WAIT FOR IT TIL IT COMES

The Bible says in Exodus 2:12, that before Moses killed the Egyptian that was beating the Hebrew, he looked "this way and that way," and then killed the Egyptian. While we may think that Moses' heart was in the right place in his defense of the Hebrew, his actions were foolish, and clearly, not been told by the Lord to do it. Instead of looking around to insure no one was looking, Moses should have been looking up. Moses acted out of impulse and being impulsive, can have its drawbacks, as did Moses' impulsiveness, as it brought some devastating results to him. While Moses might have been a leader in training, he wasn't ready at that point. He had some serious schooling ahead of him, if he were to be used of God. For what looked like the end, was actually the beginning, of a plan that God had for Moses’ life and the people that he would lead under God’s authority and leadership. There are many ways in which God’s reasoning and actions make no sense to us. Often times we will ask God for help and our enemies show up at our doorsteps. We trust in Him to provide and it appears as though He withholds. We plead for a day without pain, and yet another rolls around to bring us agony. One thing for sure is that God is never inconsistent, but simply running according to another time schedule and another set of plans and priorities.

 While Moses questioned God concerning God’s choosing him, the prophet Habakkuk questioned God’s plan to use a pagan people to discipline the Hebrew children. It made no sense to either of these men. Yet they both learned through the many years of God’s teaching and training them, through mistakes and heartbreaks that no matter what may have come their way, they would stay the course and serve God no matter what. When Moses approached the Red Sea, he acted in frustration and not faith when he hit a rock that God told him to merely speak to, a breach in faith that cost Moses getting into the Promised Land. As great a man as Moses was, God held His ground on the repercussions of consequence. While He forgave Moses, He did not allow Moses to enter the promise land that he would lead God’s people up to, but not enter in himself. Moses was only allowed to look upon the Promise Land, but not enter it. However, Moses remained faithful to God even in this. For he knew that it was his actions that brought him that consequence, not Gods choice.

 Hab 2:1 says of Habakkuk, “Like a guard who waits through his watch with eyes peeled for a sign of movement, Habakkuk waited for God. Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord! Ps. 27:14…and so we must, no matter what our eyes see, our ears hear, or the condemnation that our hearts want to pass on to us, we must stay the course. For God is greater than our hearts…I John 3:19-20 tells us that are in Christ, “This is how we know that we belong to the truth and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence: If our hearts condemn us, we know that God is greater than our hearts, and He knows everything".

 He may not appear to be there as of yet sweet friend; but hold on, wait for Him, He is nearer than you may think!

Loving on you!

Bren

 

RESOLVE IN 2014

It’s that time again, when we resolve to accomplish a list of goals in the coming year.  The verb tense of the word resolve means to settle or find a solution to a matter. To change or overcome it. Which reminds me of a verse in Romans 12:2, “Don not conform any longer to the patter of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind”.  For many of us, our focus on the coming new year will be to simply resolve in our hearts to do better than we did last year in certain areas of our lives, as we should. While, some of us will continue working on the same resolutions that we made last year but failed to complete, be it unhealthy habits, managing our time better, or simply resolving to overcome things that we know we need to overcome, in order to wipe the slate clean, others will make brand new ones.

With the lifestyle that most of us live today, resolving to do fewer things it pretty much at the top of most of our list. I have found that being too busy can and will lead to many of the other things that are on my list as well.  Often times getting busier can lead to neglecting or giving our best in some goals or even ignoring those goals that were once as important as all the others and we end up with cluttered lives filled with wrong things, and in the end  we are left with a vicious cycle of falling further and further behind. Amid all our disorders, a lot of bad decisions get made and the best means of escape from this cycle may very well require us to rethink our goals and narrow down our list. Sometimes having or doing a little less, can mean having much more!

If you are like me, I often feel my most productive when my work has piled up and I have deadlines to meet, so I busy myself to get them done. But that is only a feeling that I have and the reality is that something will have to be sacrificed as I am rushing to accomplish my demands. By adding something new to my list always means removing something that’s already been placed on it. Struggling over how we can rearrange our priorities can take our time and energy and can often times lead to more stress and sleepless nights. Not getting our rest from our pondering over them all night may very well be the cause for some of our bad decision that are made and in turn, will only make the problem worse. Spending too much time on things that we worry over is what causes us to stress over them. It is never that they are not important or real, but too much time worrying over them and accomplishing nothing is a problem. Fix what you can and move on. Make a plan to cut back on what you can and follow through. The smaller your list, the less you have to focus on in making changes. Once you accomplish them, then add another to your list. Don’t make decision making any harder than it has to be, even if your goals are limited to one thing that you will work on in the upcoming new year!

Happy New Year and May God Bless It!

Loving on you today,
Bren

WHAT ARE YOU ALLOWING TO FUEL YOUR FAITH?

What are you allowing to fuel your faith in God today? Obedience, trust, hope, joy or is it, past rebellion, hurtful disappointments, doubt, worry, bitterness, hard feelings, ingratitude? Maybe you are going through a tough time right now and have no idea how things will turn out. May I encourage you today sweet friend, don’t allow your current circumstances to dictate your future, unless they are bringing you to a place of trusting God in them. Those things are only meant to try and discourage and destroy you. God’s understanding in them is that everything works for the good, of those who love Him according to Romans 8:28, and that what Satan intends for harm in our lives, God intends for good, according to Genesis 50:20. His plans are for good; to prosper us and not to harm us as told to us in Jeremiah 29:11.

