Fall's Harvest Is Upon Us

  Fall is a perfect time for harvesting that which has been sown and then retreating from all the hard work that spring and summer demands from us. Every season has its own way of displaying the beautiful handiwork of God. As we move into fall and see all the vibrant shades of red, yellow, orange and purple leaves blowing and dancing around in the wind, if we listen carefully, we can also hear a persistent and gentle calling for us to reflect and retreat into God’s Word from our daily stresses and hard work.
  Fall is a perfect time to grab a warm cup of coffee, God's Word and settle in to Autumn's beloved season by spending time with Him in His Word. Spending time with God in His Word corrects our spiritual vision as it so often needs correction. It helps us to see things as God does, and when we do, we understand the urgencies that He places on our lives to live and walk rightly, as He calls and leads us to. Jesus often used the picture of planting and watering to describe the urgency and importance of helping to bring people into God's kingdom. The disciples needed to have their vision corrected at times as well. They had thought, that they had lots of time to work towards the harvest. But they found that this wasn't just something to do when they got around to it. But was to be a part of their daily lives.
  The Bible is clear about the importance in the mission of soul winning and our involvement in it, to assist in the planting, watering and the harvest of precious souls. In John 4:35 Jesus said, "I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest." 2 Corinthians 9:10 says, "He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness." So you see it pays to soul win! It is a win, win for both the sower and the receiver. The fall of life is a great time to focus on God’s wonderful blessings; family, friends, strength, shelter, provision, guidance, care, fruitful ministry, opportunities to serve, more time to pray and the study His Word, and our eternal life, still yet to come as we look ahead.
  The world may fade, the stars may fall, the seasons may change, and winter may come. But the God who has been our help in ages past is our hope for years to come. In Him His children have permanence, stability, joy unshakable, and life unending as we will enjoy His fellowship a million years from now and then through eternity. Today sweet friend you may be one of those that have had spiritual seed sown in your life but have never really responded to it. Some of the saddest words in the Bible are in Jeremiah 8:20, “The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved.” If you’ve never made a commitment to Jesus Christ, do it now, while there is still time. "For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation. 2 Corinthians 6:2 During this harvest season, we are reminded that we cannot reap a harvest unless we sow seeds and water them. Then we must wait and be patient. There may be times when it seems that nothing is growing, that we might not reap a harvest, but, all the while, God’s principles remain true. He promises that, If we are faithful, we will experience a harvest in the right time! His Time! Are you part of the reapers sweet friend? Are you part of the harvest? Have you been sowing seeds with your time, talent, and treasure? It's not too late, begin this Fall to sow in order to reap a great harvest! Time is short, and is already upon us!

Hold Fast,

-Bren

LIVE EXPECTING SURPRISES

 Do you remember the story of the  "Three Princes of Serendipity? It is an old classic about three rulers who set out to find treasure and while they were looking, found something even better than what they had expected. The word serendipity means to, “live expecting surprises”. As a child of God that is exactly what we should be doing; living, expecting God to work on our behalf far beyond our expectations!

  One day, God surprised a young shepherd boy named David, by calling him to be one of the greatest kings the world has ever known. From a burning bush God also called a forgiven murderer to lead His people into the Promise Land and free them from their burdens and bondages that they themselves had gotten into. As one door shut and other doors slammed, Paul, a man that once struck fear in the hearts of early Christians, thinking that He was doing God good by killing the very ones that believed in God's Son, became a humbled, broken Christian himself, a man of great faith; a vessel that God would use to bring a non-Jewish world the gospel message for the first time.

   Many times we’re the very ones who shut the doors to our own God-given opportunities that God places in our lives. Life is a strange carousel where good and bad visits us in equal measure. But it’s us, with our attitudes and thoughts, who should push the wheel of expectation of what God may want to do in and through us, that keeps the prayer wheel turning, with optimism and renewed hope so that in the end, what we desire and pray for may very will arrive, in God's time. More often than not,  it would be better for us to be like ears of corn in a field and adapt to the coming winds, to be flexible, light and patient on what God is working on our behalf about. Imagine that you have a friend that has just undergone a disappointment. You try to help that person, but they approach what happened, with disappointment, hurt, anger and resentment. You see at that point they stop believing that God is working on their behalf as well as others and refuse to love. They stop trusting people and see themselves as the sole recipient in their situation. This type of attitude closes doors of what would be blessings. They block themselves from seeing any break through that God may want to provide them, if only they would trust Him. God appears not to show up for them because, they no longer have the faith to see Him in their situations.

