Essay: A Godly Friendship

A Godly Friendship

“A friend loveth at all times, and brother is born for adversity.” (Proverbs 17:17). This describes a godly friendship. A godly friend is there when everyone else runs away and hides. He doesn’t just stay for the good times and then quietly slip out whenever you encounter a little turbulence.

A godly friendship consists of two or more people like this. But it also consists of more. Many regular friendships have friends who are always arguing, splitting up, becoming friends with some one else and using all of the former friends secrets to hurt him. That is unkind. A secret is a secret and should stay one until the person the secret originated with declares otherwise.
There are even some friends who take your secrets and spread them around the second you tell them to him. This is definitely not a real friend. This person is a reputation wrecker and will wreck anyone who lets him do so.

No body wants to have a bad friend, yet many fail to be good friends in return. They fail to take to heart the principle – if you want to have friends you have to be a good friend. Good friends never share secrets that are not their own, they never talk bad about the other, and they always stick by each other in time of trouble.

Godly friendships are not for the fair weather type. If you run away the second one of your friends falls into hard times, don’t expect others to stay by you when you’re in trouble. Be the kind of friend you want to have.

If you have friends who are not Christians, you have to be extra careful to be a good friend. If your non-Christian friend sees how you’re different (in a good way) from his other friends, he will be far more receptive than if you are just another fair weather friend. You must learn to “walk your talk”.

If you aren’t going to walk your talk, then don’t talk! Telling some one that you’re different and actually being different are two very different things. Non-Christians will watch you when you do and then compare what they see to what you say, and if the two don’t match, they’ll think you’re phony. Better to have the walk without the talk, than to have the talk without the walk.
You’re best friend should be a Christian. A best friend who isn’t will drag you down into sin. Some one who doesn’t know Jesus can never ever be godly. They may be able to put up a good disguise and make you think they’re godly, but as the Bible says “You will know them by their fruit.” Before you make some one your best friend, make sure you both have the same eternal destination. Many people fail to take these guidelines to heart. They end up without friends, if their faults were of the driving away variety, or worse, without the close fellowship you used to have with God, if the fault was to let a non-Christian have a lot of influence over him. Both events create loneliness, which can drive humans, who are, whether they think so or not, social oriented creatures, crazy.

What The Bible Says About the Opposite of Honesty

This was to be a short essay to help define a concept. We do these essays usually based on our topics in our Polished Cornerstone book. We explore Prov. 31. This section is based on the verse "The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her."


What does the Bible say about the opposite of honesty? The opposite of honesty would be dishonesty, or falsehood. There are many different types of dishonesty. Lying is a form of dishonesty, and so is stealing. Hiding or pretending to be something you aren’t is also a form of dishonesty.
Thou shalt not steal and thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor are both among the Ten Commandments. Bearing false witness is a form of lying, and lying, again, is a form of dishonesty. Stealing is treating something that belongs to someone else like it belongs to you. That is also a form of lying, you make people believe something belongs to you when, really, it belongs to someone else.
The second worst type of dishonesty is dishonesty to yourself. You are usually the readiest to believe your own lie than anyone else. You can make yourself believe that something is true, even when you know it isn’t. King Saul made himself believe that he was bringing home the Amalekite animals for sacrifices, while in truth it was to make himself rich.
The worst kind of deceit is trying to deceive God. Ananias and Sapphira sold some land and gave some of the money to the church. The only problem was that they said that they had given everything. The two of them were punished by death. The Bible has a lot to say about the opposite of honesty. From the serpent deceiving Eve in the garden, to the Beast deceiving the whole word in the Great Tribulation, it is encountered again and again in the Bible. It is a great sin, but God can help his children resist the temptation.

Gerta and the Geese - Part 3

Gerta suddenly remembered what her Dad always did when he wanted to get the geese to move. She spread her arms out to make herself look bigger and hissed.
One or two of the birds tried to do the same to her. She wanted to jump and run, but she couldn't, the geese had to get home. Slowly, but surely she made her way in a homeward direction.
She did finally make it and as she was locking the gate, she heard giggles behind her. Turning, she saw Hallie.
"I knew you weren't really afraid of geese," the younger girl cried, "I knew it was all an act."
Gerta gave here an icy stare. She was scared. She was shaking. The area under her left eye throbbed!
"Do you know who opened the gate to the goose pen?"Gerta asked after a long pause.
"Ummm..."
"I thought so,"Gerta said as she turned to leave.
That evening, when their dad arrived home from work, Gerta told him about the adventure of the morning.
"That was very brave of you Gerta," Dad said when she was done.
"I don't think so. I was scared stiff," Gerta argued.
"True courage is not doing something with out fear, rather in spite of it," he explained, giving her a big squeeze, "and Christian courage is doing it with God's help."

Worry

Worry

Have you ever sat in a rocking chair? It gave you something to do, but you didn’t get anywhere. Worry is like that. Worry can take up your whole day, but, in the long run, it doesn’t accomplish anything.
Many people do nothing but worry. What shall I wear? What if this happens? What if that happens? They don’t get anything done and their worrying doesn’t get anything done.
The Bible says “Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof,” (Matthew 6:34). We can’t change tomorrow, so why worry about it?
Since worry does not accomplish anything, why do people do it? The answer is the want to be in control. When we cannot be in control, we still try. We picture how we would do it and then compare our opinion to how the thing is actually being carried out. Then we go crazy because the two don’t match.
We do need to plan for what we know will happen. If you know there’s a costume party in a month, it would be very stupid not to pull out your sewing machine and piece together some sort of a costume. You don’t want to have to rush to nearest costume store and have to buy something expensive, or worse, come without a costume at all!
Worry is thinking about what you can’t control. Planning is thinking about what you can control. When you worry, things don’t get done. When you plan, things do get done. God is in control of everything, so we don’t have to worry, His plan is always best!

