Relationships!
Who you hanging out with?
Was speaking with a minister one day, about a particular business deal I was considering, that involved a lot of money. I asked him about a certain leader, and he said to me something profound: ‘Chris, I am not too sure about the character of that man, but always remember you will be labelled by the people you associate with”
Today I am going to show you that who you hang around will determine your success in this life, that you need to come out from sin and things of this world in order to receive all that God has for you, and that you need to develop godly friendships.
Here is a picture of the Saturday morning men’s prayer group I have attended since 2009 at Victory Christian Center here in Tulsa, Ok. Incredible group of men of God, doing great things in business and ministry around the world.
Psalm 1:1 ¶ Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.
2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.
3 And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.
Now, for those of you who have been around this for awhile, you know that the word ‘blessed’ means: empowered to prosper. That God is a good God, and if you want better for your children than you had, how much more God our heavenly father who loves you more than you love yourself.
v1 counsel : means advice. Who are you receiving your advice from?
The Bible says in Proverbs 13:20 He that walketh with wise men shall be wise: but a companion of fools shall be destroyed.
This verse tells us about three ways to be blessed by God.
The Bible says here that the person is blessed and given power from God to get ahead in life, if firstly you don’t listen to the counsel of the ungodly.
Jesus said “By their fruits you shall know them.” So when someone comes to speak into my life, the first question I ask myself is this: Are they saved?
What is their walk with the Lord like? Does what they are suggesting agree with the Word of God, does it bring peace to my heart? What is coming out of their mouth, for out of the heart, the mouth will speak!
Now Jesus is a friend to sinners and tax collectors right? He did not pray that we be taken out of this world, rather that we be in it, but not of it. Obviously, we need to live and work with those who are not yet born again, but that does not give us permission to talk like they talk, or do what they do. We are to be a witness, something they need to look up to.
This verse says not to stand in the way of sinners. Someone is going partying, or to the Casino, or for a smoke break. What do we do?. Get out of their way. Jesus is your way, and don’t get into some sloppy Agape kind of limp wrist-ed version of love. Gently say, “ I’m a Christian and I can’t go down that road with you. I love you, but I’ve got a family that needs me, a church that loves me, and my mind set on things above.”
So you are a good witness at work, and growing in your love walk, and the fruit of the spirit, and you are seeking to win souls for you have read, in your search for wisdom
Proverbs 11:30 The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; and he that winneth souls is wise. But those around you begin to scoff and mock the things of God. Jesus said to seek and save the lost, not chase down the rebellious. No what does our verse teach us here, when those around you begin to mock the things of God, what are you to do?
Leave!
Ps 1:1 ¶ Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.
2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.
While I was studying for ministry, I drove a school bus and picked up extra hours working at a bus depot, washing buses. The Bus wash was part of the yard, and the mechanic shop. Used to eat lunch with the guys, and they would ask questions about Jesus and the Bible, that were friendly at first. After a while, they began to deliberately mock God, His Word, and would see how perverted the conversation could get to try and gross me out. I began Eating lunch in my car because the guys had become scoffers. Spent the lunch hour listening to some good praise and worship music, and talking to Jesus.
Let’s ask God to show us people in our life that we have become too familiar with, and ask Him for the grace to spend the time we would normally spend with them, with Him studying His Word.
Eph 5:16 Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.
Col 4:5 Walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time.
Separate Yourself unto God!
Joshua 24:5 I sent Moses also and Aaron, and I plagued Egypt, according to that which I did among them: and afterward I brought you out.
6 And I brought your fathers out of Egypt: and ye came unto the sea; and the Egyptians pursued after your fathers with chariots and horsemen unto the Red sea.
7 And when they cried unto the LORD, he put darkness between you and the Egyptians, and brought the sea upon them, and covered them; and your eyes have seen what I have done in Egypt: and ye dwelt in the wilderness a long season.
8 And I brought you into the land of the Amorites, which dwelt on the other side Jordan; and they fought with you: and I gave them into your hand, that ye might possess their land; and I destroyed them from before you.
Now Egypt is a type of the worlds system that God hates, your old sinful lifestyle. Everyone say “He brought me out to bring me in.”
2 Corinthians 6:17 Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,18 And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.
873 aforizw aphorizo af-or-id’-zo
from 575 and 3724; TDNT-5:454,728; v
AV-separate 8, divide 1, sever 1; 10
1) to mark off from others by boundaries, to limit, to separate
1a) in a bad sense: to exclude as disreputable
1b) in a good sense: to appoint, set apart for some purpose
The word of God, preached as it is under the anointing of the Holy Spirit is designed to impregnate your very spirit with the life of God. It is food, but it is the way God has designed to make you a success. Jesus said His words are spirit and life, and Hebrews 12:9 Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live?
