Latest / Bible Chat Devotional / April 4 - Who You Walk With Matters

Transcript

April 4 - Who You Walk With Matters · Bible Chat Devotional

• 0:02
  Welcome to Bible Chat, where we have devotional conversations
• 0:06
  rooted in Scripture and relevant for today, April 4th.
• 0:11
  Who you walk with matters. We like to think we are
• 0:14
  completely independent, that no one really affects us that much,
• 0:18
  that we can be around anything and still remain unchanged.
• 0:22
  But that is rarely true. The people around us shape our
• 0:25
  tone, our standards, our choices, and even our desires.
• 0:30
  Proverbs chapter 13 verses 19 to 20 says whoever walks with the
• 0:34
  wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools will suffer
• 0:38
  harm. That is both a promise and a
• 0:40
  warning. Psalm chapter 39 verse one shows
• 0:44
  David saying I will guard my ways that I may not sin with my
• 0:48
  tongue. And in Mark chapter 4, verse 13,
• 0:52
  Jesus challenges his disciples to understand what He is
• 0:55
  teaching them. All of that points to one truth.
• 0:59
  Influence is powerful. The people you spend the most
• 1:02
  time with affect how you think and how you live.
• 1:06
  If you are constantly around negativity, gossip,
• 1:08
  carelessness, or compromise, you will feel that pull.
• 1:12
  If you are around humility, wisdom, prayer, and truth, that
• 1:15
  will shape you too. You become more like what you
• 1:18
  stay close to. This matters especially when
• 1:21
  life feels lonely or when peer pressure is strong.
• 1:25
  Sometimes we hold on to unhealthy friendships because we
• 1:28
  are afraid of being left out. Sometimes we silence our
• 1:32
  convictions because we do not want to seem different.
• 1:35
  But God does not call you to blend in at the cost of your
• 1:38
  soul. He calls you to walk wisely.
• 1:41
  And wisdom is not just about avoiding bad company.
• 1:44
  It is also about actively seeking good company.
• 1:48
  Find people who make you want to speak with more grace, live with
• 1:51
  more integrity, and trust God more deeply.
• 1:54
  Find people who will not just celebrate you, but also
• 1:57
  challenge you when you are drifting.
• 2:00
  The crowd around you is helping form the person you are
• 2:02
  becoming, so be intentional. Not everyone deserves access to
• 2:06
  your inner life. Walk with the wise.
• 2:10
  Stay close to those who help you hear Jesus more clearly.
• 2:13
  Let's pray. Heavenly Father, thank you for
• 2:16
  caring about every part of my life, even the relationships
• 2:19
  around me. Give me wisdom to recognize who
• 2:22
  is influencing me and courage to choose company that helps me
• 2:25
  grow. Guard my words, my heart, and my
• 2:28
  mind when I am under pressure. Lead me toward friendships and
• 2:32
  mentors that strengthen my faith and help me walk in Your truth
• 2:36
  in Jesus name, Amen. What if you could rise up and
• 2:43
  declare with full spiritual authority, I shall not die, but
• 2:47
  live? Death Defeated is a powerful
• 2:49
  five book prayer series for believers who are ready to
• 2:52
  confront premature death, break demonic cycles, and enforce
• 2:56
  God's covenant of life over their destiny and household.
• 2:59
  Book 1, Deliverance from Death, breaks chains of premature death
• 3:02
  and generational attacks. Book 2, Destruction of Death's
• 3:06
  Devices, exposes hidden traps and dismantles the enemy
• 3:09
  schemes. Book three, Divine Defense
• 3:11
  against Death, activates supernatural protection and
• 3:14
  divine preservation. Book 4, Disarming the Destroyer,
• 3:18
  overthrows deadly assaults and silences the spirit of
• 3:20
  destruction. Book 5, Dominion over Death,
• 3:23
  establishes resurrection authority, victorious living,
• 3:26
  and destiny fulfillment in Christ.
