Friday, February 22, 2013

Looking At The Cross


Luke 23:39-43 (NKJV):

39Then one of the criminals who were hanged blasphemed Him, saying, “If You are the Christ,[j] save Yourself and us.”
40But the other, answering, rebuked him, saying, “Do you not even fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation?
41And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this Man has done nothing wrong.”
42Then he said to Jesus, “Lord,[k] remember me when You come into Your kingdom.”
43And Jesus said to him, “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.”

Wow, what a promise from the Lord: to have this security that we will be with Jesus in Paradise if we accept Him as our Lord and Savior! It is finished, Jesus cried on the cross. I think that sometimes we forget the extent of what Jesus has done for us: He extended to each one of us a hand from the cross inviting to come with Him when we accept Him into our hearts; our inheritance is with Him in paradise through this personal invitation that He casts to every single being. What more can we ask?

It just so happened to be that I`m reading parallel both New and Old Testaments right now, and I actually like that coincidence, if you can call it that. Reading in the book of Numbers and in Matthew helps me to see certain scriptures that I haven`t noticed before. The promise of us meeting Jesus personally when we get to heaven is one of those things that captured my attention as I looked through the account of Aaron`s death.

In the Old Testament God asked both Moses and Aaron to bring forth water from the rock by saying to the rock, but Moses was so upset with the murmuring of the Israelites that he stroked the rock instead of calling out to the rock for water. He disobeyed God, and as a result both Moses and Aaron were prevented by God from the privilege of going into the Promised Land. Moses only got to see the land from the mountain top; it was the overview of the place before he died.

It is said in Numbers 20:24 (NIV):

24 “Aaron will be gathered to his people. He will not enter the land I give the Israelites, because both of you rebelled against my command at the waters of Meribah.

We need to note this major gap/contrast between the Old and New Testaments: the promise of inheritance of heaven. We read that Aaron was “gathered to his people” while a thief was assured by Jesus Himself of the promise of being with the Lord instantly upon his death on the cross. Aaron sinned in two major accounts disobeying the Lord and leading Israelites into sin when they made a Golden Calf, and at the waters of Meribah. We see this distinction that in the Old Testament people didn`t have this assurance of salvation because Jesus was yet to come; however, in the New Testament we see this great promise of God!

What`s more, it`s worth noting that there were two criminals on each side of Jesus when He hung on the cross, and we see that one blasphemed the Lord, while the other one repented and had a humble heart before God. I believe Bible allowed this contrast on purpose for us to see and remind us constantly of God`s just ways and of the choices that we make that affect us for the rest of our lives: we can either choose Him or reject Him; these are the only two options that we have.

-He always gives us a choice to repent

-He always provide a last chance to repent

-He waits to the last moment hoping that we would repent

-He does not tolerate blaspheming in any shape or form

-He saves those who are humble in heart

-He acknowledges publically those who accept Him and praise Him

-He loves it when we recognize our inaptness being apart from Him

-He assures of the promises those who surrender to Him

-He fulfills His word and never fails

All these things God explicitly showed in this scripture are a reminder to us through the picture on the cross. The cross is where we see the essence of God`s heart towards each one of us. Enduring the afflictions and persecution serves us as a reminder that Jesus waits for us at the right hand of the Father. We may not feel like enduring is worth living through, but when we look at the cross, we realize that Jesus is all that our lives should be about.

He died for us and paid a steep price, so those who, like thief, repent, and humble themselves before God, they would inherit Paradise. Those who blaspheme the Lord, they would be judged and thrown into the Lake of Fire.

8 But the cowardly, unbelieving,[e] abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death” (Revelation 21:8 NKJV).

There are two types of people: receptive of the Word of God, like a thief was, and those rejecting the Word of the Lord, like the other criminal on the cross.
Which one are you?

Please note that Jesus did not comment on any blaspheming words by the unrepented criminal on the cross because Jesus knew of the upcoming judgment for him. It is also because the first time around Jesus came to save, but the second time around, He would return to judge. That means that it`s not that blaspheming the Lord was accepted, but because God has His time for everything. He is a long patient and long suffering God who does not take pleasure in judging but likes to show mercy and kindness.

