Señales de Alerta y Flores Rosas | El poder de la proximidad | Jeremy DeWeerdt

Hello, well today we are closing our series of relationships and I am talking about the last message in this series, I have called it the power of proximity, and I am talking about the kind of impact that those people who are close to us have a power in your life and in mine, so we have to be careful who is in this circle of friends or girlfriends. And well, if the city first church has been your home for a long time, you have heard me say this many times in the last 35 years, show me your friends and I will show you your future, show me your friends and I will show you your future. And well, and we have heard that maybe we don't understand it, we don't understand the power and the impact of this and sometimes we don't take it very seriously as we should take it because we have heard it, but I will say that in the last decade of being a pastor and in the decades where I have lived our experiences, well experiences, today is a topic, it is an important conversation, it is an important conversation. Of who is actually close to you, because relationships are never neutral, they are either growing in a positive way, or they are getting rid of you, or they have a positive influence or a negative influence. In romantic relationships, in friendships, in people who do business together, in the people you work with, the people who are part of your family, every relationship has energy, you could say, and it goes in that direction. So I want today, let's focus on those people who are close to us, not your friends, I'm not going to talk about all your people you work with, or who you are with every day at work, no, I'm talking about those who are close to you. Why? Because every close connection has a powerful influence in your life, because your heart was designed by God to be together and to talk to other people. And with whom you really get close is part of your, you could say, when you try to be with different people, establish links with people, maybe it sounds kind of ridiculous, but now you say, well, who has your ear, who has your year? You say, I want to have an incredible year 2026, but you're with negative people, you're going to have another 2025, it's not going to give you a new year, because who has your ear, who has your ear, or who has your ear, you say, no, I'm independent, no one can influence me, no, no, no, it's not true. Each person, no matter what age you are, young or older, your friendships and the people around you influence each other, they have an influence. You know, we went to, imagine, I'm going to talk about this here in Target. That point in the middle, every circle around the white, determines the influence they have on you. And I'm talking about that today. I'm not talking about the other circles, maybe your friends, the people you work with, or the extended family. Yes, of course, they're important people. But the further away you are, the less influence they have, because, well, I'm talking about that circle, less influence, the close circle, because God designed you to have a connection with others. But not all connections are a pact, right? In other words, not everything you do is going to be interesting. This is not that you're a diva or a diva, right? Or that you're like, oh, I'm not going to let people come into my life. No, no, no, no, it's about wisdom. This is about wisdom. Who is in that circle around you? I think it's interesting. Before the world, before sin entered the world, in the garden, oh, years ago, Genesis chapter one, when God created Adam, many years ago, in the garden, before there was sin, there were problems. And it was hard to understand. You say, wait a minute, it was paradise.

There was no pain. There was no sickness. There was a problem. Yes. God created Adam. There was a problem. Yeah, so he says in Genesis chapter two, he says the following, he says, God said the following, it is not good that the man is alone. And all the women and the wives said, amen. Because we don't know if the kids are going to have food or if they're going to go to bed early, before midnight. Well, if you think about it, it's kind of weird that he said it. Adam was created in a perfect environment, perfect environment, no sin, no problem, no sin, no problem, no problem with God. No, it's a perfect relationship with God. And God said, yeah, yes. That's kind of weird. No, it's not that he's missing something because God is not enough. No, God is enough. He has done enough. And God is enough. No, God is enough. But the way God designed you and me is that he designed us to have a need to connect with other humans.

It's like he designed for us to have oxygen. It's something we need. It's not that God is not enough. It's not that God designed us to have a relationship. He designed us to have relationships. And so, he created his friends, right? And so, that's how we evolve. And so, that's how we evolve. And even though God designed us to have a connection, that doesn't mean that all the people in your life should have access to your soul. Why? Because we form spiritual connections close to us. We form spiritual connections with those who are close to us. Maybe you've already thought about it. But in that close circle, my bros, my wife, my husband, my boyfriend, my girlfriend. No, no, no. There's a spiritual connection beyond a title. Because we're spiritual creatures. Because you say, no, maybe you don't think like that, or you don't believe in that. But we're made in the image and likeness of God. And God is spiritual, right? We are spiritual. And, well, we are the body, soul, and spirit. Right?