• 3:28
  This series equips you with Scripture anchored prophetic
• 3:30
  prayers to reject fear, cancel dark decrees, and walk in divine
• 3:34
  preservation. Order now on Amazon or visit
• 3:37
  prayerscripts.org. Now I invite you to spend time
• 3:41
  with God in today's three-year Bible reading plan.
• 3:46
  Proverbs chapter 13 verses 19 to 20 World English Bible Longing
• 3:51
  fulfilled is sweet to the soul, But fools detest turning from
• 3:55
  evil. One who walks with wise men
• 3:58
  grows wise, but a companion of fools suffers harm.
• 4:01
  Psalm Chapter 39 World English Bible for the chief musician for
• 4:06
  Jettathan, A Psalm by David. I said I will watch my ways so
• 4:11
  that I don't sin with my tongue. I will keep my mouth with a
• 4:14
  bridle while the wicked is before me.
• 4:16
  I was mute with silence I held my peace.
• 4:19
  Even from good my sorrow was stirred.
• 4:23
  My heart was hot within me. While I meditated, the fire
• 4:26
  burned. I spoke with my tongue.
• 4:28
  Yahweh, show me my end. What is the measure of my days?
• 4:32
  Let me know how frail I am. Behold, you have made my day's
• 4:35
  hand widths. My lifetime is as nothing before
• 4:37
  you. Surely every man stands as a
• 4:39
  breath. Selah.
• 4:41
  Surely every man walks like a shadow.
• 4:44
  Surely they busy themselves in vain.
• 4:46
  He heaps up and doesn't know Who shall gather now.
• 4:49
  Lord, what do I wait for? My hope is in you.
• 4:52
  Deliver me from all my transgressions.
• 4:55
  Don't make me the reproach of the foolish.
• 4:57
  I was mute. I didn't open my mouth because
• 5:00
  you did it. Remove your scourge away from
• 5:02
  me. I am overcome by the blow of
• 5:04
  your hand. When you rebuke and correct man
• 5:07
  for iniquity, you consume his wealth like a moth.
• 5:10
  Surely every man is but a breath.
• 5:12
  Selah. Hear my prayer, Yahweh, and give
• 5:15
  ear to my cry. Don't be silent at my tears, for
• 5:19
  I am a stranger with you, a foreigner, as all my father's
• 5:22
  were. O spare me that I may recover
• 5:25
  strength before I go away and exist no more.
• 5:28
  Mark Chapter 4 World English Bible Again he began to teach by
• 5:32
  the seaside. A great multitude was gathered
• 5:36
  to him, so that he entered into a boat in the sea and sat down.
• 5:40
  All the multitude were on the land by the sea.
• 5:43
  He taught them many things in parables, and told them in his
• 5:46
  teaching, Listen. Behold, the farmer went out to
• 5:49
  sow. As he sowed, some seed fell by
• 5:52
  the road, and the birds came and devoured it.
• 5:55
  Others fell on the rocky ground where it had little soil, and
• 5:58
  immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of soil.
• 6:02
  When the sun had risen it was scorched, and because it had no
• 6:06
  root it withered away. Others fell among the thorns,
• 6:09
  and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no
• 6:11
  fruit. Others fell into the good ground
• 6:15
  and yielded fruit growing up and increasing.
• 6:18
  Some produced 30 times, some 60 times, and some 100 times as
• 6:22
  much. He said whoever has ears to
• 6:25
  hear, let him hear. When he was alone.
• 6:28
  Those who were around him with the 12 asked him about the
• 6:31
  parables. He said to them, to you is given
• 6:34
  the mystery of God's Kingdom, but to those who are outside,
• 6:38
  all things are done in parables, that seeing they may see and not
• 6:41
  perceive, and hearing they may hear and not understand, lest
• 6:46
  perhaps they should turn again and their sins should be
• 6:48
  forgiven them. He said to them, Don't you
• 6:51
  understand this parable? How will you understand all of
• 6:55
  the parables? The farmer sews the Word.
