Good Friend Again

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You are listening to the My Morning Devotional podcast, episode 1228. Today's Devo is called Good Friend Again. Hey there. We're the Alessies, a ministry family working together in our church in Miami, Florida. And if you're like us, when days get busy and to do lists get longer, it can be hard to find devotional time.

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That's why we've partnered with our friend Allison to produce a five minute daily dose of heaven. This is the My Morning Devotional Podcast. Good morning everybody and happy Wednesday.

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My name is Lauren Alessi. I am your host for this week and we are reading out of the book of Proverbs, specifically in the message version. I normally don't read out of the message version, but I have studied Proverbs a lot and sometimes it's just nice to hear it from a different voice, from a different perspective. And so that's why we're reading out of the message version today. I do want to give a quick shout out to all those who participate in the Buy me a coffee. I hope you enjoy are enjoying the bonus episodes so far. We really enjoy doing them and I just really want to thank you for the extra support, the extra love. We cannot express how much it means to us just to know that you're out there listening, that you're out there wanting to support us, especially when it comes to us. Bible Podcast. That just means so much to us on a deep level. So thank you. Thank you so, so much. Let's dive into the word.

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Today we are reading out of Proverbs, chapter three, verses one through four. And this verse is called Good Friend. Again, you'll kind of see that as a theme in some of this week's episodes because a lot of the chapters start with the words Good friend.

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And I think that's important because you'll see that even though Proverbs can be a bit repetitive and it can almost sound like a mom or dad telling you what to do.

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Because I've read Proverbs a lot and sometimes it's like, okay, I get it.

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But the perspective of it is supposed to sound like someone who's encouraging you and wants you to do right. So it's supposed to sound like, hey, good friend, dear friend, good friend again, I'm letting you know I'm your friend and I want you to live well, which is why I'm telling you to do these things. So that's kind of why I kept the title Good Friend Again. I liked it. Okay, so Proverbs

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4, Good friend, don't forget all I've taught you. Take to heart my commands. They'll help you live a long, long time. A long life lived full and well. Don't lose your grip on love and loyalty. Tie them around your neck. Carve their initials on your heart. Earn a reputation for living well in God's eyes and the eyes of the people.

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I just find this verse so interesting for one of two reasons. In the first part that it talks about, don't forget all I've taught you. Take to heart my commands. They'll help you live a long, long life. And they'll help you live a life full and well. And I don't know about you, but in my life I have seen people, when they do follow God's commands, they live a life that is full and well.

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And a lot of times they live a long time. So sometimes we read the Bible and we don't take it literally. And I think we have to realize that the Bible can be very literal. And when we follow God's commands and we follow what he believes to be good for us, we will live a long, healthy, full life. So I love that part of Proverbs. The second part, don't lose your grip on love and loyalty.

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Tie them around your neck. Carve their initials on your heart. I think that's such an important part because in Proverbs you see this all the time. It talks about, don't forget your father's teachings. Don't forget your mother's teachings. Wear them like a crown around your head. Wear them like a necklace around your neck. You see this sort of theme a lot. Wear it close to you. Don't forget it.

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And I think a lot of times in our culture, in today's day and age, you rarely see that. You'll see people, you know, they'll get a tattoo so they don't forget something. Or they. They have, you know, a necklace for a family member or something like that. But when it comes to God's commands, we. So we read it every day and then we go on with our normal lives, kind of forgetting what we just read. And if, you know, in the Bible it says, you know, a person who looks in the mirror and walks away forgetting what they looks like is a foolish person. So that's not really, really a good look for us if that's what we're constantly doing. But I love this constant reminder in Proverbs, Tie them around your neck. And he's talking about his commands. Don't lose your grip on love and loyalty.

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Don't Forget his commands, tie them around your neck, carve their initials on your heart. What this means is basically when God gives us a command, when he gives us wisdom, insight and knowledge and understanding, it can't be something we just walk away from and act like it's just not there. And act like God, you know, kind of half meant it. It's something we need to hold close to our heart, not forget it, take it seriously and just truly, truly mean it. And never, never, never forget it. So whatever that looks like for you, I just challenge you today.

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Whatever command God has put on you, whatever thing you need to be obedient to, tie it around your neck, carve their initials on your heart, earn a reputation for living well in God's eyes and the eyes of the people of God. So let's pray. Dear God, thank you so much for constantly speaking to us and through us in your word, God. And we just pray God, let us not just be good hearers of the Word, but doers of the Word. And let us not just hear the Word, but let us tie it around our necks and walk it out in our everyday life.

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In Jesus name we pray. Amen. So there you have it. Your 5 minute daily dose of heaven. Thank you so much for tuning in today. We pray these devotionals empower you to take on your day. If you found value in this devotional, share it with a friend, leave a comment or review for us on the app you're using right now.

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Until tomorrow. We pray that your latte is strong, but your love for Jesus is stronger.