Body, soul, and spirit. We are the Trinity. We are in the image of God. There's a Trinity in us. We are spiritual. Even the people who are atheists and don't believe in God, there's a part of them that is spirituality. And that's what I do know. If you've ever been a person who's what I know is ready to go from this life to the next life, maybe a grandpa, a grandma, an acquaintance, a friend, a family member. And when you're in that moment where someone takes their last breath, the soul and the spirit leave that moment. The body stays. But, you know what, we are more than a physical body. And in that moment, it's obvious that as a pastor, I've sat in hospitals. Something changes in that moment because we are spiritual. And in that moment, that soul leaves. It goes to the next one. Right? And I say that because when we are alive here, we are spiritual because we have a soul. And who is in your circle? Those who are there, close to you, they become bonds of the soul. And look, in the Old Testament, there's a story. I'm not going to read it all.

But there's a story about a person named David, who would eventually be the King of Israel. And another person named Jonathan. And they are like blood brothers, best friends. And they are like the King of Israel. And the Bible says in 1 Samuel 8, it says, before David finished talking to the King, Jonathan, and they came back, it says, well, what does it say? They became a spirit of David. It's not a romantic relationship, and I say that because sometimes we think that when there's a romantic relationship or we get married, then we are already a spirit. But I'm going to tell you this, that doesn't mean that, right? That doesn't mean that, right? And well, sometimes it happens that it doesn't mean that this only affects the romantic relationships. Because it could be your best friend. your best friend, and you say, wow, you've become so attached to the soul. There's a spiritual connection because there are repetitive attitudes that create spiritual habits. They can be good or they can be bad. I know that right now a lot of you are saying, oh, I never thought of it that way. Right? He says, after David finished talking to Saul,

he says, well, he met Jonathan, the son of Abraham, and immediately there's a spiritual bond between them. And well, you're attached to, like that story of Samuel 18.1, 1 Samuel, spiritually there's a spiritual bond, whether it's with friends or with people you're in a relationship with. Let's see, maybe you know someone, and when you're with them, it's easy to get in trouble when you're with them. Let's see, it's easy. When you're in a relationship, it's just like, man, it's like, no matter how you are, right? And it seems to become sarcastic. When you're with that person, it's like you have gas and they light a match, right? They light a match. And they start saying jokes that maybe your mom wouldn't like to hear. And maybe, how about in your life? Why are there people in your life around you that motivate you to do bad things? There are people that motivate you to do good things. Why are there people that are easy to influence us to do good things? And also other people to do bad things. I feel like there's a spiritual thing because if you have spiritual habits with that person, you get there. It's the default, right?

And spiritual habits die. And there's new habits that you can form and it's more difficult to form them. You have to form new habits. And it's easier to have old habits than to form new ones. It's easier to stick to those habits. Before I gave my life to Jesus, I had some very good friends. We did a lot of things together. We were very close. And we did a lot of bad things as college students. We went to a lot of parties together. We had a lot of conversations that I cannot repeat in church. And once I gave my life to Jesus, I had my life in a direction. And I knew that I needed to make decisions that would take me to another direction. Those friendships, those men were very good, good vibes. But when I tried to change my life, when I tried to get together with them again, I had to go back to my old habits. Because we had formed those habits together. It wasn't because I was better than them, or more spiritual, and I had to take distance. No. It's because I found myself doing things that were from the old Jeremy, not the new Jeremy. And they kind of had no interest in following Jesus like I did. So we had to create distance.

And I think maybe frustration on their part. When I told them, no, it was personal. I wanted to live a different life. And look, here's the problem. Although I made a decision to make God my leader, my old spiritual habits were very strong. And I had the whole world's intention to say, okay, we're going to go out today and I'm not going to get drunk. Lead, as they say out there, because I'm already a Christian. Why? I'm not going to go all the way back. But I went out with them and I said, oh, why did I go out with them? And I did. Because we already had habits together. And it was hard. I know you know what I'm talking about, right? You spend time with that person and all of a sudden, you go back to the old habits, to the things you did before. Or you start talking to that person that you didn't want to go out with that person because you start drinking a lot of alcohol, talking in a different way that you don't want to talk, doing things that you shouldn't be doing. Let's be real. There are people who trust this in me. And you know what? Yes, I went out with that person for one night

and we slept together. And then I went home and I said, what did we do? Why did we do this? It's because you've formed a spiritual bond with that person. They're part of your inner circle. And unfortunately, you, in the middle of this inner circle, You want to go in a direction, but they're not willing to go there. And they shape your life. Who can have all the good intentions, can have all the good intentions, mold your year. Can I be honest with you? Good intentions are not enough. You can have all the good intentions in the world, but good intentions are not enough. The fact, the street can be said, the regret, right? The street of regret. When you're in bad company, habits many times don't mean you're going to do it. Habits are stronger than good intentions. You've got to be very careful. You've got to be very specific. Who are you allowing to enter this circle? Who has your ear? Who has your heart? Who have you given your soul to? Because this is what I know. Many people become like who they have their heart with.