 

All throughout the scriptures God tells us that He works for our good and on our behalf. Sometimes, we cannot fathom how a bad thing can turn out to be a good thing, at the time. However, God knows that our suffering produces character in us, endurance, and perseverance for our future situations, and that is the only reason that He allows them to come near us. God’s loving and tender hand can smooth the turbulence that threatens our peace if we will see them from His perspective and the scars that are created by those turbulent times are only road maps of where we have been; and the cross roads that we have chosen to take, as reminders of the right and wrong choices we made.

 

While our understanding of our situations may be limited and small and mostly focused on the moment, remember that God is focused on our eternity. In realizing that, you may very well encounter the mighty hand of God and understand His purpose better. You may not can change your situation, but you can absolutely change your spiritual environment while going through them. Be sure this coming year, to choose wisely the directions that you will take in how you look at everything that touches your life. Don’t lose heart, work to see them as God sees them and fuel your faith with hope and only then will peace slip into those bear and lonely places to provide you peace as you walk through them!  

Loving on you today,

Bren

CHRISTMAS PEACE - PART 1 & 2

Christmas Peace Part 1

God used the star in the sky to lead the Magi or Wise men to where Christ was. Today, God uses His word to lead those that pursue Him for salvation, answer questions, provide a peace that passes all understanding or to meet their needs. One need that I always have during the Christmas Holidays, is the need to stay focused on what Christmas represents in my heart. And because of that need, I am constantly being drawn to the Word of God to help keep my priorities in the right order. When I do this, my Holidays are less stressful and much more meaningful. While Christmas is for us, it is never about us. If we are not careful, we can allow this wonderful Holiday to draw us away from God rather than closer to Him by the stresses and business that the holidays may require of us. The expense of buying gifts, the pressure of last minute shopping and the heightened expectations of family gatherings, cooking, cleaning, decorating, can all combine together to undermine our best intentions and sidetrack us from our original purpose. Today, there is hardly room for the baby in the manger as people look forward to the stories of The Grinch, Miracle on 34^th Street, Rudolph, Frosty and the chubby man in the red suit. Many will end up disappointed and sad, because they are trying to be happy and find satisfaction in gifts, parties, employee bonuses and other things, only to find in the end that those things did not provide the joy and peace that they were hoping for. The personal turmoil that every human being experiences is a sign of their need for and their separation from God and where He wants them to be; at peace. For those that find the true peace that comes through the Christ child, the apostle Paul tells us this,  “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” Romans 5:1. Even Jesus Himself told us in John 14:27, “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world gives, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” The peace that Jesus offers only comes through a heart change. The world has it all backwards. To those that think that Jesus came to bring peace on earth, Jesus said, "Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword…Matthew 10:34.  The Bible is full of verses that refer to the peace of God. It is a great mistake, to regard this type of peace with a feeling. For our feelings change from moment to moment and from experience to experience. For those that have found it, those feelings do not overwhelm their sense of inner peace that only God can give them. The peace of mind and heart that God offers and virtually everyone wants, is not a feeling at all, but a state of wellbeing. It is a belief that everything is under the sovereign control of the only true God who loves us and has our best interest in mind and we can trust Him in that. Paul also encourages those that put their trust in Christ  with the promise of God’s presence and help during difficult times. He said, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (continued next week)

Merry Christmas!

Bren
 

Christmas Peace Part 2

As I mentioned in last week’s devotion, one need that I always have during the Christmas Holidays, is the need to stay focused on what Christmas represents in my heart. And because of that need, I am constantly being drawn to the Word of God to help keep my priorities in the right order. When I do this, my Holidays are less stressful and much more meaningful. While Christmas is for us, it is never about us. If we are not careful, we can allow this wonderful Holiday to draw us away from God rather than closer to Him by the stresses and business that the holidays may require of us. Philippians 4:6-7. Inner peace can only come when we are in a right relation to God through our faith in Jesus Christ, His Son. You want find Him in gifts or at parties at the inn, or even in the Christmas rituals that you may be used to being a part of. He is in the stable, where you least expect Him. He had to experience Isaiah 53:3 “He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from Him; He was despised, and we esteemed Him not.” And now intercedes for us, because He personally understands everything that we go through and that touches our lives. The first time Jesus came to the world, He came to a manger in a lowly stable. He grew up and was despised and even rejected by many. He stood before royalty and was judged by Pilate. But when He comes again, Kings alike, Pilate included, will stand before Him. When He came the first time, He came as a baby. When He comes again, He will come as a conquering King. When He came the first time, He was rejected but when He comes again Romans 14:11 says, “As I live saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to Me and every tongue shall confess to God.”  “He came unto His own, and His own received Him not. But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God” John 1:11-13.  Gifts are fun, both to give and receive, but they are only symbolic of a much greater gift as found in John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life”. It’s easy to become overwhelmed by the busyness of Christmas. That doesn’t mean we have to lose track of the significance of this time of year, or miss out on the opportunities it can present. Gift giving is a wonderful way to show love to one another, as God gave us the example by giving His Son. They seem particularly true when we are giving out of our time and gifts to those in need. Don’t just go through the motions this Christmas. Put forth the effort to find the true meaning of Christmas. He is not so far that He cannot be found. Jesus is the reason for the season, seek Him while He may be found!

