Know more about Jesus

Friendship should be about bringing the best out of each other. While you enjoy good times and create wonderful memories, you should also focus on building each other up. There are things that you can learn from your friends and there are also things that your friends can learn from you. Godly friendships should be about helping each other grow in your knowledge of God and His Word. The way iron can sharpen iron, is the same way in which you and your friends should sharpen one another. When you leave one another's presence, you should have learned something that will help you grow.

You don't have to arrange specific meetings for teaching or building one another - though that is something you could try every now and then. Building one another should come naturally, in your normal conversations. This is why you need to make sure that your friends are as focused as you are on developing your relationship in God and making something great out of your life. If you choose to associate with people who do not take their lives seriously, you will struggle to grow. If you choose to associate with focused people who have great ambitions and are passionate about the things of God, you will grow in leaps and bounds.

Your friends should inspire you to do better and to be a better person. They should be inspired to do the same thing when they spend time with you. When your friendships are rooted in God, you will grow in the right things because you both have the right priorities. You will push one another to maximize on your full potential. The best friendships are the friendships where you communicate well, you pray together, and you celebrate one another's victories. Great friendships are also characterized by supporting and encouraging one another when challenging times come.

(For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.) 2 Corinthians 6:2

When we receive God’s grace, how fully do we grasp what we have been given? When we run into trouble and God gives us a way out, do we just head back to our old lives? Or do we understand that salvation is now? It’s not a far-off hope, it is now, in our midst, in our hands, ready for us to take hold of and use, as we proceed through life as people changed by grace.

Prayer
Lord, I have spent too much of my life running from You, making my own way, and putting off taking hold of the free gift that You have been holding out for me. Thank You for Your relentless grace, Lord. I accept Your gift of salvation and ask that You would transform my life and give me a new direction according to Your ways. In Jesus’ name, amen.

And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.1 John 2:3

The best way to show our love for God is to obey Him. When we are walking in step with God, we ourselves are assured of our relationship with Him, and others also see what a life lived in communion with God looks like. But when we ignore God and follow our own way, we not only hurt our witness to others, but we invite doubt into our own minds.
Michael KoredeKnow more about Jesus

Behold, I have done according to thy words: lo, I have given thee a wise and an understanding heart; so that there was none like thee before thee, neither after thee shall any arise like unto thee.1Kings 3:12

If you could ask God for anything, what would it be? Good health? A conflict-free life? Riches and comfort? Would wisdom be at the top of your list, as it was for Solomon? Perhaps it takes a degree of wisdom to even ask for wisdom. But when we do seek wisdom, God provides it and brings us closer to His heart and mind, so that our days may be more fulfilled by a closer walk with Him.



Michael Korede

Weathering the Storm

The love you give to other people must be able to weather all seasons. People tend to make the mistake of thinking that love is only about feeling good. They believe that love is about the good times and nothing else. But that could not be any further from the truth. In friendships, family, and other meaningful relationships you will need love to help you through the tough times too. The tough times tend to come far often than we expect them, too. Challenges come in different shapes and sizes; they always arrive when we least expect it.

The love you have for your friends and your family should not be conditional or seasonal. You need to understand that people are going to let you down in life - whether you like it or not. Instead of shutting them out, choose to love them and forgive them for their shortcomings. We also have to acknowledge the fact that we, ourselves, are not perfect and we will make mistakes too. In those moments, you will hope for love and forgiveness too. It's very easy to judge others when you are the one who is on high ground.

Love keeps you together when it seems like all hope is lost. With the world we live in, it isn't very hard to lose hope. The physical, natural, and economic disasters that occur on a daily basis are enough to weaken the strongest hearts. But that is why we have friends and family - to get through everything together. No one was born to be an island. We have been blessed with the gift of companionship so that we can love one another through the great moments and through the storms. Love is enough to give a person the boost they need to carry on with their day.

TOPIC: YOUR MORNING

MEMORY VERSE
Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them; Ecclesiastes 12:1

BIBLE TEXT
Lamentations 3:27
It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth.

MESSAGE
Specifically, the morning of a man stands for his youth. In 1 John 2:14, Apostle John said, "I have written to you young ones because you are strong." The major characteristic of youths is their strength.
I know most youths see their youthful days as days to enjoy themselves. This is true, according to Ecclesiastes 11 : 9-10: "Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth; and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth ... but know thou, that for all these things God will bring thee into judgment ..." Note that the above passage also says that youths will account for the seeds they sow later in life. Those that spend their youthful days engaging in all sorts of vices will reap plenty of trouble later in life (Galatians 6:7). In Genesis 49 : 1- 4, when Israel was about to die, he called his children together and began to prophesy about their future. He said concerning Reuben, "Mighty Reuben, excellency of strength ... but you will not excel." Why did he say this? In Genesis 35:22, Reuben did something that he should not have done, and his father heard about it. Now, when his father was about to die, he told him he would not excel, even though he was the firstborn. When you read Revelation 7 : 1- 5, you'll be amazed that by the time they were listing the children of Israel who were sealed, Reuben was no longer the first.

Beloved, if you are young now, meaning that you're less than 30 years old, make good use of your youth. Be careful of the kinds of seeds you sow now because you will reap their fruits later, and the harvest is always greater than the seed sown. "...I have written unto you, young men, because ye are strong, and the word of God abideth in you, and ye have