You start to take all these things, you start to take habits and ways of thinking, that those behaviors, those decisions, those behaviors come into being. It's for everyone, not just for 16-year-olds, it's also for 65-year-olds. It applies to all ages. Because there are people here who are 60 years old who are with negative friends. And you say, why do I feel so negative? It's because they're in your circle. The Apostle St. Paul is writing to the church in a small Corinthian and we see his letters in the New Testament. And I'll give you a little history in two Corinthians. In the 44 BC it was destroyed. And it was reconstructed by Julius Caesar. About 100 years later, Paul is coming. And he's approximately in the 52 AD and he's planting a church in Corinth. And they're living in this modern city. And Paul is writing to them. And the problem was full of rich people in Corinth. Rich people, very, very powerful people with money. Like Miami and Las Vegas had a baby. It was like that in Corinth. It was a lot of money, a lot of diversity, a lot of cultures, a lot of sex, a lot of parties, a lot of pleasure, all in one. And here's the thing.

This church was trying to be holy, right? The people who were in the church were the ones who were there having a lot of sex, and they're having a lot of parties. And well, they became Christians, they go to the church. And Paul is telling them, hey, let me show you the way you should live. But this is the problem. You still have people that may be influencing you. Look at 2 Corinthians chapter six. It says the following. It says, no, do not be yokeless. Right? In 2 Corinthians 6, 14, 18, it says the following. Well, what does it say here? It says, do not associate intimately with those who are yokeless. How can justice be associated with evil? How can light live in darkness? Darkness is like saying something bad, right? In the dark. Or what harmony can there be between Christ and the devil? How can a believer be associated with a yokeless? And what kind of union can there be between the temple of God and the idols? Well, we are the living temple of God. God is saying this. Now Paul is going to quote some of what God is saying. Now Paul is going to quote some of what God is saying. He says, I will live in them and walk among them.

I will be their God, and they will be my people. Therefore, go out among the unbelievers, says the Lord, and depart from them. Do not touch their filthy things, and I will receive it. I will be their father, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Almighty Lord. And as I read this, there are things that, oh, I don't like to hear from here. It almost feels like Paul is listening to those that don't have faith. He's putting Christians, those who don't have faith. It sounds like we should go build and contemplate our belief in prayer and throw a bunch of canned goods and just wait for it to crash. Something like that. He's almost giving us a theme of, you know what? Don't hang around people who don't believe in Jesus. This Paul, that we have to isolate ourselves from Jesus. and that is not what Pablo is saying. He's not talking about all the people you're friends with, or the people you're around. He's talking about your intimate circle. Let me show you that graph again. He's talking about the circle around you, the circle that's here in blue. He's not talking about your neighbor, he's not talking about your friend or the job that doesn't go to church, or that you get coffee that doesn't believe in God.

But he has a very mundane world, a very mundane way of thinking about the world. He's not talking about this. He's talking about those that are in that circle, once it appears in blue, that have the strongest influence on you. Don't create spiritual bonds with those who don't have faith because you're going to become like the people you hang out with. How can you form spiritual habits with someone who doesn't follow God? He's saying, whoever you hang out with, you're going to form spiritual habits with someone who doesn't follow God because they're going to be the ones who have the strongest influence on you. And you're going to become like them. And City First, your faith is the most important part of you. It's the best part of you. So your faith is in Jesus. How? How do you have a spiritual bond? How do you have a connection with someone who doesn't care about Jesus? So Pablo says this, don't be of the same yoke. There are people who are of the same yoke, for example, like the people of the farm, right? But this is a picture right here of a yoke. So they used it for animals, right? It was a, they put it on the bulls or the carts or whatever. It's an example of this yoke, of these animals that they call oxen, right? They worked in a ranch, in a farm,

and in other words, imagine if one of these animals was bigger than the other. Imagine if one was stronger than the other, one was an adult and the other was a baby. What would happen if you're not in the same yoke? If you're not working in the push of the work, what happens? The strongest ox starts to go in circles, and that's why our relationships are sometimes going like this, in circles. And only one of us is praying, and only one is trying to follow Jesus. And so the life, and only one is trying to have the Holy Spirit. And so, what do you do with loving your neighbor? Pause it, the friendship, the relationship goes in circles because in the rest of his life, and even not loving your neighbor, Paul is not saying in any way that you don't get together with them, that you don't love them. No, no, no, he's talking about loving people. He's talking about loving people who are far from God, about sharing the word of God. It's not like you put yourself in solitude and you leave those people behind. No, he's talking about the people with whom you tie yourself up intimately. You can love without having a yoke. I don't know who wrote this.

