True Friends
June 8, 2025

Prov17: 17 A friend loveth at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.

“True friends do not make your problems disappear. They are the ones who do not disappear when you are facing problems.”

“A true friend is someone who thinks that you are a good egg even though he knows that you are slightly cracked.”

“We will always be friends until we’re old and senile. Then we will be new friends.”

Proverbs 18:24 (KJV)
A man [that hath] friends must shew himself friendly: and there is a friend [that] sticketh closer than a brother.

John 15:14 Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.
15 Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends….

James 2:23 (KJV)
And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God.

Romans 12:18 (KJV)
If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.

If You Feel You Are Unqualified To Be Used By GOD-Just Remember This-He Tends To Recruit From The Pit Not The Pedestal ! That’s Where He Got Me !! —Rev David Baker

The Life Journey of Saul:
He was Saul of Tarsus, the young, successful, energetic rabbi.
Then he was Saul the Persecutor;
then Saul the Blind.
He became Saul the Convert and
then Saul the Preacher.
Yet before he became Paul the Apostle,
he spent somewhere between 8 and 12 years as Saul the unknown.
Those were not wasted years;
they were good and necessary years.

True Friends & a Basket Case:
Acts 9:23 And after that many days were fulfilled, the Jews took counsel to kill him:
24 But their laying await was known of Saul. And they watched the gates day and night to kill him.
25 Then the disciples took him by night, and let him down by the wall in a basket.
26 And when Saul was come to Jerusalem, he assayed to join himself to the disciples: but they were all afraid of him, and believed not that he was a disciple.

How we live from The Basket to The Casket will determine our Lifelong Relationships and Legacy!

God will Surround You with True Friends that will intercede for you & help fulfill the Vision!

“A privilege we don’t talk about enough is being surrounded by genuine friends and people who truly love you. If you have that you are already richer than most people.”

True Friends fight for You!
27 But Barnabas took him, and brought him to the apostles, and declared unto them how he had seen the Lord in the way, and that he had spoken to him, and how he had preached boldly at Damascus in the name of Jesus.
28 And he was with them coming in and going out at Jerusalem.
29 And he spake boldly in the name of the Lord Jesus, and disputed against the Grecians: but they went about to slay him.
30 Which when the brethren knew, they brought him down to Caesarea, and sent him forth to Tarsus.

The story of Saul’s conversion begins with him leaving Jerusalem to persecute the followers of Jesus. It ends with him leaving Jerusalem as a persecuted follower of Jesus.

Back to the Beginning for a New Start!

31 Then had the churches rest throughout all Judaea and Galilee and Samaria, and
were edified; and walking in the fear of the Lord, and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost, were multiplied.

Two principles for a Happy Life:

1)Love people, not things
2)Use things not people

The Paradoxical Commandments:

(Kent M. Keith:Jesus did it anyway!)

1)People are illogical unreasonable and often self-centered.

Love them anyway.

2)If you do good people will accuse you of
selfish ulterior motives.

Do good anyway.

3)If you are successful, you will win false friends and true enemies.

Succeed anyway.

4)The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow.

Do good anyway.

5)Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable.

Be honest anyway.

6)The biggest men and women with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest men and women with the smallest minds.

Think big anyway.

7)People favor underdogs, but follow top dogs.

Fight for underdogs anyway.

8)What you spent years building may be destroyed overnight.

Build anyway.

9)People really need help but may attack you if you do help them.

Help people anyway.

10)Give the world the best you have and you’ll get kicked in the teeth.

Give the world the best you have any way.