Merry Christmas!

Bren

 

KEEPING YOUR FAMILY FOCUSED ON CHRIST AT CHRISTMAS

Families all over the world have had their Christmas traditions since the very beginning of the celebration. Have you established your own Christmas traditions yet? If not here are some ideas that will help you along the way in making the most of the Holiday season, with purpose and long lasting memories that you and your children’s children will remember and enjoy. Remember to add things that will bring Christ into your Holidays, for that is the purpose of this wonderful Holiday. Gifts, trees, parties should revolve around Jesus, not just when we can fit Him into our festivities. Below are some ideas that I have shared with my own children as they were growing up and would like to pass them on to you.

·         Have a Nativity somewhere in your home or in your yard to remind yourself, your friends, family and passer byers, what the true meaning of Christmas is in your home.

·         Find ways to remind one another in love and kindness of the true meaning of Christmas. For it becomes so easy to veer off and forget.

·         Have your family members dress in biblical-type clothing or matching clothes and take photos to use for your Christmas card. Maybe use a nativity as a backdrop.

·         Start an Advent calendar with your family from Thanksgiving Day through the first week of the New Year. Decorate it with Christmas stickers or your own illustrations. Hang it in a high-traffic area. List all invitations, announcements, concerts, and other events you will attend as a family.

·         Reach out and give at Christmas. As a family, choose some charitable activities you can do together, such as volunteering at a homeless shelter or helping with a toy drive. Note the dates on the family Christmas season calendar and designate them as "everybody must show" dates. Identify an elderly or low-income person or couple who might not have family support during the Christmas season. Invite them to one of your family gathering, offer to take them Christmas shopping, or invite them to attend a Christmas church service with your family. You might also take them food gifts over the course of the festive season. As you by yourself a gift, remember someone else.

·         Plan times to cook and bake Christmas goodies for special family dinners, parties, and gifts. Look for cookie cutters that are Nativity related, such as stars, angels, camels, sheep, and Nativity silhouettes.

·         Make the purchase of the Christmas tree and Christmas wreaths a family event. Be sure to add Nativity scenes around them. Afterward, go out for hot chocolate together. Make family craft keepsakes and heirloom ornaments imprinted with the year they were made and the name of the maker. (Many craft stores sell simple ornament kits). Consider adding a Christ-centered phrase, such as "Christ, Our King” or "Jesus - the Heart of Christmas." Over the years you will build a family keepsake collection to treasure.

·         Set up a separate tree and decorate it with angles, nativity related ornaments. Wrap empty boxes illustrating gifts that you give Jesus and place words on them like; joy, peace, kindness, love, offering, sacrifice and so forth.

·         Discuss Christmases long ago during  the colonial times, the Victorian era, various wartimes in America or just in your own family.

·         Plan some Family Christmas movie nights. But remember to view the story of the Nativity as well.

·         Keep a family Christmas journal expressing your thoughts about what happens throughout the season with your family and friends. Include your reactions to the news, sermons, Christmas programs, parties, and gifts, as well as your meditations about Jesus. Let each family member join in and write down their thoughts and ideas.

·         Invite folks into your home sharing the love of Christ with them.

 ·         Take your family and invite some friends and go carol singing. Prepare copies of favorite carols, and set a loose schedule so that you have time to sing all the songs distributed. As an alternative, consider caroling at a hospital, nursing home, or around the neighborhood. Then return to your home for dessert and hot chocolate.

·         Do your family Christmas shopping at your favorite Christian bookstore.

·         Attend your church's Christmas Eve or Christmas Day service as a family to seal the reverence of the celebration of Christ's birth as a valued family tradition.

 ·         Before Christmas breakfast of opening presents on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day, read Scripture aloud together. Dedicate the occasion to Jesus.

 ·         After the New Year, officially close the Christmas season by having the whole family dismantle your decorations. Give thanks, as individuals and as a family, for the gift of Christ and your time together as a family. This tradition will teach your children to treasure carefully preserved family Christmas decorations.

Love and A Very Merry Christmas to You and Your Family,

Bren

A Sacrifice of Thanksgiving

Abraham Lincoln proclaimed Thanksgiving as a national holiday in 1863. That special day was set apart for the American people to gather in their churches and with their families to corporately as a nation express their thanksgiving to God for all His blessings. Our nation and her people have been truly been blessed by God  despite all her flaws and uncertainties. We have in the past and still today enjoy an abundance of freedom in this country unequalled to any place else in the world. We have a freedom and liberty that many people of other nations can only dream about. This country has offered it’s people a lifestyle that is attainable for those who set goals and work hard to achieve them. She has provided it’s people with a greater opportunity to be successful than any other nation on earth.  But even more than that, she has granted her people with a religious right to choose whom and how they would put their faith and trust and hope to believe. I for one am thankful today and each day for that right and freedom more than any other, that I hold dear. I do not have to hide in a nearby closet to worship, or offer praise to the One that has allocated to me, this freedom.

