Walk with the Wise – Be Led

-Allow the Holy Spirit to lead you in and out of companionship relationships because that is the godly way. Depend on Him to teach you about the seasons of your life and how to approach each season. Permit Him to lead you to the next book to read, to the next show to watch, to the next message to listen, to the next person to visit, to the next topic to study on, Amen!

-Always live conscious of the fact that relationship is God’s idea and unless it is done according to His design, we will not experience the full benefits.

-Be confident that you are not being deprived and you will not be deprived of what is yours.

-Do not fear missing out on anything. Remember that your Father loves you and has your best interest.

-Settle it with you that His principles are final and His promises are sure.

-Purpose to build your life and companionships on the foundation of His principles. Amen.

-Do not waver! Stay on course! Amen.

Walk with the Wise – Seek Help and Guidance

-Your success in any and every companionship relationship is only possible when you have accepted Jesus Christ as Lord of your life.

-When you do, you receive a wonderful gift, the person of the Holy Spirit. The Bible refers to Him as the Helper (John 14:26).

-As you begin walking with the Holy Spirit, you can be confident that when you seek help from Him, He will help you. When you seek guidance from Him, He will guide you.

-You may need help building up your identity through the Word because this will help you know who you are, help shape your values and open up your eyes to new possibilities about life. A desire to fit in any and every circle is one reason why most people wound up in with the wrong company.

-Before engaging yourself or your family into companionship relationships, ask the Holy Spirit to guide you. First, find out from Him if you should pursue or not. He will respond to you because He speaks.

-Above all, enjoy life even as you make quality decisions in your companionship relationships and remember to show yourself friendly.

Walk With The Wise – Greatness and Wise Companionship Are Inseparable!

Let’s reiterate a few sentences…

The righteous choose their friends carefully, but the way of the wicked leads them astray.

Do not be deceived: “Bad company ruins good morals.”

Walk with the wise and become wise, for a companion of fools suffers harm.

I am a companion of all those who fear You, And of those who keep Your precepts.

Greatness and wise companionship are inseparable because, throughout scriptures, the greatness of every man or woman of God can be traced to their companionship.  You will eventually reflect the character of the people and things you keep company with. Throughout Jesus Christ ministry here on earth, he chose and kept company. He demonstrated the perfect example of how companionship should be done. He ministered to many yet kept company with a handful of people. That alone teaches us that we can minister to many and not necessarily keep company with all of them.

-Jesus did and said only what his Father commanded him to do and say

-Nehemiah kept company with people who believed in the vision God had given him in order to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. It took the right companions in order to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem in 52 days.

-Moses had an assignment to deliver the Israelites out of Egypt and he was accompanied by Aaron.

-Elijah and Elisha, a great companion as well. Elisha benefited from the double portion of the anointing because he kept company with Elijah.

-Paul on missionary journeys kept company with Barnabas, Luke, Timothy and more in order to remain productive.

-Naomi and Ruth; Ruth purposed in her heart to keep company with Naomi. She was determined to make Naomi’s people and Naomi’s God, her God.

-Mordecai and Esther; Mordecai brought up Esther (his cousin) in the ways of the Lord and the tenacity in her character can be traced to her upbringing.

-Jethro and Moses; Moses’ leadership style changed for good just by his association with his father – in – law Jethro.

The list is endless.

Choose your companions knowledgeably.

Choose your companions wisely.

Choose your companions purposefully.

Choose your companions with your vision in mind.

Amen.

Walk With The Wise - Do not Be Deceived

1 Corinthians 15:33 (NASB)

 Do not be deceived: “Bad company corrupts good morals.”

Emphasis Mine

Other translations use the phrase “ruins good morals” or “destroys good morals”.

Two things stand out here;

-Deception - You could choose to deceive yourself or you could choose to allow others to deceive you.

-Influence - In this context, bad has an influence over good.

The Greek word for corrupt in this verse means to experience moral deterioration or moving down from a high level or to waste away. Amen!

-        Meaning that corruption is a process; it does not happen in one day.

-        It could happen one idea at a time. Our heavenly Father is patient so too is the devil.

-        For as long as the enemy gets you on a path that will lead you downhill, he will patiently present one idea at a time until he achieves his goal.

-        That is why we will use this opportunity to reiterate that we should not engage in companionship relationships casually. All it takes is one wrong information in order to begin experiencing moral deterioration.

·       Do not deceive yourself into thinking that the things you hear, see or say unintentionally do not affect you either. Our words have power and our minds capture faster than we think. So, establish your routine - daily, weekly, biweekly, frequently;

-To consistently re-evaluate / or take inventory of your life. It is your life, you have authority to do so.

- Re-establish boundaries; the boundaries of yesterday may not as effective today.

-Be aware of distractions; purposefully avoid placing yourself in compromising situations.

-Establish or re-establish personal values and standards.

-Then remember to communicate the changes with those closest to you so that you all live with understanding.

Walk With The Wise

Proverbs 13:20 (ESV)

Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise,
    but the companion of fools will suffer harm.

Proverbs 13:20 (AMP)

He who walks [as a companion] with wise men will be wise,
But the companions of [conceited, dull-witted] fools [are fools themselves and] will experience harm.

Let’s establish this together. According to scripture, a fool is someone who says in their heart, there is no God (Psalms 14:1).

