Over and over I hear people complain about not having any friends. My response is a question–“Do you assume any responsibility for it?” You should. To have a friend you “must” be a friend. But first you need to understand what friendship is.

Someone said, ” Friendship is a principle of mutual interchange and mutual sacrifice. There can be no one-sidedness, no selfish engrossment, no taking without giving. Selfishness is the death of social reciprocity and sympathy.” I mention this because a lot of folks don’t understand. They don’t actually want a friendship. When they talk about wanting a friend, what they actually mean is that they want someone to fawn over them, make them feel good, and do them favors. They want a benefactor, not a friend. They want it to be all get and no give. They want to be cherished without any contribution on their part. They want to be blessed without being a blessing. In other words —-“Bless me, but don’t bother me. Leave me alone unless you are helping me”. That’s not friendship! And that’s why you don’t have any friends.

It is proper and wise to want friends. Being social beings we all need them, so it is well and good to desire them. We need one another, but that need will never be met unless you get concerned about meeting the needs of others. Wait a minute— Isn’t that exactly what every Christian ought to be doing? As Paul said, “Look  not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.”(Phil. 2:4). Do that and you will have all the friends you need. One last word of advice—I’ve discovered that it is better to have a few true friends than to have a thousand so-called friends. Don’t confuse popularity with friendship. Be a friend and you will have a friend. – HDS (revised from 6/13/14)

David Stone
Lakeway Baptist Church
5801 FM 1960 E
Humble, TX. 77346

It is strange how glibly some folks talk about getting to heaven. They say of someone who died without ever showing any knowledge of or interest in Christ, “He is in a better place”, or “She is with the angels in heaven”. Without any evidence whatsoever they assume the person “has gone to their reward”. Their beliefs are based upon their hopes which are based on their feelings rather than facts. Some error by thinking they are saved by being good. Others error by thinking they are saved just because God is good – too good to send anyone to hell, in their estimation.

There are many poor deluded souls upon the earth who entertain false hopes that will never be realized. Perhaps the biggest fallacy is that everybody will be okay because God is love. They believe God is too good to let anyone go to hell. They are banking on the fact that since God loves them they will go to heaven. But it takes more than that. God loves everyone, even those who go to hell, but they suffer nonetheless. While we couldn’t be saved without God loving us God’s love alone doesn’t save us. God not only is love He is just and holy, and as such He must deal with our sin. And the only way to salvation is through the sacrifice of Christ. We are saved as a result of the Lord’s sacrifice, not His sympathy. 2 Peter 3:9 says, “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance”. Yet not every one is saved.

We also learn from this that we can’t compensate for wrong by doing something classified as good. In other words, a good deed doesn’t make up for wrong doing. There are no substitutes (other than Christ). Saul tried to offer sacrifices in the place of submission, but God rejected them. Many years later the nation of Israel was condemned for doing the same thing in Mal. 1. They evidently has learned nothing, and neither has most people today. They hang on to their religion, but live in rebellion, resulting in their ruin.

Jesus said, ” And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?” ( Luke 6:46). The point is that we can’t honestly say that Jesus is our Lord if we disobey what he says. His question should be taken as a warning. In Matt. 7: 21-23 the warning is more blunt, “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.” We have no reason to believe, nor to expect others to believe, that we are saved if we live in rebellion. If we are saved we ought to obey God in every detail of life and we will have a desire to please Him. Obedience isn’t optional. Obedience is the outcome of saving faith ( Jam. 2:17, 26). It is proof of our profession. – HDS
David Stone
Lakeway Baptist Church
5801 FM 1960 E
Humble, TX. 77346

“Rejoice alway” ( Phil. 4:4)
It is amazing how easily we dismiss this command as though it is impossible. Everyone is concerned about happiness, but few ever take any steps to secure it. What about you? Have you ever spent a morning examining all that the Bible has to say about happiness, gladness, joy, and rejoicing? You will be amazed by the large number of verses pertaining to the subject. Not only will you be impressed by the number of references to it, you will be enlightened as to what all is said about it. You will learn about the importance of it, the benefits from it, the cause for it, and the hindrances to it.

Sadly many try to excuse themselves for being unhappy. They are quick to give you a list of reasons as to why they are miserable. Rather than looking for reasons to rejoice they are intent on finding excuses to justify their unhappiness. In doing this they convince themselves that, considering the circumstances, it is impossible to be truly happy. They think of it as mere wishful thinking, rather than a glorious possibility. They are like the fellow who said he was planning for a nervous breakdown because he deserved it. We seem to have forgotten that we are to pray that God’s will be done on earth as it is in heaven. If heaven is a place of perpetual joy, should that not be what God desires for us while we’re here on earth?

I’m not writing this to tell you what the Bible says about this, but to tell you that the Bible tells you about it. And since what the Bible says is more important than what I say about the Bible, I encourage you to go directly to God’s Word and see for yourself what it says. If happiness is as important as you say it is, surely it would be time well spent if you set aside some time discovering what God says about the subject. I can give you no better advice than this—search the Scriptures! It will change your life! Start today. Put-off whatever you planned for the day and spend a few hours considering what God says about the nature of joy and the need to rejoice. I can’t think of a better way to spend a day. – HDS

David Stone
Lakeway Baptist Church
5801 FM 1960 E
Humble, TX. 77346