23 Am I pleased with the death of a sinful man?” says the Lord God. “No, instead I would like him to turn from his sinful ways and live (Ezekiel 18:23 NKJV).

God`s word is true, so when reading these verses, we have the assurance that there is such thing as Paradise, and that those who accept Jesus, they get to Paradise. If someone rejects the truth, the fact doesn`t change; the word of God doesn`t change, but the person rejected the facts, lost one`s life.

The third crucial point is we only have access to the Lord through Jesus, and we all have it equally. We read how a thief commented on Jesus being blameless yet placed along with the true criminals on the cross.

41And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this Man has done nothing wrong.”

Jesus was in the middle of the two true criminals providing the only bridge to the Lord equally. Both criminals had a chance to repent and be with the Lord through this passage that Jesus provided covering the gap between sin and holy jealous God.

6Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me (John 14:6 NKJV).
 
Lastly, I want to point to the fact that we have to have faith to accept Jesus as our Savior. A thief believed by faith that Jesus was the Lord, and he accepted Jesus as his Savior before he died, while the other criminal did not believe Jesus being the only true Savior sent by our Heavenly Father.
 
17 For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed—a righteousness that is by faith from first to last,[e] just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.” (Romans 1:17 NIV)
 
9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved (Romans 10:9 NKJV).
 
It is by faith, and in no other way, that we accept Jesus in our hearts and claim the inheritance with our Heavenly Father. By the way, the verse “The righteous shall live by faith” is quoted from the Old testament scripture in Habakkuk 2:4 which only testifies of God`s true plan to fulfill the Old Testament and prove us with the alternative more secure and perfect Covenant through His only Son Jesus!
 
I think it`s really tragic to see so many people trying to find loop wholes to be a little bit of both (both types of criminals hanging on the cross with Jesus). On one hand, we want salvation and paradise, but on the other hand, we like to live for ourselves. Unfortunately it doesn`t work that way. We either choose Jesus and suffer with Him, or we crucify Him by our unbelief and rejection and suffer the God`s judgment.

I hope that reading these verses, will get you thinking of the type of a life you lead and where you`re headed with that.

Choose Jesus and live!
 

Thursday, February 14, 2013

When In The Dark


Isaiah 54:15 (NKJV):

15 Indeed they shall surely assemble, but not because of Me. Whoever assembles against you shall fall for your sake.

This is the verse that Holy Spirit reminded me of when I got in the car after work to go home yesterday. As I was unlocking my car, I saw the notice on the side window stating that if I parked at that lot one more time, my car would be towed. So much for a free parking…. This was just another fiery dart that was assembled against me yesterday that I tried to fight off but couldn`t find strength. This is why Holy Spirit was so faithful to remind me of these words: 15 Indeed they shall surely assemble, but not because of Me.” The part that He didn`t mention was the second part of the verse: “Whoever assembles against you shall fall for your sake.” When I read it today, I was once again convicted by the Holy Spirit how I tend to be faithless while He remains faithful!

To give you an idea, the parking at my work place is very expensive, and I don`t have that kind of extra money each month while scrambling to pay all my bills right now, so to lose the opportunity to park for free, meant that I would have to think of a way to rearrange my budget in order to pay this extra expense. In addition to that, I was stuck in a horrible traffic on a way to work yesterday that was caused by the death of the pedestrian, which I found out later. To top the rest of my day, I had to be notified of the upcoming layoffs that are going to take place within the next couple of weeks. This took me down, and I collapsed fast. This is when the words of the Lord that He whispered to my ear were so crucial: “Indeed they shall surely assemble, but not because of Me.” It wasn`t my God who was putting me through these obstacles, but it was Satan trying to get to me the best way he knew how.
To testify of God`s faithfulness for these situations that took place yesterday, I can say that God was faithful to provide for me a way out. First of all, despite the horrible traffic, I still managed to get to work on time, and that was a true miracle considering that I sat in traffic for two and a half hours. My God provided for me to park in my building for free for the next two weeks maybe even for a full month if the deductions for parking would not be set up on time, which is something that the representative hinted to me would happen. Not only that, but my parking fees were arranged to be pre-taxed meaning that none of the payments would decrease my actual take home pay. This is the part when God showed me that: “Whoever assembles against you shall fall for your sake.”