 

As I think of those blessings and all that I have, it only stands to reason that I would pause and think of those things that the Pilgrims did not have. No people were more underprivileged than that small band of migrants that journeyed to the new land on the Mayflower in search of a religious freedom to worship how they believed. There may come a time that the people of God will search again for another place that they can serve and   worship the living God in freedom. But for now, I shout it from the mountain tops and the valleys way low…. “I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving and will call upon the name of the Lord.” Psalm 116:17…and “Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness and for his wonderful works to the children of men and let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving and declare his works with rejoicing.” Psalm 107:21-22.  

God Has Blessed America!

Happy Thanksgiving Sweet Friends!
Bren

WHAT CHRISTMAS HAS TO DO WITH A DEMON POSSESSED MAN

The song, I'll be Home for Christmas is perhaps one of the inner longings that many people have as the holiday season approaches. For many who are far away from their home and loved ones they, more than anyone else, can appreciate this wonderful old song. In thinking about Christmas this year and that song, I am reminded of a story in the Bible that tells of a poor wretch that was far from his home and family. As a matter of fact the scriptures tell us that the man had fixed his home among the tombs in a graveyard, where he dwelt day and night. This man had been possessed with a legion of evil spirits that had driven him to madness and was the terror of all who passed by him. At some point the local authorities had attempted to control him by binding him with irons and chains. But out of his madness and unwillingness to be controlled, he overcame the irons and chains, and roamed naked and aimlessly, in his personal torment. This man was a misery to himself as well as a burden to his community. He was in constant mental pain and torment roaming around aimlessly night and day throughout the hills, crying fearfully, cutting himself with sharp flints of stone, torturing his poor body in the most frightful ways.

 

Then one day the Son of the Living God passed by him and said to the evil spirits that were possessing his mind, to come out of him; and the man was healed in that moment. As Jesus got into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed begged Jesus, that he might go with Him.  But Jesus did not permit him, but told him to go home to his friends and tell them what great things that Jesus had done for him, and about the compassion that Jesus had for and on him.  What Jesus wanted the man to understand was that he was given a new purpose in life now. That he had received the most precious gift, which was spiritual freedom. The peace that the world longs for and sings about today had entered the heart of the man that had been captive by demonic sin and set free to live and serve the one who had delivered him from his bondage. Jesus knew that the man could be more effective among those that knew him when he was out of his mind and now saw him in the delivered condition that he was in. His testimony would take the gospel to places that Jesus Himself may not have visited.  

 

It is a great delusion to think that we are islands to ourselves. For that way of thinking causes us to be an enemy of the true purpose of spreading the gospel. The kind of Christianity that Christ imparted to that man that day is the kind of Christianity that makes a husband a better husband, a wife a better wife. It does not free us from our duties as children, it makes us better children, better parents, better families. Instead of weakening our love for one another, it gives us a fresh reason for our affection towards one another. It was never meant to interfere with relationships, but was intended to cement them and to make them so strong that death itself cannot sever.

 

I wish it were Christmas every day in the year if it would help us have more opportunity to come together and share with friends and family the good news of what Christ has done for us. If you have never taken the opportunity at Christmas or any holiday to do so, as this coming Christmas time rolls around again, let me encourage you to do the same thing that Jesus told the man in this story to do when he said, "Go home to thy friends, and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee, and hath had compassion on thee." Mark 5:19. For the Christian, Christmas is all about Christ coming to set captives free and in the life of the man spoken about in Mark chapter 5, he found out for himself the true meaning of Christmas the day Christ set him free.

Keeping Christ in Christmas,

Bren

BEING THANKFUL

 

It's hard to cultivate a sense of gratitude when you're angry, frustrated, or anxious over something that has not gone the way that you wanted or expected. If we do not deal with them properly they become barriers to our being thankful and even kind. Don’t be so busy dwelling on the past or thinking about your future, that you don’t fully notice how good things are or even can be right now, if you change your attitude about them. Dwelling on the past as well as the future can open the door to comparison, which is the only way that you will perceive something as not good enough. What you have now is all that exists and comparing that to something that doesn't exist anymore is an easy way to foster dissatisfaction which causes unhappiness in your life and torture yourself over them. People with a strong sense of gratitude, love and appreciation are not luckier people because they feel that way. They merely recognize and see the blessings in their lives and focus on them, and less on what they don’t have. I read once that people who count their blessings are generally happier and healthier than people who don't, and I truly believe that. I know it places me in a much better mood whenever my attitude is in check.

 

Often times we miss recognizing our blessings because we tend to slip out of our consciousness or awareness of them simply because we get so used to them being a part of our surroundings. We must teach ourselves to notice the little things in our lives and make the effort to deliberately appreciate them. Never struggle and waste your time and energy over why things happen the way they do! Just use them to gird and strengthen yourself for the next time, because for the most part, there is always another challenge right around the corner waiting on you. It’s never too late, start this Thanksgiving by practicing an attitude of gratitude and thankfulness. You might even begin to see a change in those around you as your attitude changes and rubs off on them. God’s word teaches us the importance of these very things, yet we are a forgetful people; and that in and of itself is something to be very grateful for! We are the Sheep of His pasture and He has called us out of those hard places and into a better way of living, if we are in Christ Jesus. Are you in Christ Jesus today sweet friend? If so, then…. “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7

Love you and Happy Thanksgiving!