   All through the ages God keeps showing up in the lives of people. He is showing in your life and in the life of others even today. He is showing up unexpectedly and He is changing things! He is still the God of surprise and says to you and I, "See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland." Isa 43:19  Perhaps you may be saying, "if you only knew my situation, you'd understand that nothing is ever going to change. Yet, the scriptures tell us that, "Therefore will the Lord wait, that He may be gracious unto you..." Isa. 30:18 Oh sweet friend, did you hear that? I said, the scriptures tell us that, "Therefore will the Lord wait, that He may be gracious unto you...". He is just waiting to show what He can do for you! Talk to Him, find out what His plans may be for you. If He doesn't tell you right away, be still and wait, but trust Him and start looking for His handprints on your life.

   God longs to be good to us, but He does require obedience from us, and if He tells us to Look, See, Do, then we need to listen and obey! Real life isn’t defined by our mistakes or failures necessarily. We are what we learn to overcome and what we allow ourselves to be once we clear the storm clouds away from the horizon that reflects the promises that God has made to us; if we will obey and trust Him. When we do this, we will find the happiness that our hearts are seeking.

Hold Fast,

-Bren

COME INTO THE LIGHT

There is no such thing as good light or bad light, there is just light. There is however a vast difference in how light is projected and the conditions under which it is cast. In the world of photography there are two types of light that can create different moods and situations known as the golden and twilight hour. Golden light as it is known, is so real and striking, that it has its own nature and can become a character in its own right. It conveys true reality and brings a sense of calmness and happiness. It is the truest form of light sought by true light seeking photographers. While the light during those twilight hours has its own beauty, it does not give a true or exact reflection of what is being photographed. It has to be enhanced to create or convey a projection in order to see the beauty in it. Light travels in a vacuum, space or straight line. It bends and changes direction when it hits an object. These are ways that light energy is manipulated.

God is the truest form of all light. John 1:5 explains that God is light and in Him there is no darkness at all. Light is the nature and character of God. He is not a light or a kind of light; He is the light itself. All light comes from Him. At the beginning of time, He created the light to dispel the darkness and chaos that was over all the earth according to Gen.1. Then He created the lights in the sky, the sun, moon, and stars. As light itself and the source of light, He had only to speak and light came into being. Darkness on the other hand represents everything that is the total opposite of God.

The scripture has a lot to say about light as well as darkness. Mankind has an enemy that portrays himself as light and he is the devil. According to scripture, he wants to hide God's light from mankind and works his crafty delusions by using light mixed with darkness to bend, change and create an illusion of beauty and truth as his version of God's will for us by manipulation. 2 Corinthians 11:14, tells us that Satan masquerades himself by "transforming himself into an angel of light". Ezekiel 28 gives some description of him. he was created perfect and beautiful and was full of all beauty and wisdom in his original created form. his name was Lucifer, meaning “Day Star.” God dressed him in the finest jewels and placed him on the Holy Mountain and he was perfect in his ways until the day iniquity was found in him.

 Like humans, even angelic being have free wills. It was by satan’s own desire that his pride in his beauty and abilities overtook him. By her own desire Eve too, was convinced that the tree was desirable (by her eyes) to make her wise in Gen. 3:6.

James 1:13-15 tells us, "Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death." satan does not make us sin, he is only responsible for enticing us by thwarting truth and leading us away from the light of it.

Eve had been warned by God in Gen. 2. "thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die". 1 Peter 5:8 reminds us to, "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:" Our enemy wants us to listen closely as he whispers into our mind, taste and see he calls to us, look at this or that truth, as he mixes them with lies to distort, bend, discolor and break down our belief and faith in God and the plans He has for our lives. his primary goal in every attack on us, is to take down our faith with every blow. his forces are hell-bent on his strategic objectives according to Eph. 6:10–18.

The faith of a Christian is God’s chosen channel to bring his saving, sanctifying, strengthening, healing, and delivering grace to the world. If satan can weaken our faith, he can immobilize us, kick us, make us look bad, and use us to mock God. Light and darkness cannot exists in the same place at the same time because light will always cast out darkness according to John 1:5. Remember that! We are in a spiritual war. If the fighting doesn’t get fierce, we are likely not engaged or doing anything threatening to Satan. But if satan is fighting us, he perceives us a threat. Through the promises of Jesus, He will help you to overcome the enemy’s most lethal weapons. But you must first come into the light where He is. Rev. 12:11a says, "And they have defeated him by the blood of the Lamb and by their testimony." Do you have a testimony?

Hold Fast,

-Ben

 

Apostasy - Part 2

There is a common thread that unites every church that turns from truth to apostasy and that thread is that they have set aside the authority of God’s Word. This is the most well-worn path to apostasy taken by an apostate congregation. Consider the spiritual ground that is lost when the church surrenders biblical authority. If Scripture does not speak with absolute, inerrant authority, the offer of justification by grace through faith cannot be extended to desperate sinners. We have no leg to stand on if we do away with the sufficiency of Christ as the sacrifice for sins, or His authority as the head of the church nor, are we unable to cling to the glorious truth that was imparted by way of the cross. Without these truths, man has no guarantee that God’s wrath against sin has been satisfied. There can be no assurance of faith, no hope of heaven, and no confidence in the promises of God for salvation in John 3:16. Doing away with the authority of Scripture to the authority of men only paves the way for false doctrine and false teachers to infiltrate a church. It invites theological confusion, elevating the words of fallible men over the inerrant Word of God. Romans 1 gives us a true glimpse into what the world will look like once truth has been shut out and God's light is no longer allowed to reflect biblical truth and authority.

