ANGER

I had a precious friend share with me the other day that she was angry with God about some disappointments that she had been experiencing. Not only was she experiencing pain from the disappointment but she was battling the guilt of being angry with God as well. This dear friend’s burden has stayed with me all week and has prompted me to write this devotional in hopes that not only will she be encouraged, but others as well.

I myself have experienced disappointments and know first hand how debilitating they can be when I allow them to give way to despair. That happens because I can not see the other side of the disappointment, and because I stay so focused on the disappointment, I allow myself to become a slave to it and end up so miserable that it begins to stir anger in me. And while I may not set out to deliberately be angry at God, it happens because my focus is in the wrong place.
Instead of saying, “what can I learn from this experience Lord?”, I say, “why Lord, have you allowed this to happen” and then park my mind on the pavement of question and doubt? Remember, that is how the serpent got Eve to sin, by doubting what God said or better yet, meant.

The scripture gives many lessons on anger and I would like to share one of them with you.

The story begins with a man minding his own business and then one day God ask him to go and take the people of Nineveh the message of His love, forgiveness and repentance. At first, Jonah responds to God’s request by traveling in a completely different direction from where God had told him to go. Now keep in mind that God for-knew what Jonah’s response was going to be before He even ask Jonah to go. I am sure that while Jonah knew enough about God to know that he should not disobey, he stubbornly set aside what he knew to be truth and went with his feelings. He had his focus in the wrong place. He became focused on doing it his way and not God’s way. I would argue that Jonah did not disobey God when he got on the boat to run from what he knew God wanted him to do, but at the moment he said in his heart…I will not go. You see God had ask Jonah to do something that He knew Jonah did not want to do. Jonah despised the people of Nineveh; they were not descended from Abraham and in fact had a history of treating the Israelites cruelly. The last thing he wanted to do was to take the love of God to a people that he despised. He even stated, “I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity” and he did not want them to share in the same love and forgiveness that God’s people received.

Because of Jonah’s wrong choice (and it matters not what the choice is, if it’s wrong) he ended up in a whirlwind of disappointment and despair; slap dab in the middle of the belly of an enormous fish. God had placed Jonah in a situation (a time out chair so-to-speak) that was going to make or break his will so that God’s will would rise up and surface in the life of Jonah and accomplish what the devil meant for bad, God meant for good, to change Jonah and save a people from destruction.
But even though Jonah ended up exactly where God wanted him to go; Nineveh, and did exactly what God asked him to do, became the instrument God would use in saving an alien people, Jonah was still angry at God. Just because he was doing God's will doesn't mean that he was happy about it. Jonah prayed and told God exactly how he felt. Because God loved Jonah and was compassionate to his frustrations, slow to anger and really did not want to send calamity into his life. The Lord instead showed compassion to Jonah by making a vine grow up over Jonah’s head to provide shelter from the hot sun. Instead of sending fire and brimstone on Jonah for his lack of love and concern for others in which he probably deserved, God showed favor.

This is why in the middle of our own disobedience, God continues to show us favor…not because we may be doing everything right or wrong, but because He loves us in-spite of how we treat Him or others. Jonah also became angry when the vine that gave him shelter from the sun withered up because God had sent a worm that chewed it and caused it to die.
God ask Jonah did he have a right to be angry. Jonah actually said yes, and that he was angry enough to die. You see Jonah really believed in his heart that he was in the right. He thought he had every right to be angry. Besides Jonah doing what God had ask him to do….he felt like he was pretty much an obedient child of God at that point and was pretty sure of himself and could not understand why everything happening to him. This is a prime example of God telling us that His ways and thoughts are not our ways and thoughts....and ours not His!

Some important lesson’s that we can learn from Jonah are that when we focus on the disappointment and not TRUTH (what His Word may say about a situation, in which is always God’s will and His way for us) we will in fact become angry, disappointed and many times spiritually walk away from the Lord in certain areas of our lives. It is at that point that we begin a roller coaster ride of emotions and questions as to why we feel so disconnected from God. It almost always has something to do with us either denying what the truth is, or an unwillingness to accept the fact that we may not be able to change the situation.

We become angry for different reasons. Sometimes it’s because others have let us down and we allow our disappointment in them to fester until its taken root and has become sin in us. And because we don’t have an answer, we begin to make up our own answers in our own minds, which on the most part are never TRUTH; because they are birthed out of the sin... from anger and from the hurt that has entered us from our disappointment. Instead of showing forgiveness, we withdraw our love and allow bitterness to take its place.

We often are angry because we are powerless in a situation and do not know what to do. God knows about our powerlessness and wants us to trust in our prayers to Him to work out the situation in the best interest of everyone involved. But too often we take the role of controller and try to fix things ourselves which will inevitably make the situation worse. Sometimes, it’s because we want to make sure that the problem is resolved to get the outcome that we want. Sometimes it’s because our faith is too weak to trust God to really work it out. And still other times, it is not God that we do not trust but others that may be involved in our conflict, that they will not do the right thing and we feel powerless.

As you can see just by these two reasons alone, we can be so quick to choose feeling over TRUTH. When in fact, it is Truth that liberates us and set’s us free. As I was sharing with the ladies in my Bible Study the other night, we have got to stop living out of feelings and live in the light of what we know God’s word has to say about it. Sadly I fear that the struggle can go on much longer than it has to because we either, do not know what the Word of God may say about our situation, so we don’t have what we need to counter what is coming against us, or even worse, that we may be turning our backs on what we know, and refuse to yield to.

God’s word says that we wrestle not with flesh and blood but with powers and principalities that are lurking around looking for opportunity to trip up the children of God. Our armor is what we know to be TRUTH, not what we wish could be truth. Don’t second guess God, He was, He is, and He will always be on our side. But we MUST wear His armor; we must do it His way. So many scriptures come to my mind that give warning, provides council and confirms His love when we are in a situation that may influence us to be angry at God when pain and conflict enter our life. You see,
God knows the source of our anger and the inner workings of our minds and spirits, and He knows our limitations even when we don’t. He knows the events and experiences that make us angry.
He knows our emotions and feelings of helplessness, fear, confusion, and dismay that lead to our anger. He knows all about our situation. Just as Jonah owned up to God about how he felt, we too need to express our anger to God when we are going through trials and tribulations that seem to push us over the edge. He will hold our hand and walk through the anger with us, providing light. It is up to us however, whether we open our minds/eyes to what He is saying. Be sure not to turn away from His truth because it is not what you want to hear. Otherwise you will stay in “the whale’s belly” as long as it takes to get you to see what He wants you to see, or learn what He wants you to learn. And while God does not necessarily send all pain into our lives, He wants to use everything that touches us to grow us and make us more like Him.

If your struggle is in loving someone or having compassion, God will most certainly send a wind your way to cause you discomfort in order to change your attitude. He wants you to learn that while going through the storm if you will keep your focus on Him and not your frustrations as Jonah did while He is working on you, then the process will not be as bad nor will it take as long to ge through it. He wants you to see yourself as He sees you, or maybe I should say He wants you to see your sin as He sees it. In the first chapter of Jonah, Jonah states that he knew that he was in that storm because of his disobedience and because the storm that God sent for Jonah’s sake was having an effect on the people around him in the boat, Jonah requested they throw him over board. That too was Jonah's choice.

Once we see it as God sees it then we can deal with it and overcome it....never let the sun go down on your anger...deal with it and move on ...peace is around the corner waiting on you!

I love you and am praying God release His power over you today as you release your hurt to Him!