I said, in 35 years, I've never talked about this. Love without a yoke. You can love without a yoke. You can love people, but you don't have to give your soul to all of them. Those people are the ones who are in your intimate circle. He says, take care of your life. Take care of your inner circle a lot because the more you are with them, the more influence you have on them. You can love everyone. But you don't have to give your destiny to them. Why? Because intimate relationships are spiritually formed. Well, I know what a lot of you are thinking. And I want to tell you this for a moment as you say it. And it's the following, that maybe some of you are in a marriage and maybe your spouse is not a person of faith. You didn't talk about today and maybe you entered faith after you were saved. You didn't know what we're talking about today. You married someone and you love them and they love you, but they don't follow Christ. What do you do in that moment when you're already married? Well, that's another, it's very delicate. It's a fragile and delicate conversation. I can't, in that moment, I'm not in a relationship. No, no, no, no, no, no, I'm not saying that. What I'm saying is that you're going to have to go on a journey

over your spouse, and showing that you're going to have to pray for your spouse, your spouse, and teaching love and faith and similarity to Christ. And I really believe that one day your partner is going to come into Christ's love for us, or my parents. You know, I don't think my parents would care if that was the case. My dad had not. And for 13 years, I decided to go live to Jesus, my mom and I. And many other people, after I gave my life to Jesus, my mom and I, and 13 other people, we prayed to get us to live to Jesus, my mom and I. And 13 years later, my mom gave her life to Jesus. So there was hope. 13 years later, there was hope. You know, like, my spouse is not saved, you know, I'm hurt all the time, and I'm saying, my spouse is not saved, they don't come to church with me, and all that. Let me tell you, that my testimony there gives you hope. That testimony I just told you gives you hope. You can be similar to Jesus, pray for them, enter with new people in that circle that are going to pray for you, and we're going to believe that God's love is going to fill them, and you're going to see it. So today I want to end with that. I want to paint on you a form of an attribute, whether that has to do with attributes

of the people you allow in your close circle, in a romantic relationship, or maybe a friendship, to a degree, and maybe with those you do business with. What are the attributes of those people? The people who are closer to your life than they are, but I want to paint that for you. The first thing I'm going to paint on you is an idea of what you're going to have to look for. Someone who follows Jesus and inspires you to do the same. This is number one thing you should look for. The person that's in your circle, the person that you date, the person that you go out with, the person that you go out with, the person that you love, who all of a sudden inspires you to do the same. There's an alien that follows Jesus, and I'm talking that they truly are following Jesus, but they're actually following Jesus. Not perfectly, but they're praying, they're having a faith, and they're not trying to pull you out of that faith. They try to make Jesus the center of their life. They're not perfect, like you're not perfect. You're not perfect, they can't get better. They look at the word of God and they say, we're supposed to live. They look at the word of God and they say, we're supposed to live by not trying to do the wrong things. There are people say they are in relationships,

and they say they love each other, and they say they're best friends, but one of them, like, tempts the other person to do things they shouldn't do. They're trying to hold the other person back, to do things they shouldn't do. That's not good. In other words, they want you to get back in your inner circle. Number three, they want you to be in your inner circle. Number three, they tell you the truth. Why? Because God's relationships are not built on pretending. They're not built on pretending. And I say, well, there's a culture in the last few years, and you know what, who are those friends? Well, if you're never going to develop the leader if they tell us what we want to hear, and you're never going to grow in your leadership because you need people in your life to tell you the truth, even if it hurts you. Here's the reason why. Why is this okay? When they tell you the truth, it's because, honestly, they say, you can improve. They motivate you to be a better person. And that's love. True love is not lying to yourself and making you feel good. True love is strategically in kindness, with love, and firmly saying the truth. The Bible says this in Proverbs, chapter 27, 17, right?

