I AM A FRIEND OF GOD...FROM THE INSIDE OUT...

KETCHUP AND MUSTARD SATURDAY

Catch Up and Must Do Saturday

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Two things...
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...Oh, what a joy it has been to hear the words of friends and family this week tell how our son, Jordan is a friend of God...it is what any transformed mom wants to hear. Thank you, Jesus!
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FOOD FOR THOUGHT: What happens when you are squeezed?

• Ketchup squeezes out of a ketchup bottle.
• Mustard squeezes out of a mustard bottle.
• Ths Spirit of Christ squeezes out of a christian.

I AM A FRIEND OF GOD...WORK HEARTILY FOR THE LORD...PART 2 OF A VERY GOD BLESSED DAY...

Today, Rosalind Franklin University graduated many new medical doctors at the Chicago's Civic Opera House. Here is a picture I took from four rows behind the graduates as they stood at the end of the ceremony to take their Hippocratic Oath. You can see Jordan, three rows of graduates up, on the far right.

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NOTE: For those of you unfamiliar with Rosalind Franklin, she is the doctor who worked very hard to unravel the "mysteries" of DNA. She was the first to capture it in a picture. Then, she died young at the age of 37. Several years ago, Chicago Medical School, Dr. Scholl's School of Podiatry, and other medical entities came together to form Rosalind Franklin University in her honor.

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Afterwards, we celebrated Jordan's accomplishments with some picture taking...beginning with a very proud wife who deservedly earned her PhT degree at the same time (Putting Hubby Through)...Congratulations Jordan, Jacqueline, and Chloe... Two Godly doctors, and a very blessed little Chloe...

Of course, I wanted a pic of the proud parents and our oldest son...

Then, Jacqueline's wonderful Godly parents, Bob and Sharlene Keesee...


Afterwards we headed in two taxis to Su Casa for .... you got it... mexican food...one way the Sikes' celebrate...Bob took this pic of all of us with Annie (Jacqueline's sister) and her fiancee, Dr. Jared Johnson, on the left...

Later we found ourselves walking down Michigan Avenue and ending up at Hershey's...measuring Chloe with a five pound Hershey's bar...

After a train ride home, naps, and leftovers for supper, we enjoyed a Steve Sikes' led devo as we praised God and celebrated Jordan with words and song... it was evident, as everyone shared that Jordan is A FRIEND OF GOD...


What a BLESSING it is to end a day knowing WHO is in control and to WHOM we owe our praise and thanksgiving for BLESSINGS and TRANSFORMATIONS...
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I AM A FRIEND OF GOD...WHATEVER YOU DO IN WORD OR DEED DO ALL IN THE NAME OF THE LORD JESUS...PART ONE...

FAMILY FELLOWSHIP FRIDAY...
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All we have ever asked for any of our children hung on a poster in our kitchen area as they grew up, "Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the LORD Jesus." For Jordan, his skill set, personality, and desire to serve in a special way led him to study to become a medical doctor. Indeed, today is a special day for our family to celebrate Jordan's dedication to a dream while continuing to walk with the LORD. Jordan's wife, Jacqueline, articulated it well on a poster she has made and hung at their front door.

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Our plan is to meet at 6:45 a.m. this morning at a train station and all nine of us ride the train into Chicago. Doors open at 8:30 a.m. and graduation begins at 10 a.m. By noon, our son will be Dr. Jordan Luke Sikes. Congratulations, Jordan! Thank you Jacqueline for being such a wonderful wife and friend to him. Thank you both for living TRANSFORMED LIVES!!!

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I AM A FRIEND OF GOD...TRANSFORMING...

TRANSFORMING THURSDAY

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Although, several times this week, I have posted transforming scripture about friendship, love, grace, mercy, and forgiveness...this post is very different...let me tell you why. My friend, Tina sent me the following list of statements in a note on FACEBOOK about friendship on Tuesday during the day. Actually, God used Tina to send these statements that would minister to a friend of mine many times during the next 24 hours. As so often is the case, God uses someone to minister in our time of need, "with MERCY and GRACE", as Hebrews 4:16 says. Thank you, Tina!