It`s important to note that the Bible nowhere says that we would not have obstacles or tribulations because we would so long as we live in this fallen world that`s operated by Satan. He would be restless until he manages to get to at least one of God`s children. However, it`s important to note what God promised in so many different scriptures that although we would have all these tribulations and will have enemies assemble against us, He would deliver us out of the hands of our enemies.
Remember what Paul said to Ephesians 6:12-13 (NKJV):

12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age,[c] against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
We must remember that we do not wrestle against the flesh and blood but against the principalities and the rulers of the darkness. In other words, our battle is spiritual, and this is why I was reminded yet again by the Holy Spirit to keep up my shield of faith to withstand these fiery darts that are being shot at me on a regular basis.

It`s important that we realize that we will face battles, but we have to be properly dressed in the armor of God to conquer these battles. In Psalm 91 David wrote:
91 He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
2 I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in Him I will trust.”
3 Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler[a] And from the perilous pestilence.
4 He shall cover you with His feathers, And under His wings you shall take refuge; His truth shall be your shield and buckler.
5 You shall not be afraid of the terror by night, Nor of the arrow that flies by day,
6 Nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness, Nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday.
7 A thousand may fall at your side, And ten thousand at your right hand; But it shall not come near you.
8 Only with your eyes shall you look, And see the reward of the wicked.
9 Because you have made the Lord, who is my refuge, Even the Most High, your dwelling place,
10 No evil shall befall you, Nor shall any plague come near your dwelling;
11 For He shall give His angels charge over you, To keep you in all your ways.
12 In their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone.
13 You shall tread upon the lion and the cobra, The young lion and the serpent you shall trample underfoot.
14 “Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him on high, because he has known My name.
15 He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honor him.
16 With long life I will satisfy him, And show him My salvation.”

This is truly one of my favorite Psalms because God so explicitly tells us that He will deliver us and protect us although all these fiery darts would be shot at us when the enemy would attempt to destroy. As a matter of fact, this is the Psalm that Satan tried to misquote when tempting Jesus in the wilderness during His 40 day fasting (Matthew 4:1-11).

This scripture provides us with the necessary information of God`s promise to protect us and to provide for us, so when Satan would come to tell me the opposite, I remind him of these verses.

It`s important to keep the shield of faith when going through some of the worst dark moments in your life. Faith is what would keep us on the right course to maintain our trust in the Lord despite of the circumstances telling us the opposite. I was bombarded from all different directions yesterday, and I have to admit that I collapsed because I am just exhausted from this spiritual battle. My plea with the Lord is really to give me a break, so I could gulp some “fresh” air and plunge right back into the battle. God was faithful to strengthen me through the today`s devotional.

As I opened today`s devotional by Oswald Chambers, he said the following fact:

Sometimes God puts us through the experience and discipline of darkness to teach us to hear and obey Him. Song birds are taught to sing in the dark, and God puts us into “the shadow of His hand” until we learn to hear Him (Isaiah 49:2). “Whatever I tell you in the dark. . .”— pay attention when God puts you into darkness, and keep your mouth closed while you are there. Are you in the dark right now in your circumstances, or in your life with God? If so, then remain quiet. If you open your mouth in the dark, you will speak while in the wrong mood— darkness is the time to listen. Don’t talk to other people about it; don’t read books to find out the reason for the darkness; just listen and obey. If you talk to other people, you cannot hear what God is saying. When you are in the dark, listen, and God will give you a very precious message for someone else once you are back in the light.

This really made my heart stop. I am in the darkness, so God could speak to me and teach me to listen to His voice. Woe to me if I try to speak when I am in the mood that I`ve been yesterday because I caught myself murmuring against the Lord instead of trusting Him.
The refinement process takes time, and God knows what would make us grow spiritually. I started to humble myself before the Lord yesterday and confessed that I choose to trust Him despite the facts that I face. Today, when I saw the answer from the Lord that counteracted the fiery darts of the wicked one, I praised Him with my whole heart. God proved Himself once again faithful when I was faithless.

