WISDOM FOR LIVING DAILY DEVOTIONAL
OCTOBER 27, 2022
TOPIC: GOD DIDN’T CREATE YOU TO GO THROUGH LIFE ALONE
BY T. O. BANSO
“Share each other’s troubles and problems, and so obey our Lord’s command” (Galatians 6:2 The Living Bible).
God did not create you to go through life alone. He created man to have relationships with Him and fellow human beings, starting with the family everyone is born into. God said in Genesis 2:18, “It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him” (New King James Version). When children are born, they are born into a family and, as they grow, they relate with others in the family and outside. God’s plan is not that we should live a lonely life. Psalm 68:6a says God sets the solitary or lonely in families.
We need God in our lives and should have a living relationship with Him through Christ Jesus. We must be born again (John 3:3, 7). We must also fellowship with Him. The Apostle John says, “That which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ” (1 John 1:3 New King James Version).
In addition, we must be planted in a Bible-believing and Bible-teaching church. Psalm 92:13 says those (the righteous) who are planted in the house of the LORD shall flourish in the courts of our God. God does not want anyone to be born again and sit down at home without fellowshipping with other believers. The church is the family of God. Ephesians 2:19 says, “Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God” (New King James Version).
God expects every born-again person to be established in a church family. Some people say that they are born again but they are not established in any assembly where they fellowship with other believers. Some only jump from one church to another and criticize every church; they are not planted; they have no shepherd. A rolling stone gathers no moss. They are living contrary to what the Bible says. Hebrews 10:25 says we should not forsake the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.
You were made for community. Don’t say you are born again and despise the church of Jesus Christ. There is no perfect church. All believers are a work in progress: “until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ” (Ephesians 4:13 New International Version).
Jesus Christ is the head of the church. If you have a true relationship with Jesus, you will settle down in a church where you will be a functional member. In other words, you will bless others and they will bless you, too. One of the benefits of church membership is that you are not alone in times of difficulty or trial. Loneliness has made some people suffer depression; some have even committed suicide because of this. They had nobody to talk to or lean on. Online church attendance must not replace physical church attendance and functional membership. Do you have a church family? Who is your pastor?
God didn’t create you to go through life alone. He doesn’t want you to feel lonely in life. If you have a church family, they will rejoice with you when you rejoice and cry with you whenever you cry. Even when you are alone physically, you won’t feel lonely. Your church family will support you in prayer and encourage you when you are weary. They will not leave you to fight life’s battles alone. Galatians 6:2 says, “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ” (New King James Version). The Living Bible puts it this way: “Share each other’s troubles and problems, and so obey our Lord’s command.” The church family does this.
It doesn’t matter what your temperament is, understand that God didn’t create you to go through life alone. That is why you were born into a family and you didn’t drop from heaven! Don’t isolate yourself from your biological family or church family. Your biological family has a role to play in your life and your church (spiritual) family has a role to play in your life. You need both. Don’t try to go through life alone.
You also need friends in your life. Proverbs 17:17 says, “A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity” (New King James Version). The Living Bible renders it thus: “A true friend is always loyal, and a brother is born to help in time of need.” You need godly friends in your life, friends with whom you share the same belief. Amos 3:3 says, “Can two walk together, unless they are agreed?” (New King James Version).
Make sure you have the right friends in your life. Proverbs 27:17 says as iron sharpens iron, so a man sharpens the countenance of his friend. Who are your friends? He who walks with wise men will be wise, but the companion of fools will be destroyed (Proverbs 13:20).
Choose your friends carefully. Friends are important in your journey in life. “The righteous should choose his friends carefully, for the way of the wicked leads them astray” (Proverbs 12:26 New King James Version). Beware of ungodly friends. 2 Corinthians 6:14 says, “Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness?”(New King James Version). GOD’S WORD Translation says it like this: “Stop forming inappropriate relationships with unbelievers. Can right and wrong be partners? Can light have anything in common with darkness?”