Bren

WHAT ARE YOU ALLOWING GOD TO FORM IN YOU?

One of the most amazing and majestic wonders on this earth in my opinion are the great, “Grand Canyons”. While I have never seen them in person, I have awed in wonder over the pictures that have displayed the beauty and grandeur and the stories of how they were formed.  The Canyons are simply chasms that reach down into the deepest parts of the earth’s surface. Apart from the few trees and shrubs that are able to attach itself to the sides or walls inside the canyons and at the base of them, everything else is virtually lifeless. Once where life was, is now a world of fossilized limestone and sandstone within its crusty cliffs. God used powerful forces to impact the canyons, with erosion from ice, water, volcano and winds, that all together contributed to the formation that is now the majestic wonder that it is. Sometimes, God uses a similar force in our lives that runs like a curvy river that tries to push out of us pride, selfishness and other sin. There are times in our lives when we give our marriage vows a Judas kiss, and thoughtlessly slice another’s low self-esteem with a razor blade tongue. Often times when we need to be a blessing to our enemy, or someone we think is unworthy of our compassion, we pass sludge’s of rocks and mud onto them, instead of the bread of kindness. Even as a river carves out a mountain, our love can created a river flowing with love and compassion or a wedge that can prevent the loveliness of God in us to pass through us, to reach the places that are dry in our own lives, as well as allowing it to form a bridge that transforms the old in us, to something with more splendor and beauty.

In I Corinthians 13, Paul lays out the blueprint for the bridge that will transform our lives into a majestic wonder if we will allow it to cut through the rock and sediment of wrong choices and waywardness against the One who created us and loves us the most. For he states, “If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing. 4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. 11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. 12 For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. 13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

Would you take a minute with me and close your eyes. In your mind roll back the tape of your life. Listen to the way that you talk. See the way that you appear not only  to others, but to God through His eyes. How have you treated others, really treated them. Are you quick to get on Facebook and spew out revenge on someone that has hurt you by your own words. Are you really any better than they are in God’s eyes, not merely your own, by which of course is the standard that you are judging them with, and not Gods. Have you been seeking the highest good you can find in others, or is it much easier to jump on the bad that you see in their lives. Are you bridging the gaping canyon in your own heart with love, or are you allowing it to further separate you from the will of God in your personal life. A famous quote by William Shakespeare says this, “God has given you one face, and you make yourself another.” Could this be true of you today sweet friend? We are constantly feeling the pull from the stress caused by life’s daily problems to pull out which ever face we may need, to cover up what sin in us, is stirring up. But if we are in Christ, we must make every effort to neglect the desire that lingers at our door to treat others as sometimes we may being treated. Gen 4:7 tells us that “….But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it." It is possible and I am living proof that when I surrender my will to God’s will, I can do things through Christ who gives me the strength to do it. The handy work of God is all around us. But, His crowning and greatest achievement, is in His creation and forming of you and me, and in the end, His finished product will be limited to how much we yield and surrender our lives to His will. What are you allowing God to form in you?

Loving on you today,

Bren

WORK, EAT, SLEEP AND REPEAT!

Work, eat, sleep and repeat! Sound familiar? One of the consequences from the fall of man was not that Adam had to start working, for he was doing that before the fall. But the curse changed the nature of his work. It cursed work as it did everything else. After God created Adam, the first thing He did for Adam was to give him a responsibility, a job, something to do. Work was good and Adam was a workman in the garden of God and he had no need to be disgruntled or ashamed of it. For, he was perfection in every way. It was only through his wrong choice that he blew or forfeited the joy in his work and the first usage of the word toil came into being. Today, mankind is still doing what Adam did before he sinned. We are tending the earth and its inhabitants. Yet, in Exodus we are commanded to work and tend this cursed world for 6 days and then we get a day off to rest from our work as God Himself set the example for us to follow. Work was always God’s design for mankind, yet now we work against the curse to extract what joy we can get out of it. It is not always an easy task and oftentimes very hard, but we must work and toil in it, because it is a world that has a curse on it.

Some days all my work seems to overwhelm me, both physically and spiritually so. I catch myself wishing and praying for another hour in the day to catch up and finish my task, as I seem to run out of minutes in completing them all. As a Christian God has called me to a higher level of commitment as His child both in my workplace and as I serve Him in any other area of my life; be it in my home, my Church or my community. In my quiet time this morning, as I was reading in the book of 2 Thessalonians, I was reminded of that old song, “We’ll work ‘til Jesus Comes, then we’ll be going home”. How refreshing to know that one day there will be a rest for the people of God at the end of their work as well as the rest that we have while we are in the middle of it. A rest that will have made our journey and our work, worth the effort that we had put into it.  