If you feel like you are in the dark today, I encourage you to listen to what the Lord would tell you. Don`t counsel with people, but come to the Lord; people would only lead you astray. The purpose of the darkness is to make us dependable upon the Lord; our hope is solely in Him. This is indeed the time to be still and quiet while God tries to direct you.
Learning obedience and discipline is a lengthy process. Refinement is a lengthy process, but when you`ll see that precious message that God would entrust you to share with the others and touch one`s heart, you`ll be overwhelmed with joy and gratefulness. You`ll see that all the fiery darts assembled against you would be turned into praise and glory for the Lord. All the frustration of the past pain would be forgotten when you`ll see the fruits of your endurance brining light in someone`s life. For me, this is the time to be quiet and pray, so God could speak to me and direct me as He`s been doing all this time.

Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Enduring To Comfort Others


2 Corinthians 1:3-5 (NKJV):
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort,
4 who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.
5 For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also abounds through Christ.
One of the reasons why I started this blog was because God told me to record everything that happens to me. I was never much of a writer and frankly, I don`t like to write, but this blog was created out of obedience to God; to glorify His Name. I made a pact with the Lord that I would only write when He inspires me with the Holy Spirit to share something about His word to encourage, to reproach, to relate, and to testify of His character. Looking at these verses today, I was reminded of the reason for this blog and of the reason for my sufferings: it is to be able to comfort others as Jesus Himself being faithful to comfort me.
You may wonder what`s going on with me all these months since in the last few articles I haven`t shared much about myself. And the answer is: I have lots of pain, exhaustion, and frustration with the “endless” trials. Some days I can hardly cope to get up and make myself go to work, but during those days God blesses me the most either by the answer to one of my small needs (which always comes on time), or by encouraging me with His loving scriptures. In all this, He is there to comfort me and to sustain me. There haven`t been days when I asked Him something from the pit of my heart while weeping, and He ignored me because He walks side by side with me.
Looking at these verses that Paul wrote to Corinthians I can testify of the faithfulness of God that He comforts me and reminds me of being this example of endurance only so I could comfort others. It blesses me to know that there are those who read my story, my articles and they get comforted by the word of God or through my testimony of God`s faithfulness in my life. I have to admit that some days I get overwhelmed by His love when I see some blessings that He pours out just to encourage me and to remind me that He is there; that He hasn`t forgotten about me. My Father shows me mercies and comfort when I come to Him and honestly admit that I can`t go on anymore because my faith is stretching thin.
During those days, He shows me how this blog has affected over 65 countries all over the world, and although I don`t know who reads it, I get encouraged to know that the same comfort that He shows me, I have the honor to show this same comfort to others.
To give you an idea of how God`s been faithful to me, I have a final round of job interviews with the potential employer, and this is one of the biggest blessings that He sent my way as an answer to my financial needs. In the month when I was running low on paying my bills, there was only one option for me and that is to access my retirement fund to withdraw all the money to pay off majority of my debt. But in order to do that I had to resign from my current employer. I only pitched my resume to 3 places, and I heard back from the potential employer right the next day. They called me and scheduled an interview. Right after the interview, they checked my references and contacted me to come back for the final interview before the decision to hire me could be made. This is what I call God`s timing and not ours. My Father already knows my needs even before I ask for the answer, and He is faithful to provide for me financially, spiritually, and emotionally.