Bren

IMPRISIONED BY THORNS

A few years ago upon moving to the country, my husband took me on a grand tour of the property that we had purchased. Having grown up in the country, I will always remember the many wonderful things about it. The best parts being the trees, gullies and fields, covered with tall grass for the dove and quail and many types of wild berries and sweet grass for the deer. It was a pleasant surprise to see all those things on the land that we now owned. While we do have some barbwire fencing on our property, there are some places that have a natural hedge of vines and thorns that kind of act like a natural fence line. As we rode around on the 4 wheeler I kept looking back at the briar hedge and kept thinking to myself, how I would hate to have to try and get through or over that hedge. I believe I would have sooner taken on one of the bulls in a nearby pasture than to take on that hedge of briars. At least with the bull, I would have a running chance! I noticed that inside the thorny part of the hedge, rest a beautiful running vine that if I had to guess, would say the vine was honey suckle and in the springtime would become a sweet and fragrant aroma in our fields. Now I do love sucking on me some honeysuckle! Yep I am that kind of country! But no sugar on earth is worth sticking my hand in thorns to pick a single flower just to retrieve a few drops of nectar. So those briars and thorns will defiantly keep this old girl out of the honeysuckle, at least in those hedges! After our tour of the property, I continued thinking about those hedges over the next few weeks. I should have known that in time, the Lord would provide me with some lesson to teach or remind me about some sweet truth, that He was about to reveal, as those briar hedges kept resurfacing in my memory. Sure enough, as I was reading a book on Revival one morning, I ran across a reminder of how, we can allow ourselves to be imprisoned by our own hedge of thorns and that through disobedience we allow the enemy to keep us from God’s best for our lives.

Recall with me the story about the parable of the seed. 'The sower went out to sow his seed; and as he sowed, some fell beside the road, and was trampled underfoot, and the birds of the air ate it up. And other seed fell on rocky soil, and as soon as it grew up, it withered away, because it had no moisture. Still other seed fell among the thorns; and the thorns grew up with it, and choked it out and other seed fell into the good soil, and grew up, and produced a crop a hundred times as great. Jesus explained the parable this way, He said, “The seed is the word of God. Those beside the road are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their heart, so that they may not believe and be saved. Those on the rocky soil are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no firm root; they believe for a while, and in time of temptation fall away. The seed which fell among the thorns, these are the ones who have heard, and as they go on their way, they are choked with worries and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to maturity. The seed in the good soil, these are the ones who have heard the word in an honest and good heart and hold fast to it, and bear fruit with perseverance.

Now as I recall looking into the hedge of thorns on our property and seeing that honeysuckle vine growing inside, it sheds a whole new light as to what Jesus was saying in this parable about; ”And other seed fell among the thorns; and the thorns grew up with it, and choked it out”. Odd isn’t it how the thorns grew up with the seed and eventually choked the life out of the seed. It’s kind of like standing in a food line next to a greedy person who whenever you were handed food, they would reach out and take your portion and you would keep allowing it to happen until you no longer had the strength to even care about it or struggle with it. As the thorny vine grew up with the seed, it was constantly taking the nourishment from the seed until the seed finally withered away. Oh sweet friend Jesus goes on to say that if we have ears to hear and His wisdom to understand this great truth, let us do it! If we are living a life of disobedience, by not doing what we know we should be doing, then we are setting ourselves up to wither spiritually and we are allowing a thorny hedge to be placed around us spiritually by the enemy, which will limit our hearing the Lord when He speaks to us and cause us more struggle in our walk, than we might have otherwise. For every place that the seed fell in Jesus’ parable, there was a condition as to why the seed flourished or not. We must learn about them both and be ever so wise as to not allowing the devil to steal and rob us that are in Christ from God’s best for our lives. There is a quote that I heard a long time ago, no idea who said it,  ”Never take shortcuts off the road and hurry as you go”, meaning simply: don’t get sidetracked as to what God tells you in His Word to do and do it quickly without thought! Because Satan is a roaring lion, the Bible tells us, and he is the thorny vine waiting for bits of truth to come our way so that he can steal it from us, and get us to the point where we are confused about things and not sure what God’s plan for us is! He is just waiting to wear us down so that he can jump on us and devour us and take away all that God intends for us to understand. If you have allowed a hedge to be built around you sweet friend and are finding that you are now imprisoned by it, because of wrong choices that you have made, there is hope. Simply, be dissatisfied with yourself, ask God to transform your life and forgive your sins and do a thorough job of repenting, trusting what Christ did on the cross for your failures and leave the rest in His hands. Today’s the day to get on the right road!

Loving on you today!

Bren

WHEN CONFLICT MEETS JOY

I’ve two stories to tell you today about the most familiar set of sisters in the Bible; Mary and Martha. Both Luke and John describe them as friends of Jesus. According to Luke, Martha was head of the household; she was the one who welcomed Jesus into her home. Mary was probably younger. Like most sisters, these two women had conflicts which emerged because of their different personalities, roles, and simply the fact that they were siblings. Yet Jesus saw fit to speak of them in some very distinctively and moving stories that have taught us all great lessons in the area of our faith, joy, hope, peace and the determination to be the best that we can be as friends and believers in Jesus Christ. He also reminds us that our hope and joy comes from Him not our situation!

The first story begins in Martha’s home during a fellowship… Now as they went on their way, he (Jesus) entered a certain village, where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet and listened to what he was saying. But Martha was distracted by her many tasks; so she came to him and asked, "Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her then to help me." But the Lord answered her, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing; Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her" (Luke 10:38-42). What did Jesus mean when he said, “that it would not be taken away from Mary”? Along with new truths that she was learning as she sat at His feet, Mary also had much joy and contentment in simply taking the time to listen… coupled with the intense craving that she had to hear the words that Jesus had to say. For Mary’s first interest was in the spiritual…not the physical…While Martha’s original intention might have been honorable, her task that she set before herself (by asking the Lord into her home, no one else told her to do it) became a nuisance, burden, and effort to serve instead of a joy in serving. Jesus was simply saying that what Mary was going to get out of this will stay with her it will not be taken away...her joy...the truths that she will learn and no one can take it away. Martha may have started out happy but lost her joy soon after she began her task.

Now with Martha being the older and Mary the younger I am sure that there was some sort of responsibility or obligation that Martha felt that Mary should have to assist her in all the preperations even though it may not have been Mary’s idea. Yet somehow I think that one of the reasons that Mary may not have felt the same sense of desperation and urgency to go to the kitchen was because Mary was not the one who extended the invitation for the fellowship; that was Martha’s desire. Therefore, Mary had the freedom to pursue in her heart what she was led or drawn to do. To listen and learn what Jesus had to say. My point is that oftentimes, we judge others by what we are told or ask to do. We wonder in our job situations or especially in our personal ministry… why others do not see as we do or better yet….why they do not have the burden to do the work or complete the task that often times we set before ourselves because it was or is a good thing to do. We find ourselves alone… our joy depleted and our hope in ever getting the help to be only a shadow of past hopes and dreams of a work that we felt needed to be done.