I recall a statement that I have heard many times that says, “The world is divided into three categories: the few who make things happen, the many who watch things happen, and the vast majority of those who have no idea what is happening.” In the Scriptures, the Thessalonian church was crippled in 2 Thessalonians 3 by those who backed away from their responsibility, refusing to work, leaving the load in the hands of others. No other book reflects better what the consequences of being lazy and unconcerned are, or that our involvement is essential, not optional as Christians. Christianity is not a spectator Sport, there are no bleachers or grandstands. God does not put one player against another. For the body of Christ is one and all inclusive. The parable of the talents teach us to invest wisely in our eternity in the spiritual work that we are to be about. We are to abound in our work knowing that our toil will not be in vain and that we will reap an imperishable reward that will never be taken from us. Hebrews 12 exhorts us to consider the life of Jesus and His life and work. His goals and commitment was intense and single minded. We are to follow that example. Paul writes in 2 Thessalonians verse 9 that he and his colleagues had been setting the examples for them to follow. They offered their time, their love and their service to the Thessalonians in order to offer a model for them to follow. During the last visit that Paul had made to this church, he had worked day and night so as not to be a burden to them, in I Thess. 2:9. Paul had made sure that he had paid his own way, picked up his own tab and was no burden to anyone. Paul had every right to be supported by the church as he was caring the gospel to the lost and disciplining those that had received Christ already. Yet, he willingly forfeited that right for the sake of being an example like in I Cor. 9:1-4. The sternness of his example in 2 Thess. 3:6-15 was not to those that could not work, but to those who would not work. We are never to be a “me first kind of Christian” but to always be an “others first, Child of God”. We are never to cling to what we may think are our rights, but we are to empty ourselves of all rights and cling only unto Him, His will and His ways. The degree of our willingness to give up our rights will reflect what our true priorities are. The most exhilarating times in the Christian’s life, is their climb upwards. But it takes work to get there and yes on occasion, the climb will leave us winded and at times weary, but for those that make it up to the peaks of our Christian commitment, the view is so very worth the climb.  Let us keep pressing on, never giving up, never giving up!

 

Loving on you today,

Bren

 

 

DONT PANIC- JUST FOCUS ON TRUTH!

Kathy, a school volunteer hurried inside the school’s walk in freezer to retrieve several bags of ice for their school’s annual field day event. She knew the children were hot and thirsty and were waiting for her return with the ice for their drinks. There was no one in the school cafeteria to get the ice for her, so she proceeded into the large walk in freezer herself. She picked up the ice and turned toward the massive steal door when she suddenly realized there was no handle on the inside, only a steal square plate in the place of where the handle should be. Her heart began to race as she quickly moved to the point of full blown panic. As she realized that no one knew where she had gone, she began to scream at the top of her voice when suddenly, the door opened and there stood the custodian. He gently smiled and said, “it’s a swinging door ma’am, just push”.

You can imagine her fear of not knowing the facts and her imagination getting carried away with her leading her to fear a situation that was not even real. While God designed our bodies with defense mechanisms that get fired up when our brain knows that we may be in danger, they can sometimes if we allow it, to malfunction and the result can be an over exaggeration of the situation before we have all the facts.  Panic attacks like Kathy had are nothing more than episodes of intense fear or apprehension that are triggered by a situation that was not thought through, which allowed her body to imagine the worst. Her mind was preparing for a false fight, forcing her body to take over to help face the situation or to run from what her mind perceived her danger to be, real or not. While I am in no way an expert, nor am I trying to inject any kind of would be medical or professional help in the matter of fear and panic, I am however, someone just like you, that has experienced  the pangs of fear and panic it in my own life and through the Word of God is learning to apply I Corinthians 9:23-27 that helps me to gain control over my feelings and emotions. It says, “ I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings. Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize”.

I am learning that I can get control over my body by making it mind me and do what I want it to do, instead of allowing it to randomly go off on its own, parked on STINKING THINKING. As we learn to work with it rather than against it we can learn to move quickly through our fear and worries getting to the other side of them. Under the right circumstances, anyone of us could likely find ourselves in a situation like Kathy. Maybe not is a walk in freezer, but in a situation where our mind is racing with thoughts of worry and fears that may not be life threating at all but can absorb much or our energy and time dwelling on fiction rather than facts.

Patronizing someone that is going through this as well, will just put them on a higher alert making them angry and feeling stupid for feeling the way that they do. Telling someone not to worry in their moment of “Stinking Thinking” might only force them to panic more. Instead, the best thing that we can do or say to them is to realize that we ourselves have more than likely been in that situation and may need to say something more like, "I understand that you're upset and I am here to help you walk through your situation while praying that God will help you to see and focus on Truth and not the moment." Saying things like "there's nothing to worry about," or "it's all in your mind," or "you're overreacting" will exacerbate the problem. Their fear or worry is very real to them at that moment, and the best you can do is help lead them to the Lord and allow Him to show them what they need to see, minimizing or dismissing their fear or worries in any way can make their situation worse. As a child of God, one of the many wonderful things that I have and am learning in my walk with Him is that; I never have to worry about knowing what is and is not truth. Because if I really want to know in humility, the Holy Spirit of God will reveal it to me or either God has another plan that involves me not knowing at the time and even in that, I have peace trusting in His reasons. You see the closer we walk with God the less we find that we have to know, in order to believe and trust in the plans that He has for our lives. When we are overcome by our thoughts getting away with us, we simply need to learn how to beat our bodies/minds bringing them into our submission and control. It is when we lose control that we head off into the realm of “Stinking Thinking” and the only thing that “Stinking Thinking” does for us is put off an offensive odor to others revealing the old dead carcass that we are lugging around with us and have not yet buried.