It is not only a wife or a husband that a human being needs. He/she needs other people, including family members, a church family, friends, neighbours, and colleagues at work. All these people have different roles to play in one’s life in good and bad times.
God didn’t create anyone to be an island to himself/herself. We need each other or one another. This becomes more evident in times of need. Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 says, “Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work: If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up! Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone? Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken” (New International Version).
In Mark 6:7, when Jesus called the twelve to Himself, he began to send them out two by two and gave them power over unclean spirits. He didn’t send each person out. He knew the benefits of working together. Also in Acts 13:2, God called Barnabas and Paul to work together in the ministry but, unfortunately, they separated because of a sharp disagreement (Acts 15:39). But even when they parted ways, they both took someone along with them on their missionary journeys. The apostles worked together, not in isolation.
Don’t live as if you don’t need anyone else. We need each other and we shouldn’t fail those who need us. In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus told Peter, James, and John that His soul was exceedingly sorrowful, even to death, and they should watch with Him. Jesus went a little farther from them to pray and came back three times to meet them busy sleeping. He couldn’t get them to pray (Matthew 26:36-46). But in Acts 12, when King Herod arrested Peter and imprisoned him, the church offered constant prayer to God and an angel of the Lord released him.
It is not a sign of weakness to request the prayers of other believers or the church. But it is wrong to depend solely on the prayers of others and not pray for yourself when you are able to pray. Paul said in 1 Thessalonians 5:25 and 2 Thessalonians 3:1, “Brethren, pray for us.” The writer of the book of Hebrews also said in Hebrews 13:18, “Pray for us.” You should have a proper understanding of the body of Christ and your need of other believers. The Bible talks many times about the believers’ responsibilities to “each other” or “one another”. We need one another.
God didn’t create you to go through life alone. Don’t suffer needlessly from loneliness or depression. You were created for relationships with God and human beings. Cultivate godly relationships. Don’t let the devil separate you from those you should bless and who should bless you.
TAKE ACTION!
If you are not born again, you need to give your life to Jesus now. I urge you to take the following steps: *Admit that you are a sinner and you cannot save yourself and repent of your sins. *Confess Jesus as your Lord and Saviour. *Renounce your past way of life – your relationship with the devil and his works. *Invite Jesus into your life. *As a mark of seriousness to mature in the faith, start attending a Bible-believing and Bible-teaching church. There they will teach you how to grow in the Kingdom of God.
Kindly say this prayer now: O Lord God, I come unto You today. I know I am a sinner and I cannot save myself. I believe that Jesus is the Son of God who died on the cross to save me and God raised Him on the third day. I repent of my sins and confess Jesus as my Lord and Saviour. I surrender my life to Jesus now and invite Him into my heart. By this prayer, I know I am saved. Thank You, Jesus, for saving me and making me a child of God.
I believe you have said this prayer from your heart. Congratulations! You will need to join a Bible-believing and Bible-teaching church in your area where they will teach you how to live your new life in Christ Jesus. I pray that you flourish like a palm tree and grow like a cedar of Lebanon. May you grow into Christ in all things and become all God wants you to be. I will be glad to hear from you. The Lord be with you.
PRAYER POINTS: Father, I reject the schemes of the devil to separate me from godly relationships and subject me to loneliness and depression. I shall cultivate healthy relationships in my biological family, church family, workplace, neighbourhood, and society. Holy Spirit, help me to choose my friends carefully. Help me to walk with the wise, not with the fools. Father, I pray that the right people will come into the lives of those who are suffering from loneliness and depression.
(For over 800 in-depth and powerful messages by T. O. Banso, visit www.cedarministry.org).
T. O. Banso is the President of Cedar Ministry International, Abuja, Nigeria.
Phone No: +2348155744752, +2348033113523
WhatsApp No: +2349081295947
Email: cedarministryintl@yahoo.com,
cedarministryng@gmail.com
Website: www.cedarministry.org