The enemy's plan and intention is designed to exchange the gospel of grace for a man-centered system that pollutes the purity of God’s truth. It clouds biblical doctrine with superstition, tradition, an extra-biblical revelation, which all leads to a demonic deception. Jesus rebuked the scribes and Pharisees because they were making up rules that were not given to them by God, but from their own corrupt intentions and were laying heavily upon the people. They preached a separate theology than that of what God had instructed Moses to give them. Churches today are so invested in attracting people and I fear that in their attempt to bury their theology under the welcome mat, they are losing any solid spiritual ground that they may have had. That unbiblical model of outreach is the very thing dulling many churches’ ability to reach the world with the gospel. Filling the pews with comfortable, unaffected unbelievers is the fastest way to confuse and corrupt the work of the church. God has not called His people out of the world to chase its trends in vain attempts to seem relevant. The church cannot be salt and light in this world if we are indistinguishable from the very people that we are seeking to reach as described in Matthew 5:13–16.

Sadly, the fate of an apostates not only ends in destruction for themselves, they take those who listen to them and believe their false teachings with them. Speaking to His disciples about the religious leaders of His day, Jesus said, “Let them alone; they are blind guides of the blind. And if a blind man guides a blind man, both will fall into a pit." Matthew 15:14 Jesus affirms that it is not only the false teachers that go to destruction, but their disciples also follow them.

Matthew 13:24-30 explains how in the right time God will deal with apostates. In one of His parables Jesus told the story of a farmer who sowed good seed on good ground, but while he slept an enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat. Tares are poisonous weeds that look just like wheat in the early stages. But if eaten by a person or an animal, nausea would occur, convulsions, and in certain circumstances, even death! This was a spiteful act of malice by the enemy to do such a thing. The enemy had nothing to gain, except to ruin the wheat crop of the farmer. When his workers realized what had been done they asked the farmer if they should begin removing the tares, and he told them no, that it would be easier to tell the difference at harvest time. He added, that at that point, they would bring the wheat into the barn, but would separate the tares into bundles and burn them. Apostates will always be in the church. It is not always clear as to who they are. Their teaching is so close to truth at times that if possible, even God's elect would be deceived. But O friend, God knows who they are and at the right time will deal with them properly. Matthew 7:21-23 gives us a glimpse of that day. Our churches are full of people who have a religion but they do not have a personal relationship with Jesus as Savior and Lord. Philippians 2:12 tells us all to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling. Billy Graham once said that his greatest mission field had been the roll books of churches. Many that were brought to Christ through his ministry had been church members. Examine yourself today sweet friend whether you be in the faith!

Hold Fast,

Bren

 

 

Apostasy - Part 1

An apostate is someone who claims to have once been a Christian but renounces their so called faith and denies truth as "absolute truth". They are not simply A non-Christian, who never chose to accepted Christ as Lord and Savior. They are not simply an unbeliever who has yet to receive Christ, nor are they a struggling Christian. There are many people who are Christians who love the Lord and yet, have periods of struggle and disobedience. An apostate is someone who is or has been inside God’s covenant church, rubbing shoulders with true believers and who has professed at some point a faith in Christ only to later consciously and intentionally repudiate their belief in Christ leaving the covenant community all together. A tare amongst the wheat as scripture calls them. That is what an apostate is.

 Some people get confused by these apostates, because they believe this means that they lost their salvation. But the answer is that they did not lose their salvation but rather, never had it to begin with according to Mathew 13: 24-30. This is something that the true Church is always going to face and the scripture warns about it. A church can fall into a state of apostasy through apostate teaching. Churches can descend into apostasy on a wide variety of issues. They deny the essentials of the faith, like the divinity of Christ, the sinless nature and life of Christ, salvation by grace through faith and not of works of man. They succumb to mysticism, worldliness, false teaching of all sorts and a host of other misuses of scripture that are designed to corrupt the church. Be aware of churches whose leaders are proud and boast that their memberships are open and tolerant of all forms of licentiousness as the scripture calls them and even go as far as affirming acts of fornication and immorality and do nothing to condemn them. Sin is not confronted and church discipline is not faithfully practiced in them. Over time, the conscience both individually and collectively grows cold as unconfessed sin becomes the norm, and the church bears no discernable difference from the world. That is a picture of an apostate church.

