do not place computers or televisions in your bedroom because they generate electromagnetic fields and positive ions that can induce agitation.

Also, consider having Fido sleep outside the bedroom; sleeping with pets often causes restless sleep because their movements will keep your body from fully relaxing into deep R.E.M. sleep.

Routines to Help You Sleep Tight
Quality sleep is critical to staying in synchronization with our biological clock. Our bodies run on biological rhythms and function best with consistent routines. To ensure restful sleep every night, form your own calming routines to help you get to sleep. Once you find an activity that works, practice it consistently to program your body for the sleep response. To listen to some of the ways to get a good night’s sleep, click here.

Here are a few more helpful hints:

• Do not eat late. Your last meal should be no later than 7 p.m.

• Drink valerian or passionflower tea before bedtime every night for one month.

• Take a relaxing evening stroll an hour before bed.

• Soak your feet in hot, Epsom salt bath for 15 minutes before bedtime.

• Keep a journal at night. Emptying your thoughts onto paper helps you unburden your mind for a more peaceful sleep.

• Induce relaxation with a 15-minute meditation. Here’s how: Sit comfortably at the edge of a firm seat with your back erect and your head tilted slightly downward. Place your arms gently over your lap and breathe slowly, deliberately, and gently. Keep your eyes slightly closed.

• Do not exercise for at least two hours before bed. Interestingly, people with regular exercise routines have fewer episodes of insomnia. Exercising moderately for 30 minutes daily, combined with meditation in the evening, will not only help you fall and stay asleep, but will also increase the amount of time you spend in R.E.M. sleep. For some people, exercise alone is enough to overcome insomnia.

• You might also try Calm-Fort/Sleep formula with useful herbs like lily bulbs, polygala and turmeric that help manage stress and calm the spirit while relieve restlessness and alleviate insomnia. Find out more online at askdrmao.com.

When all else fails, see your doctor because insomnia may be a sign of more serious problems.

I hope you find the ways to sleep soundly! I invite you to visit often and share your own personal health and longevity tips with me.

May you stay healthy, live long, and live happy!

-Dr. Mao

Tips For Simplifying Your Life!!!

We are such an advanced and civilized nation that we are actually going backwards. Our lifestyles are so complicated and filled with so many to-dos that we have left the basic parts of survival behind us. So, here are a few daily tips to simplify, tune out, and perhaps live a little more like our natural selves.

1. Turn off the TV. I just had a baby 14 days ago and I could have just vegged out in front of the 500 channels available to me at the touch of a button. I was amazed at how quickly time flew when I got lost in the TV vortex. What about going outside and taking a walk? Or better yet talking to your partner or reading to one of your children?

2. Limit the time you spend online, another time sucker. You can sit down to answer email, and hit a gossip site. Before you know it, an hour has just flown by. Computers are a great tool, but we need to keep how much of a role they play in our lives in check.

3. Don’t nuke your food. We don’t need to go and light a fire to cook a meal, but how about avoiding the microwave? Do you ever ask yourself what’s in the food I’m eating? We are so civilized that we can’t even pronounce the stuff we are putting in our bodies. Simplify: veggies, fruit, protein, and a non-white starch.

4. Did cavemen drink soda and frozen juices? I know they taste great, and hit the spot, but when did we stop drinking water? Entire cities were established around a good water source. Why don’t we still think it’s important? All I’m suggesting is stop making the sugary drinks the means in which we hydrate (including diet, they fatten you up too). How about having them as a treat and drink water the rest of the time? By the way, your kids are picking up their habits from you.

5. Stop and take a deep breath. We are all in such a hurry: The traffic is jammed, little junior has nine after school activities he’s involved with, your cell is connected to your ear and we are on the go, go, go. Is it all necessary? Is there a way to simplify? If you can steal 5 to 30 minutes a day to just stop and meditate, or pray, do it. Think about what you are grateful for. What you dream of and want to achieve for yourself and your family, and take a few deep breathes. By the way, you are not a bad person if you say no once in a while.

6. Move. Part of being able to handle the intense pace of life is to be strong enough physically to deal with it. Forget thinking about exercise as a luxury that you don’t have time to get to. Start viewing physical wellness as a must, and a right that we all have in order to enjoy this life. In the old days you had to move to survive. Now we just hop in our car and make our way to the drive thru. I don’t believe that’s the way it was intended to work best for us. You ever see how beautifully liquid your kids are and how well they sleep after a day of playing outside at the park or beach? Now that is the way life was designed.

I know it’s impossible to simplify our modern day lives to the point of living in a log cabin, but we could learn something about ourselves from our primal roots. Do you ever just stop and wonder what it’s all about? What are we really rushing around like lunatics for? How come we are not making our health a priority and taking better care of ourselves?

By Gabrielle Reece