You see Martha could have sat at Jesus’ feet for a while as well as Mary. No one had told her not to. If she had, then she could have gotten up and prepare the food, and by then maybe Mary would have been ready to help her, even without Martha even asking her to. They could have worked along side each other in the kitchen discussing and talking about what Jesus had been saying and had sweet fellowship with one another at the same time, both having joy in their work or task. But the result was, Martha’s focus was off….she worked and then wanted to rest….you see she had it backwards….the application that Jesus was trying to make with Martha was…..to rest before me, listen to what I have to say to you, feed yourself on heavenly manna, and then you can go about your task with balance having joy in your work. For your work would not be in vain, nor your joy be taken away from you as well as your reward….for then you could do your task with the right heart attitude… Proverbs 11:1 says, “A false balance is abomination to the LORD: but a just weight is his delight”. It’s all about balance and we can not measure ourselves properly without using God’s way of measuring and weighing our hearts and motives. We must use His plum line and His system of measuring. Had Martha went about it the right way she would not have lost her joy and had to be rebuked by her own question. We don’t have to wait for God to tell us to do something…we are not puppets, but we do need to make sure that we are well prepared before we set out to do anything….and before we begin our work …take into consideration the pitfalls and obstacles that we may well encounter along the way. Maybe Martha should have checked with Mary first to make sure that she was going to be able and help, before Martha attempted to prepare a meal of fellowshipping that turned into a throw down with Jesus.
Now there was another time when Martha was at the top of her game. In John's narrative, Mary and Martha were equally as central to this story as was their brother Lazarus was. While Lazarus never spoke a word, even after he was raised by Jesus, there was ample dialogue and action that took place between both Jesus and Martha as well as Jesus and Mary. Martha's words are especially powerful when she declares that Jesus was the Messiah.
By the time Jesus and the disciples arrive in the village, Lazarus had been dead for four days; his sisters were in mourning and many of the Jews were trying to comfort them. Martha at this point was an assertive, well-spoken woman with a deep faith; she is not "distracted" as mentioned earlier…by many things. She runs out to Jesus while Mary stayed at house. After discussing her concern for his tardiness, Martha affirms her belief that even though her brother was already dead, she knew that God would do anything that Jesus asks. Jesus said that he was the "resurrection and the life" and asks if she believes this. Martha confessed, "Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world" John 11 ….After making that statement, Martha fetches Mary, telling her that Jesus is calling her. Mary answers Jesus' invitation, runs out, and falls down weeping at his feet. She says, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died" …Jesus wept….John 11….His heart was broken over there sadness and He offered them hope….but they had to trust in Him….their trust was the vehicle that would bring about the joy that would soon fill their hearts.
Jesus' conversations with Mary and Martha transform this story from a miracle story about the raising of Lazarus into a story about the fullness of new life that is possible to all who believe in Jesus.... A story about hope and promise that no matter how our situations are for the moment, it is not hopeless….Martha knew that…she had taken rebuke in the past and allowed it to grow and stretch her faith so that when the time came for her to believe God for something really big… like healing her brother though he was already dead. Martha’s faith had superseded her failure of growing weary in well doing and supplied her with hope and served her in the faith that she needed to give Jesus the correct answer when he ask whom she believed He was. At that point Martha chose the right thing needed that would not be taken from her….WOW! I love that! Mary on the other hand modeled how people are to live as they struggle to free themselves from the power of death’s depression…. over someone that defines and limits them to move them to embrace the new promises and possibilities of life available through Jesus. Wow, what a family!
We are them…they are us….no difference. They were challenged to reach beyond themselves and take hold of the promise of something better than their current circumstances. It’s perfectly okay to question, but not to doubt. Yes… had Jesus been there He could have healed Lazarus….yes, He could have spoken the Word a far off and Lazarus could have been healed….but let’s not miss the most important verses in chapter 11, which are V4-6 …When He heard this, Jesus said, "This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God's glory so that God's Son may be glorified through it." …Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. …Yet when He heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days. You see God had a bigger plan, the others just did not realize it!
Behind every unanswered prayer there is a reason why. Martha and Mary had no idea as to why Jesus did not come and respond to their request…..they knew that they were special to Him and did not understand why He did not respond to what they were asking.
Never think for a moment that God is too far to hear your plea/s. Oh, He hears them….and He will eventually answer your prayer…by raising your despair to hope and hope to life, but in the meantime… He is working it out to bring glory to himself in the bigger scheme of it all and while it may seem like His being late is not coming….that is not true….because it is never about us….but it’s always about Him! God knows what it will take to win folks and the end of the story tells us that many Jews believed on Jesus because of what He did….who knows….those same folks might not have been around had Jesus simply spoke and healed Lazarus in his bed ….but they were there that day….you see Jesus was not 4 days late…..but right on time!! Both Mary and Martha’s conflicts became joy once they understood the great plan and lesson that they were to learn form both those events.
I love you and am praying over you today sweet friend….never ever let your circumstances dictate your joy! …and don’t ever forget that!
Bren

FINDING PEACE

I was going through some old material that I had written years ago and was reminded how relevant the experience and wisdom in those pages still are today. In the introduction I shared my own personal journey and experience of what I had learned in my own search for personal happiness. I hope that you can find some thread of wisdom and or insight in what I have learned to encourage you and draw you closer to where the answers for your own struggles lie.
Many people seek help in different area of their personal lives. Yet some never seem to resolve their problems or conflicts. They may seek professional counselors from many different sources only to find that they are not getting the answers or help that they are looking for. When in fact, they are not getting the answers they want. I personally struggled for years in my own heart for answers to heart aches and drama that seemed to follow my every step. I would go from friend to friend only to find them saying the same thing, “you will get through this, you are a good person, this will pass.” While I do not want to make light of their concern for me, I fear that because they themselves were struggling with the same issues that had not been resolved, they felt unqualified to give advice to me.
Basically, I was looking for a quick fix. I wanted someone to give me a 3 step plan that would change my life. I wanted someone to give me easy answers that would not cost me very much or anything at all (the latter being my preference when it came to surrender). We live in a day and time when everything around us seems to scream at us to just do it! It’s our lives, if it feels good to us then whose business is it what we do! Unfortunately, what feels good and right at the time has repercussions from decisions made out of recklessness or lack of thought.
The Word of God appeals to it’s readers to commit themselves to God and His direction for their lives. There are no other highways to eternal happiness and peace only one…Jesus said that He was the Way, the Truth and the Life, no one goes to the Father but by Him. Many times we try to bypass His work on the cross by knowing what He did for us, but not understanding. Jesus did not die so that everyone that hears about Him and believes He was real goes to heaven….He died to seek forgiveness from the Father for the sin of all who seek true forgiveness. Apart from repentance there can be no forgiveness. If that were the case everyone would go to heaven. Seeking true forgiveness means repenting, turn around, go the other way….stop doing….don’t go there any more! Oh I knew that Jesus died for my sins, but I did not understand the principle of repentance…..forgiveness was easy, Jesus' death paid that price…but peace only came for me when I understood my part…it was the repenting part that I had trouble with. My struggle with repentance gave way to having a struggle with peace. The peace that surpasses temporal peace, the kind of peace that lingers and stays with you in-spite of the situation… that was what I was seeking.
Peace is the most sought after commodity that the human heart seeks. Without it we live a life of struggle and torment. It seems as though we are on a continuous journey to find it. In our search we try filling our lives with temporal things. Many try filling their lives with material possessions, some try in relationship after relationship and many try filling their aching hearts with religion or jobs in hopes to fill that empty void that constantly seeks after peace through material things.
It is not things that give long lasting peace. True peace comes through that inner assurance that we can draw from an inner strength that is not our own. That no matter the conflict, we find that we are soaring above it. For it is within our own strength that we succumb to wits end during difficult times. I personally have found that finding the peace that lies within me is only as hard as surrendering my will and strength to the Father’s will; for peace lies within the surrender of the will. For it is in Him that my strength is made strong.
We can never discover new oceans unless we are willing to loose sight of the shore. To attain what the Lord wants us to have, we must let go of what we are trying to keep. John 8:31-32 tells us that if we continue in His Word, then we are His disciples indeed, and we shall know the truth, and the truth will make us free.
You were created for one purpose… to know God ...and by knowing Him and His ways you are made free. If freedom never comes it will be because we do not continue to know God… and to know is to obey…..One thing that God’s Word says that shall stay with me all the days of my life and drives me to live for Him is this…. “if you love Me, you will obey Me”….
To let go and let God have our all, in every area is not an easy thing to do…but it must be done to have what our hearts long and ache to have….peace and contentment in all our ways.

Remember this:

Sin will take you further than you want to go, keep you longer than you want to stay, and cost you more than you want to pay. Seek peace and pursue it!
I love you and pray that the Father will blow His breath on you today, and you will feel His presence in a new way.
Bren

WHERE DO YOU PLACE YOUR VALUE?

Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap nor store away in barns, and yet your heavenly father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life? Matt 6-26-27


What is your value in? Some people put their value in what they have or what they can get. For some it’s what they have, money, a great job, their body size or looks….while others place their value in what they can get….a new tattoo, implants, facelifts and so forth. To the child of God, the reason that we struggle with these false values is because we either forget who we are in Christ and continue to want to impress the world by following the world’s example, or we have not yet persuaded ourselves that we are good enough and understand who we are in Christ. I am not saying that it is wrong to posses or to acquire any of the things mentioned above (like the old country preacher said when ask was it a sin to wear makeup…”if the barn needs painting, paint it!). I am saying that accepting what we can not change is simply the best thing that we can do when we find ourselves struggling with inner turmoil and issues that if we allow them to, will dictate our joy and trust in the Lord.

Begin to see your value as the Father sees it. When he created man and woman he smiled because His work was perfection. The winds were a million times more refreshing after they were created; the flowers a thousand times more fragrant. The sweet sounds of the birds singing sounded more melodious, the trees were much more beautiful, and even the fruit of the tree more delicious. The sun was brighter; the moon lovelier and the stars seemed closer... as great and as perfect as it was... creation itself was enriched in every way because man and woman were on the scene. No one dared to challenge His perfection, until sin came upon the scene.