 A church does not descend into apostasy overnight; the changes are slow and steady. Rejecting Scripture’s authority as the priority is the first step and usually followed by a succession of compromises. Their biblical mindset changes in order to accommodate worldly thinking like: "Maybe we can be more relevant and inviting to the world if we don’t take this verse or that sin too seriously. After all we don’t want people to think that we are judging them" "and besides, God is the god of love". That kind of church is bound to end up attracting the culture rather than edifying and properly equipping the saints.

The dangers of apostasy were warned about in the book of Jude, which serves as a handbook for understanding the characteristics of apostates. Jude’s words are every bit as relevant for us today as they were when he penned them in the first century. Jude tells us the reason that we should contend earnestly for the faith in verse 4. He says, “For certain persons have crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ”. In this one verse, Jude provides Christians with three traits of apostasy and apostate teachers. He first says that apostasy can be subtle. Second, Jude describes the apostates as “ungodly” using God’s grace as a license to commit unrighteous acts. Third, Jude says apostates “deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.” and in doing so denies the divinity of Jesus.

It is important to remember that ideas have consequences. Satan did not come to Eve with an external armament or supernatural weapons. Instead, he came to her with an idea ("surely God did not mean what he said") that caused her to question truth. The Scriptures say that apostasy will only get worse as Christ’s return approaches. “At that time (the latter days) many will fall away and will betray one another and hate one another” Matthew 24:10. In describing the dangers of apostasy, A. W. Tozer wrote, "So skilled is error at imitating truth, that the two are constantly being mistaken for each another. It takes a sharp eye these days to know which brother is Cain and which is Abel."

Hold Fast,

-Bren

PEACE IN YOUR SITUATION

God's Word does not flatter us as some would have us believe like, the fairy tale stories that we read to our children at bedtime. The problem with fairy tales is that they subvert reality. Some even go as far as presenting the idea that our goodness and little faith can secure us from our troubles, but the scriptures speak more of the reality that we live in and warns us over and over again, to expect troubles as long as we live in this world. Our faith is meant to prevail us through any hard time that may come our way. Any promise outside the boundaries of scripture only risk modifying the beautiful simplicity of God’s redemptive plan for our lives. Our afflictions come from all points of life's compass, and are far too many to count. Psalm 34:19a tells us that, "Many are the afflictions of the righteous..".  

It is our human lot to find thorns and briars growing in our pathway and even in our lying down amongst them. Psalm 34:19b goes on to say, "but the Lord delivered him out of them all". One day God shall lead his redeemed scathed-less and triumphant from the fiery trials of this world to the next, for there is an end to the believer's affliction, and a joyful end too! None of the enemy's trials can hurt so much as a hair on our head, neither can the furnace hold our spirit for even a moment when the Lord bids us home. But until that time comes, Job 14:1 reminds us that "Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble." Our troubles may be many in number, strange in their nature, heavy in measure of them, but God's mercies are more numerous, His wisdom more wondrous and His power more miraculous. He promises His children that He will deliver them out of all of them, at His appointed time. While a lawyer can deliver his client from his charge, a physician may deliver his patient from an illness, a banker may lend money until the borrower's pockets are full, and in his heart man can plan his course and set his way, but according to Proverbs 16:9 it is the Lord that directs his steps. Do you ever get discouraged? Sure you do and so do I. In fact sometimes it feels like the world itself is against us, and we are overcome with feelings that "no one really cares" and "nothing seems to work out".

Sometimes we get discouraged because of our past regrets, and sometimes we get discouraged because God so clearly has not answered a certain prayer as we cry out for help, when and the way we want Him to. We pray for sunshine He sends rain. Discouragement is a real feeling, and it’s a real tool the enemy uses to come against us. If you let it sink in, discouragement will press you down, take you out and hinder you from doing what the Lord has called you to do. Yet, in our discouragement, there is hope! Psalms 34:17-18 says, “The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears, And delivers them out of all their troubles. The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart, And saves such as have a contrite spirit." Today sweet friend if you are discouraged and need something more tangible to hold on to, than a fairy tale dream, turn to the One who knows you best and is waiting for you to seek Him with a humble and contrite heart. Get a Bible and dig around, searching through verses. Find verses that encourages you in the Lord. A merry heart does good like a medicine. Proverbs 17:22

Find out what God says about your situation and then trust His Word. It has power to give life, if you let it penetrate your heart. "Many are the afflictions of the righteous, But the Lord delivers him out of them all.” Psalms 34:19 I think we often times misunderstand God's way of delivering us out of our trials. We doubt and become discouraged because God does not give us the kind of deliverance we want. While we want out of the situation God may be wanting us to find peace within our situation. You see sweet friend He is the peace that we seek not simply freedom from the circumstance. The most obvious biblical example of the false equation of this kind is in the book of Job. As Job’s family is killed, his financial status in ruin, and his health poor, Job’s friends surround him to convince him that his plight is the result of his sin. Yet it absolutely was not! Job learned to worship in spite of his situation which brought honor to God and blessing to Job. I pray today that if you are discouraged that Jesus will lift your spirit and whisper truth in your ear. Run to Him to find peace in your situation!

