(Underrated) Bible Scriptures - Part 6

Thursday 4th November 2021

Hey, happy New Month. I hope you have been well.

I wasn't really planning on posting today - however I'm busy for the rest of the week in a way, so I guess this was the only free time that I have.

After this post will be Posts of Encouragement - which is when I will choose three topics and talk in depth about them. Basically a three in one version of the posts of my homepage. Normally it's three, but I just thought of four - five is too many.

I normally do posts that are related to me personally (most of the time anyway), however because I am nice, I have decided to give you guys a heads up on what I'm going to be posting about next. In order, here they are and what they will be about.

1. All I Wanna Say Is That They Don't Really Care About Us  (From Michael Jackson's song)

This is going to be talking about how you will be persecuted as a Christian - and why it's okay.

2. Stop Wasting Your Time

This is going to be talking about laziness and procrastination - and why you should stop doing it.

3. No One Is Perfect - And Why This Is A Good Thing

Why it's okay to make mistakes. And why having flaws is a good thing. I have many hahahaha but I'm not going to reveal them. Okay maybe one - impatience. But I'm gradually working on that.

4. God Will Never Give You More Than What You Can Handle

Going in depth about 1 Corinthians 10:13, which says  You are tempted in the same way all other human beings are. God is faithful. He will not let you be tempted any more than you can take. But when you are tempted, God will give you a way out. Then you will be able to deal with it.

I just discovered this quote today actually and I love it.

I would have double updated today as I haven't done one in a long time, but it's pretty late here and like I said, I wasn't planning on posting today. 

Without further ado, let me analyse the last few scriptures for now. 

#Scripture 31

Psalms 18:30 God’s way is perfect.

    The Lord’s word doesn’t have any flaws.
He is like a shield
    to all who go to him for safety.

You can link the last part of the Scripture:

He is like a shield
    to all who go to him for safety.

to Proverbs 18:10 which says and I quote myself

"The name of the Lord is a strong tower, the righteous run into it and they are safe"

That's also a praise song I sing from time to time in my home, out of university, church.

You can think of the Proverbs verse as well as the Psalms one as a friendship or a family hug.

Anytime you hug your friends or your family, especially after a long time or after you've had a bad day then you feel safe and/or much better, right?

I mean, if you don't, then there's most likely a problem somewhere, especially if it is with your family.

In this scenario, the tower that the righteous run into so that they are safe is like a big group hug.

Moving on to the first part of the scripture, aka:

God’s way is perfect.

    The Lord’s word doesn’t have any flaws.

It says that God is flawless. A few years ago, when I was like 17, I wrongfully thought that when the Bible says that God is a jealous God in Exodus 34:14

Do not worship any other god. The Lord is a jealous God. In fact, his name is Jealous.

I thought jealousy was one of his flaws. Then I got told that God isn't jealous in that way - he just wants to be at the top of your priority list at all times.

I said on this Website somewhere and I will say it again:

John 17:25

Father, you are holy. The world does not know you, but I know you. Those you have given me know you have sent me.

Let me tell you something.

The world did not know Christ, but Christ knew the world even before it was created.

It's kind of like Jeremiah 1:5, which says:

“Before I formed you in your mother’s body I chose you.
    Before you were born I set you apart to serve me.
    I appointed you to be a prophet to the nations.”

See, before God does something, he knows very well he's going to do it.*

In the case of Jeremiah 1:5, he knew what we were all going to look like before he even created us.

The things of the world doesn't know God. 

Yes, God created the things of the world, but even then he seriously doesn't want us to be attached to it.

This is because he is a jealous God (Exodus 34:14) that doesn't want you to worship any idols except from him (Exodus 20:3).

These idols all come from the world.

I mentioned in this website somewhere and I will mention it again that God doesn't want to be your top God. He wants to be your only God.

He wants to be your #1 priority, respectively - not in competition with other things.

That was an excerpt from the first 5 reasons as to Why You Shouldn't Love The World

Speaking of making God your priority, if you remember the first video on my website, it says this:

In lyric version, it reads

So I'm really sorry

For all the pain I've caused you, and the people around me

But God don't you worry, because

I'm going to change

My priority list?

I'll rearrange

So that I make sure you're at the very top

My love for you will never stop!

It took me ages to make that and think of lyrics at the same time but it all seriously paid off at the end. Everything on this website was created and designed by me. 

You never really know what you're capable of until you try!

But yes, make God your number one priority - for he is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him. You can find that in Hebrews 11:6, also look at Matthew 6:33.

I put the sentence See, before God does something, he knows very well he's going to do it in asterisks because I actually wanted to talk about it right now.