Perhaps you're living under the burden of shame caused by painful incidents from your past mistakes, or some insults from others. Please believe me dear sweet friend, you don't have to let your past dictate your joy for your present and your future.

God treasures you as His valuable child and wants to restore you to the state that you were created to be; you're called to step into an inheritance of love and overcoming power. But if you don't view yourself as God sees you, you can't live the life He wants you to live. His Word tells us that Jesus not only came to bring new life, but to bring it more abundantly. Many never reach the abundant life in it’s fullest because they choose to struggle through life determined to do it their way, and in their struggle to be the boss of their own life without total surrender to God, they become crippled spiritually. Some will choose to spend their entire life spiritually crippled and in constant pain instead of choosing what they really know down deep in their hearts they should be doing yet are unwilling to surrender or obey.

Choosing obedience to God is truly one of the hardest things to do many, many times. It’s kind of like going on a diet. I know to get the weight off I must submit myself to the task of controlling the flesh and obeying what I know is best for me and not what I know my mind is telling me that I want. Yet when I give into the flesh and eat the wrong thing or don’t exercise when I know that I should, I am convicted by the truth in me that is trying to guide me to do the right thing. If I continue to ignore that conviction, I will soon loose the will power that enables me to stick to my commitment to reach the end goal that I am after….and that goal is not really to loose weight, but to be obedient to what I know is the right thing to do. As I am obedient, the weight will come off and that is how God meant it to work. Our focus should not be on what we want to attain or get out of the obedience but to obedience itself.


As a child of God, life really is not that complicated….the Father tells us that “If we love Him, we will obey Him”….plain and simple. If we are obeying Him life may not be a bed of roses that’s for sure….but it sure makes the thorns more bearable and helps us to see our value as he sees it, and when we do, we don’t have to struggle with our worth or why we are the way we are or why we don’t have the things that we don’t have. We find that the satisfaction that we receive from knowing that we are doing what we are ask to do and be what we are ask to be, is simply enough.

When you look in the mirror or inside yourself today, you may feel like the barn needs some paint, and if you do…that’s fine, but remember this….before you start the process of painting you might need to do some prep work in scrapping and sanding or after you apply the paint, you may either still see all the rough places under the paint that you did not remove or take care of first….or you may like the instant change but still not be content longterm…and you’ll know that if you find yourself constantly repainting….

Psalms 34:10b say’s,… but they that seek the Lord shall not want any good thing.
It is a daily moment by moment thing where we place our value…let’s make all our efforts profit us and do it His way….

Loving you and praying for you today!
Bren

WHEN YOU ARE LEFT ALONE TO WORK IT OUT

Is your heart heavy today? Have you a sadness in your soul that is exceedingly sorrowful…even unto death? Do you feel an overwhelming lack of control over your situation. Maybe you don’t feel that kind of anguish but your heart is heavy and burdened over a situation that you are going through and you are feeling a little alone and without direction.

May I encourage you today sweet friend… that you are not alone. You have never been alone. You simply feel that way because you are searching for answers that you may not seem to find at this moment and time. You may even know the answer but you are unable to do anything about it. Your hands are tied and nothing can be done but endure it.

May I remind you about the time when Jesus Himself felt alone and sorrowful and his heart was so heavy even He Himself said it this way….He said to those with Him, “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even unto death; tarry ye here, and watch with Me.” Matt. 26:38. Yet they did not…they kept falling asleep on Him….yep, in His darkest hour his friends forsook Him and He was alone…all that He ask of them was that they would pray with Him…I mean they knew that His heart was heavy….and while they might not had yet understood what it was all about, they could have at least made more of an effort…At least that was what Jesus was thinking.

Finally, He went away on His own again….and prayed fervently entreating the Father if it were possible to take the cup that Jesus knew that He was going to have to bear from Him ….. The scripture goes on to tell us that the agony of Jesus' prayer reached its climax and His sweat was, as it were, great drops of blood falling down to the ground in Luke 22:44. Now I have been pretty broken over some hard times in my life but I must tell you that I have never felt aguish to the point where I sweat blood; and I have found comfort many, many times in knowing that Jesus has felt far more pain than I have and He can be trusted to help me through mine. Never had Jesus wrestled with a decision like He had that night. It was during those moments that His divine nature wrestled with his human nature. Without confusion nor division, He willed out His way to be His Father’s way….and that dear friend is what you and I must do when we come to our garden with prayers of that magnitude.

We simple must will our way to become the Father’s way. It’s not about me God, we must pray….not about what I want…..but what is the best way….what is God’s way. Jesus had to think not of Himself… but all mankind. His decision would have the greatest impact on the future of all mankind for their salvation and restoration to God. Now came the hour when all this was to come to pass. When mercy and grace would kiss to bring mankind the love that God so loved the world with…Jesus knew that in order for this to all come about there was only one way….and He doing it God’s way was the only way….It was because of the decision that He made that night, that Jesus would become the only... “Way, the Truth and the Life, and no man could come to the Father but by and through Jesus”…. that in a few hours the Son of Man, lifted up on the Cross, would draw everyone to Himself through His self-sacrifice, His love and yes…..His obedience to what was being asked of Him to do.

You see, while Jesus was asking His Father to take the bitter cup that He would have to drink from Him, He would accept God’s way and His will as the best thing for His life should the Father say..."there is no other way Son"....that was the most human moment of Jesus' life, to ask His Father to consider another way...yet in His heart He was willing to accept whatever agony He must to submitt to the Father's will.

The Lord submitted His human will to that of God and sought only to do the will of His Heavenly Father. His spiritual food was to do the will of Him that sent Him and to finish His work… according to John 4:34. The sinless Saviour was to lift upon Himself all of mankind's sin, so that He, Who had no sins of His own, would feel the burden of the sins of all mankind and would experience such sorrow over it, and was to experience all the horror of man's separation from his Creator. You see that was where He suffered the most pain...seperation.

The pains that you and I feel are great….the burdens are heavy…yet we can not even imagine the pain of how a soul feels separated apart from God in hell….you see hell if for no other reason is hell…because God is not there…the separation, I believe that caused His great agony was brought on because of this one fact…He was to be separated from God…...and Jesus knew that….He understood in ways you and I can hardly fathom. When He was on the cross, His words confirmed His greatest fear…..He was forsaken….God turned His face and could not even look upon Jesus because of the great sin that He bare while hanging on the cross….think about it a moment….Jesus walked with God…he was God….His Spirit bared witness of the Father, He had never spent one split second of His life without feeling the presence of the Living God….and for a time, on the cross, He was left alone to bear the weight of the world’s sin…..WOW….I think that makes Him about the best most caring understanding person that ever lived….and who is worthy to be sought after in our garden, when we are left alone to make dreaded decision that we may be facing….

So you see, He understands our pain….and while it may be different….pain is pain….if you burn me with a match or a torch….it matters not…the stings of the pain is the same…..Jesus was left alone and He had to work through His pain and sorrow….and thanks be to God for our sake…that He said, God’s will be done…

So today my sweet friend…give it up….give it over…..let Him win….because you really, really….really need Him to do that for you! Don’t focus on the outcome of how or what you want it to be…but focus on surrendering whatever it is that He is asking you to surrender….
I love you and have prayed for you today…don’t give up…don’t give up….don’t you dare give up!.....Keep pressing on….life is but a vapor…it appears for a while and then it disappears and only the decisions you made will be left to represent you….look up… your help drawth neigh!