What happens? It says, some say in this, right, the iron sparks, right? Okay. Why? Well, this is good. Why? Because you know they love you. Jen does it all the time for me. She'll be like, all the time, you can't say that, you can't do that. She'll be like, Jeremy, don't say that, you can't do that, because when you spoke to me, you said that, do I like it when you say that? I don't like it when you say that. She'll just be like, Jer, you are awesome. It's true, the iron sharpens the iron, that's what this verse says. I wish my wife would say all the time, you're amazing, and she does say that, she does say that from time to time, of course. My point is that sometimes she says to me, hey, why did you say that, you shouldn't have said that. And it's true, and I also tell her the truth. Sometimes I see her and I say, Jen, you shouldn't have done that. We do better, the iron sharpens the iron. Sometimes it comes out, right? That spark comes out of me, the fire, because she gets mad at me, but there are people who are going to sharpen me,

and they're not going to criticize me. There's a difference between being sharpened and being criticized. The fourth is, they are loyal, they love you, they are faithful, they don't just go up to you when it's convenient for them. You need people that are circle worthy, that you can trust, that there's a love, a circle of honesty, and courage, love and courage, because it basically means they motivate you for what you're going to get into, right? And they need to motivate you, motivation, motivation, they need to motivate you. You need people that are going to motivate you, that are going to like you, that are going to applaud you, that are going to circle in my inner circle to their goal for what I'm going to just do. And I am in their circle, and I want their life to win. There's no competition between us, there's no weird stuff. It's something where there really is encouragement, because in our culture, everyone is disarming each other. And I love what it says in 1 Thessalonians 5,

it says the following, motivate each other, and motivate each other in a culture that is disarming, because you need, in this inner circle, a person or a few people that are helping you build your life up, right? In Thessalonians, and Woody says, oh, I wish I could find people like that. And you know what? Those that are, attract those that are, in other words, you live what you desire to have. So, if you can't find people like that in your circle, it's better to have a short season of solitude than to have people on the inner circle. So you wait, you wait, you be picky, but again, I'm not saying, again, that you guard yourself, that you put up walls, that you don't talk to anyone. No, I'm not saying that because it hurts. No, no, no. I'm saying that you need to be selective about who has access to your soul and who you tie yourself to your soul. So, as we close today,

I want you to pray about this. Let's pray about this. The first one is, are there any relationships that are taking you away from God? Are there any relationships that are taking you away from God? You're going to need to apply, apply wisdom to that. If it's good friends, and you know what, if there are friends that you have bad habits with, maybe you're going to have to get out with those the way that you used to. Maybe it's in new environments. Maybe it's going out for coffee instead of going to the bar. So, what is it? Are there people that are pulling you away from faith? Are they creating confusion? Are they interrupting you in faith? Well, you need to be careful because they're maybe in that circle and they shouldn't be. Number two, the second word is, am I becoming the person

that I want to be? In my own circle, those words, we can make it easier to focus on others, right? And let the other person change. No, the second question is about me. Are you becoming that person that you want to be in your inner circle? Are you becoming those five things that I talked about? Are there five things that I talked about? You can improve upon it. You need to make an inventory of yourself, of the five attributes. Say, let's see, God, I want to be better in where I can't be better, in where I'm lacking. So, think about that. Someone who's pulling you out of God, pulling you away from God, you need to do something about it. And then for yourself, are you being the type of person you want to have close to you one day? Let's pray, Almighty Father, Heavenly Father, I thank you for making us to have healthy relationships. We saw it in Genesis, that it's not good to be alone.

So, Lord, I ask that you help us to be careful and wise about who we allow to enter our inner circle, those that motivate us, that shape us, that we create spiritual habits with. That we tie our hearts together. That we take care of who we tie our hearts together. That we have your wisdom. Maybe it means that we need to distance ourselves from people a little bit. It may mean that we join a group of people and find new people. It may mean that we need to break down a dating relationship that we're going out with. Maybe we need to have an honest conversation with someone who's a good friend. And say, we can do better as friends. Give us wisdom, Lord, because I just pray for you to teach people in our inner circle to make us more loving to you. That's our responsibility. But they help us, they applaud us, they motivate us, they confront us, they pray for us. I love you, thank you, God. In the name of Jesus. With all heads bowed, eyes closed. If you've never given life to Jesus. It's not that you join the church, it's not a kind of praise. No, no, no, it's just saying,

I'm hearing this about having a relationship with God and I've never done it. You don't have to wait to be perfect. And I'm not going to make you do anything. I'm not going to make you come to the altar. You know what? I'm going to pray for you. I'm going to say, that's me. I want to have Jesus as the leader of my life. I want to have a new life in Christ. Raise your hand if you've never done your Savior. Of course, there's hands up everywhere. Yes, in all the locations. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, all-powerful, I give you thanks for those who have raised their hand. And I ask that you would just enter their heart. Lord, by raising their hand, they're saying they want you to be their king. They want you to give them a new life. Pray that Lord, you've come and you've shown them your love. Thank you so much for showing them how much you love them, how much they care about you, and that you created them. And from the moment you created them, you waited for this moment where they give you life. We love you. And in the name of Jesus, we say, amen, amen.