What is the Right Kind of Friendships to Have?

Aren’t good friends amazing? Believing friends are the best of all kind. So much so that God defined them in His word. There is as many different kind of people as there are molecules in the world. We’re all different. So how can we create friendships that will last throughout eternity?

Today we’re going to talk about fellowship and how good fellowship is at the center of any good friendship. We’ll talk about what kind of fellowship makes the best friendships. What kind is most profitable to us?

Here is our verse for today in bold.

“I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, Always in every prayer of mine for you all making request with joy, for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now;” Philippians 1:5

Paul was obviously many hundreds of miles away while writing this heartfelt statement to the Philippians. He couldn’t be close physically, but one word in this verse indicates that he had an extremely close friendship with these people.

The word “fellowship” is the Greek word koinōnia. This word is intensely important when you want to talk about friendships. Koinonia means full sharing. I go over this word in greater depth in my book called the “5 Basics for Growth” in the chapter 6 called, “Wouldn’t it be nice if everyone lived this way?” What does God mean when He says full sharing? Full-sharing is a safe place to open your whole heart on any matter. God wants full sharing with us, and in fact He should be the only one who gets the fullest sharing in your life. But there are people who won’t condemn, complain or criticize you. You can share your dreams, your outlooks, your goals and your failures with. They do the verse above. They fellowship, koinonia, in the gospel to you and vice versa. This kind of fellowship is rich with possibilities and incredibly powerful.

Granted, there will be people in the world who never come close to this kind of sharing. Partial sharing around a craft, talent or skill can be very helpful, but it is only a partial sharing because you may not be able to share the gospel back to this person. Or, they may take offense if you start full sharing and they are only willing to partially share. There are also those who want you to full share just so they can use the information against you. These kind of full-sharings are not koinonia they are the devil’s twisted agenda and extremely dangerous. Why? Because the sacrifice is your heart. If the person with an evil agenda gets a fiery dart deeply embedded in your heart, you can lose everything. God says in Proverbs to…”guard thy heart with all diligence,”

It’s incredibly important to check in with God on who will genuinely koinonia with you. The element that is always present in koinonia is accurate, godly communication. They will point you back to the Word of God.

Let me show you what I mean. Each of the verses below has translated word from the Greek word koinonia in bold.

“That the communication of thy faith may become effectual by the acknowledging of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus.” Philemon 1:6

“If [there be] therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies, Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, [being] of one accord, of one mind.” Phil. 2:1

“If we say that we have fellowship with him (God), and walk in darkness, we lie , and do not the truth:” 1 John 1:6

“But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.” 1 John 1:7

Wow! These verses definitely help define koinonia for me.

The book of Philippians should almost be a study on friendships and fellowship. We’ll get in to that as the book unfolds but it’s helpful to know the scripture build-up. As we go along you’ll learn more and more Greek words. They will define and expand on themselves as the Word unfolds. I know for me, doing a little extra study helped to add layers upon layers of understanding. For instance, look up any scripture about David and Jonathan in the Old Testament. They are a perfect example of friends operating in koinonia or full sharing.

“Iron sharpeneth iron, so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.” Proverbs 27:17

We counsel with many,

We koinonia with few,

In the end we alone decide with God

which way we should go.

God Bless You Today!

Why Don’t People Give Salutations Anymore?

Have you ever been hung up on?

Does it bug you too when a friend answers the phone or the door they saw it was you, so they skipped past the salutation so they can get right down to business? Salutations; is a noun; meaning a gesture or utterance made as a greeting or acknowledgment of another’s arrival or departure.

I’d like to observe here in our second verse of Philippians that not only is this a tender salutation, but it is also full of rich context and meaning. Every word in the Word of God is intended towards a purpose. If they are not, why would God say in Isaiah 55:11; “So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper [in the thing] whereto I sent it.”  Holy men of God spake these accurately interpreted words, and everyone of them is as important as the last. Take a look at the salutations in the epistles, each has an eloquent salutation. It’s as if God was using respect and manners when talking to and addressing us, His adopted children, and members of the Grace Administration. We can look at them knowing that, “…holy men of God spake [as they were] moved by the Holy Ghost,” as it says in 2 Peter. What can we conclude from that simple observation? Salutations are important!

Well think about this. Can’t we tell everything by the way someone greets around us? We know if they take us for granted. We know if they treasure us. We deduce their mood, their situation, their self-esteem level-if meeting them for the first few times. We know how they feel about the art of communication and specifically how good or bad they feel they are at it. Emails and phone calls are no different. Salutations are amazing! In the Victorian era a man used to bow to a woman and likewise she would curtsey in formal settings. In the orient they still bow to each other. Wow! This is not just a hi, or bye, this is the whole body formally subjecting itself to the respect of a fellow human being. In this second verse of Philippians, I feel like I need to stand and bow down with utter respect. Look at these words.

“Grace [be] unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and [from] the Lord Jesus Christ.” Phil. 1:2

And that is just the second verse of this marvelous letter.

Let’s break it down.

Grace, in Greek it’s the word charis meaning; that which affords joy, pleasure, delight, sweetness, charm, loveliness: grace of speech. It also means the unmerited favor. This is divine favor as if God Himself, out of His benevolent kindness, gives to us just because He can. This word is used 156 times in 147 verses. If you click on the Greek word above you’ll see the concordance listing all those places. It’s an awesome words study and a really big deal to God.

Peace. Peace is one of the fruits of the spirit as listed in Galatians, but it is also a condition of alignment. No, not the sun and moon alignment, alignment of your fellowship with God. When you’re in fellowship you have that peace that passes all understanding. When you are out of fellowship the anxiousness and fear penetrate even the silliest situations. Peace is afforded to those walking in divine favor. These two beautiful words and all their meanings be unto you from God our Father.

“from God our Father…” Who’s father? OUR father. This salutation and letter in its entirety are addressed to those who are children of the most high God.

“Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his…” 2 Timothy 2:19a

God knows who His children are. By logical deduction this also means some people are not His children. Which in turn means this epistle is not written to them.

Next, “…and from the Lord Jesus Christ.” Wow. This must mean that Jesus Christ is not dead somewhere in a resurrection hoax. This must mean that Jesus Christ is alive and seated at his rightful place on the right hand of God. Paul wrote this in 62 A.D. that date is after Jesus’s Death, but Jesus didn’t stay dead. Jesus Christ was raised up. Holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Spirit, which means God, worked in Paul, and is witness to His own act of redemption through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Do you see how vital every word in the Word of God is? WOW! I have goose bumps right now. All of history was changed in the microsecond that it took God to raise His son from the dead.

How big of a deal is this salutation now?

These fifteen words, that most people read in passing, are words holding the cusp of magnanimous significance. They hold the genuine tenderness and respect God has for us. They also reveal the complex genius of God’s master plan. WOW! I’m over the moon with joy and rejoicing and this is just how God says “Hi kids”. I’m salivating over the salutation! Ha! We are to be imitators of God. Is there tenderness here? Is there love? Is there respect? Does God define the greatness of our relationship? YES! When I give salutations from now on, I will keep this in mind. How about you?

Tomorrow we have even more uncovering, more intensity and more love from God. I can’t wait.

God bless you today!