In Exodus 32:11, it says:

"But Moses asked the Lord his God to have mercy on the people. “Lord,” he said, “why should you destroy your people in anger? You used your great power and mighty hand to bring them out of Egypt."

And it may seem as though God lost his anger. But he didn't - and he knew very well what he was doing. He knew what the Egyptians were going to do before they had done what they had done.

If you want what happened in context, and I did too when I was writing this, you can read Exodus 32:7-8

7 The Lord spoke to Moses. He said, “Go down. Your people you brought up out of Egypt have become very sinful. 8 They have quickly turned away from what I commanded them. They have made themselves a metal statue of a god in the shape of a calf. They have bowed down and sacrificed to it. And they have said, ‘Israel, here is your god who brought you up out of Egypt.’"

This was after the 10 plagues had happened. I had even thought that this was what led to the ten plagues.

But essentially, don't make God angry. Even though the Lord chastises those he loves...

For the LORD disciplines those he loves, and he punishes each one he accepts as his child. Hebrews 12:6

That doesn't mean you should make God angry. If a human being is mad at you, depending on what you did, sometimes it's not serious.

But when the Lord is angry with you - that's when it is serious. Avoid this.

God is perfect because he is God and he is a spirit.

If God was a human being like us, then he wouldn't be perfect as no human being is. Regardless of our sins, God has decided to show benevolence to us anyway, otherwise he wouldn't have sent his son Jesus Christ to die on the cross for our sins.

I always say that you can't go a day (awake) without making a mistake - unless you are dead. Even if you sleep and wake up late, you're still bound to make mistakes.

1 John 1:8 Suppose we claim we are without sin. Then we are fooling ourselves. The truth is not in us.

So therefore don't judge or analyse others because you yourself aren't perfect - you never have been and you never will be.

 I'll go more in depth about this in my future No One Is Perfect post on my Posts of Encouragement page.

I would do so on my main Posts Page but I said that I would go back to Psalms 119 Commentary and I meant that.

On to the next scripture...

#Scripture 32

James 3:17 But the wisdom that comes from heaven is pure. That’s the most important thing about it. And that’s not all. It also loves peace. It thinks about others. It obeys. It is full of mercy and good fruit. It is fair. It doesn’t pretend to be what it is not.

I was listening to a YouTube video today that said when you do something righteous, do it for God and not for other people.

Then it talks about people will only see what you want them to see, or something like that.

My point?

Congratulate yourself on what you have done, even if nobody else does. Besides, when you do something for the Lord and no one notices, or they do but they don't congratulate you on it -- Heaven will.

With its wisdom.

I heard in Wednesday Bible Study at my home church that when you want to do something, people see how but Heaven assesses why. 

If you're doing the right thing for the wrong reason, then God won't be happy with you, For example, yesterday on Whatsapp, I posted my Gospel Playlist. 

God told me to do so many times but I was too hesitant because I was scared of what other people would think of it. But I changed my mind when I was praying and listening to it yesterday.

To stop caring about what other people think is not easy, and I feel like it takes a lot of confidence.

 I myself am still working on not caring for sure. That's like someone criticising this website and I take it to heart and never post again.

Would I do that if someone criticised this website?

No! I should be able to do what I want with this website, and I do. I learnt today to not take worldly opinions to heart, and neither should you. 

I hope God helps you as you do this, amen.

The scripture also says that wisdom from Heaven It also loves peace. It thinks about others. It obeys. It is full of mercy and good fruit. It is fair. It doesn’t pretend to be what it is not.

If you want wisdom from Heaven, and I can't really think of any reason why you wouldn't want to, then you have to love others as yourself (Matthew 22:39, Mark 12:31)  and you have to obey the Lord at all times.

Just because the world approves of something doesn't mean that God does. For instance, speaking of music due to me talking about my playlist, maybe there's a trending secular song out there.

Everyone is bopping to it, but the lyrics are terrible and it disrespects all types of righteous behaviour. 

God inevitably wouldn't like this, and we as God's children should like what he likes and dislike what he dislikes.

I have been guilty of liking songs because they're catchy and not being aware of the lyrics. Or maybe I am aware of the lyrics - I deliberately decide not to pay attention to them.

For example, there was this nice African song I liked, that I first heard in a Nollywood movie. But I soon realised that the lyrics were bad, so I stopped listening to it. Also some 90s songs, not anymore though.

Just because a song makes you emotional doesn't mean that God approves of it or it's of God. 

Be full of mercy and good fruit, be fair and don't pretend to be someone you are not.