 

Hold Fast,

-Ben

 

WHERE DOES YOUR THIRST LEAD YOU?

 

Are you spiritually thirsty today? If so, how would you rate your thirst?  Would you say you are desperate or slightly thirsty? Are you in need of a cup of Spiritual moisture or are you holding out a bucket for a downpour? O to have the most intense craving after the Most High! David cried in Psalm 63:1, "O God, You are my God; I shall seek You earnestly; My soul thirsts for You, my flesh yearns for You, in a dry and weary land where there is no water." Friend, the dirty wells of this world can never satisfy the deepest need of your soul, Jesus only, is able to quench that desperate thirst that you have and nothing else will or can, satisfy. That is part of God's eternal plan. You and I thirst after Him because He created a spiritual well within our heart that nothing outside God Himself, can fill. Christ departed so that God's Holy Spirit could be imparted to those who will allow Him to come in and sup with them. Living, moving currents of spiritual water never become stagnant, but is always on the move seeking out human souls that need God's nourishment. Not only does living water come inside, it flows outwardly from the vessel that it inhabits to refresh others as well.

Casually wanting a drink of water is not thirsting. We know nothing of real thirst, when tap water is at our fingertips. But when every pore cries, "water"; when our lips swell, when every thought, hope and desire is solely concentrated on nothing but one cooling drink; that is thirst. If not by now, at some point in your life, you too will seek this living water. You may not realize that "living water" is what you seek as the woman at the well in John 4 was seeking and may very well try to fill that seeking with other means and may even find for a while to be satisfied. But eventually, the thirst will return only to beckon you to the well that never runs dry. In the physical realm, water quenches a person's thirst. In the spiritual realm, however, once you have tasted God's living water, while you are satisfied with finding what your soul searches for, you will find that your spiritual taste buds have changed and nothing else can ever satisfy your thirst like He does. In fact, your thirst for fellowship with God is directly connected to how much living water you drink on a daily basis.

Once you have tasted God's water, no other type of drink will satisfy. Our thirst for God is a wonderful tool that God uses to cause us to keep coming back, returning to Him again and again and as we do, we find that His well runs deeper than we could have ever imagined. The deeper we go, the sweeter the water becomes. This is the purpose and the plan for our spiritual thirst. It will draw us to it and as we come to God in the study of His Word and through our praise and prayer life, we find ourselves growing into His likeness being properly nourished and as we do, we walk with the Living God Himself; that is what He desire of His creation; to walk with Him, to Know Him personally and enjoy being in His presence. The more frequent you drink, the deeper and sweeter your relationship becomes and this supernatural experience is incredibly refreshing. Jesus said to the woman at the well, "If you knew the gift of God…" “But whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” John 4:14. Jesus was telling her that if she is constantly seeking to satisfy her body, her spiritual self will languish. “For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace” according to Romans 8:6. Are you perishing today from spiritual dehydration and cannot get satisfied? If so, the problem is never with God's supply, but rather, with our going to Him in humility and brokenness, knowing that He is the giver of what we are searching for. He longs for you to come sweet friend, will you today?

Hold Fast,

-Bren

HOW ARE YOU PLANTED?

God uses the tree to teach us the critical components of building a successful spiritual life. No tree can survive and grow without nurturing and anchoring roots. The emotional sustenance provided to us by our parents in our early, formative years are our roots. Like a gardener watering a sapling, our parents nourish us with their love and nurturing. They cultivate the foundations that anchor our lives, and their validation infuses us with self-confidence. Don’t be deceived, some people might look like mighty trees but when you cut below the surface you may discover roots that have short root bases, under watered roots, lack of proper nutrients. What happens if a person is lacking roots, or the roots are compromised? It’s like a tree that is lacking the nourishment necessary for its survival. Without healthy roots we end up having a weak faith base, lack of spiritual nutrients for a healthy spiritual walk, which in turn effects virtually every aspect of our lives. Why? Everything needs a root. To be secure in life, you must have a strong root base that is nurtured and growing. Your roots are your emotional and spiritual sustenance. For a tree to bear fruit, it must have solid roots and a strong trunk. If the roots begin to deteriorate, the rest of the tree will also deteriorate. The fascinating thing about roots is that even though the roots are beneath the ground, the roots are also the reason that the tree grows.

Majestic trees grow outward with free abandon, but their roots are deep within the earth underneath them. They say that the only thing that grows in two directions at once is a tree: The roots grow downward as the tree grows upward. Even though the roots are not visible to the naked eye and don’t seem so obvious, they are like the foundation of a building. Its solid foundation allows it to grow. Think of it this way: A bird first needs a protective nest before it can fly. When you have a nest to come back to, you have the confidence to fly securely, your confidence has been built up by the nurturing it received at its nest. People who don’t have a proper nest, might look like they are flying, and they might actually fly, but they are not flying securely.