The final round of interviews was scheduled just on time for me to get the results of whether I would be hired or not to write out my budget for this month in such a way that I could cover all my bills. God comforted me with this answer during my 21 days of fast that I finished last month. On the 21st day of fasting I went for my job interview. God`s been faithful to me than, and He is faithful to comfort me now.
We read that Jesus suffered, so He could comfort us with the same comfort He was comforted, so we couldn`t say that “God doesn`t know what we go through.” He does. Because Jesus Himself endured to the cross and to the death on the cross, so we could come to Him and ask to be comforted. Let us not forget about that!
Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls (Hebrews 12:1-3 NKJV).
The Bible provides us with the endless examples of endurance and comfort testifying of God`s faithfulness to comfort and to deliver those relying on the Lord. Jesus Himself suffered on the cross enduring to the end serving to us as an example of the consolation which He provides to us.
14 Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. 15 For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need (Hebrews 4:14-16 NKJV).
We can clearly see how Jesus, being a High Priest who intercedes before the throne of our Heavenly Father, Himself fights for us and endures with us to sustain us.
Testimony is a powerful weapon that we have as believers because it provides a statement of God`s character to those who do not yet know Him. We overcome by the blood of the Lamb and by the testimony of believers.
11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death (Revelations 12:11 NKJV).
This is important that we realize the power that lies in the blood of Jesus shed on the cross and in the testimony of believers because John writes in the book of Revelation that this is how we overcome Satan who is the accuser of the brethren (Revelation 12:10).
I think a lot of times we get so tangled in the doctrines and theology itself that we forget of the power of our testimony. To me this was a great reminder today to realize that everything I write here serves as a powerful weapon against Satan.
What`s more, I think sharing a testimony humbles oneself because it requires revealing imperfections in one`s own heart while admitting them. I would be a hypocrite if I said that I live by the word of God and never fall because I fail every day in one way or another. This is why I need the second part of the weapon: the blood of the Lamb that washes away my sins and brings me back to the love of God.
When reading these scriptures it boosts my faith knowing that sufferings that I endure are for the reason to be comforted by Jesus Himself, so I could comfort others when seeing someone in the same situation. It softens my heart and makes me compassionate to the others when I endure. When we need comfort ourselves, we are more prone to provide it to others in need because it reminds us what we went through and what we needed at the time.
Let us seek being that testimony of God`s grace and love to the others while we endure ourselves. Jesus is faithful to comfort us, so let us comfort others with the same consolation that we are comforted. When God puts on the weight scale our tribulations, He counter weights them with His love and comfort to engrave in our hearts the fact that He never leaves those who trust in Him. If He is faithful to provide for me, He would be faithful to provide for you too!
5 For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also abounds through Christ.

