![]() Who do you love and cherish the most? I know that I have an boundless love for my family and friends that fuels my life. I have always placed a high value on relationships and friendships. I didn’t have to really make friends as my sister Shantell was my day one. We are close in age and my Father made sure we rolled tight. My cousins were my extended friends. We had relationships that resembled sibling relationships. You can see that in my long-time relationships that are not connected by bloodline. I have been fortunate to still be in relationship with my first best friend from Jr. High School, Leslie. We met at 13 years of age. And my second-best friend from college, Rhonda. We met in high-school. I have known them both most of my life! And it has given me so much joy to witness them have families and pursue their dreams. When they share good news with me, I am excited for them like it is me. Because they are my day-ones, my girls, my compadres, my aces in the hole. And when they are living their best lives, that gives me joy. But as I have grown older and developed relationships outside of my immediate family and circle I have learned that there are quite a number of people that have not had these kinds of relationships. I hear so many stories of people not having close knit ties to family. Or even to their siblings. And let’s not even discuss friendships. This is unfortunate as relationships make up the fabric of our world and the Body of Christ. But so many don’t speak well of relationship anymore. It is thru relationships that we experience the nature of God in the flesh. But when everybody is screaming NO new friend’s courtesy of Drake it makes life that much harder. We spend a lot of time pointing out all of the negative facets of relationships these days, and keeping it real one hundred, people now are the most shady, disloyal and finicky than I have ever seen in my life. But their bad can’t outweigh the good of those who know how to stick close! When I look around as our life has transitioned, ebbed and flowed, the day ones that were committed to riding for us are still here and we are ETERNALLY GRATEFUL TO THEM – their LOVE kept us! When they purchased my book, they encouraged me to keep writing the testimony. When they shard our ministry efforts, attended our services, shared our message it encouraged us to keep pressing toward the mark. When they consistently sow into our community initiatives it helps us take the Love of our Father to those in need. And that’s where we put our focus on the DAY ONES who demonstrated the goodness of God in the land of the living. It easy to focus on the bad. But the danger of focusing on the bad is that you lose sight of the bigger picture and you get stuck in the who didn’t, who should have, and who could have. And once those thoughts permeate your psyche you began to build walls to keep out those who have failed to live up to the position they held in your life. And those walls will have you trying to ‘do it by yourself’ instead of walking with Him and the people He has now provided to show you His uncompromising, unconditional, unfailing love. In trying to do it “alone” we lose our effectiveness. Ecclesiastes 4:9 tells us that two people are better off than one. If we fall alone we are in real trouble, but with two, if one person falls the other can reach out and help. We can keep each other warm. We can put our coins together to keep each other from starving. We can put our heads and resources together to advance the vision. As you continue to move forward know that the Kingdom will advance in you thru partnership with new day ones. You will be presented with opportunities to develop relationships with family, friends, neighbors and co-workers. But be mindful that our Father will change the order of relationships to show that true kinship is not just a matter of flesh and blood or who you have known the longest. Our Father is the source of all relationships and His relationships are rooted in an unwavering and unstoppable love. And He has predestined connections ready to manifest for you to experience a higher reality of relationships. The less you resist, the more you trust, the easier you will experience the unfailing love from those sent to show you true relationship. The new order of your life requires a new order of loyalty, honor and respect from DAY ONE and beyond, so be open to the God connections preordained for you, as they will really help you to move ahead into living YOUR BEST LIFE. If this thought has been profitable to you, please share with your friends and family. Like or click the social share button or leave a comment in the box below for Pastor Yolanda.
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