• 6:58
  The ones by the road are the ones where the word is sown, and
• 7:02
  when they have heard, immediately Satan comes and
• 7:04
  takes away the word which has been sewn in them.
• 7:07
  These, in the same way, are those who are sewn on the rocky
• 7:10
  places, who, when they have heard the word, immediately
• 7:13
  receive it with joy. They have no root in themselves,
• 7:16
  but are short lived. When oppression or persecution
• 7:20
  arises because of the word, immediately they stumble.
• 7:23
  Others are those who are sewn among the thorns.
• 7:27
  These are those who have heard the word and the cares of this
• 7:30
  age, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other
• 7:33
  things entering and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.
• 7:38
  Those which were sown on the good ground are those who hear
• 7:40
  the word, accept it, and bear fruit.
• 7:43
  Some 30 times, some 60 times, and some 100 times.
• 7:47
  He said to them, is a lamp brought to be put under a basket
• 7:51
  or under a bed? Isn't it put on a stand?
• 7:55
  For there is nothing hidden except that it should be made
• 7:57
  known. Neither was anything made
• 7:59
  secret, but that it should come to light.
• 8:02
  If any man has ears to hear, let him hear.
• 8:05
  He said to them, Take heed what you hear.
• 8:07
  With whatever measure you measure, it will be measured to
• 8:10
  you, and more will be given to you who hear.
• 8:13
  For whoever has to him more will be given, and he who doesn't
• 8:16
  have even that which he has will be taken away from him.
• 8:20
  He said God's Kingdom is as if a man should cast seed on the
• 8:23
  earth and should sleep and rise night and day, and the seed
• 8:28
  should spring up and grow, though he doesn't know how.
• 8:31
  For the earth bears fruit by itself, first the blade, then
• 8:35
  the ear, then the full grain in the ear.
• 8:38
  But when the fruit is ripe, immediately he puts in the
• 8:40
  sickle, because the harvest has come.
• 8:43
  He said, how will we like in God's Kingdom, or with what
• 8:46
  parable will we illustrate it? It's like a grain of mustard
• 8:50
  seed, which when it is sown in the earth, though it is less
• 8:53
  than all the seeds that are on the earth, yet when it is sown
• 8:57
  grows up and becomes greater than all the herbs, and puts out
• 9:00
  great branches, so that the birds of the sky can lodge under
• 9:04
  its shadow. With many such parables he spoke
• 9:07
  the word to them as they were able to hear it.
• 9:11
  Without a parable, he didn't speak to them, but privately to
• 9:14
  his own disciples he explained everything.
• 9:18
  On that day. When evening had come, he said
• 9:20
  to them, Let's go over to the other side.
• 9:23
  Leaving the multitude, they took him with them.
• 9:25
  Even as he was in the boat, other small boats were also with
• 9:29
  him. A big windstorm arose and the
• 9:32
  waves beat into the boat so much that the boat was already
• 9:35
  filled. He himself was in the stern,
• 9:38
  asleep on the cushion, and they woke him up and asked him,
• 9:41
  Teacher, don't you care that we are dying?
• 9:44
  He awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, Peace be
• 9:48
  still. The wind ceased and there was a
• 9:50
  great calm. He said to them, why are you so
• 9:52
  afraid? How is it that you have no
• 9:55
  faith? They were greatly afraid and
• 9:57
  said to one another, Who then is this, that even the wind and the
• 10:01
  sea obey Him? Thanks for joining us on Bible
• 10:05
  Chat, where Scripture meets everyday life.
• 10:08
  If today's devotional encouraged you, share it with a friend and
• 10:12
  be sure to follow the podcast so you won't miss the next
• 10:15
  conversation. Until next time, stay rooted in
• 10:17
  truth, anchored in hope, and walking daily with Jesus.