(Aaliyah: We Need A Resolution)

Get your act together at all times.

This is because Christian mean Christ like so you have to try your best to be that way at all times.

Last but not least for today...

#Scripture 33

Psalms 119:105 Your word is like a lamp that shows me the way.

    It is like a light that guides me.

I learnt today that the world is living in darkness.

I'm not saying though that everyone is a bad person - no, this is far off from the truth right now, and I would never disrespect anyone like that. 

There are so many amazing people in my life at the moment and I am so grateful for each and every one of them. I myself am striving to be a genuine person as well - both on here and in real life.

The world is living in darkness because God doesn't approve of it. To love the world is to be an enemy of God basically.

Thankfully I did an entire series on not loving the world, which you can find on my main page. I would add links here but there are 5 parts, and today's post itself has already taken me a long time - but I'm not complaining. 

I love it here.

(My Life - The Walls Group)

(Just so happened to be the song I was listening to when I wrote this sentence)

If God doesn't show you the direction of your footsteps or your life then best believe you're going to be lost for a long time - or until you find him.

Let me quickly make reference to Proverbs 3:5-6 as well as I round up.

 Trust in the Lord with all your heart.
    Do not depend on your own understanding.
6 In all your ways obey him.
    Then he will make your paths smooth and straight.

Obey the Lord so that he can make your paths smooth and straight. And I pray he will help you with this amen.

Anytime you need help, just turn to the Lord first so that he can tell you what to do, you can always cast your burdens unto him (Psalms 55:22).

He might even tell you specific people to talk to and avoid talking to for your situation. Listen to him - I am learning to listen to and trust God more too.

That's it for today, I'll see you when I see you! I know it's late, almost 1AM when I posted this, hence why it's a bit short actually, but I post when I post! I don't like leaving a post half finished. 

Till next time, Lola xxx

Thursday 21st October 2021

Hey, I hope you have been well.

Before I begin properly, I would just like to say thank you all so so much for 1K plus views on this website.  I first started it about mid June and I genuinely didn't think it would be this successful.

I genuinely don't check views or like to check them but it was even God that told me to check them. I check once a month, maybe twice but that is it. I've learnt not to be caught in numbers because they don't define you nor should you be defined by them.

The fact that you guys are still here despite my inconsistency sometimes is beyond me. But all in all, I am very grateful for this.

The title of this entire page is called Underrated Bible Scriptures - Part 6 and that is exactly what we are going to be talking about right now. Some Underrated Bible Scriptures - I think I stopped at 27 but I can always double check.

. . . . . . . 

Okay just double checked and I did stop at 27. Let's continue now.

I normally do three at a time and that is still going to remain the same. I'll stop at 33, random number I know, but I don't want this to be too long - then I will do Posts of Encouragement, Part 2.

#Scripture 28

Jude 18-19

They told you, “In the last days, some people will make fun of the truth. They will follow their own ungodly desires.” 

19 They are the people who separate you from one another. They do only what comes naturally. They are not led by the Holy Spirit.

This I believe is talking about believers and unbelievers and the dichotomy between them.

I recently discovered the word dichotomy in my Childhood Studies course this week and here is the definition of the word.

A division or contrast between two things that are or are represented as being opposed or entirely different.

The things that are opposed or entirely different are normally mutually exclusive, so therefore they can't happen at the same time.

For example, life and death, war and peace (to an extent), getting heads and tails in something at the same time, or in this case: being an unbeliever and being a believer at the same time.

I was even going to say being friends and enemies with someone at the same time, but that's possible, otherwise there wouldn't be an entire term for it.

I think what this verse is essentially saying though is that a sign that the End of World is about to come or is coming is that people are more likely to make fun of Christians or the truth in general, which is the Bible.

Inevitably, I'm not going to mention examples of how people can make fun of the gospel, however I will mention Matthew 5:10.

Blessed are those who suffer for doing what is right.
    The kingdom of heaven belongs to them.

Don't give up! Even before the end times, people will still persecute you and make fun of you because of your righteousness. If anything, I don't think you can avoid it in Christianity.

In University, I did outreach which is when we go out to people and speak to them about our church and get their contact details or social media usernames at the end if they seem genuinely interested in it. 

Luckily, a lot of people have said that they would join our church, however I have personally encountered someone that was pretty rude about it online, though I don' t want to go into details.

This is a part of it, but I didn't let that discourage me. You can't please everyone and not everyone will agree with what you are doing. Just know that God is looking down from Heaven on what you are doing and he is smiling, trust me.

Even before the end times, people will still follow their own ungodly desires. But you don't have to be a part of them. 