The scripture communicates many things;

·       Power of Influence

-Note that it says when you walk with the wise, you become “wise”, not “wiser”. By implication, prior to keeping company with the wise, you were unwise. Your choice of a wise companion is so powerful such that it changes your level.

-When it comes to changing levels from being wise to wiser, you need instruction.

Provers 9:9 (NLT)

Instruct the wise, and they will be even wiser. Teach the righteous, and they will learn even more.

-It will profit you to walk with the wise. Amen!

·       Power Of Choice and Outcome

-This verse communicates options and consequences; “companion of the wise which leads to being wise” and “companion of fools which leads to suffering harm”.

-We continue to say this; companionship is a choice and always will be.

·       Power of Destiny
-Your choice will eventually determine where you end.

-You have the power to determine the direction of your life.

-Do not abandon the direction of your life to another person.

·       Power of Impartiality

-The scripture says “whoever”; it is not for a select few.

-Meaning, we have equal opportunities. So we cannot base the outcome of our lives to chance, but rather to our choices.

-Choose correctly.

Companionship is Seasonal & Godly

·       We ought to get to a place whereby we settle it within us that companionship is seasonal and godly. Seasonal because, changes will be experienced that will require adjustments, new skills, new approaches, etc. Godly because, it is relationship based and "relationship" is God’s idea and design and in order for us to succeed, we ought to be spirit led even in our companionship relationships. Amen!

Previously, we had examined the separation of John Mark from Paul and Barnabas. And later, the separation of Paul and Barnabas. When we get to a place where we live in the reality that companionships are seasonal and godly as we have seen in scriptures many times, we will keep a godly attitude even as we move on knowing that for as long as seasons remain, the Lord might cause our paths to meet again for a different assignment. Paul, Barnabas, and John Mark worked together during a missionary journey and were later separated.

Then came another season whereby Paul and John Mark had to work together. We know this because Paul refers to John Mark as his coworker in his epistle to Philemon as recorded in Philemon 1:24.

This same John Mark is also referred to as a helpful person by Paul in 2 Timothy 4:11(NIV). Paul, speaking to Timothy his son in the Lord says, “Only Luke is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, because he is helpful to me in my ministry (2 Timothy 4:11 NIV).

In conclusion, we will say this, as you get wiser in your companionship relationships, carefully make decisions. Always remember the following;

- do not discredit a person just because you do not get along with the person during a particular season. Paul did not discredit Barnabas neither did Barnabas discredit Paul.

- disapprove of the character or behavior that the person portrays which is not godly, however, do your best to not get into disagreements with the person. When John Mark deserted Paul and Barnabas, Paul referring to that incident said to Barnabas, he did not think it wise to go on a trip to visit the believers with John Mark. Paul disapproved of John Mark’s character yet, he did not get into any disagreements with John Mark.

- do not compromise your values and standards just to accommodate mediocrity from another person. Paul was not going to stoop for disloyalty, lack of integrity and lack of purpose and focus from any source. Paul had values and standards and he stood for what he believed despite the odds.

- accept the fact that you might and will be misunderstood for maintaining very exceptional standards and an excellent spirit, however, keep praying for others so that their eyes might open up to the reality of how to do relationships better. Amen!

- the people who show sign of immaturity today may later grow up to have exceptional values and do exploits in the kingdom. John Mark is the author of the book of Mark (New Testament). Amen!

Directions Are Guaranteed

We are introduced to Elijah who told King Ahab;

1 Kings 17:1 (NKJV)

…As the Lord God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, except at my word.”

Emphasis Mine

1 Kings 17:2 (NKJV)

Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying,

Emphasis Mine

1 Kings 17:8 (NKJV)

Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying,

Emphasis Mine

On 3 different occasions, the word of the Lord is mentioned and in every season, the purpose of the word that came was specific

In the first verse, the word of God spoken was a declaration over a situation. In verse 2 and 8, the word of the Lord that came were specific instructions for Elijah. In all 3 verses, the word of God changed the direction of activities for the season. Amen!

Elijah declared that there will be no rain as surely as God lives after which the Lord instructed Elijah on where to go right after the drought was declared. Then, when the brook dried up, the word of the Lord came to Elijah again instructing him to go the village of Zarephath.

As we read this chapter, many things come to light;

1)     Selflessness – Elijah comes across as someone who understands that His life is not his own. Meaning, his very existence was for God. Elijah was so dependent on God to a place where he only moved from one point to the other based on the word. Unless we develop a selfless attitude, it will be impossible to abandon the direction of our lives to God. Amen!

2)     Focus – It takes a certain level of spiritual attentiveness and alertness to hear the voice of the Father. We can agree that Elijah remained focused evidenced by his attentiveness and alertness to spiritual matters. When God spoke, he heard and acted immediately. Also, at no point was Elijah confused neither is it recorded that he panicked because of the unfavorable conditions surrounding him at the time. Therefore, his obedience to God was not dependent how favorable or not the conditions were, around him.

3)     Trust - His trust in God was expressed through his obedience to God’s word/ and instruction for the season. In verse 5, the Bible says “So Elijah did as the Lord told him…”,  In verse 10, after the instruction from God to Elijah, the Bible records “So he went to Zarephath…”. Amen! So he trusted God consistently.

It is best for you to allow the seasons of your life to be determined by God’s word. That is the lifestyle of the Godly. Let go of control over your life. Surrender your entire being to his leadership and direction and you would not regret it.