All to Him I Surrender...all to Him I freely give! You can do this!
Love,
Bren

CRYING THROUGH OUR HEARTACHE

"Consider it pure joy my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perserverance." James 1:2-3

I often wonder why the Lord leads me to write so many devotionals on being overwhelmed, weary or constantly challenged in one way or another. It’s not like I live in constant tribulation, but I do feel the ramifications from the trials and testing of my faith. Often times when I feel inundated or bombarded with testing’s… I have found that I can actually file away my feelings and emotions and deal with them at a later time. Maybe you have found that you are able to do that as well. Sometimes it’s a good thing to be able to file away emotions and deal with them when we are alone and can think clearly as to what needs to be done, or how we should respond to a certain situation. Our prayer life is our best defense against the back-draft that trials can bring. It become a buckler to help shield us as our prayers sift through what we are up against….and many, many times, I have found that the simple release of tears produce an overwhelming and refreshing outlet that can bring a sweet release from the pain or sadness that may come from the emotion that has been filed away. The Lord has many ways of bringing us to deal with the emotions that we have stored away and sometimes it may be through tears along with our prayers; and there have been many times that the Lord brings me to emotion by arousing me to tears through a song that He has brought my way.

One day I was telling the Lord that I sure would like to hear a new song, one that I had not heard before that would minister to my heart. Over the next few days after that, I was sharing with Charles about this new song that I had heard titled “Hold Me While I Cry” and, that upon hearing the song, I just broke down and cried. Every word in that song entered my ears and went straight to my heart and then flowed down to my mouth as I found myself whispering them as a prayer. I simply cried, sang along and prayed. After I went through the song several times doing that… I felt so revived and refreshed….The words in that song were the very words that I needed to say at that point and time to express how I was feeling… as I poured out my heart to the Lord my sadness turn into worship and there I sat at the alter of the Lord praying and singing. I felt a wonderful release to all the sadness that I had been storing in my heart over a situation that I had filed away and not dealt with. It was at that point that I realized that James 1:2-3 was at work in my heart developing perseverance in me, and if allowed… could become pure joy as I reckoned my situation to be to my advantage.

Wow, what a wonderful thing to be in the presence of the Living God, my God…my Father….Romans chapter 8 tells us that God the Holy Spirit takes our feeble and frail prayer requests and brings them before God the Father, translating them into that which is acceptable to God and in harmony with His will. Romans 8:26-27 even says that in the same way the Holy Spirit helps our weakness: for we do not know how to pray as we should: but the Holy Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words…and He who searches the hearts, knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. Just imagine that…The Holy Spirit intercedes with just the right words that we are feeling but can not express ourselves…..Oh the times I have felt that way and I know that you have felt that way as well….you want to pray over a certain thing and as you begin to pray….the words just do not seem to be there to say….it’s as though you don’t know what to say…and you don’t! The scripture say’s…”with groanings too deep for words”… That’s when the Holy Spirit steps up to the plate and begins intersession for us…on our behalf….God’s Spirit in us His Children… talks to Himself and explains what we need to say…and while some find it hard to understand….the experience of the Holy Spirit’s expression on the behalf of the saints is so wonderfully awesome and is acceptable to God ….

May I encourage you today, to step into His presence real soon and find the comfort and release that you may need from a storm that may be brewing over you right now; or even something that you have filed away to deal with at a later time. Even if He chooses for you to stay in the storm a while, that’s okay…just rekon with yourself that you will not waste the suffering that you are having to endure for this present time and begin to consider it joy. The peace will come as you release it to God and realize that you are not alone….He has not neglected you….but you must go to Him….He is waiting for you now!

I love you dear sweet friend….please know that you have been prayed over today right where you are…. Hang in there….hang in there….and go to the Father, He is waiting for you! …that’s where I’m headed….
Loving you in Christ,

Bren

WORRY IS CAUSED BY CALCULATING WITHOUT GOD

Do you realize that all our worry is caused by calculating without God….

Lately, I’ve had a few moments I must tell you where my spiritual knees have been somewhat shaky and wobbly…My heart has been breaking and my mind has chosen to wonder away from the stability of spiritual reason…..that’s doubt by the way! The Lord in all His mercy and patience is trying to remind me that fretting is only an indication of my struggling to have it my way. The worry is present only as long as the fretting is.
It is always easy to encourage others to just rest in our nest of what we know God’s abilities are until our own nest is upset and disorder and anguish is brought on through the circumstances of our situation. God’s word tells us…let not your heart be troubled… God, will not keep our hearts from being troubled….but He tells us to make the decision not to let our hearts be troubled, based on what we know and believe about Him….(actually He commands us by saying “Let not…”) and through that formula our hearts can find rest and peace in-spite of the situation.
Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him….that simply means…to take your way of doing it and do it His way….and He will bring whatever that thing is to pass….but He will do it, His way….His time….what’s best for everyone (least we forget that life is not about “JUST US”…..). He is working it out for everyone’s best interest… I so love that about Him…(unlike me, He is not selfish that way….that’s why I long to be just like Him….)
It’s all about the purging and the purifying of our flesh. God’s Word teaches us that we are being purged in the refiners fire….God allows us to be taught by our mistakes as well as the mistakes of others, if we will but learn through the eyes of a hungry student seeking and desiring truth and wisdom.
In the end it’s all about the coming to terms with, My way….His way….Other’s way….God seems to have a way of upsetting the things that we have calculated without Him. Unwise choices and decisions made because we or others are making plans without His input to begin with. We get into circumstances that were not chosen by God because we did not factor Him into the equation in the beginning… therefore we reckon with evil and begin to work our reasoning from that standpoint…see how easy it is to think our way is the right way at that point! Wow, the devil is so sly…he takes us around the long way, because he knows that most of us will not take the time to figure him out, and realize that we have been had….
Rest will not depend upon our external circumstances but in our own personal relationship to God Himself. Do not do any calculating without Him. As a matter of fact He should be our divisor or factor……which will evenly divide without leaving a remainder (room for doubt if you will)…..( I do remember a few thing from math class)…So haul yourself up a million times a day in order to do it…so in the end, the rest comes and there remains to be a constant flowing river of peace through your soul. A peace that instead of saying “Why God does this thing have to come?”…it says….while I do not understand it all… nor do I like what is happening, I will not be destroyed by it, nor will I allow it to rob me of my peace, my joy or… my heart’s desire to continue to believe in a sure future for all of those involved….and I underscore the latter…. I will not be destroyed by it, nor will I allow it to rob me of my peace, my joy or… my heart’s desire to continue to believe in a sure future for all of those involved…

No matter what others may say or think, nor what the devil has tried to wire us up to believe…..we must hold on and continue to go back to that resting place where we know that peace awaits us…..and every time we fall out of the nest…..we will pick ourselves up and place ourselves back into the nest… and there will we rest on His promises that while we may be dismayed for the moment we will not be destroyed…

Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you; I will help you. I will uphold you...Isaiah 41:10

Be strong and courageous; do not fear or be dismayed because of the king of Assyria, nor because of all the multitude that is with him; for the one with us is greater than the one with him. 8With him is only an arm of flesh, but with us is the Lord our God to help us and to fight our battles… Chronicles 32:7-8

We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed. 2 Corinthians 4:8-9

Be strong and courageous I love you and have prayed for you today!
Bren

"THOUGH IT TARRIES, WAIT FOR IT." Hab.2:3

Uncertainty is often times looked upon as a bad thing. It has it's tendencies to drive fear into our hearts because we can not see the outcome of it. We imagine that we must reach some end yet we have no idea to which that will be! Common sense tells us, "what if...or suppose this or that"....but we can not suppose ourselves in any condition we have never been in.
To be certain of God means that while we are uncertain about a given situation...we are certain with an expectation that all things work together for the good to those that love the Lord...while we may be uncertain of the next step...we are certain of God....it is at that point that we abandon ourselves to God...the difference is that while we may be uncertain of what God may do next, we are not uncertain of His presence and awareness of the situation.
He is no absent during His silence....He is busy at work...doing things that we can not see and may never know...but He is worthy to be trusted and a comfort upon whom we can lean....He understands our doubts and fears and is able to sympathize with our weaknesses. Remain loyal to Him! Take on the role of the postage stamp and stick to Him until you get to where you need to go. That's what I am going to do!
Love you and am praying for you today,
Bren

THE TIME IS UPON US...

The Scripture say's: "For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear." 2 Timothy 4:3

Be Careful who and what you listen to these days and remember that we are never to big for a good spanking...and for that very reason many will not want to hear Truth being taught, because it convicts man of his ways and delivers them to walk in the ways of God...if they choose to!

