The people, friends, ideology, and the unseen spirit encircling us play a significant role in the journey of a person. Many friends whom we considered as good backstabbed us. We’ve been there.
We cannot simply undermine their influence in our life. If you’re someone struggling day-to-day due to circumstances in life it will be good to have a visible and non-visible circle of friends. Visible in the sense that our real friend whom we spent our time with.
Our non-visible is the spirit; the holy spirit for believers with whom we can spend time. Most importantly, the humility of God to abide with us. Abiding with us is becoming our friend of us. The abiding God is our friend in all seasons of life.
In the morning when we wake up from our sleep, we give thanks to the abiding grace of God who awakens us with his presence. During the day, we take time out of our busy schedule to commune with him despite our busy schedule. And, as the sun drops, we prepare ourselves to rest in his abiding grace.
Circle of Friends:
I’m not a friendly person; I have my limitations – no longer the same old me. All my friends were in different places and from time to time I need to acquire a friend or circle of friends which I cannot pursue nor the zeal to be a good friend to others.
There were times, sometimes still here, when we find it very difficult to fight peer pressure. That is why I remember my father who always told me to stay in the loop of good friends. He even goes to the extent of whom I should be keeping as friends and who among my friends I need to be cautious of. My experienced father was right most of the time.
It is our circle of friends who helps us see the outside world despite the words and wisdom bestowed upon our parents by the Lord. Our circle can lead us to go astray in life. We get deceived shame, and the like by our friends.
Friends and Peer Pressure:
The other day we have a question-and-answer time with my children. I know they are nearing the tumultuous period of the journey. The sudden change of mood due to hormone growth, and the curiosity to go the extra footsteps will be there. We’ve all been there too during our pre-adolescence and adolescence period. We keep many topics to be answered as we cleared up a few questions.
In the gadget world of today, when our children spend time with their friends it is more of spending time playing games online and the others watching them. Technology has brought us very close in this fast-moving world. Thus, our children tend to explore all spheres of life -vulgarity, obscenity, fraudster before they’re ready.
However, if these advanced technologies are used without proper guidance or if they got involved in a bad circle of friends, it will be the end of their innocence as well as their careers and life.
Circle of Friends with Faith:
Now, I wanted to come to the most important reason behind having a good circle of friends, not only friends but with faith, and dedication to uplift their friends. They are alert and proactive in their search for the healing of their friends. It must be a very close group as one can assume, but not mentioned in the scripture.
Mark Chapter 2:1-12 gives us a very interesting account of the forgiving of sin and the healing of the paralyzed man. By this time in Capernaum Jesus is very popular. The scripture noted that when Jesus started preaching, a large number of people gathered there. There was no room left, not even outside the door. It was jammed packed.
Some men came, bringing to him a paralyzed man, carried by four of them. Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus by digging through it and then lowered the mat the man was lying on. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” v.3,4,5
So he said to the man, “I tell you, get up, take your mat, and go home.” He got up, took his mat, and walked out in full view of them all. This amazed everyone and they praised God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this!” v.11,12
Circle of Trust:
From what had been recorded in the scripture, we came to know that his friends know what he needs and his situation in life. Many times our friends are not trustworthy, even our family members, and the attendants of our place of worship. Some are just left behind to miss the opportunities of healing and forgiving their sin.
I know we are living in a world, many friends try to project themselves good out of our failure and gain status by being friends with many. But God knows our secret. It noted Jesus knew in his spirit what they were thinking.
Let me add the comical role of Jack Byrnes in ‘Meet the Fockers,’ a Hollywood movie that might simply be a way of building a Circle of Trust among the believers of Christ. We are saved by the blood of Christ; our life is safe in him on earth and for eternity.
Circle of Good Friends:
A circle of good friends loves us adores us and corrected us when needed. However, it is very difficult to find this world. People are double-faced, superficial, and diplomatic just as we tend to be before we realized ourselves. And it is good to retrospect, and commune with our true friend who is the LORD God in his words.
I have the privilege of joining some webinars, writing networks, and Christian author groups. They are the one who encourages me to go on. I have made respectable and good friends, although I never met them in reality except by using our words. I believe that they take me to the Lord in their prayer when they heard about my suffering and struggles in life.
In the end, let us not lose hope in this unpredictable world of hypocrisy and madness. Many good friends of faith were standing with us. Nevertheless, let us never forget the Lord our savior who is our friend even though he is a King and is working within us through the holy spirit who abides with us. My site/blog completed SIX years this March 2023. Thank you, friends, subscribers, and supporters for this year’s blogversary!
