[2020 Vision] Rest-olutions and Resolutions, Part 3. Meaningful RelationshipsExemplo

A Foundation for Friendship

How do you have meaningful relationships? You do it with a higher connection, building emotional trust, and seeking a refreshing result. Where does this happen best? It happens best in a friendship with Jesus Christ. He is the highest connection that you could ever have, a friend who sticks closer than a brother. He is the one that you kneel and pray to. He is the one you can come to with your head in your hands and tears in your eyes at the kitchen table. He can give you the refreshment you need. 

Make sure you have a foundation of a friendship with Jesus Christ. If you don't, you are going to put too much weight on your friends, your marriage, your parents, your kids, your church, your pastor, or other people. Jesus has to be first. He is my highest connection, my deepest emotional trust, my best refreshment. I want to know Jesus Christ as my Savior and walk with Him as my Friend. 

We all have some toxicity in us. It is called sin. But Jesus can take the toxicity out and wash us clean. And once I have a foundation in Jesus, I can invite friends over to my kitchen table, and I can be vulnerable and transparent at somebody else's kitchen table. I can step into my marriage, into my parenting, and into my friendships, church, and community, connected at the soul level. 

It is said that in one of the Native American languages that French and English explorers encountered when they settled in this country, they had a word that meant friend. But then they had another word for a different relationship of friend, and it meant: “One who carries my sorrows on their back.” You have a Friend named Jesus who carried your sorrows on His back that was with whipped. He had a crown of thorns placed on His head and nails in His hand and feet, all for your sake. He is the truest friend you'll ever experience. 

You will have a lot of friends: Facebook friends, work friends, church friends, neighborhood friends, school friends, and much more. And you need just a few friends who will carry your sorrows on their back. But don't burden them with everything, saying, “Woe is me” every time you see them. 

This moment, this decade, for this heart of yours, build meaningful relationships. First, begin with Jesus. Then, be a friend to others. Build spiritual connections and emotional trust for a refreshing result. 

For more information regarding this devotional please follow this link, https://houstonsfirst.org/message/rest-olutions-and-resolutions-part-3-meaningful-relationships