No, you have to detach from the world so much that you're not moved by things that move other people.

For example, say you did something on social media and now you are trending. If you've detached from the world, you won't really see it as a big deal. 

I mean, still be grateful of course, just don't see it as a big deal.

Besides, being trending is hard work. Because, chances are, once you are trending, you'd probably do anything in your willpower (within reasonable boundaries) to stay trending. 

Left to me, that's pretty time consuming, however I'm not against being trending.

And if your friends start resenting you or disliking you for not loving the world then you really don't need them in your life. 

Luckily I've done topics on not loving the world and you can scroll down below to see how you can tell if a friend is a bad influence on you. Likewise, Underrated Bible Scriptures - Part 5 talks about how you can differentiate a fake friend from a real one.

I just more or less analysed Jude 18; here is Jude 19.

They are the people who separate you from one another. They do only what comes naturally. They are not led by the Holy Spirit.

This verse can link to Galatians 5:17, which I refer to a lot but it is important.

The desires controlled by sin do not want what the Spirit delights in. And the Spirit does not want what the desires controlled by sin delight in. The two are at war with each other. 

That’s why you are not supposed to do whatever you want. Galatians 5:17

Doing what you want, especially if God doesn't want you to do that specific thing, is actually a sign of backsliding.

It's worse when God's told you not to do it several times, or he's reminding you of something you said you were going to do before you wanted to do what you want, but you don't listen to him. For both scenarios.

I think one day I said I was going to do something but I kind of left it until later because I was doing something on my phone. 

The way God was causing the app I was using on my phone to stop working actually made me realise that I needed to get this thing done. It wasn't even important.

When there are troubled times in your life, I think it's a way of God trying to get your attention. Not just that, but a problem introduces you to yourself.

So anytime you are faced with adversity, and you will surely be because that's life - try to take it calmly.

This is for me too. I'm pretty impatient and anytime something doesn't turn out the way I want it to, I tend to lash out - internally.

Sometimes I angrily (not too angrily to the point of blaspheming - just sort of like asking God why something would happen) ask God why it happens but now I've learnt to patient.

#Scripture 29

Jude 23

Save others by pulling them out of the fire. To others, show mercy mixed with fear of sin. Hate even the clothes that are stained by the sins of those who wear them.

Yeah, I'm going to be using a lot of Jude verses today - I feel like Jude is a pretty overlooked and therefore underrated Bible Chapter.

This can link to James 5 verse 19-20, where it says:

James 5:19-20

My brothers and sisters, suppose one of you wanders away from the truth. And suppose someone brings that person back. 

²⁰ Then here is what I want you to remember. Anyone who keeps a sinner from going astray will save them from death. God will erase many sins by forgiving them.

I linked this to Proverbs 1:7 too.

Proverbs 1:7

If you really want to gain knowledge, you must begin by having respect for the Lord.
    But foolish people hate wisdom and instruction.

If you want to bear fruit in your life, then you must begin by serving the Lord and having respect for him at the same time.

Someone wandering away from the truth can also indirectly be someone who doesn’t produce any fruit. 

What this verse is implicitly trying to say is if you divert someone that has stopped producing fruit (for one reason or the other) unto the right path again, then you will be blessed. You should be happy because you have saved the sinner from death!

This verse is saying that you should save people out of the fire - as in you should help unbelievers turn into believers as much as you can. 

This can be done through outreach like I said earlier, evangelising to people or in this case, me writing this website for you guys.

 Goodness knows, maybe an unbeliever is reading this right now. I don't know who's reading this because there's no way for me to check. I haven't tried checking and I probably never will but I do know that someone is reading this.

Recently I joined Dancing Stars just by watching them perform. I was inspired, I don't dance professionally but I do dance as a hobby I guess. So I wanted to use my dancing hobby for the Lord.

I suppose this is a way of pulling me out of the fire. Though I wasn't in any fire, I just wasn't really using any of my hobbies or talents for God - in the church anyway. 

I can play piano too although I have been slacking on that.

The rest of Jude 23 says: To others, show mercy mixed with fear of sin. Hate even the clothes that are stained by the sins of those who wear them.

Did you know that God would rather have mercy than sacrifice?

He says so in Hosea 6:6

I want mercy and not sacrifice.
    I want you to recognize me as God
    instead of bringing me burnt offerings.

God really likes mercy. And now, if you link back to Jude 23 earlier, it's saying that he wants us to show mercy mixed with fear of sin. We are supposed to fear sinning.