BROOM TREE LIVING

A Broom tree is more of a desert shrub than it is a tree and is found in many parts of Judea. It has long flexible branches and forms a bush that reaches heights of up to 12 feet. If you were to go walking in the deserts of Judah you may even find Nomadic desert dwellers finding shelter and protection under them from the strong night winds and the hot desert sun in the day. What a place of retreat they become for those who seek shelter under them. There are times when I feel like retreating or taking refuge myself under a tree somewhere, preferably at the lake…fishing. But there are sometimes that I just want to retreat from everything and everybody. Emotionally drained, spiritually dry, tired of the constant attacks against my faith and the demands placed on me by others, as well as myself….whew….it can all be so overwhelming emotionally, spiritually and physically. I was thinking about all this the other day and the Lord brought the prophet Elijah to my mind. He reminded me that Elijah had those same thoughts. As a matter of fact Elijah got so down about his situation that he became afraid, and his fears led him to run off into the desert. There he came to a broom tree where he sat down under it and prayed to the Lord that he might die. Now praying to die is a very serious situation to be in. While I have only felt depression that bad one time in my life…I can attest to the fact that there have been many other times that I have wanted to run away to a place of recluse and be alone. When those times of wanting to give up and quit… being so tired and fed up, discouraged and depressed, wrung-out, drained and burned-out… thinking I cannot take another step, fight another battle, or proclaim another word from the Lord to anyone….yeah, I can understand from feeling all those thoughts how good an old desert broom tree might look….fishing or no fishing. Elijah had just come down from a mountain top experience with God when Jezebel, the wife of King Ahab, sent word that she was looking for him…to kill. She hated Elijah with a satanic hatred and Elijah knew it. Now James the half brother of Jesus said of Elijah (James 5:17)… that he (Elijah) was a man with a nature like ours…yet he moved heaven and earth with his prayers…and in I Kings 19, we find him in a totally different place spiritually. How could he have had such a faith in past times and yet, struggle to trust God to be in control of his current situation. Elijah was a busy man. Busy for God, busy for the people and too busy for himself. He was a man that had done great battles, and dealt with ruthless people. He called fire down from heaven and saw God destroy 100 false prophets in one whack….he saw God feed a starving old woman and her son through the power of a prayer. He saw God raise the widow of Zarephath’s dead son through his prayers, yet at the moment when he heard that Jezebel was after him to kill him… his faith was weak and his heart was heavy…heavy enough to cry out…"I have had enough Lord….I want to die….I’m no better, no different than my fathers before me", he told the Lord! Why?…..because in thinking that he could not go any longer, he failed to realize that he was limiting God as well as himself. He was focused on his work. He had reduced himself down to where he had wrongly concluded that God’s work was limited by the boundaries of his own work and since he felt defeat for himself and unable to go on, he failed to see that he was merely a frail instrument in the hand of his mighty God. Elijah was placing too much responsibility on himself and he needed not do so. God does not expect us to make it happen…He only ask that we be the vessel or instrument that He uses to do whatever it is that He needs us to do. Now there is no doubt that Elijah was a great man used of God…about that there can be no doubt. Few men other than Jesus ever possessed the authority that he did. So when we see and hear Elijah under the broom tree we realize that someone greater and stronger was behind him and only that one greater could be his help and release. We can know that ultimately our battles continue to belong to the Lord. Like Elijah, we are but weak and frail instruments in the hands of a mighty and awesome God. The devil is attacking us from every direction. He attacks us through the increasing decadence of our culture. He attacks us through a secular humanism that wants to remove all mention of God and Christ and prayer from the public square as well as our own memory. He attacks us through churches and doctrines that strive for political correctness, the tickling of ears of those who want acceptance instead of repentance and obedience to the Word of God. He attacks through wrong friendships that seek to misrepresent the TRUTH that we once believed…and encourage wrong living…And He always attacks us through the wickedness of our own hearts. For Elijah the devil attacked him through his thoughts and beliefs. Elijah was challenged to base his faith on what He knew about God…not what He felt at that time. Elijah did not stay under the broom tree forever, but he found rest, food and retreat to get back on his journey. God took care of Elijah’s enemy and provide him the help that he needed through Elisha his servant. God knew that one day Elijah was going to recruit to that broom tree in the desert. He knew it back before creation began. He even knew that Elijah was going to pray to die. Yet, the Lord used his life before the broom tree and ministered to him, feed him and gave him the rest he needed during his depression and discouragement….and afterwards, Elijah got up and got back in the battle. Now sweet friend I may not know where you are today….but I can assure you in faith that God has not deserted you….if you are tired and weary of your situation, hang on….find your broom tree, get under it and pour your heart out to God….let Him feed you and provide you the rest you need in His arms….then may I encourage you to get up when the time is right and get back into your ministry, your job, your family….cause God is not through with you yet… and besides you can’t live under your broom tree the rest of your life. God told Elijah… to eat, drink and rest because God knew that Elijah’s journey was going to be great…and so Elijah did rest and eat and sleep…..and when God was ready to speak to Elijah He spoke in a gentle blowing wind…a quiet word …not in the big stuff that Elijah might have been use to seeing….but ever so softly…the Lord spoke and told Elijah what He needed to do….Elijah was tired and felt alone…like he was the only one left that loved God and wanted to do right and serve Him…..God knew the desires of his heart and that Elijah needed a friend, a companion that shared in his zealousness for God…so God sent Him to find Elisha to anoint him to one day take Elijah’s place …but in the meantime…the Bible says in I Kings 19:21 that Elisha arose and followed Elijah and ministered to him. Just think about that a moment….God sent Elijah to the exact person that He was going to use to encourage him. Had he stayed under the broom tree he would have never met his future friend that was to be his helper and encourager for the rest of his life! Don’t you dare be discouraged friend…you are loved even when you don’t feel it, see it or even believe it...Keep on keeping on, even when you don't feel like it....God's people are to walk by faith not by sight.....nor how they feel…please know that I love you and that you have been prayed for today! Keep on keeping on…don’t give up….don’t give up!

Bren

SO MANY ROADS, BUT ONLY ONE WAY

The road you may be on may be rugged today,

but never give up on the way!

In the words of a song I love, we are all searching for a better way, some find it in the arms of the world and others just aimlessly roam. If you think that you will find it on the back roads, you’ll loose precious time while you stray….cause the truth is… there are so many roads…but there is only one way! Friend may I encourage you today to find that road and put the petal to the metal and never….never ….never turn back!

In 1 Sam. 30, it begIns with David and his men arriving at Ziklag their hometown. Instead of finding rest in their homes and joy with their families as they expected, they found their hometown burned, plundered and their wives and children taken captive by the Amalekites. They were so distraught by this discovery that these warriors wept aloud until they had no strength left to weep, the scripture says. They were already exhausted from their journey. Now they were heartbroken because everyone and everything they loved and valued was gone, and they were angry over the turn of events. Their anger had turned into bitterness and was in part directed toward David, whom they felt should have had some of the men stay behind to protect their city from such a fate as this.

David’s faithful followers spoke of stoning him for this! God’s word says that David was greatly distressed. Bear in mind that David, at this point, had already been anointed to be the next king of Israel 1 Sam. 16:1-13. He had been fleeing from Saul, who wanted to kill him! His lifestyle had been anything but ideal for the last 6 or 7 years, hiding in the desert and caves from Saul who was jealous of David yet during this time, he spared Saul’s life twice. After showing mercy repeatedly to the very one who wanted him dead, he now faced this great test of multiple disappointments. This was to be the last test for David before he took the throne as king and it turned out to be the most severe. He was on the brink of blessings, even though he didn’t know it!

After David encouraged himself in the Lord (I like that part), he inquired as to what he should do. He took the right way…by inquiring of the Lord as to what he should do, instead of jumping up and running off down the road with only his anger to fuel his cause and no direction in which way he should go. He was told to pursue the Amalekites and that he would overtake them. David had 600 men, some stayed behind, and 200 others gave up to exhaustion along the way, but David and 400 men continued their pursuit. In the course of all this disappointment and frustration as they searched for their enemies, they found an Egyptian slave that had been abandoned by his master who was an Amalekite. He had not eaten anything for three days and three nights and had been abandoned three days prior because he had become ill. The slave told David that he had been with the Amalekites when they raided and burnt their hometown. He also said that he would tell them how to find their camp if David would spare his life and not give him back to his master.