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What a lesson on friendship these words are! As you read the words below, I am confident that you do not have to experience the horrific hurts of friendship if you will understand and live by these principles. Let them TRANSFORM your thinking about friendship. The very last one I added to this list whose author is unknown.
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• I BELIEVE...that just because two people argue , it doesn't mean that they don't LOVE each other. And, just because they don't argue doesn't mean they do LOVE each other.
• I BELIEVE...that we don't have to change friends if we UNDERSTAND that friends change.
• I BELIEVE...that no matter how good a friend is, they're going to hurt you every once in a while and you must FORGIVE them for that.
• I BELIEVE...that you can do something in an instant that will give you heartache for life.
• I BELIEVE...that it is taking me a long time to become the person that I want to be.
• I BELIEVE...that you should always leave LOVED ones with LOVING WORDS. It may be the last time you see them.
• I BELIEVE...that you can keep going long after you think you can't.
• I BELIEVE...that we are RESPONSIBLE for what we do no matter how we feel.
• I BELIEVE...that either you CONTROL YOUR ATTITUDE or it controls you.
• I BELIEVE...that heroes are the people who do what has to be done regardless of the consequences.
• I BELIEVE...that money is a lousy way of keeping score.
• I BELIEVE...that my best friend and I can do anything or nothing and have the best time!
• I BELIEVE...that sometimes the people that you expect to kick you when you're down will be the ones to help you get back up.
• I BELIEVE...that sometimes when I'm angry, I have the right to be angry...but that doesn't give me the right to be cruel.
• I BELIEVE...that MATURITY has more to do with what types of experiences you've had and what you've learned from them and less to do with how many birthdays you've celebrated.
• I BELIEVE...that it isn't always enough to be FORGIVEN by others, sometimes you have to FORGIVE yourself.
• I BELIEVE...that no matter how hard your heart is broken the world does not stop for your grief.
• I BELIEVE...that our background and CIRCUMSTANCES may have influenced who we are but we are responsible for who we become.
• I BELIEVE...that you shouldn't be so eager to find out a secret...it could change your life forever.
• I BELIEVE...that two people can look at the exact same thing and see something totally different.
• I BELIEVE...that your life can be totally changed in a matter of hours by people who don't even know you.
• I BELIEVE...that even when you have no more to give, when a friend cries out to you, you will find the strength to help.
• I BELIEVE...that credentials on the wall do not make you a decent human being.
• I BELIEVE...that the happiest people don't necessarily have the best of everything, they just make the most of everything.
• I BELIEVE...that God is in control and that Jesus is my best FRIEND.

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Hey, sister, wife, mother, daughter, grandmother, grandaughter...be sure and be a friend...a friend of God!

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I AM A FRIEND OF GOD...HE IS NO HALF-HEARTED FRIEND...

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Today is my...


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I often feel that I need to physically be one _____ the woman that I am, yet spiritually twice the woman....


Jesus does not want me to be a....

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Jesus was not a "half hearted friend". In fact, His idea of friendship was and is radical and often uncomfortable. Scripture teaches us that Jesus was and is a friend to "tax collectors and sinners!" If I want to be a friend to Jesus and/or be a friend like Jesus, then I should internalize these words from the WORD...

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Luke 6:32-38
32 "If you love those who love you,

what credit is that to you?

Even 'sinners' love those who love them.

33 And if you do good to those who are good to you,

what credit is that to you?

Even 'sinners' do that.

34 And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment

what credit is that to you?"

Even 'sinners' lend to 'sinners,'

expecting to be repaid in full.

35 But love your enemies,

do good to them,

and lend to them without expecting to get anything back.

Then your reward will be great,

and you will be sons of the Most High,

because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.

36 Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.
37 "Do not judge, and you will not be judged.

Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned.

Forgive, and you will be forgiven.

38 Give, and it will be given to you.

A good measure, pressed down,

shaken together and running over,

will be poured into your lap.

For with the measure you use,

it will be measured to you."

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Luke 19:1-8

Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through.

2 A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus;

he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy.

3 He wanted to see who Jesus was,

but being a short man he could not,

because of the crowd.

4 So he ran ahead and

climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him,

since Jesus was coming that way.
5 When Jesus reached the spot,

he looked up and said to him,

"Zacchaeus, come down immediately.

I must stay at your house today."

6 So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly.
7 All the people saw this and began to mutter,

"He has gone to be the guest of a 'sinner.'"
8 But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord,

"Look, Lord!

Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor,

and if I have cheated anybody out of anything,

I will pay back four times the amount."

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Jesus said to him,

"Today salvation has come to this house,

because this man, too, is a son of Abraham.

10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost."

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I am a friend of God!

I will follow Him!

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I AM A FRIEND OF GOD...SO GRATEFUL FOR HIS GRACE!!!!

Proverb 17:17 "A friend loves at all times..."

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FRIENDS STICK CLOSE TO EACH OTHER:

• Proverb 18:24 "...there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother."

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FRIENDS WILL GO TO BATTLE FOR EACH OTHER:

• Proverb 27:6 "faithful are the wounds of a friend..."