Not sinning impossible but sinning less isn't. Don't forget Romans 6:23

When you sin, the pay you get is death. But God gives you the gift of eternal life. That’s because of what Christ Jesus our Lord has done.

I finally got the scripture right. I swear I'm always mixing it up with Romans 3:23.

But yes, try your best not to sin. And when you do, you can always repent. Just don't overdo it.

And last but not least...

#Scripture 30

1 John 4:6

 We belong to God. And those who know God listen to us. But those who don’t belong to God don’t listen to us. That’s how we can tell the difference between the Spirit of truth and the spirit of lies.

God hates lying. It's in 7 of the things he hates, which you can find in Proverbs 6:16-19.

16 There are six things the Lord hates.

In fact, he hates seven things.

17 The Lord hates proud eyes,

a lying tongue,
and hands that kill those who aren’t guilty.

18 He also hates hearts that make evil plans
and feet that are quick to do evil.

19 He hates any witness who pours out lies
and anyone who stirs up conflict in the community.

Would you take a look at that.

God hates lying so much that it was mentioned not once but twice in the list of things he hates.

You need to read between the lines with some verses or a series of verses. 

(Aaliyah: Read Between The Lines)

I didn't even know that this verse had mentioned that God hates lies twice until I read it again.

It says that people that don't belong to God don't normally listen or care about what he has to say, and that's not good.

Yesterday, I was curiously researching about a rapper that is now an ex Christian, and ironically their name is actually in the Bible, but I'm not going to mention what it is.

I was pretty annoyed when I found out that they are now an ex Christian - they left their what was once righteous life to live a worldly life. They probably forgot Matthew 16:26

And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul?

However I don't hate or judge or despise the person, or anyone else like this. Like I said, you can't please everyone, besides it's not my life.

Some people trade something good for what they think will be better but it is really not. In this scenario, I guess it's leaving the Christian life for a worldly one.

They probably gave up with Christianity which is something you should never do. That's like me giving up this website and just deleting it out of the blue. I can never do that and will never do that.

This website means way too much to me and I can't just give it up or away like that. I've had it for just over four months now and I remember when I first wanted to write one, it took me over 3 hours just to design it because I was so confused.

To conclude, just do what the Lord tells you to do at all times. Even if it doesn't make sense to you now, trust that you will understand it later - John 13:7

7 Jesus replied, “You don’t realize now what I am doing. But later you will understand.”

That's it for today - see you when I see you hopefully. 

Seems as though the best time for me to update is on Thursdays. 

But don't take my word for it. It could literally be any day.

Thursday 7th October 2021

6 Signs someone is a bad influence on you - last 3

I have limited time at the moment so I will try to post this as quickly as I can, but don't worry. I will still try to make it its normal length.

If you can remember, my last post was about how you can identify a fake friend, although I only went halfway otherwise the post would have been too long.

Everything was taken from this website:

Six Signs Your Friend might be a Bad Influence on You

And we continue now!

From the website

Sign # 4: You don’t need fake friends, so if you’re currently hanging out with friends that act one way when they are in face-to-face situations with you, but then the moment that you’re not around them, they say negative things about you. 

It’s time to leave those fake "friends" behind, you want to leave them far behind. You will never able to have a “real” friendship with them, nor will you be able to trust a fake friend with your wellbeing.

Remember the quote I mentioned the last time we were here?

It was this quote right here:

If someone is nice to your face but they're not nice to you behind your back then you may need to assess your friendship.

A lot of people think that because someone is behind their back so they can't defend themselves, then they have every right to talk badly about them but this is far off from the truth.

Even worse, someone talking badly about someone that isn't there to defend themselves actually reflects them, not the person that they are talking badly about.

What if my so called friend talks badly about me behind my back and I never find out? What then?

You can pray about it.

Philippians 4:6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

I learnt in Bible study yesterday that before you ask people for help, you have to ask God first and I feel like this scenario is a very good example of that.

I'm sure if you can turn to other people in time of help then you can turn to the Lord as well. Besides, humans don't know the answer to everything. Only God really does.

Some of my notes from Bible Study yesterday say and I quote:

☆    Always diligently seek the help of God first before you seek the help and man because unless the Lord helps you, no one can really help you.

☆    And until the Lord has helped you, nobody else can be available to you.

☆    But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. Hebrews 11:6

☆    When you seek the face of the Lord, he answers you.

Unfortunately, some people would rather turn to other people than God. They may make up a lot of excuses in their mind such as 

God is too busy for me

He's probably attending to a lot of people

God doesn't like me

And then some, but none of this is true.

Don't forget John 3:16-17. I'm not going to mention verse 16 as that's popular already although I will mention Verse 17.