They could have very easily ignored this man’s needs and taken another road with their determined desire to be reunited with their loved ones. However, they chose to show mercy on him even though precious time was ticking by. It turned out that this man was God’s means or road to providing David and the others the exact location of the Amalekites! It was a good thing for them that they were merciful to that Egyptian. Little did they know at first the important role he would play in accomplishing their goal to get their loved ones back.

Well, as God had promised, they did find the camp of the Amalekies, they fought them and won…they got their families back as well as every single item taken from them by the enemy. God restored it all. David had more than one road he could have taken, yet he knew in his heart that there was only one way and he chose it; God’s way!

May I encourage you today that no matter where you are and what the enemy is throwing at you or trying to take from you, that you first encourage yourself in the Lord Your God….and as you do you will feel the Lord’s strength begin to well up in you, and as it does, you will find that your desire becomes His desire …to do things His way and have His direction.

Here are some things that I do to encourage myself:

1st Through Prayer.

In Phil. 4:6-8, 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. Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

2nd Listen to Praise Music and Sing Praises.

Praise elevates us into God’s Presence with power. Ps. 22:3 say’s the God inhabits the praises of His people. Paul say’s that rejoicing is a safeguard in Phil. 3:1. but also in the latter part of Ps. 8:2 the psalmist say’s it (Praise) is the God-given means to silence the foe and the avenger…Saul had David play and sing praise music all the time because it eased his depression brought on by an evil spirit…whenever David would play and sing…the evil spirit would depart from Saul and he would be refreshed…1 Sam. 16:23.

3rd Encourage myself through Christian fellowship.
Nothing is sweeter than to be around other Christians who can lift you up by praying for you and being an understanding friend. 1 Cor. 15:33 encourages us to stay away from those that are not building us up in the Lord but corrupting what God is trying to do in us by bad company or friends with morals that differ from that of God. Hebrews 10:24-25 and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.

4th Bible study with meditation upon God and His Word.
We are to study God’s Word to show ourselves approved unto Him as His reasonable servants. The more we know His Word the more we have to combat the enemy when confronted.

5th Remind myself, reflect back on the times that God has been faithful.
Ps. 42:5,6 …Ps 9:9 The Lord is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble. I Peter 5:7 says to cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you…..I’m feeling better already!

6th And finally…Encourage someone else.

Take the focus off myself and place it on someone else….no scripture needed here! 2 Cor 4:8-9 We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. Now let’s take a deep breath and be on our way….remembering to love each other as we go!

I love you and have prayed for you today!

Bren

SPIRITUAL TENACITY

If your hopes are being disappointed just now, let me remind and encourage you my sweet friends to view your situation from God’s standpoint and not your own. Begin to see your disappointments as they are….being purified. One of the greatest strains that I have ever had to endure in my life is, "waiting for God". Isaiah 57:10 says, You were wearied by all your ways, but you would not say, it is hopeless. You found renewal of your strength, and so you did not faint. Sometimes we are strained because of wrong choices, sometimes because of wrong choices made against us. Whatever the source and direction it came from the strain is genuine and can appear to be hopeless and unchangeable. But the one thing that we must acquire to endure the strain is, Spiritual Tenacity. Tenacity is more than endurance, it is endurance combined with absolute certainty that what we are looking for is going to come about. It is more than hanging on, it is to believe and work deliberately on the certainty that God is going to work it out and or bring a thing about. I have learned about spiritual tenacity from my own spiritual walk as well as watching others who posses its influence and strength. In watching the winter Olympics I am always impressed by the endurance that the pole vaulter's have when they are trying to jump higher than the last competitor. Apart from all their endurance that they acquire from the training and tenacious coaches, there would be no way to jump higher. They would remain at the limbo stage. Never raising the bar any higher than their last jump. That is what God does in the life of His children….He pushes us to the next stage of experience and lesson to make us better and our endurance stronger. He is simply purifying your disappointment until it becomes your friend. He is allowing your troubles to come in order for you to learn how to vault over them. He will not shield you from the requirements of the training…but will be there with you and will uphold you as He walks with you in every step that you must take. Rise to the occasion, do that thing that you must do…what matters the most is not how it hurts, but is God being manifested in your soul through it. The New American Standard Bible’s version of Is.57:10 says…you were tired out by the length of your road, yet you did not say, it is hopeless, you found renewed strength, therefore you did not faint….I like this version because it exemplifies the length of the strain …we can so tire of being weary ….so remember our hope is in our renewed (revived, reestablish, recover, restore, begin again) strength….that way we will not faint even though we feel like we are being sleighed for a time… May God keep up the good work of sanctifying us unto Himself….and may He knock out the whine in us as He is bringing it about. When we realize this important truth, we will become the broken bread that can be used to feed and nourish others around us….Bless God….that is some good stuff right there! Let us say...though He slay us.....yet will we serve Him! I am loving on you and you can endure this thing… Bren

DON'T GROW WEARY IN DOING WELL

There are those that spend their lifetime befriending and helping others, only to see a few respond to a helping hand. Many times in reaching out to people, you will find yourselves growing weary because you think that it is not paying off... because you do not see a change in those that you are reaching out too! Some are takers and some are givers, we all understand that! However it is not up to the giver to change the person that they are reaching out to, but only to extend the loving hand of God. The Lord did not give us the power to change people, but only to be a partner with Him in the process. He will not change people without their permission! They must desire to change! Helping and reaching out to others is simply an extention of spreading the Gospel.... The Scripture say's that God's Word never returns or comes back VOID...that means that whether we see the fruit of of our obedience in spreading His Word or not, it served it's purpose by doing whatever it did! Many times God's Word only convicts people...though they are never changed...but still yet, it served its purpose! If we will begin to view our helping others in this way we tend not to grow weary in the work. For we understand that it is not the outcome that we are to focus on but the work itself...Christ said not to grow weary in well doing...for He too understands the longing that we have to see people changed by our love or help to them. Some people will let you give and give and never change nor mature for a lack of spiritual laziness on their part. This we cannot change. We will all answer to the help that we received from others and how we showed our appreciation for it. But we will all also answer for how we responded to the needs of others as well. We are His hands..we must view it from that perspective and leave the outcome to Him and how He will deal with those that take advantage of His help by never growing or changing... least we grow weary in the work! Let me encourage you this week to keep on keeping on sweet friend...for the world needs our love because when we express it and share it, we are simply extending the love of God to them in hopes to meet a need that they may have....how we could change the world more effectively if we God's people were to love each other better than we do....even the scripture reminds us that the world will know that we are His by our love for one another! Don't grow weary...for in due season....you will reap your reward for being faithful to what the Father has ask you to do! I love you and have prayed for you today! Bren

ABIDING

My grandson and I were riding around the other day on an old golf cart Charles had recently gotten me and that we now affectionately refer to as “The Donkey”. As we were riding around in the fields, my grandson pointed out to me that the bushes that had flowers on them a couple of weeks ago now are heavy with red berries. The branches were just drooping from the weight of all those berries. He and I both are looking forward to picking them when the time is right.

Ever wonder how a branch can be so bogged down with what may appear to be a burden of heavy fruit and yet look so healthy? How does it manage the strain of bearing so much heavy fruit and yet for the most part stay fully intact and attached to the vine? What is the secret of those branches? Do you think that they are naturally ingrained to do so….or maybe their DNA understands that their responsibility for production or results is solely on the vine and not on the branch. Well one thing we do know for sure…is that, that is How God created and plan it to be. The scripture tells us that if we belong to God and are His Children, that Christ is the vine and we are the branches' and that we are always only one step away to having peace and harmony in our lives if we abide in Him.

Yet abiding can be so very hard to do…why? In John chapter 15, Jesus told His disciples to “Abide in Me and I in you”…and went on to say that, “As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine; so neither can you, unless you abide in Me.” The problem with abiding is that the flesh in us is constantly struggling to break away and be independent and on our own, especially if things are not going like we want them to or moving at the pace we are expecting. It’s a power struggle thing …the Flesh in us to do it our way and the Spirit of God in us to do it the right way. Abiding is fine as long as things go our way…but when life throws us a curve ball, it is then we are tested to see if we are abiding in the vine or allowing the weight to become an excuse to break away from the vine adn venture out on our own.