Loving on you today,

Bren

WHEN DEPRESSION TRIES TO CONSUME YOU

I read a statement today that simple said, “Sick of crying, tired of trying, yes, I may be smiling, but inside, I am dying!”. That broke my heart, as I was reminded of my own past depression and how it can eat at you and eat at you, until it has eaten away your strength and you have no energy left to fight it; and yes, one can most defiantly feel that way, when depression tries to consume you.

I learned two things about depression in my own life as I struggled through it and found that with God all things truly are possible. The two things that I learned became instrumental tools in helping me to overcome it then and to fight off any depression and gloom that has come my way since. First I learned that depression is a physical, mental, spiritual, and emotional response to something that is wrong. Second was that the key to getting better, is to find out what that something is and work on it. There are no easy answers, but for the most part it is multifaceted and you must search for the triggers that send you into those gloomy moments that often times can turn into hours or even days. Whatever the cause, depression can be devastating and impacts our whole person, as well as those we love. Sometimes depression can cause a distrust in God that will even make the situation worse in respect to our faith. God never leaves us helpless and hopeless, but it will always be up to us to choose hope that brings us life. John 10:10 says that Jesus came that we “might have life, and might have it abundantly”. Depression is most certainly not, abundant living. Any time or anything that can take away our peace, the enemy is glad to help out and heap on us untruths and anxieties on the negative side of our situation.

 

By taking some time through prayer and the right kind of soul searching, you can decipher what your depression is trying to tell you. Once you learn what triggers your gloom and depression you can use those skills to recognize future bouts and more quickly identify the problem and make you less vulnerable to depressive episodes. For the most part, the word depression is a generic word that we use to describe how we feel when we are down in the dumps, under a lot of stress, sad or have been hurt. For most of us, we move through those bouts rather quickly because we are convinced that it will pass and we will change our direction and way that we view our sadness. But for many, especially those of a melancholy temperament like myself, we can tend to move slower and may even need extra help in getting through a rough time during those bouts. Depression can manifest itself in many ways. We can feel the effects of it in a physical, emotional, mental, or spiritual form. Each form causing different symptoms. The key is to know that we are not alone and that we must work through it and not soak in the sadness of that which we may not be able to change or control. Millions of people battle depression at some point and find that there is victory as they look ahead and stay out of the past.

 

When a person is born again, God takes up residence within them. He brings with Him the promise of a greater joy and peace than they have ever known. But they must choose to walk in it. Many people of faith have experienced periods of deep depression. Even the Bible tells us of some of them like Moses, David and so many others. These truths are worthy and meant to show us how God's love continues even during the sad times in our lives and that He will eventually bring great hope to those who place their hope and trust in Him. In the Garden, Jesus Himself grieved over the most horrific sadness that anyone could, nor would ever experience. Yet, His saddens was lifted when He said to the father, not My will but Yours be done.

 

Sometimes it is just a matter of moving through the sadness agreeing with God that while you may not understand it or want it, you will accept it in humility and long to learn from it. Hebrews 12 tells us to endure hardships as discipline. While our sadness may or may not have been brought on by our own actions, never the less, we are to view them according to verse 7 that way, and verse 11 tells us that no discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on the scriptures says, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace by those who are trained by it. I think that we often look over the part about, “being trained by our hard times”. Hebrews 12:12-13 concludes with instructions to strengthen our feeble arms and weak knees, making level our paths, so that we may not be disabled, but healed. Somewhere in the instructions of verses 12 and 13 we fail to practice that which would help us tremendously in overcoming our sadness and depressions. May I encourage you today sweet friend to get your Bible out and sit down and study those verses, meditate on what God may be trying to reveal to you and call you out of and He will come to your rescue in due time, that is the first step.  The second step is to work on that which you may need to deal with. Your faith will lead you to God, but you must put your trust in Him and leave the details at His feet.

Loving on you today,

Bren

RESPONDING TO OFFENSES

As I have grown in my spiritual walk with Christ through the years, I have noticed some distinct changes in my life, my attitude and even in my responses to others as I have felt the painful hand of hurt and offense, touch my heart. When I choose the road less traveled and embrace the reality of my situations and think about them in terms of how God may be looking at them and not what my mind churns up about them, I am relieved from the pressure of having to have an answer concerning them. I am learning, that my only response in any matter, is to show the love of God and trust Him in things that I do not understand, knowing that in due time, He will reveal to me what I need to know and understand. Every offense against me, can be used as an opportunity to reflect the Character of the one that lives inside me, if I will only change my perspective.

One day a young nurse was complaining to her pastor that she had been offended by some patients, “Thank God for that” her preacher replied, in which the young woman said, “What do you mean by that, preacher?”, “Why, if you were carrying a vase and someone bumped into you, that which is inside the vase could possibly spill out on them”, he said, and “As we go through life and people bump into us, we have the opportunity to spill out the Lord Jesus on them” he concluded.