The tree trunk is a metaphor for unwavering solidity, standing firm because it was planted correctly. While underground roots are the indispensable foundation of a tree, which allow it to grow upward and outward, a tree also has a solid trunk above ground. Trees are known for their solidity. A strong tree does not get destroyed in a storm. It sways, but it stands. The firm tree trunk reflects our solid, unwavering values; our integrity. What do you believe in? What is your purpose in life? What are boundaries that you will not cross? In what areas of life are you reliable, and in what areas of life are you spontaneous? Does your spontaneity need to be balanced by reliability, or vice versa?  The deeper the roots, the greater the fruits. When we have healthy roots and solid values, we reflect a healthy life. Growth is the ultimate expression of a successful life, one that does not simply remain standing, but is always growing and spreading out. Growth also includes bearing fruit. What is the beauty and power of a fruit? Boundlessness. The fruit, via its seeds’ germination and growth, can continue to produce fruit even after the end of each fruit life. Fruits have perennial impact. The seed bears a fruit, and the fruit in turn bears seeds, which then bears more fruit.

The life of a fruit gives us a taste of eternity. Fruit defines our eternal impact as humans. In our life journey we have the opportunity to plant seeds wherever we go, through our kind words and good deeds. You may have said something to someone 10 years ago, and then you hear that your words bore fruit. We don’t always see the fruit borne from the seeds we plant, but we can be assured that our good fruit will continue to produce good things even after we are gone as our fruit, bears more fruit in a never ending continuum. "But he who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty." Matthew 13:23

 

Hold Fast,

-Bren

DO NOT PARK!

Wouldn't it be wonderful if before every mistake we made, a flashing yellow light would pop up in our mind's eye screaming to us, "don't go there!" Making mistakes is a normal part of our everyday lives. But if you're dwelling on your mistakes and they are bringing you discouragement and defeat, there are things that you can do to make it better. However, you have to make the effort.

There are some places that we should never allow ourselves to stay if we stop by and make a visit on the road of regret. Those are the places that will distract us, disturb us, defeat and destroy us if we let them. Anger, discouragement, worry, doubt, guilt and fear just to name a few. God's word tells us the right things that we are to think about and dwell on and instead of pulling up and parking our minds on the wrong things we need to quickly choose to think on those things that will help us move on.  Sometimes, the mistakes we make are more serious than others, and more complicated. It may also take us longer to learn from them and to change our ways. The most important thing in these instances is to learn how to accept what’s happened and move forward, rather than dwell on the past. When you make a mistake, keep in mind that it doesn’t mean anything about who you are as a person if you are working on making it right.

Try not to jump to conclusions about your worth or value. Your reputation belongs to the Lord.  No one’s perfect, and that’s okay. When you mess up and you will, don’t hide the fact and don’t try to sugar-coat it, own it and face it. Even though it’s often a really difficult thing to do, it’s important that you accept full responsibility for your actions. If others are involved, you are only responsible for the part you play. The sooner you deal with it, the sooner you can get yourself back on track. If you’re making excuses for yourself, you’ll simply just prolong the process. Philippians 4:5-9 says, "The Lord is near. 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. ... And the God of peace will be with you. I love how Paul speaks to his friends, he says, "Therefore, my brothers, you whom I love and long for, my joy and crown", "that is how you should stand firm in the Lord…!" God's word tells us how we should think and what perspective to think in.

I love the story about the small blind boy who every day sat on and old wood crate in the city park. Beside his feet was an old bucket that had a sign taped to it that read, “I am blind, please help.” One day a kind man came walking by and noticed the boy. As he looked inside the boys bucket, he noticed only a few dimes and pennies. The man reached in his pockets and pulled out all the money that he had and placed it inside the boys bucket. He then took the sign, turned it around and wrote some other words on the back of the sign and placed it back on the bucket so that everyone who walked by would take more notice. Before long, the bucket was overflowing with money.  For the first time, more people had taken notice of the boy than ever before. That afternoon the man who had changed the words on the sign came to see how things had gone. The boy recognizing the footsteps from earlier that morning  asked, “Are you the one who changed my sign this morning and if so would you tell me what you wrote?” The man said, “Yes son, it was me and I did change your words, but I only said what you said, just in a different way.” I wrote, “Today is a beautiful day but I cannot see it.”

You see friend, that man did for that little boy that which the little boy knew not to do for himself. While both signs told people that the little boy was blind, the boy’s sign simply said that he was blind. The man’s sign  reminded  people to be thankful that they were not blind. God is trying to help us, if we will allow Him to re-write the scripts that we play out in our stinking thinking. So, on those days that you are tempted to dwell on stinking thinking, be sure not to park there, but move on! The Higher Road is by no means easy, but it is the right way!

