Because you'd be surprised how many people think that their circumstances are so unique.
Nobody's struggling with the stuff that they struggle with because that's a lie from Satan.
That's a demonic lie.
The same stuff you're going through, everybody else is going through.
Now it might be, it might be unique in some aspects or circumstances to you, but the,
but the struggle you're going through is common to all human beings.
And to find some people in your life that you can be honest about that is huge in helping
you become an overcomer in that area.
Today we're talking about bloodstained allies, and I want to give you a definition of bloodstained
allies that I like to use.
Bloodstained allies are men and women who've been bloodied by life, bloodstained in battles
of life.
They know shame, disappointment, loss of jobs, betrayal, maybe even loss of marriage, pain
in a family, but they're allied together with a vision to follow Christ.
And so when I talk about bloodstained allies, I'm speaking of men and women who are lovers
of Jesus, they're going after Jesus, they're seeking first the kingdom, but they're willing
to be open and vulnerable about the hardships in their lives, and they can come alongside
you and I and, and be a friend, be a covenant friendship in our life as we go through stuff.
So it's not just friendship.
Friendship is the starting point, no doubt about it, but a bloodstained ally is someone
that there's a mutual vulnerability of struggles that we've been through that we can all relate
to.
And even if a particular issue in someone's life is not exactly anything they've been
through, you can feel their pain.
You understand the shame and the brokenness in their life, and you can identify with that
enough to listen and not be judgmental toward them.
So the bloodstained allies, the men who came along, my life, came into my life around that
fire pit during that really, really dark time in my life were like that.
They were not judging me.
They were not pointing the finger at me.
They were understanding that I was going through a hard time.
And then as the relationship grew, they began to share also about their own life.
So in one sense, my own brokenness and willingness to be vulnerable and open about that then
gave these guys permission to also be vulnerable in their own life.
I would ask things like, well, what about you guys?
You know, what have you been through?
And so they would open up.
So that built a camaraderie that built a tight knit group of bloodstained allies that radically
changed my life.
And I love those times with men around a fire pit, hanging out together, and doesn't have
to be there.
It could be at a restaurant or something like that.
But I just love those times where we can be real with each other.
We can be authentic with each other.
And I get healed because of the listening ears and the listening hearts of these men.
A number of years ago, I read a book called Big Potential by Sean Accor.
And I love this quote.
I believe that there is one main reason why we're not, where we are seeing elevated rates
of anxiety in our schools and unhappiness in the world, a crucial mistake that every
major religious tradition and ancient philosopher warned us against.
We've been trying to pursue happiness and success by ourselves in isolation and in competition.
We've been told that success is a zero sum game.
And if someone else gets happier, you feel worse in comparison.
We've also been told that happiness is a private, personal choice, and that you can't change
other people.
This leads us to feel disconnected at work, hyper comparison on social media, and never
feel like we are enough.
This is what I call small potential.
Small potential is believing we have to do all this alone.
We've been taught to strip others out of our formula for success and happiness.
When you choose to be more grateful and positive, that makes other people around you more grateful
and positive as well.
And this creates a virtuous cycle.
The only way to achieve our big potential is to transform the pursuit of happiness and
success from a solitary one to an interconnected one.
This is where the church comes in, and I know that some of you that are listening to this may not have a good church.
I would challenge you to find a good church.
Maybe you're in a situation where you can't go to church, but there may be a Bible study.
There may be a place where you can come together and share your hearts with each other.
And this is where we reach our big potential.
This is the breakthrough that so many people are looking for, and they're trying to find it just on their own.
And when I speak of blood-stained allies, I'm speaking of men, or if you're a woman, women in your life
that can challenge you and encourage you and empower you to be more than you could ever be alone
through their input and through their encouragement.
I know marriage should be that way.
Marriage, the number one blood-stained ally is Jesus and our spouse,
because when we have a spouse that really knows us and understands us and we can be real with,
that opens up the potential to have a blood-stained ally in your life that has amazing results in a marriage and in our life.
And that's so key in everything.
I know with Liz and I, I don't know what I would do without her encouragement to me.
We got up early this morning and we went out to the fire pit in our backyard and we lit a fire
and we both had our Bibles and our journals and we were spending time with the Lord and each other.
And before long, we're talking about the things that God's teaching us and we're learning from each other.
That's being blood-stained allies.
And I think Liz would say that I'm her best friend.
I know I would say that she's my best friend.
But if you're not married, I want to challenge you to find some men in your life.
If you're a man, if you're a woman, to have a couple of females in your life that you can be real with and vulnerable with,
because you'd be surprised how many people think that their circumstances are so unique
and nobody's struggling with the stuff that they struggle with, because that's a lie from Satan.
That's a demonic lie.
The same stuff you're going through, everybody else is going through.
Now, it might be unique in some aspects or circumstances to you,
but the struggle you're going through is common to all human beings.
And to find some people in your life that you can be honest about that is huge in helping you become an overcomer in that area.
Well, Paul, the Apostle Paul had Barnabas and Timothy and Silas.
Jesus not only had his 12 disciples, but he also had Peter.
He had James and John that were his close friends.
So all through the Bible, all through the New Testament, we see men and we see women who have a close relationship with each other
and that there's a bloodstained ally that they have.
It's amazing to me even to see Jesus at the cross.
He's expiring. He's about to die.
He looks at Mary, his mother, and he presents her to John and John to Mary to take care of her.
So here, Jesus, in his last hours of life, is recognizing Mary's going to need a friend.
Mary's going to need a bloodstained ally and presented to Mary, John, John to her.
And tradition tells us that John took care of her all the rest of his life, like a mother, and watched over her and guided her.
In the next episode, I want to talk about five qualities, the five qualities of a bloodstained ally.
I've alluded to some of them here, but we're going to look at what I think are the qualities,
because not everybody that you have a relationship with in your life, even if they be Christian, just like you're a Christian,
they're not going to be bloodstained allies for you.
They're not open enough. They're not vulnerable enough.
And they're even maybe even not mature enough to be able to handle a close, intimate relationship with you.
So in the next episode, I want to talk about what I think are the five qualities of a bloodstained ally.
So go to the next episode and let's talk about it together.
This issue of what are the qualities that make a bloodstained ally?