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Hey girl, we're your hosts Iz

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and Zi and welcome or welcome back to the Forever God Girl podcast.

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In today's episode we will talk about friendships.

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In Proverbs 18 verse 24 it says,

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A man of many companions may come to ruin,

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But there is one friend who sticks closer than a brother.

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That's Jesus Christ!

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First thing we need to talk about is Godly friendships.

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Why are Godly friendships important?

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Well, think about it this way.

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Since we are followers of Christ, right?

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We also need Godly friends or followers of Christ so that they can help us in our walk

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with Jesus.

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Godly friendships and fellowship is what brings us closer to Jesus.

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Jesus wants us to have friends and fellowship, which is why he tells us to be good friends

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throughout the scripture.

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If you ever want to see a book that has a lot to talk about on friendships, go to Proverbs

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because it has so many amazing, encouraging, instructional scriptures.

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Jesus had many friends on earth and he was the best example on how to be a good Godly

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friend.

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Like we earlier said, a Godly friend is someone who is striving to go deeper in their relationship

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with Jesus.

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And while they're trying to go deeper in their relationship with Jesus, they'll help

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you to grow deeper in your relationship with Jesus.

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And a Godly friend also exhibits the fruit of the spirit.

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Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control.

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But now we have to look at what an ungodly friend is like.

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Oh boy.

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But first, before we look at that, I do want to read the scripture Proverbs 22 verses 24

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through 25.

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It says, Do not associate with a man given to anger, or go along with a hot tempered

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man, or you will learn his undisciplined ways and you yourself will get yourself trapped

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in a situation from which it is hard to escape.

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This scripture is telling us to not associate ourselves with people we know who need to

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be worked on by the Holy Spirit, because then we will get their principles.

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It's like the scripture says, Bad company ruins good morals.

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And ungodly friends can make us feel all sorts of ways.

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For example, sometimes ungodly friends will make us feel weird or make us feel like we

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can't, we don't have a voice to say what we want to do or what we want to say or what

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we want to wear, because if we do what we want to do or be ourselves, we'll be ostracized.

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Exactly.

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And sometimes it pushes us to go against all of our Christian morals.

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When we get a conviction from the Holy Spirit, we'll try to quiet it by what we think other

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people say we should do.

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But how do I go about school when everybody has their own friend group?

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How do I make mine?

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Well, we have to analyze the room carefully, because if we choose the wrong friends, we

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can go down the wrong path, as we said.

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You make good friends by looking in the right places.

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Think about this way.

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WWJD.

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What would Jesus do?

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Sometimes in school, it's hard to find people who want to be vocal about their faith, or

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sometimes people are too scared to be vocal about their faith.

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When we make the first step, we can help to inspire.

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Also, another great place to find Christian friends is at church.

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Yes.

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That's when they're open, and also they can be real with you too.

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Also, it gets very easy to make friends at church a lot of the time, because what the

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youth pastors will do and the teachers will do is they'll put different people in a group.

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And I've made friends that way, especially when it was difficult for me to make friends.

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The youth pastors came in handy.

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And also, not only that, you have one thing in common, your faith.

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Faith brings us together in fellowship to help us grow closer to the Lord.

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We cannot stress that enough.

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So what about my school friends?

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Well, in Colossians 3, 12, through 14, it says, put on then as God's chosen ones, holy

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and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing

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with one another, and if one has a complaint against one another, forgiving each other,

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as the Lord has forgiven you, so you must also forgive.

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And above all these, put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.

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When we show love to other people, then we will draw them to God.

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And don't expect other people to always want to be a friend because you're nice, because

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some people are just mean for no reason, but expect God to do his work in their lives and

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in your lives as well.

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And trust that God will bring you the right friends because he ultimately knows everything

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about everyone and who is going to help each other.

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But what happens when a friend decides that they don't want to be your friend anymore?

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Well, this is a hard lesson that both of us have had to go through, right, Zi?

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Yep.

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Yeah.

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But something that I learned through that season is friends sometimes are just here for

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a season.

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Sometimes we don't have friends for our whole lives and sometimes they're just childhood

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friends.

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But remember this, rejection is protection and rejection is also redirection.

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Sometimes God takes away friends for a season so that we can realize that he is our best

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friend.

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And we feel complete and whole in him.

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See Jesus is our friend who sticks closer than a brother like we read in Proverbs 18

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24 earlier.

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He wants us to know that because when we know that our relationship with him can deepen.

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And we can have the confidence to share Christ because then Christ is our center.

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We are not trying to please people, but we are trying to please the Lord.

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In Galatians chapter one verse 10, it says, Am I now trying to win the approval of human

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beings or of God?

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Or am I trying to please people?

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If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ.

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This is a scripture that we all need because as humans we all face the trials of trying

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to fit in.

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But bottom line, we are not working to please people, we're working to please God.

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And Jesus will be our forever friend because he lives in our heart.

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He's in us with us and all around us.

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And the scripture says, I am with you to the end of the age.

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Now it's time for a special segment with Iz and Zi.

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Okay Zi, for our question today, it is what number of Jesus' disciples, also known as

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his closest friends?

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12.

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And let's try to figure out their names now.

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Okay, so there was Peter, Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, also known as Nathaniel.

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There was also Thomas.

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There was also Thaddeus.

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Yes.

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There was also John, also known as Judas as well.

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Simon the zealot.

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Right.

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Judas Iscariot.

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Mmhmm.

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James the son of Alphaeus.

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Alphaeus.

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Yes.

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Matthew.

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You didn't say Matthew.

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Oh.

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You didn't say Matthew yet.

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So in total we said Peter, James, John, Andrew, Philip, Judas Iscariot, Matthew, Thomas,

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James the son of Alphaeus because there was a second James.

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Bartholomew, Judas Thaddeus, and Simon the zealot.

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Exactly.

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Okay, that was a good segment, but now you have to end off this episode.

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So if you don't have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, then we invite you to give

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your heart to the Lord today.

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Go to Romans 10, 9 through 10.

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It says that if you confess what your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that

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God has raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

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For with the heart one believes unto righteousness and with the mouth confession is made unto

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salvation.

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If you said this prayer with sincerity, you are saved and now have eternal life with Jesus.

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You are saved from all your sins, past, present, and future sins you may commit.

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Now this truth is not a pre-past sin anytime.

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Instead Jesus gives you power over all wrong choices and empowers you to spread the gospel

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to others.

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You are saved forever and your name is written in the book of life.

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Did you just give your life to Jesus?

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If you did, give yourself a pat on the back and tell as many people as you can.

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Anyways, thank you guys so much for listening to this podcast episode.

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We hope it helped you and we hope that you learned something.

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And remember, trust God and he will lead you to where you ought to be.

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See you next time.

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Bye.

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