 

You see, we have the choice when we are offended to spill out anger, bitterness, jealousy and revenge, or broken and contrite hearts. This is how God’s Character inside His children spills out into the world. We may never be called to suffer an agonizing death for our faith. But any time that we quench the fleshly nature in us that is constantly warring to show it’s ugly face, by yielding to that which compels us to do the right thing, then we are denying the flesh it’s gratification of glory, thereby, bringing honor to the One who deserves it.  When we allow our perspective to reflect or mirror the embodiment of Christ in us, then any suffering that we may undergo will be worth it. Think of how the world would be, if we would walk more cautiously in trying to eliminate our critical attitude’s that repels others away from us ,when we respond to them in a wrong way, no matter what they have heaped on us. Proverbs 19:11 tells us that, “A man’s wisdom gives him patience; it is to his glory to overlook an offense.”  Godly wisdom helps us to have tolerance for the person who has offended us and gives us patience to find God’s plan to restore the situation. God always has a plan of restoration.  Sometimes we just need the patience to believe it will happen.

 

Will you today sweet friend, face your trial that you may be going through with an attitude of good cheer, humility and a godly patience with the one who has wronged you and above all else, have the faith that God will honor you by your seeing things from His perspective and not your fleshly way of responding to a bad event. Matthew 7:5 tells us to first, remove the beam from our own eye, then we can see clear enough to help remove our brother’s speck ….the part about removing my beam in order to see the situation clearly, gets me every time. I can only see clearly, when I remove that which is causing me not to see the situation clearly. Most of the time, we must detach ourselves from the initial or onset of our  offense and step back to see the situation more clearly. How you respond to your offenses will reflect the strength of your walk, in Jesus!

Loving on you today my friend,

Bren

TO HAVE A FAITH LIKE THAT

When was the last time that you share your Testimony of what God has done for you….(not just a simple “God has blessed me” kind of remark) but something that reflects your faith in the will of God no matter what the outcome was and only He can be glorified in it. Maybe, something has happened in your life that has blurred your spiritual vision and you think has hindered your faith. Have you been discouraged, disappointed in someone and somehow allowed God to become part of that equation? Maybe because of some disappointment in your life, you have used it as an excuse to walk away from God or God’s people because you have lowered your expectations of God so that you won’t be so disappointed the next time. Sweet friend, your doubting will continue to grow and take over your influence of God’s faithfulness to what you believe about Him and what you believe He has said, and if you are not careful at some point you will begin to murmur and complain and become your own stumbling block in overcoming your lack of faith and trust in the One that you once believed in and trusted. God never walks away, we are the ones that so quickly turn from Him, because we allow our disappointments to shadow over what God does and does not do for us when we should be saying to ourselves and others, “…Shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?” In all this did not Job sin with his lips” Job 2:10. Our doubting God can turn to anger towards Him if not careful, and will eventually separate us from seeing the truth as it really is. If your faith can cast out your doubt, then what do you think that your doubt will cast out? Guard your faith and build it up by feeding it the Word of God, for it will be most useful to you during troublesome times that are sure to come! How is it that we can appear to have faith and yet unbelief in a situation. Often times we are not sure if that little bit of faith that we have is sufficient or not and feel like the man in Mark 9:24 when he told Jesus that he had faith, but He needed the Lord to help his unbelief. Sometimes, it is because we may know that God can do a thing, but we question if He will do it for us.

 

The fact that the father asked Jesus to help his unbelief, shows that while he knew that he had some faith, he wasn’t sure how much faith he had to have in his situation in order to get his son healed of demon possession. In desperation he casts any doubts or fears that he may have had upon Jesus and begged for mercy and help. Why did Jesus grant this man’s request? Did he not say that he had unbelief? The answer lies in the man’s own confession when he said that he believed. Jesus said in Mark 9:23 ”If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth”. Jesus was not requiring some type of measurement of faith from the man, but simply, an "if thou wouldst believe" kind of faith.  We must recognize the power that Jesus offers and releases to us if and when we will simply, believe. Even the disciples wavered in their faith and the Lord rebuked them for it. They were not able to heal the young boy because of their own lack of faith. The light was not going off in their heads at that point that they, were trying to heal the boy in their own power and words.

 

That is the very reason that many of our own prayers are not answered, because we are praying within our own power over a situation with wrong motives. I hate to hear people tell other people something like, “you did not get your prayers answered because your faith was not strong enough”. I hate to disagree with them but, my Bible says there is only one kind of faith and that is the kind that you either have or you don’t have. The disciples learned this as well when one of them ask Jesus in Luke 17:5-6 “The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” He replied, “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you. Jesus never taught degrees of faith. On the contrary, Jesus taught that you either had faith or you didn’t. Jesus taught that the faith as a grain of mustard seed was more than sufficient to accomplish all that we might need or expect from God. It is fascinating to learn that the mustard seed is a tiny seed that produces one of the largest plants in the world. The black mustard plant in Israel grows to be over 12 feet tall. Jesus purposely chose to use the mustard seed as an illustration because of this very fact. Faith, no matter how small, will open the windows of Heaven and call forth the grace of God into our lives, if we will only surrender it in a child-like faith trust, that reaches out it's arms to Jesus and says, "Jesus, help me up where You are". To have a faith like that......

 

Loving you today sweet friend,

Bren