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In case you didn’t know this, it’s smart to surround yourself with folks who lift you up, encourage you to grow and be better, strengthen you and can help calm you in the storms of life. These people need to be who you follow on social media too. Stop reading and paying attention and getting all fired up from folks who aren’t helping make you better. Don’t pay attention to anyone who you don’t trust to lead you well. The folks who help you should be the people you worship with on Sundays. Hebrews 10:25 tells “not give up meeting together as some are in the habit of doing”. Make the time to worship with a group who feed you where you can encourage one another. It’s a must. One of my family members at Kenbridge Christian (Thanks, Leslie!) posted a story I want to share with you: “I was in Dollar Tree last night and there was a lady and two kids behind me in the LONG line. One was a big kid, one was a toddler. The bigger one had a pack of glow sticks and the baby was screaming for them so the Mom opened the pack and gave him one; which stopped his tears. He walked around with it smiling, but then the bigger boy took it and the baby started screaming again. Just as the Mom was about to fuss at the older child, he bent the glow stick and handed it back to the baby. As we walked outside at the same time, the baby noticed that the stick was now glowing and his brother said “I had to break it so you could get the full effect from it.” I almost ran because l could hear God saying to me, “I had to break you to show you why I created you. You had to go through it so you could fulfill your purpose.” That little baby was happy just swinging the “unbroken” glow stick around in the air because he didn’t understand what it was created to do, which was “glow”. There are some people who will be content just “being”, but some of us that God has chosen, we have to be “broken”. We have to get sick. We have to lose a job. We go through divorce. We have to bury our spouse, parents, best friend, or our child because, in those moments of desperation, God is breaking us, but when the breaking is done, then we will be able to see the reason for which we were created. So, when you see us glowing just know that we have been broken but healed by His Grace and Mercy!!!

James Cameron Bailey is pastor of Kenbridge Christian Church. He can be reached at jamescameronbailey@gmail.com