God did not send his Son into the world to judge the world. He sent his Son to save the world through him.

If God didn't like us, and that's far off from the truth, always has been and always will be, then he wouldn't have sent Jesus Christ to die for us. And even though God attends to a lot of people, that doesn't mean he will suddenly forget about you.

He didn't forget about Hezekiah in 2 Kings 20:3 so what makes you think he will forget about you? He won't.

“Lord, please remember how faithful I’ve been to you. I’ve lived the way you wanted me to. I’ve served you with all my heart. I’ve done what is good in your sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly. 2 Kings 20:3

God added extra years to his life. That's how much he loves us. Never make assumptions or assume the worst about God. He loves you so you need to love him too.

And after the Lord has helped you, normally he would start showing signs that the person is a fake friend. Even better, someone could tell you directly that they've been talking badly about you or you find out.

Don't worry if you can't identify a fake friend, they're not always easy to find as they may hide their true intentions very well. 

Also be aware of friends or "friends" (either one works) that only talk to you when they seem to want something from you.

Sign #5: Clingy friends can be too much work and energy! 

If you have a friend that’s constantly wanting you to “only” spend time with them all the time, not allowing you to hang out with your other friends, then you want cut ties with this person. 

Clingy personalities often times only want to be around you all the time, and they get jealous when you hang out with other friends. 

But it’s “ok” for them to hang out with other people when you’re not around. If you currently have friends like this, you might want to put an end to the friendship.

This is known as a double standard. Not just that, but they're kind of being two faced hypocrite because you don't know why they want you around so much.

The previous example is an example of someone being two faced as they are nice to you to your face but rude to you behind your back. This example is as well because goodness knows why your friend is clingy and what they are saying to other people about you.

They might even be saying to others that you are the clingy one, when you're not. In situations like this, just ignore them, knowing who really has the last laugh. Certainly not them.

If someone wants you around all of the time, then you may think that that's endearing at first.

And there. I said it ladies and gentlemen - at first.

This kind of friend probably acts this way...

The caption says: I don't wanna be that lad to make you second guess who I'm representing

Which are lyrics from a song from my Gospel Playlist called My Life by Walls Group.

See, these friends that are bad influences on you want you to think that they are on your side, so they will probably do things like in this scenario, hug you if you need one.

Only for them to roll their eyes behind your back (literally) or for the hug to be fake.

Don't worry, the Bible talks about fake friends and two faced people.

Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Philippians 2:3-4

James 3:17 But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere.

This isn't everything about two faced people but it is a couple of it.

Count others as more significant than yourself, even though everyone is equal. Be there for other people and they will be there for you. But this doesn't mean that you don't matter.

Don't think less of yourself. Think of yourself less. That is humility, and linking to the second quote - have friends who have wisdom, and are humble... full of mercy and good fruits, impartial (equal) and sincere.

Sign #6: Do you have friends that only appear when they need something from you? 

Well, if you do, then you have friends that are opportunistic looking for the moment when they can benefit from having you as a friend. 

The opportunistic person doesn’t value you as a friend, they only want to come around when they can get something from you.

 No one wants to be friends with someone that only wants to use them.

I talked about this earlier, haha! And I didn't even see this sign.

but yes, be on your guard and set boundaries. 

If Person A takes advantage of Person B, does that reflect Person A  or Person B?

Both, do you want to know why?

Because Person A probably (deliberately) mistakes kindness for weakness, so therefore they take advantage of people that don't really seem to set standards or limits for themselves. This isn't always on purpose but if it is, then that's worse.

Also person B because they can easily be taken advantage of. They might not be aware of it too. I will talk about this in Posts of Encouragement for sure, aka the next page!

The website also said:

Finding the right friendships can sometimes be more of a dream than a reality. But when you find the right friend or friends, it tends to make living life a little easier.

I pray that God will give you the right friends, amen.

Also remember 1 Peter 5:8 Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Fake friends are from the devil, but don't worry.

With God, you will overcome!

That's it for today, I finished on time!! I hope you have a lovely weekend and rest of the year ahead. 

Till next time, Lola xx

Tuesday 28th September 2021

6 Signs someone is a bad influence on you - first 3

(Hello in Spanish)

Hello! I hope you are well and welcome to Underrated Bible Scriptures - Part 6!

Okay, so the title is misleading, for now, but I'm not changing it  because I know I'm going to change it again.

I would have continued this in Part 5, but that was long already. Not just that but anytime I wanted to publish something new, I would have to unpublish everything and then republish it again. Then I would have to add it to the blog again, as in:

Anytime I unpublished it to write something, this would disappear, then I would have had to put it back up again. I would update as I go along, but I only publish something after I finish it, not during the process.

