Classic Mary Moments: It matters WHO your friends are!!!

Tuesday, September 17, 2013

It matters WHO your friends are!!!

Thinking about spiritual influences from listening to the preaching message that I wrote about below, it causes me to think about HOW important it is to have GOOD, SOLID friends and just people in general that we can talk to. Friends INFLUENCE US!!! People INFLUENCE us!!! There are times in each and every one of our lives that we find ourselves in a vulnerable posistion and its WHO we talk to during this time that will push us in the direction we end up going...because FRIENDS INFLUENCE us!!!

I remember a time in my own life that I found myself in a place of anger. Everyone that knows me, KNOWS that i'm one of THE MOST easygoing people you will ever meet and that i'm NOT quick to anger. Weeeeeeeellll... UNTIL it comes to someone I LOVE!!! If I love someone, DON'T mess with them!!! Cuz I will go cRaZy on you!!! LOL

Well, I felt like someone that I loved, my mom, wasn't being treated RIGHT, annnnnd I felt like I needed to take it into MY OWN HANDS and I was about to make a very IRRATIONAL decision in which the consequences would have affected my life in a very dramatic way. HOWEVERRRR, before I did this, I called MY MOTHER annnnnd MY MOM, the very one I was trying to defend, SET ME STRAIGHT!!!

I was like, but mom, I'm just defending you. She's like, I don't NEED YOU to defend me, God WILL take care of me. Then she talked to me about how her only goal in life at this point was to make it to heaven. She said Mary, you have your whole life ahead of you for God to use you and I don't want you to mess it up over something trivial. And I took my mom's correction, I obeyed her words and it IS because of MY MOM, because of HER GODLY influence on ME, that I am HERE today!!! What IF my mom had NOT been a Godly woman? Who knows what would have happened!!! It matters WHO you talk too in your vulnerable times.

GOOD FRIENDS, tell you what is RIGHT, NOT what YOU want to hear!!! I have some GOOD friends in my life. I have some friends that I can call and tell them about my latest idea and cRaZy antics and they'll be like, ummmm...MARY??? Probabley NOT the best choice to make!!! I'm like, yeah, I figured thats what you would say!!! HAHA!!! I want those kinds of friends in my life and I also want to be that kind of friend to other people as well. The Bible says that, Iron sharpeneth iron! We can STRENGTHEN EACH OTHER!!!

One of my friends recently told me about something that was going on in life and I was like, Ummm NO, you should NOT be doing that. And I was able to influence them to the right choice. And my friend told me later on, I KNEW, that as soon as I told you about it, that you would stop me, thats why I waited so long to tell you. Another time, one of my dearest friends made one of THE MOST irrational choices ever annnnnnnd I was sooooo DEVESTATED when I found out and my friend was already regretting their choice but it was to late! I said, WHY didn't you talk to ME about it first??? And they said, BECAUSE I KNEW, that you would stop me because your an INFLUENCE on me. I'm like, soooo instead you just IGNORED AND AVOIDED ME!!!

Think about the Biblical story of Amnon and Tamar in 2 Samuel 13

"And it came to pass after this, that Ab'salom the son of David had a fair sister, whose name was Tamar; and Amnon the son of David loved her. And Amnon was so vexed, that he fell sick for his sister Tamar; for she was a virgin; and Amnon thought it hard for him to do any thing to her. But Amnon had a friend, whose name was Jon'adab, the son of Shim'e-ah David's brother: and Jon'adab was a very subtile man." . We all know the rest of the story with Amnon and Tamar. In the beginning, Amnon was just in a vulnerable weak moment, buuuuut it was THE INFLUENCE of a friend that caused hime to do what he did!!! It MATTERS who you talk to!!! It matters WHO you hang out with!!!
I told a friend one time, that I love with every fiber of my being, I told them, I'm NOT praying for your happiness, I'm praying that God will do to you WHATEVERRR it takes to bring you to repentance! And OH my friend did NOT like that!!! They said, you know thats really NOT very nice!!! I said, yes, buuuuuuuut what does it matter if your "HAPPY" if your lost!!! I'm NOT out to be a NICE friend, I'm out to be a GOOD friend!!! . Lets be GOOD friends to each other!!! If you see someone that you LOVE is sinning or about to make a bad choice, don't keep your mouth shut!!! Let them know that you DO CARE!!! When I'm WRONG, go ahead and be NEGATIVE to me...I don't want to be LOST!!! I NEED GOOD FRIENDS in my life!!! It DOES matter who you hang out with! Friends INFLUENCE you in your weakest moments!!! It matters WHO your friends are!!! Nice friends go to hell together, buuuuut GOOD FRIENDS go to heaven together!!!
"Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners." (1 Corinthians 15:33)

♥Mary Frances :)

♥Mary Frances :)

The Votaws!!!

He has preached all over the US, China, Taiwan, the Philipines, Vietnam and many more Asian countries. He preaches in underground churches in communism countries. He converted a man on death row in prison to Christ and 3 hours before that man died he baptized him in Jesus name. He prayed the first man in Vietnam to kill and americn soldier through to the Holy Ghost and Baptized him in Jesus name. He has converted trinitartin preachers all over to the Oneness doctrine...BUT ABOVE all else...I thank God that I TOO am ONE OF THOSE souls he reached out too...he gave 7 years of his life to New York City!!! I thank God that he answered the call!!! It wasn't until his 6th & final year as pastor there, that our family came into church...we were there for 9 months before we came to AZ and then right after that the Votaws left NYC for the mission fields of Asia...I THANK God that someone had a burden for NYC!!!

Sis. Kathy!!!

This is the woman that invited my Momma to a Pentecostal church!!! She told me that she was actually new in the church herself and that she would see my mom in the front yard of our house playing with us kids and she just wanted so badly for my mom to have what she had just recieved herself. It may have been just one person that she was witnessing to at that time, but that one person has had an affect on her own five children and now its her Grandchildren that are still recieving the blessing of Sis. Kathy's witness. 25 years ago, it wasn't just my mom...I may have only been two at the time, but it was ME she was winning too! I thank God she wasn't afraid to be a witness and that she didn't give up on my mom. For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call. (Acts 2:39) When you decide to live for God it doesn't just stop with you!