“Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.” Proverbs 3:5-6 NKJV
 
These are a couple of my favorite verses, and if I had to pick “life verses” these two would be it.
 
The first part of this, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart," has not always been easy for me. Over time, I've seen how the Lord takes care of me, and it is definitely getting easier as the years go by. The word “trust” is an important word in Scripture. It's mentioned 125 times. But the word “heart” is used 832 times in the Bible, and the Lord knows what's in our heart (that's sometimes scary). The word “heart” has been brought up to me many times lately, in my daily devotional, lunch bible study at work, Sunday and Wednesday messages, and during our community group meetings. You can't get away with any thoughts He doesn't know about. Genesis 6:5 (NKJV) "Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually." Do you know the Lord has a heart also? In Genesis 6:6 it says "And the LORD was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart."
 
The second half of verse 5 says, "And lean not on your own understanding." That was tough when I was younger and I was not walking with the Lord. We definitely should want to lean on God’s understanding. Over and over in the Proverbs we are told we need wisdom and understanding. Proverbs 14:33 says "Wisdom rests in the heart of him who has understanding, but what is in the heart of fools is made known."
 
Verse 6 opens by saying, "In all your ways acknowledge Him." We do this in our daily activities. People see how we act and react. The definition of acknowledge is: to accept Him to be what is claimed and or accept His power and authority. 
 
Verse 6 end with this promise: "And He shall direct your paths." That's the promise when you do what you are supposed to do. What jumps out to me on this is that it's not just one path, it's multiple paths. As life takes turns and you go down different paths He guides you, I like the fact the Lord directs and leads me along the different paths of life. Proverbs 16:9 says, “A man’s heart plans his way, But the LORD directs his steps.”
 
For me, as I look back over the years and the different stages of life, I can see how God has had His hand on my life. There is no way I could have done things on my own without His help. Really, that's why it's easier to trust Him now because I've experienced it. So, for the younger generations, I would say “trust in the Lord with all your heart”, which takes faith, and the promise is: "And He shall direct your paths."
 
Tim Glenn

A few weeks ago I asked my youth group to list qualities they want in a close friend.  I then asked them to rate their friends on how well they met the listed qualities. Many of them rated their friends fairly high and I exclaimed, “That’s great! Seems like you all have some pretty good friends.”  Then I turned the table on them and asked them to rate themselves as to how well they met the listed qualities when being a friend.  As they reflected on their own abilities to be good friends, the sad reality was that they did not feel as though they were as kind and capable as their own friends.

Solomon wrote in Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 “Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their labor. For if they fall, one will lift up his companion. But woe to him who is alone when he falls, for he has no one to help him up. Again, if two lie down together, they will keep warm; but how can one be warm alone? Though one may be overpowered by another, two can withstand him. And a threefold cord is not quickly broken.” Jesus is that third cord that strengthens a friendship and keeps it bonded when one is fallen, alone, or feels overpowered by life.

The absolute best example and standard of our greatest Friend ever is found in John 15:13 “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.”  It is an admonition for us to consider Jesus in our friendships and to be others-centered even if it means a sacrifice of time, resources, or ourselves.

May our prayer be, to be the best friend to our friends with Jesus as our bond and third cord.

-Brian Lee