If Jesus is your Lord, the way he prefers to correct you is by His word, not in chastening after the flesh. Yet, if you continue to act in the flesh, He will correct you in the flesh. With children, we call this applying the board of instruction to the seat of higher learning!
I have been asked why I teach so much, why I spend hours pouring the Word of God down people’s throats. Well, I am instructed as a man of God to teach the word, and be instant in season and out of season, to feed the flock of God among us.
Yet, I’m no fool, I’ve spent the hours and hours counseling people and walking with people from tragedy to trial to tears and finally Holy Spirit showed me a better way.
The Bible says that by these promises we have everything we need for life and godliness. God sent His word and healed them, and delivered them from all their destruction.
The answer to your problem is in the word of God. So what does a shepherd do? He goes before God, in prayer on your behalf, then God answers. He speaks his Word, and know this: God always backs up His word with His power. He cannot lie. Psalms 138:2 I will worship toward thy holy temple, and praise thy name for thy loving kindness and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name.
God is your rock, and He has sent ministry into your life to lead you deeper into His plan for your life. I am simply an act of God’s mercy and compassion into your life. He knows not all of you have five hours a day for ten years to study God’s word and show you how to apply it to your life, so enter Chris Walsh, God’s little delivery boy into your life.
The package I deliver is God’s word: unwrap it, and apply it to your life, and it will produce blessing every time. God way is His word, and His word spoken from here will manifest His power to meet your need. Your answer is the Word of God. I spend many, many hours each day, simply praying for YOU!
Certain people would wear me out! They would constantly call me, in crisis, asking me to come pray for them, to go to the hospital, to come over for dinner, and they were usually very polite when I came, yet I noticed that those that often took the biggest chunks of my time, rarely attended services. They loved to hear the Word of God, but they missed God’s order in attending church: Heb 10:25 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.
Finally, God set me free from chasing these people, 1Pe 5:2 Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind;
I realized that if they were not among us, in regular attendance at church, my responsibility to feed, lead, and counsel them ended.
Yet, some Christians are that way? Let’s pray about God’s will for my life pastor. So we pray, and God speaks, through His word, and gives direction.
Joh 16:13 Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.
What’s the point? While we must love all people, some must be given reduced access to our lives if we are going to be people of impact. They will drain our critical energies, and finances if we let them, and it is our fault. Sometimes the best we can do for them is NOT return their calls, while fervently praying for them. We are not God, Jesus is Lord, and it is wrong to do for people that which they have the responsibility to do for themselves.
Perhaps they have some unmet emotional need and need sympathy, so they go to another meeting, and ask another group of Christians to pray. And surprise surprise, God tells them to do the same thing. I’ve met Christians who have been involved with codependent relationships and sin issues, and they refuse to sever ties to those sins. Obviously, if you quit drinking, you pour whatever alcohol is in your house, down the sink. When you learn about the presence of God that comes in worship and Christian music, you probably need to go through your CD’s and cassettes and pitch the ones that do not bring the presence of God into your world. Video’s, magazines, and even TV shows that glorify sin, need to be removed from your life. He’s bringing you out, so that He can bring you in.
John Hagee calls television “that little god in your living room” for “do not many prostrate themselves before it, and spend more time with it than in the word and prayer?”
3 John 1:2 Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.
I am a prosperity preacher. It’s in the word, yet as a shepherd, I need to bring you out so that I can bring you in. Notice in this verse we studied, that God wants you to prosper and be in health, as your soul prospers.
2 Corinthians 6:17 Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,18 And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.
God is a good God, and loves you more than you love yourself. He wants to prosper you more than your wildest dreams, but it must be done His way.
Your soul is your mind, will and emotions. Many of you have been through hell emotionally, your mind is full of a mixture of the world and the devils thoughts with a little bit of God, and so your will, your day to day decisions wobble due to your pain and mixed up reasoning. God has more than that for you. He wants you to come out of the things that are causing you pain, and that dishonor His name. Why? So that He can take you in His arms and pour into you love, acceptance, affirmation, healing, comfort, strength, and confidence. All the things you never got growing up, God wants to restore to you, for He is a father to the fatherless. But you must spend time with Him, you can’t say you love Him, and then serve His enemy. Draw near to Him, and He will do things for you causing you to avoid things that years later will amaze you. His presence is prosperity; it’s the drug we all need. He brought you out of sin, that you may fall into His arms.
Well, my last point is short and sweet; God has a place for you in His kingdom, specifically for you. A place where you can grow and develop godly relationships.
Acts 4:23 And being let go, they went to their own company, and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said unto them.
God has a company for you. A company of believers in your home, in your workplace, at your school, and in a local church, where you are celebrated, not merely tolerated.
2 Peter 1:1 Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ: I want to be around people that have a like-precious faith. People that are quick to pray, to testify, to believe God on purpose.