Plus, you could be reading at any time, not just when I say on Whatsapp that I posted something. Why read something that's not even finished?

In my last post, I said that my next post on this page would be about how you can identify bad influences. Before that, I did how you can identify fake friends.

Fake friends and bad influences are not the same thing. Your best friend could be a good friend but your parents may think that they are a bad influence on you.

I know identifying them is easy, but not always as some people hide their true intentions pretty well. So if you feel like someone is a bad influence of you but you're not sure, read ahead to identify the signs.

This isn't to offend anyone, in case you feel like you are a bad influence towards someone else. So sorry if you are offended.

[Fall by Davido]

Nor are you any less of a person for not knowing if someone is a fake friend or a bad influence. They're not always easy to recognise like I said.

So I guess the title for this is how you can tell if someone is a bad influence on you - using some Biblical scriptures to back myself up of course. 😊

But it would genuinely be underrated Bible scriptures. This is just a one off. Without further ado, let's begin!

Actually, before that, let me just mention  1 Corinthians 15:33 and Proverbs 13:20

 Don’t let anyone fool you. “Bad companions make a good person bad.” 1 Corinthians 15:33

Walk with wise people and become wise.
    A companion of foolish people suffers harm. Proverbs 13:20

I guess you can keep these Scriptures in mind as you are reading this. I'd just like to say that these following words aren't mine unless I don't embolden them, like this. Everything I used today was taken from this website: 

Six Signs Your Friend might be a Bad Influence on You

This was taken from there...

Bad influences never have favourites, it can be masked behind a great friendship or a deeply loving relationship. 

Some people never know that they’re being controlled by bad influences, because it can be hidden in a friendship that looks good on the surface, or it can be found in the vulnerable moments in a relationship. The scary thing is that bad influences can be buried underneath the actions, words and love that you experience every day.

Sometimes detecting bad influences in friendships aren’t easy, nor are the major signs obvious. It can be especially hard to pick up on whether your close friendships are a bad influence on you. A lot of the times when you’re close to someone, trying to evaluate their behaviours and actions can be hard because of the fact that you have become immune to their personality.

I'll try and rephrase what they've said in terms of the six signs someone is a bad influence on you so it doesn't seem like I've copied everything word for word. No need to thank me. You're welcome.

From the website

Sign #1: If you don’t feel supported for the “real you” when you’re around your friends, then you might need to find new friends. When you don’t feel that your friends are open to your ideas or like the person that you are, then you probably need to rethink your friendship with them.

My own words:

I think I'll format it like this.

In other words, if you feel like you can't be yourself when you are around your friend, or your "friend" (whichever one works for you) and you feel like you constantly have to walk on eggshells to please them then maybe this is a sign that you need to leave as soon as possible.

What if I can't leave them?

What if you can't leave them?

Don't worry. It's not the end of the road. You can just spend limited time with them, for example you can limit contact with them and you can spend less time talking to them.

If you're in a situation where you genuinely can't ignore them or limit contact, ie a family member, then seek advice. Especially from the Lord. Don't forget Psalms 55:22 - Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous be shaken.

Unfortunately, family members can be bad influences too, not just friends. Though I personally don't wish that for anyone.

The website also says and I quote: If your friends aren’t supportive of you or your awesome ideas, then they aren’t accepting the “real” you. This can be problematic for you because you’re not connecting with your friends in a “real” way. If you continue nurturing friendship like this, you could be damaging your self-confidence leaving you to feel emotionally drained.

So there was actually an incident in sixth form where I had hung out with people that were bad influences on me. 

Obviously I didn't know that they were bad influences on me until much much later. But not too late. 😁😁💥

This was early in Year 12 so I had just literally joined Sixth Form for the first time.

I was still pretty much trying to find myself as well as the right group of friends at the same time. 

The people I had hung out with were just bad influences on me but the thing was if I had left them, I didn't really have anyone else.

I knew that they had crossed the line when they had skipped Elective, this optional after school cub on Wednesdays.

Yes, it was optional, but I had always gone there, plus the teachers had kind of made it seem like it wasn't optional. We had gallivanted and arrived after school so that we could take the bus.

So I found another group shortly after, and whilst they weren't necessarily bad influences on me, I ended up leaving because there were too many people in one group- I'm talking like 10-12, minus me.

That was too much for me, especially as a reserved person so I had found myself drifting away from them unconsciously. I was still friends with them though I guess, I just hung out less.