Hold Fast,
-Bren

WHAT A BIRD TAUGHT ME

The great blue heron is a large wading bird often seen standing silently along inland rivers and water fronts on the Gulf Coast. Sometimes they are misidentified as cranes and are a common sight along the beaches, especially around fishing docks and piers where they hang out in hopes to snag small fish that anglers may throw their way. They are generally solitary feeders that locate their food by site and swallow it whole. Sometimes these birds have been known to choke on their food, if it is too large for them to swallow. Their  feeding behaviors consist of standing in one place, probing, pecking, walking at slow speeds, moving quickly, flying short distances hovering over the water, to pick up their prey.

This past week I spent a little of my vacation time getting to know a blue heron, dubbed "Jeffery" by some of the young boys who played along the docks that we fished on. It was amazing watching this calm, tall, bluish-gray wading bird with his graceful S-shaped neck stand with endurance as he waited on his breakfast, lunch and dinner, provided by us, the local fisher folk. I read that these birds spend 90 percent of their waking hours hunting for food, or in Jeffery's case, waiting for us to throw him food. While these birds can wait a long time for feeding, their attack on their food is sharp and swift. We watched Jeffery as he watched us fish. He never took his eyes off the corks unless we were removing the fish from our hooks tossing them his way. Once the fish was removed from the hook and dropped down on the dock, Jeffery moved in with lightning speed to pierce the fish with his sharp spear like beak and then toss the fish into his mouth, swallow and return to his sitting position, ready to retrieve his next free meal.

One of the things that I noticed Jeffery doing which amazed me was how he watched me cast out my bait and then, the patience he had waiting for the cork to go under. The moment I began to reel the fish in, Jeffery would began to move closer to me. It was though he was expecting the reward and could not wait to receive it. I thought of many spiritual comparisons as I watched my little friend, but the one thing that I could not get off of my mind was how he moved with lightning speed as he saw me reel in his meal. Jeffery reminded me about the verse in Isaiah 40:31 that says, "But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint." They that wait upon the Lord implies, the expectant attitude of faith. For the faithful, there is no failure, and faith knows no weariness. This so pictures Jeffery! His still waiting reflected such confidence in my catching fish for him to eat. What an example to me of my own patience with God working in my life.  

May we all learn from Jeffery and therefore watch against doubt, unbelief, pride, and self-confidence. If we go forth in our own strength, we will faint, and utterly fall; but having our hearts and our hopes in the Lord, we will be carried above all our difficulties, and be enabled to lay hold of the prize of our high calling in Christ Jesus. Matthew 6:26 says, "Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?" God is fishing today sweet friend on our behalf. May we sit watchful and waiting, as He reels in the plans that He has for us!

Hold Fast,

-Bren

CHANGE YOUR PERSPECTIVE

While trying to help a group of patients deal with their grief, a young phycologist took them out into the middle of a busy city street and had them observe their surroundings. He then, took them up to the roof of a tall building on that same street and told them to look around again and tell him what they saw. Their responses were completely different. Instead of flashing lights, noisy traffic, and people rushing around, some noticed the blue sky, some noticed sunshine, while others noticed the rooftops decorated with small gardens all around them. The doctor reminded them that they were on the same street as before, only their perspective had changed. I love that analogy.

There are times that we can become overwhelmed by entrapped feelings of not having answers, not understanding the motives and actions of others and discouragement which can keep us from not seeing past our current situations. However, it is in those moments that God can lift us up to a higher place, a place where if we will go, we can see things differently, possibly from God's standpoint.

I always find it helpful to remind myself by asking this question, "not only what does this time of struggle mean to me, but what does it mean to God?" In our most desperate moments, if we can mentally drag ourselves upwards to that higher place of spiritual footing or ground, God may very well give us a glimpse however brief, of His divine love, insight and perspective. And that different perspective may be just what we need to keep hanging on and enduring.

In most cases it is always simply, "another perspective". Seeing every situation from God's standpoint. A farmer may look at cow manure as something which he must endlessly shovel out of the barn and probably the least likely job to perform on the farm. The gardener, on the other hand, looks at manure as free fertilizer. He can see the potential when others may see only waste. The gardener delights in getting manure. They shovel it around in their gardens and flower beds with delight. A mere matter of perspective.

Our perspective is very much a reflection of who we are. A Christian’s perspective is very much determined by his or her spiritual gifts. To the apostle Paul, John Mark was a liability, a man who could not be counted on, and thus a man who should not be taken along on his missionary journeys. To Barnabas, whose gift was encouragement, Mark was an opportunity and a challenge to disciple. Mark was a man who needed encouragement, and Barnabas was the man to give it, just as he had ministered to Paul in the early days of his Christian walk.