For several years, I ran a construction company here in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The church I attend, Victory Christian Center, is big on developing small group Bible studies, called connect groups, where we study the word of God together, and get to know folks. For several years, I attended three of these, some weekly, others bi-weekly, that each had a different focus. The three I attended have been: Business owners, men’s, and married with children.
In the business owners group, we deliberately have sought God for wisdom to run our respective companies, and have deliberately networked and prayed, in confidence for each others needs. The pressures, responsibilities, and crisis we often faced as business owners, grew us tremendously over the five years that we met, as faith and responsibility levels, met like precious faith and responsibility levels. God used that group to disciple and grow us strong, as men of God. We did this for 7 years, then stopped for a couple of years while I travelled as a missionary. As soon as I came back to Tulsa, I was asked by several men to restart the group, and I have: https://www.chrisaomministries.com/2016/01/19/contractors-bible-study/
Like precious faith!
Daniel 11:32 And such as do wickedly against the covenant shall he corrupt by flatteries: but the people that do know their God shall be strong, and do exploits.
Pr 13:20 He that walketh with wise men shall be wise: but a companion of fools shall be destroyed.
Deliberately seek out and cultivate relationships with those who are strong in the Lord, and doing exploits for the kingdom.
The converse of this is also true, ungodly people will betray you, and will corrupt you. The mighty apostle Paul realized this truth, as ungodly people lied about him, conspired against him, had him falsely accused, beaten, and imprisoned. He realized relationships are critical to success in life and ministry. Hear his heart:
2Th 3:2 And that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men: for all men have not faith.
Just as there are relationships of honor, integrity, wisdom, strength, and like precious faith, there are treacherous people in this world, that will betray you, and siphon the very life and strength of God from you, if you let them. These people need to leave your life!
Today I have tried to show you that who you hang around will determine your success in this life, that you need to come out from sin and things of this world in order to receive all that God has for you, and that you need to develop godly friendships, people of honor, integrity, and like precious faith!
I’ve asked you to consider leaving relationships with ungodly counselors that drain us of time and strength, and spend the time you would have spent there talking to God instead. In his word, in prayer, and in Worship. I’ve asked you to leave the trappings of sin, the things of this world to let Him bring you out so that He can bring you in to His presence and prosperity.Thirdly, I’ve challenged you to develop godly friendships on purpose to cultivate relationships with those strong in the Lord and the power of His might, that are doing exploits for Him.
I read this little story,that I find appropriate here. Perhaps you have already read it, but bear with me, it might encourage you to hear it again!
Reason, Season, or a Lifetime?
By: Brian A. “Drew” Chalker
People always come into your life for a reason, a season and a lifetime. When you figure out which it is, you know exactly what to do.
When someone is in your life for a REASON, it is usually to meet a need you have expressed outwardly or inwardly. They have come to assist you through a difficulty, or to provide you with guidance and support, to aid you physically, emotionally, or even spiritually. They may seem like a godsend to you, and they are. They are there for a reason,you need them to be. Then, without any wrong doing on your part or at an inconvenient time, this person will say or do something to bring the relationship to an end. Sometimes they die, Sometimes they just walk away. Sometimes they act up or out and force you to take a stand. What we must realize is that our need has been met, our desire fulfilled; their work is done. The prayer you sent up has been answered and it is now time to move on.
When people come into your life for a SEASON, it is because your turn has come to share, grow, or learn. They may bring you an experience of peace or make you laugh. They may teach you something you have never done. They usually give you an unbelievable amount of joy. Believe it! It is real! But, only for a season. And like Spring turns to Summer and Summer to Fall, the season eventually ends.
LIFETIME, relationships teach you a lifetime of lessons; those things you must build upon in order to have a solid emotional foundation. Your job is to accept the lesson, love the person/people (anyway);, and put what you have learned to use in all other relationships and areas in your life. It is said that love is blind but friendship is clairvoyant. Thank you for being part of my life…..
Now God needs to demonstrate this word, just so that you can know that God is alive and in the house. Maybe some of you don’t know Jesus yet today is your day. He is not I was, not I will be, His name is I AM. NOW Faith is! You need to give Him your life. He is Lord, and you need to sell out to Him totally, no compromise. He rose from the dead, and He wants to forgive you and save you and adopt into this great family of God, and show you the reason He created you, and the place He has called you to serve Him in.
If you have never understood the simple good news, here it is:https://chrisaomministries.wordpress.com/2014/11/10/the-gospel-the-power-of-god/
Let’s Pray:
Father, I come before you, deciding to place Jesus as Lord of my life. I believe that because you love me, you will not fail me, that your plan for my life, is better than what I have planed. I receive you Lord Jesus, as my Savior, personal pastor, Shepherd, and counselor. Jesus, add to me, people of faith, honor, wisdom, strength, and integrity, and like Paul, I pray “that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men:” . Help me to carve time out of my day, to listen to, meditate upon, and hear your Word, and worship, in your name I pray Lord Jesus, Amen.