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FRIENDS GIVE AND RECEIVE COUNSEL FROM EACH OTHER:

• Proverb 27:9 "...a man's counsel is sweet to his friend."

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FRIENDS DO NOT FORSAKE EACH OTHER:

• Proverb 27:10 "Do not forsake your own friend or your father's friend..."

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FRIENDS FORGIVE:

• Luke 5:21 "When Jesus saw their faith, he said, "Friend, your sins are forgiven."

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FRIENDS WILL INCLUDE THOSE WHO HAVE BEEN REJECTED BY OTHERS:

• Luke 7:34 "...a friend of tax collectors and "sinners."

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FRIENDS REJOICE WITH EACH OTHER:

• Luke 15:5 "...he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, 'Rejoice with me...
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FRIENDS SHARE GOOD NEWS WITH EACH OTHER:

• Luke 15:9 "...And when she finds it, she calls her friends ..."

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FRIENDS DIE FOR EACH OTHER:

• John 15:13 "Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. "

FRIENDS OF JESUS OBEY HIM:

• John 15:14 "You are my friends if you do what I command. "

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FRIENDS TELL EACH OTHER WHAT'S IMPORTANT:

• John 15:15 "I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you."

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FRIENDS SHOW WHO THEIR FRIENDS ARE BY WHAT THEY DO... HOW THEY LIVE THEIR LIVES:

• James 2:23-24 And the scripture was fulfilled that says, "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness," and he was called God's friend. 24 You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone.

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TRUE FRIENDSHIP CANNOT BE EARNED BY WHAT WE DO.........BECAUSE ....

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"God

doesn't

love

me

because

of

my

performance.

He

loves

me

in

spite

of

my

performance."

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FRIENDS GIVE GRACE TO EACH OTHER:

• Ephesians 2:7-10 "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God- 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."

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"God doesn't love me because of my performance.

He loves me in spite of my performance."

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The next time a friend's actions don't comply with the guidelines that you've laid down for a friend, will you judge her based on her performance and axe her as a friend?

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The next time God does not answer your prayers according to how you think they should be answered will you axe Him from His throne and quit talking to Him?

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Instead, BE GRATEFUL for friends and THE FRIEND OF ALL FRIENDS through the sunshine and the rain, through the good times and through the pain. Be thankful that because of His great grace, God is willing to call us His friends.

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"A FRIEND LOVES AT ALL TIMES!"

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I AM A FRIEND OF GOD...THAT'S GRACE!

MEDITATION MONDAY

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How many friends can you count who know you deeply? Intimately? Non-judgmentally? How many friends do you have who you feel empower you to be a better person?
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Yesterday, I thought about the friend I have in Jesus as I listened to Steve's sermon entitled, "GRACE EMPOWERS!" As Steve shared about Timothy and the friends he had in his grandmother Lois, his mother Eunice, the apostle Paul, and in Jesus, I heard some wonderful teaching on some topics that have been on my mind: GRACE, MERCY, AND FRIENDSHIP WITH GOD...
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When I think of a "true friend", I think of someone who...

• loves me unconditionally
• loves me in spite of me
• tells me the truth
• gives me grace

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Yesterday, Steve read through 2 Timothy chapter 1 and had us respond with the words "THAT'S GRACE!" each time he read something in the chapter that showed the grace that Christ extends. Not everyone has had Godly parents and/or grandparents, but if you have had...THAT'S GRACE! As I meditate on it now, I share it with you to consider the grace God has given you and me by embracing us as friend and family.

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2 Timothy:

• the promise of life that is in Christ Jesus...THAT'S GRACE!
• Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord...THAT'S GRACE!
• sincere faith...in your grandmother...THAT'S GRACE!
• sincere faith...in your mother...THAT'S GRACE!
• the gift of God... a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline...THAT'S GRACE!
• the power of God...THAT'S GRACE!
• saved...THAT'S GRACE!
• called us to a holy life-not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace...THAT'S GRACE!
• this grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time...THAT'S GRACE!
• but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus...THAT'S GRACE!
• who has destroyed death...THAT'S GRACE!
• has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel...THAT'S GRACE!
• of this gospel I was appointed a herald and an apostle and a teacher...THAT'S GRACE!
• I am not ashamed, because I know whom I have believed...THAT'S GRACE!
• am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him... THAT'S GRACE!
• good deposit that was entrusted to you-guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us...THAT'S GRACE!
• may the Lord show mercy...THAT'S GRACE!
• mercy from the Lord on that day! ...THAT'S GRACE!

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John 1:14

"And the Word became flesh,

and dwelt among us,

and we beheld His glory,

glory as of the only begotten from the Father,

full of grace and truth."

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