I joined a smaller group of friends with 2-3 people mainly and I was so happy there. I'm not against having a large group of friends by the way, or being popular - I just don't think it's for me.

So yes, I have fallen into being with bad influences trap, but it didn't matter, why?

Because I smashed my A-Levels. I mean I may not have actually done any exams due to COVID but I did a lot better than I thought I would.

Another thing with the friends that were bad influences on me, if I didn't say hi to them then they would have made a huge deal about it. One of them would even say so you can't say hi? 

It wasn't fair, why did I have to start the conversation each time?

Either way, I just ignored them. Don't worry, they're not reading this, nor did I mention their names, or what sixth form I went to. It was great though, I can't lie.

From the website

Sign #2: Do your friends stir up negativity everywhere they go? If they do, you might need to re-evaluate your constant interaction with them. If your friends always have something bad to say about a person, place, or an event then it probably means that this could lead to bigger issues in your friendship that could eventually affect your mental health and stability.

So there's this quote I know that says:

This quote is true but not exactly.

I'll admit I do talk badly about people I don't like, but not excessively, and not everyone I don't like. Don't worry. 

Not like I would start a rumour about them or anything. Of course not, I would never do that.

But even then, when I talk to my friend about someone I don't like, I don't go around talking badly about my friend.

Just because someone talks badly about someone to you does not always mean they talk badly about you to others, because I certainly don't. This does not mean it's okay for you to talk badly about someone though.

Plus there are many Bible Scriptures against it. Here are 3 of them.

Ephesians 4:29

Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.

James 1:26

Suppose people think their beliefs and how they live are both right. But they don’t control what they say. Then they are fooling themselves. Their beliefs and way of life are not worth anything at all.

Proverbs 16:28

A dishonest man spreads strife, and a whisperer separates close friends.

Let me give you an example.

You're in school or somewhere else and there is this person everybody hates.

So therefore you can't help but to talk badly about them because they're rude, condescending, stuck up, ignorant and *insert any negative adjective here*

Someone even ends up starting at rumour about them, and they find out. Now even more people hate them and they can't really turn to anyone. Even worse, the rumour isn't even true.

Then you find out the truth.

The reason said person is rude is because they're dealing with a dying family member and they don't know how to cope.

They can't miss school because they're worried they won't be able to catch up. Their life is falling apart.

The thing is, when someone is rude to you, they may not actually be rude. They may just be dealing with something they don't want to, and it could be very stressful. They deal with stress by being rude to people.

I mean, that's not exactly a good way to deal with stress though is it? you might think.

Yes, you're right. But everyone is different in the sense that not everyone knows how to control their temper. My previous job was like this, it was very stressful and it didn't always bring out the best in people.

Pray for these people - and also learn how to control your temper. For Proverbs 16:32 says

It is better to be patient than to fight.
    It is better to control your temper than to take a city.

From the website - and last one for today

Sign #3: Are you feeling that you can be the best version of yourself when you are with your friends? Do you feel the most encouraged, healthiest, motivated, inspired and innovative? 

You see, it’s what you’re doing in the company of your friends that will define your success in life.

If your friends are constantly involved with binge drinking, drug abuse, toxic behaviours and engaging in fights and excessively obsessing over money and social status, then you will lean more towards damaging behaviours instead of positive behaviours.

 Rule of thumb is to hang around people that you want to eventually become.

Yeah, so my paragraphs are messed up now. I don't know how it became messed up but it's annoying me.

Oh well - sometimes this website can annoy me behind the scenes because one or  two things aren't working the way they should. I'm still forever grateful for it and I love it, but we do fight and argue.

Essentially, if your so called friends aren't doing the right thing then you need to re-assess your future with them. Don't forget the quotes I told you from earlier.

 Don’t let anyone fool you. “Bad companions make a good person bad.” 1 Corinthians 15:33

Walk with wise people and become wise.
    A companion of foolish people suffers harm. Proverbs 13:20

Yay, so the paragraph problem is fixed now.

Who knew copying and pasting would solve that?

Y'all didn't see it but I was struggling immensely with paragraphing at some point, after the last scripture. So I more or less had to press the enter key at least five times when normally I'd do so once.

Also, italics went. These posts are naturally in italics, I don't make it that way but I had to do so for a bit.

There's a quote I know (but I don't know who it's by) that says show me your friends and I will tell you who you are, it's true. Hang out with those that are good influences on you, and I will continue this next time.

As I finish for tonight, I'd just like to pray that as we finish this month, you  and I will enter October with happiness, and better things will come in our lives amen.

Till next time, Lola xx