Why Are Family Traditions Important?

Why Are Family Traditions Important?

Every year at Christmas, my family opens our presents on blankets. Every Sunday, after church we eat Chinese. Every year, we usually do AWANA.
All of these are traditions. But why do we do them? Why are family traditions important?
First of all they create memories. One is more likely to remember something if they do it over and over, rather than just once.
If one’s family had a tradition of eating coconut ice cream on Birthdays, whenever he tastes that stuff later on, he will think about those days. If the family had a tradition of holding a jump rope contest the last Saturday of every month, he would remember those days those days every time they look at a jump rope.
Traditions also bring family closer together. They often mean that the family has to get along, and when you spend time with someone, you usually learn to like someone, or you will create an aversion. That’s ok; one usually has at least one relative who likes him.
One is more likely to like someone when he is having fun with him or her. Singing songs, doing contests, board games, telling campfire stories. All of these are fun ideas, which create memories, and turn families in to friends.
Traditions often create security. I usually don’t have to worry about Sunday lunches because I know we are going to Chins Garden. After we eat, I know we are going to the library. I find security in this tradition because it is never changed unless the Library is closed or we are going to eat with someone else, or going to the library right before the evening sermon.
However, not all traditions are good. If it takes to much time, effort, or money, it is not a good tradition. Do your self a favor and get rid of it. Such traditions crate bad memories, drive families apart and form Insecurity. Once the tradition is gone you will probity find that you have more time for the traditions that you like.
The tradition may be one you cannot control, like ultra Republican Aunt May, and extreme Democrat Uncle Fred always getting into a fight about polities. In these cases just smile and bear it. Maybe someday you will look back at those arguments as the best political debates you ever herd. Maybe you feel that your family is lacking in traditions. In such cases, introduce new ones invite every one in your family to a costume party and select a couple judges from the adults to choose the best. Be creative; remember a good family tradition is well worth the effort setting up.
A good tradition lasts, when the main player in it is removed; someone else takes that person’s place. Everyone looks forward to it and is very disappointed whenever it can’t be carried out.
When a bad tradition cannot be carried out, no one notices. It is rarely reinstated. When the main player is removed, no one takes the persons place.
Good traditions are important. They are important they are remembered and looked forward to. They bring the family together and create security. They may eventually turn bad, but they can be changed. People love them and want them to stay.

School Essay: Fear

Fear

Whether young or old, rich or poor, strong or weak, everyone is afraid of something. The young man is afraid of not being popular. The old man fears death. The rich man is afraid of his money being stolen. The poor man fears the fact that he might not have enough food for the next day. The strong man is afraid of receiving an injury that will cripple him for the rest of his life. The weak man fears anything stronger that might try to hurt him.

Fear is an uneasiness of the mind and is caused by the apprehension of evil or danger, according to Webster’s dictionary. Fear is an emotion and can be caused by anything, depending on the person. Some people are so afraid of something, they go crazy every time they see or hear or feel it. This sort of fear is called a phobia.

Regular fear comes in three levels of intensity: fright, fear, dread, and then terror. Fright is the least intense, and terror is the most intense.

God does not want us to have our lives ruled by fear. He wants us to bring all our fears to Him. After we give our fears to God, we no longer have to fear the thing we were afraid of. All we have to do is remember that He is in control, and nothing can happen without allowing it. After we learn to bring our fears to God, we will have peace in every thing.

The word fear sometimes means “awe” or “respect”. This meaning is most commonly found in the Bible, and is used to describe how we should view God. This is illustrated in the verse, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (Proverbs 9:10).

When you fear God, you will find that you will have less time to be afraid of earthly things. Bears, spiders, thieves, old age, no matter what subject of your fear, it falls into its proper proportions. As godly fear increases, earthly fear decreases.

Learn to fear God, rather than man. Once you learn to follow this principal, you will be able to live life more fully, because you won’t be spending as much time being afraid.

Gerta and the Geese - Part 2

Gerta glanced around hastily, where were the geese? And who let them out?

She heard honking and headed in the direction of the sound. She found them, but there was a slight problem. They were in their next door neighbor's front yard. The one that hated geese even more than Gerta was scared of them. He had promised to shoot if he ever saw one of the birds on his property.

Gerta had to get them home, and she had to get them home fast!

"Dear Jesus," she prayed silently, "Please help me get the geese home"

Gerta and the Geese - Part 1

Gerta was not afraid of the dark. Gerta was not afraid of heights. Gerta was not even afraid of spiders. In fact, there was only one thing she was afraid of. Geese!

She lived on a small farm with her mom and dad, and her younger sister, Hallie. On the farm were chickens, goats, rabbits, and geese.

Every morning, while feeding the goats and collecting the eggs, she shuddered as she passed the gate to the goose pen. Her fingers would wander to the area just below her eye in memory of the bite one of the geese had given her when she was only six.

The goslings had gotten out, but couldn't figure out how to get back in. Gerta had picked one up and was starting to put it back in the pen when one of the geese flew up and tore off a patch of skin under her left eye.

Even at ten, the very thought of a goose brought pain to that area. It was usually only a dull ache and didn't last very long, but it was there.

Hallie, who was only five, was not afraid of geese. She would often tease Gerta about it.

"Gerta!" she would say, "There's a goose behind you," and then Gerta would jump and Hallie would laugh.

One day, when she walked by the goose pen, the gate was open and the geese were gone!