Wednesday, February 6, 2013

You Will Not Be Recognized At Home


Acts 22:17-21 (NKJV):
17 “Now it happened, when I returned to Jerusalem and was praying in the temple, that I was in a trance
18 and saw Him saying to me, ‘Make haste and get out of Jerusalem quickly, for they will not receive your testimony concerning Me.’
19 So I said, ‘Lord, they know that in every synagogue I imprisoned and beat those who believe on You.
20 And when the blood of Your martyr Stephen was shed, I also was standing by consenting to his death,[b]and guarding the clothes of those who were killing him.’
21 Then He said to me, ‘Depart, for I will send you far from here to the Gentiles.’”
This is a very interesting scripture that I overlooked before when reading the book of Acts. Here, we see that God points us to the root cause of unsuccessful ministry in one`s own country, one`s own house, and one`s own family: unbelief of people who consciously choose to deny the change in your heart and reject the truth of salvation through Jesus Christ. We`ll see that although Paul tries to argue with God and give Him all these reasons as to why people would believe him in Jerusalem, God simply states to Paul to “depart”, so He could send Paul to the gentiles far away.
Paul gave all these reasons as to why people should believe his authentic conversion and instantaneously repent to get saved:
- He used to persecute these same Christians which he is a part of now
- He gives account of his marvelous conversion on the way to Damascus
- He gives an example of him approving of Stephen`s stoning to death and him being different now.
Yet after all these arguments God simply directed Paul to go far away to the gentiles. Notice that God didn`t argue with Paul or tried to explain as to why his arguments didn`t make sense, but God simply commanded Paul to go to the gentiles. This is how God operates: when He says something, He never tries to justify or explain as to why. The reason for that is because we have the Bible to understand that. If we look at the Bible to understand as to why God commanded Paul to depart from his own country and his own house, we see these scriptures being so clear that there is no other need for explanations from God.
Look at what Jesus Himself said:
4 But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own country, among his own relatives, and in his own house” (Mark 6:4 NKJV).
But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own country and in his own house.”58 Now He did not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief (Matthew 13:57-58 NKJV).
Jesus said that a “prophet” would not be recognized in his own country, and God knew when calling Paul to his ministry that Paul would not be recognized in his own home, his own country, and in his own house.
The interesting thing here is we see Paul addressing the crowd of the people in Jerusalem many years after his conversion. This is the place where Paul watched Stephen get stoned to death right before he got saved, yet people`s hearts didn`t change; their unbelief prevented them from accepting Jesus and now rejecting Paul`s testimony. We can clearly understand as to why God commanded Paul to depart and to go to the gentiles when reading the following reaction from the people:
22 And they listened to him until this word, and then they raised their voices and said, “Away with such a fellow from the earth, for he is not fit to live!” 23 Then, as they cried out and tore off their clothes and threw dust into the air, 24 the commander ordered him to be brought into the barracks, and said that he should be examined under scourging, so that he might know why they shouted so against him (Acts 22:22-24 NKJV).
This is the same kind of response Jesus received in His own home town when addressing people with teaching. So many years later since the day God commanded Paul to leave Jerusalem to go to the gentiles, hard hardened Jews still limited God with their unbelief; their hearts didn`t change.
God knew that the people would have mocked him, and the same way they rejected Jesus and crucified Him, they would have killed Paul.  Sometimes to move far away is the best thing we can do in order to be productive for the Lord.
I think this brings us to the most important aspect of salvation: how, when, and why does one get saved?
It is said in John 6:44 (NKJV):
44 No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day.
Only our Heavenly Father draws people to accept Jesus because He detects our hearts and knows who seeks the Lord. Those who seek Him, they find Him, but it is God who knows and discerns the authenticity of receptiveness to the Gospel.
We see how in chapter 7 Stephen preached his sermon, and at the end of the chapter he got stoned to death. In chapter 9 we read of marvelous Paul`s conversion. When we look at these accounts, we clearly see how only God draws people; only He can appoint time and individuals to accomplish His plans. Hard Hardened people stoned Stephen to death, yet the same hard hardened heart of Paul`s was softened by the light of Jesus on the way to Damascus. Only God knew what was in Paul`s heart; only God knew his zealousness for His word and what it would take to draw him near.
One of the reasons why I never noticed this scripture is because I haven`t been persecuted in my own house before. Now that I know what it`s like not to be recognized in my own house, I understand why God commanded Paul to leave Jerusalem and instead sent him to the gentiles.
For the longest time me and my husband would have these arguments over his unsaved friends, and over the years these arguments became more heated because it brought even deeper marital issues into our house. I would argue with him that there is no point hanging out with the people that drag us down, and he would argue that “they also need salvation”, hence, we cannot cut them off. The problem with “them needing salvation” is it wasn`t like we`ve been praying for them or fasting, or being proactive in getting them saved, but all that time amounted to living a carnal compromising life. We weren`t acting as true believers, and they surely weren`t getting saved by looking at our lousy example of Christianity when our lives were a contrary statement to what we preached to them. What`s more, when we met with them most of the empty talk amounted to reminiscing over the decades worth of drinking and partying which bored me to death leave alone it being "edifying" to me in any shape or form.

29 Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers (Ephesians 4:29 NKJV).