You see….Abiding is not simply a matter of coming to Christ or being still…but it is a way of life. As the fruit is connected to the branch for it’s nourishment and life…we are to be connected to Christ for our life support, every breath, thought, motive we have is to become captive to the captor which is Christ the Lord. His Word tells us that He is molding us and making us into His likeness. Now if we do not like this, then we had better reconsider if we are even a part of the vine or not. What I mean is that while we may not like the pain of the change, if we belong to Him we are glad that He is making that difference in our lives and we crave with the strongest of desires to be more like Him and that is the glue that holds us to the vine…the simple fact that we want to be.

While at times when Christ is slaying us…we must understand that He is only molding us into His image; which is a pretty good image if you ask me! God wants us to endure the race, and we can not unless we learn to abide in Him and His Word in us. Abiding is a choice, it is a verb that shows action; something we do. Abiding is not being idle, it’s making a direct decision to do something and that something is obedience to Christ and what He is asking us to do; trust Him…obey Him….for there is no other way to be happy and at peace. Yes, peace will be there if we are abiding….it only leaves us when we allow doubt or disobedience to step in and replace it!

The fruit that God intends us to bear will never come until we learn to abide in the vine. Fruit can be defined as the outward expression of the inward nature of the vine; and that is exactly what God wants us to see. The scripture tells us that lost folk should be able to know that we are part of that spiritual vine if we are producing spiritual fruit in our lives. The inward nature of a Christian should reflect a visible manifestation that Jesus Christ is there; present in that person that claims the name of Christ. The fruit of a branch is produced only because of it’s attachment to the vine. The branches should flow with the spiritual fruit of the nature of God Himself manifested in His only Son through His Holy Spirit. It is that very same Holy Spirit that longs to manifest Himself in us filling us with the very nature of God Himself.

Jesus said Himself, when we see Him, we see the Father; when we know Him, we know the Father! The key to staying connected to the vine and bearing constant fruit is described in Psalms 1:3 “and he will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither; and in whatever he does, he prospers.”

But to be like the tree that David is talking about and how the man becomes successful starts back in verse 2 “But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night.” Those streams of water in verse 3 is the living word of God that flows freely but we must be willing to drink of it for it to do us any good. We must study it, meditate on it… to know Him better….otherwise it’s like passing up a crystal clear water hole in the middle of the dessert… because we choose not to take from it the nourishment needed to sustain and keep us attached to the vine let alone produce growth and fruit in it’s season.

When we are abiding in Christ, we have His best! Even when life does throw those curve balls at us and the weight on us seems momentarily more than we can bear; in Christ we are not swayed by that weight….neither hopeless or even helpless…others may look at us and wonder how we manage it with such difficulties all around us…yet if we stay connected to the vine He promises to hold up our branches that yes even others may be witnessed to by and even encouraged!

Abiding is simply staying the course, not breaking away from our spiritual source…staying connected in His Word and obeying what He tells us to do …and may I say peace to anyone who can find it….but I tell you there is no Peace like the peace that God gives to His children!

Loving and Praying for you today! Hang In there...Don't you dare give up!

Bren

John 15-1"I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes[a] so that it will be even more fruitful. 3You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 4Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.5"I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. 7If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. 8This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples. 9"As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. 10If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love. 11I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.

YOUR PRAYER LIFE

Do you ever find yourself struggling over what you feel like is unanswered prayer? Most of us have gone through discouraging and perhaps puzzling episodes of unanswered prayer. Typically we begin the Christian life very optimistic about the possibilities of prayer; then we have some disappointing experiences with prayer and skepticism sets in. Few experiences pose a greater challenge to our faith. Maybe you had committed yourself to pray frequently and earnestly that God would do a certain thing for you, and because by what seemed to be unanswered prayer, you felt like He never answered it at all… or, He answered it in a way that you were not happy with….maybe you even questioned as to if God even heard your prayer or not!

My own confidence or conviction that God answers prayer springs not only from biblical teaching but from personal experience as well. But it has taken time for that conviction to grow into a strong and abiding one; and while I still stumble around in the waiting part of prayer…I am confident that God will answer my prayers according to what is best for everybody and every situation involved.
It’s not that God refuses to grant His children their request, nor does He not hear them…but, that He simply understands the outcome better than we do. Appreciating this can do wonders in keeping us from losing heart when our prayers seem to go unheeded. While it is very clear in the scripture that if we ask it will be given to us…if we are asking it in His will then we will not struggle over the answers to our prayers…..God’s Word also tells us to seek and we will find….What that means is that we are to seek and search for God in our situation….in our prayer request…many times too often we state our prayer request and move on….but oh dear friend…we must learn to do more than that in many cases…..we need to learn to knock and when we do…God will open Himself up to us and show us His love and will in that request …to sustain us in whatever the answer may be….and that sustaining love ends up being our fervent answer over anything that we take to Him in prayer.
May I say that there are different types of prayer request that require different types or ways in approaching the Lord on their behalf. Some types of prayers require a simple request….ie, “Lord, help me to be like you”….that prayer is a given….why? Because we know that according to his Word that that prayer request complies with His will…..meaning , He has already said clear and simple…be ye Holy, even as I am Holy….so there is therefore nothing else that has to be said…..However, the tougher prayers are when we are praying our wills to become His will and His word does not have a specific passage that we can go to that may pertain to our request…..that is when we find ourselves seeking Him and searching for Him ... knocking on His door simply means that you will do anything to get into His presences over a situation…like His word tells us to do…..it is then He will open that door…purify our hearts and satisfy our pain and lack of understanding and assures us that all is well… He is in control and knows the situation better than we do. It is at that point that we can know if we are praying in accordance to His will or not! Because, if we walk away fretful and without peace, then we have not severed those strings that will keep us captive and weakens our faith ... and it is then that we realize that we are unwilling to yield our way into His. Jesus prayed in the garden before His death….”Father if it be possible to take this cup from me”….but in the end Jesus proclaimed His Father’s will be done and not His own….how else could He bear what He had to bear except through coming to terms with the will of God! It was the coming to terms and submitting to those terms that provided Jesus the power to go through and endure whatever God’s answer was to be…..He sought God in that Garden…He knocked on the door that stood before Him…and when He entered in….He and the Father supped together and Jesus left that garden with the peace that He ultimately was seeking from the Father….and that peace only comes through surrendering our wills to the Father!
"...The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availed much." James 5:16b This verse has zeal in it....or feet you might say....it's going places and seeing things happen! Many times we grope for an explanation to our experiences of unanswered prayer and we attribute the problem to lack of faith we say, " We just didn’t believe strongly enough " and indeed, this can be a problem ... and yet even our motives can be the culprit of unanswered prayer, as James 4:3 reminds us to pray in Jesus’ name and when we do, it simply means to pray with a desire for his will and glory. I believe that it was Andrew Murray that said, “the thrust of the biblical promises is that God limits much of what He does on earth to what His people are bold enough to request through prayer.” We are to pray and to keep on praying ... especially when hard times come our way and burdens seem too hard to bear. It is through continuing prayer that our desires become clarified. Some grow stronger. Others fade away and we’re grateful that God refrained from granting them! Jesus told the parable that we might “always pray and not lose heart” Luke 18:1. Clearly H e meant that we shouldn’t give up praying about specific personal concerns, no matter how long it takes to receive an answer or what that answer may be. If we hang in there, we’ll discover that God is more abundantly willing to grant our petitions than we’ve imagined. But we must do it His way and by doing it His way, we are granted the peace to endure the answer ...whatever it may be!
Imagine if we never had to seek out an answer …I can promise you that we would never know God on the level that He calls us to know Him on if we did not seek Him out as the precious treasure that He is… Hebrews 11:6 says,”But without faith it is impossible to please God… for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him. "...you see He makes it all worthwhile ...if through our faith, we do it His way!
Develop your prayer life...by seeking, searching and knocking!
Loving you and praying for you today!
Bren