Posts Tagged ‘old testament’

Interesting Benefits of Developing Relationships

Thursday, January 14th, 2010

We were created by God to have a relationship with Him and with others. The Bible clearly states that we have a need for strong and healthy relationships, and in Ecclesiastes Solomon writes about some of the wonderful benefits of having meaningful relationships with others.

Solomon writes about three particular areas that you will be blessed by friends.

First, a friend will help you up after you have fallen. Of course, this could be figurative, as a friend can help you to recover and “get back on your feet.”

Second, a friend or loved one will help to warm you in the cold by staying close by.

Third, when you face danger in your life, a friend will help to defend you.

These three examples speak to us of problems we cause ourselves, hardships produced by natural forces over which we have no control, and danger that comes from the bad choices or actions of others. Quite honestly, I can’t think of any type of problem that doesn’t fall into one of these three categories.

Solomon reminds us that friends will be there for us regardless of the situation and the circumstances. Following this, Solomon tells us that three is better than two!

Go out and make some new friends and build stronger, healthier relationships. Many of us hold back and “protect” ourselves by not letting others too close. Usually this is a result of hurt from poor relationships in the past, but we need to put that behind us and move forward to build good friendships.

Lord, I thank you for the amazing friends that have blessed my life. Thank you for the many things that they do for me and for how they show their love. I hope and pray that I can be as good a friend to them.

Dr. Ann Shorb is a counselor with CCES in southern PA. CCES offers Marriage Counseling, Pre Marital Counseling, and help for a number of other issues.

God Loves Each One Of Us

Wednesday, January 13th, 2010

As you live your life day-by-day, there will probably be some times that you think your life really doesn’t make a difference. You may think that no one around you is being impacted by you and the things you do, and that no one would really notice if you were gone.

Surrounded by billions of people in this world, it’s easy to feel like we’re insignificant and that only the very few select people will really make a difference with their lives. Satan is happy when we feel this way. However, God loves each of us individually and has created us in His own image. He gave us unique talents and opportunities, and He loved each of us enough to send Jesus to die for our sins.

Walter Scott is credited with saying, “True love is the gift which God hath given to man alone beneath the heavens – true love.” Yes, God loves all of His creation as He showed when He looked at the things He had created each day and said “It is good, It is good;” until the sixth day when He created man, and he looked at man and He said, “It is VERY good.” You, my friend, are special in the eyes of God because you are His creation.

In the eighth chapter of Psalms we read David’s words, “O Lord, our Lord, how excellent is Your name in all the earth, You who set Your glory above the heavens!” Later in the Psalm David continues, “When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have ordained, what is man, that You are mindful of him?”

David is just overwhelmed with the fact that in light of the WHOLE creation – moon, sun, stars – and he said God, and you are still mindful of man? You still care? But David is so excited about that. He says: “Lord, you have made him a little lower than the angels and have crowned him with glory and honor. Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands and put all things under his feet – the sheep, the oxen, the beasts of the field, the fowl of the air, the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passes through the paths of the sea. Oh Lord, Our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth.”

David took a look around him and observed God’s wonderful creation. He realized how amazing and special it is that God cares enough about us that He put us over His creation.

In the 39th Psalm David writes that he has been fearfully and wonderfully made. Any time you are feeling down and like you don’t matter, remember that you are significant because you are a creation of the almighty God. He loves you and you matter to Him. We are all precious in His sight!

Dr. Ann Shorb is a counselor, writer, and speaker. Her company, CCES, offers counseling services in Hanover, Pennsylvania as well as teleChristian Christian telephone counseling for clients anywhere in the US.