The conversations that we were involved in were not edifying but corrupt, and at some point I rejected them which was the right thing to do according to the scripture. This did not make me popular at all, but on the contrary, I became their enemy. All I know is I chose to obey the word of God, and I continue to pray for the Lord to soften their hearts to be receptive to His truth. I continue to pray that one day they would get saved too.  
Jesus clearly stated: a man would not be recognized among his own because people generally have a hard time believing when a close one gets saved. The people would try to mock, to laugh, to test, but in the end it is rarely when one would accept Jesus unless Father drew their hearts.
4 But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own country, among his own relatives, and in his own house” (Mark 6:4 NKJV).
I think it also important to understand that God didn`t want for Paul to stay in Jerusalem because he wasn`t spiritually mature to deal with his own people.
Look at what Paul writes:
33 Do not be deceived: “Evil company corrupts good habits” (1 Corinthians 15:33 NKJV).
It is never the other way around, but the evil drags the good down because our hearts are wicked and deceitful to begin with.
9 “The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it? (Jeremiah 17:9 NKJV)
God would never send you back to the world to evangelize your unsaved friends or family when you are not spiritually equipped to stand the test; He would not send you out on the failure mission. We need to be rooted in the word of God and have that spiritual stamina before we could tackle the issue of our unsaved family and friends. If we are not grounded in the word of God, we are vulnerable to that “evil” that we would face from our past when dealing with our home town.
This is an important point to clarify that I think gets mixed up and butchered by many sermons when identifying whether socializing with unsaved friends is acceptable. I believe that from the scriptures that we read and many more that there are in the Bible, we should be clear that the person would not be recognized in his own country and household. If that`s the case, than shouldn`t we try to reach them out, and the answer is YES, but through the guidance of the Lord. We should always start with PRAYERS. From what I`ve seen in many instances, it is not the close relationship that gets your closed one saved, but the outsider; however, the prayers for their souls make that difference for God to send someone or something to reach out to those unsaved people that we pray for.
I think God does this also, so we don`t get tempted trying to “help” Him win our close people for Jesus. He doesn`t need us to act as “providence” in order to save someone, but He needs our prayers for them.
God called Paul out of his home country to train him for 3 years before He used Paul in the abundant ministry. You will be mocked and laughed at by your friends and family if you will try to reach them by yourself without the specific guidance from the Lord. In order to do it the right way, you need to spend a lot of time in prayers for them and praying for guidance as to how the Lord would want you to handle particular people you are praying for.
Look at what kind of attitude Jesus received when He tried to reach out to the people in His own home town:
41 The Jews then complained about Him, because He said, “I am the bread which came down from heaven.”42 And they said, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How is it then that He says, ‘I have come down from heaven’?”(John 6:41-42 NKJV)
Jesus was laughed at by the people who didn`t recognize Him being a Messiah who was promised to come down and to die for our sins. If people mocked Jesus, they would mock you too. I was no exception, so don`t expect that you will be one. I remember when I sent my husband a summary of what God`s done in my heart, and the kind of alec response I received from him; it just turned me away. I wanted to drop everything and give up on God. Jesus said: “A prophet is not without honor except in his own country, among his own relatives, and in his own house”
The flip coin to that is God would direct you to the people that would match your abilities to reach them because He desires to make your assignment successful. This is why He almost always tells us “to depart” from our family and friends in order to: first and foremost, get rooted in God`s word to be equipped for His mission; secondly, to be sent to the mission field where we would be the most fruitful.
God didn`t argue with Paul because He knew that once Paul started studying the scriptures and listening to the disciples of what Jesus told them, Paul would find out that he would be bearing much fruit among the gentiles where they seek the Lord in their hearts, while the Jews hardened their hearts and rejected the Truth.
This should remind us to always seek God`s will, direction, and guidance which at times we forget to do. This could also be because we subconsciously know that it would contradict our desires. We tend to hide behind these “noble” goals to “reach the unsaved friends” while when we meet with them, they drag us down instead of us getting them saved. We should really examine our hearts and repent if we prevented God from using us for His glory instead of holding on to our own “mission fields” that only fail.
When God tells us something not to do this is for our own benefit. It is because He knows our hearts better than we ourselves. The best recipe to being productive for God`s Kingdome is to shake the dust off of your feet in your home town if the Gospel is not accepted and move on to reach out to those who truly seek the Lord. The harvest is aplenty, and the crop is ripe, yet the laborers are few. Let us be those who would be obedient to the word of God and “depart” when God tells us to do so. Also, let us pray to be those laborers who could go and harvest for God`s Kingdome to bring much fruit for His glory.
37 Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few.38 Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest” (Matthew 9:37-38 NKJV).