Friends

Iron sharpens iron; so a man sharpens his friend’s countenance.     Proverbs 27:17 (WEB)

Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another and all the more as you see the Day approaching.       Hebrews 10:25 (WEB)

As my years as a committed Believer have passed, I have learned how vital it is to have some God-anointed fellow Believers around me. God has used these key people mightily to speak His wisdom into my life.

Jesus shows by His example that He does not intend for me to go forward alone in my spiritual journey. Yes, He is there walking with me but He brought 12 people together with Him during His ministry, didn’t He? The Holy Spirit did not give me all the gifts. It was the intention that we be His Body with all parts working together. The weakness of my flesh also makes the upholding of my “Jesus-Friends” imperative. I need those whom He has given to give His encouragement and His truthful discipline. Oh, how many times have these friends confirmed God’s Word to me.

I hear and receive God’s Word through the writer of Hebrews. That said, I am in a season of my life when the “meeting together” for me does not mean that my primary place of connecting with a ‘fellowship’ is in the church that I attend. I connect with those that God has brought into my life through cell phone, text and email, and in small groups at a home or even for lunch in a local restaurant. I do feel connected with them because we talk/meet regularly and we aren’t shy about asking the hard questions and giving correction when needed. I am blessed!

I have wonderful memories of a time when I did belong to a fellowship that was in a church and close. We studied together, prayed together, and worshiped together. God is about seasons so that was “then” and this is “now”. I’m learning about being content (Philippians 4:11). It is in that contentment that I learn when God is speaking directly to me and when He is sending a messenger. Both are precious, wonderful God-moments.

The Hebrews writer reminds me how when we are together it is the encouragement that is so important as we move on into the last days. As the world we live in becomes darker and more difficult, it is in the Body of Believers that we encourage each other and seek the Lord, receiving all that His Spirit has to give, filling and restoring His children.

See how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to live together in unity! It is like the precious oil on the head, that ran down on the beard, even Aaron’s beard; that came down on the edge of his robes; like the dew of Hermon, that comes down on the hills of Zion: for there Yahweh gives the blessing, even life forevermore. Psalm 133 (WEB)