Both men impacted the world with the gospel. Both, loved the Lord Jesus and loved each other. But they saw things from their own perspective and did ministry within their own spiritual gifts and personalities. "I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you…" Eph. 1:18. May God grant us all the perspective to see life through His eyes and for His good purpose and may we never, ever forget to walk in love!

Hold Fast,
-Bren

 

 

THE NEVER CHANGING WORD OF GOD

There will be times that many of us will encounter other people at work, in college, at school or at play who will make it their mission in life to demonstrate or try and discredit the Bible. They will do their best to put forth some sort of opinion on how the Bible is only a book of fairy tales or simply good stories. Some will even go as far as to picking out what they like and want to believe of it and leave the rest as possible myths and history. Have you ever encountered one of these? Are you ready for such encounters if you should? I Peter 3:15 instructs the child of God to be ready at all times to defend their faith and the hope that is in them, in gentleness and reverence. Those things are the core of every believer and they are what provides them with the authenticity and validation of their faith to others. We will all leave a legacy of our life and what we accomplished and how we impacted others by our choices and the way we lived. Those people around us every day are eyewitnesses of our faith and what motivated us to live the life we did and be the person we were. When thinking about these things I am reminded about I Peter 3:15-16, “But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander.” It is not the believer’s responsibility to prove someone wrong that may disagree with them, but solely to claim that which they know for themselves to be truth and leave it up to the Spirit of God to convict, reveal and draw people to Himself as He wins over their hearts. This safeguards the witnessing believer and takes the pressure off of them to be right or win the disagreement. It’s never about winning the battle, but it is always about winning the soul. Sometimes the greatest statement that we can make to others is how we endure the ridicule or slander that we may be subjected to. If you recall, Jesus Himself never retaliated. So sometimes, it is our very suffering that becomes our greatest witness to others. And when the time comes that I leave this world, the legacy I hope to leave behind me, will be that of love, compassion and that I had done what I could do to reach others with what I personally found to be the answer for the hope that I believed in, embraced and entrusted. The Word of God never changes and It will never return void. It will always, always accomplish its goals and Mission.

 

Loving on you today,

-Bren

 

THE MESSAGE OF EASTER

 

I love Easter, but today because of what I now understand and believe about Christ and His resurrection, it has a deeper meaning. When I was 10 years old I walked an isle prompted by a preacher’s message to receive a baptism that I did not understand. It was a fun experience, but nothing in me changed. When I was 13 years old, I ask Christ into my life, yet my life never changed. That decision too, was prompted by a number of firry conversations that my uncle had had with me out of the book of Revelation.  Still, I continued to do the same old things that I had been doing, until God began to stir in me at the age of 18, the gospel of the cross and opened my spiritual eyes through the Truth that He had been placing in my heart from committed soul winners that had been sharing the gospel with me over a period of time. Upon His opening up my eyes to the truth that had been shared with me, for the first time in my life, I really understood the difference between, having a head knowledge about who Christ was and what it was exactly that He had done for me on the cross. Once I understood that clearly, I then embraced it by receiving it, as the precious gift that it is. Luke 24:45-47 says this,  “Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures, and said unto them, "Thus it is written, and thus it behooved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.”

 

Once I got my salvation right, I was then properly baptized. Where before, it was like having the cart before the horse. You see, like myself, many people make some sort of decision about Christ, but their decisions are based on what they think about God, as mine was and not what His Word says about Him. Our opinions, thoughts and ways are not God's according to Isaiah 55:8-9.  In John 3:16 you will find this, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him shall not parish, but have everlasting life.” You see many people misunderstand what that verse is saying. The word believeth does not apply to a person who believes in Jesus in his head or mind alone. Satan himself believes that, yet he will never be saved. Hitler believed in Christ, many people believe in Christ, yet have never been born again. That word believeth is and should always be paired with other verses in the scripture that speak of salvation. You must always understand the Bible as a whole and not dig out the verses you want and come up with your own interpretation, that was what I was doing. I thought, “if I just believed in Jesus”, then I was good to go, by what John 3:16 said, and that made me born again, so I thought! Besides, John 3:16 said nothing about being baptized. Theologically, I was just a mess! Yet, God broke through all my messed up thinking about Him and brought the light of His Truth to overshadow my way of thinking in order to see His. He looked at my heart and knew that I was trying to get to Him. As He stood at the door of my heart knocking, with His help, I was able to open my heart up and allow Him to come in. It was the greatest decision I have ever made. Your belief is most important to your salvation, but it must involve more than a head knowledge about Christ. It must come from the heart, not merely the head. We cannot be mere fans of Christ only, but we must be followers as well. Once you understand who Jesus is and what He did for you in His death on the cross, and His resurrection from the grave you too will understand the greater message that Easter brings us all!

Loving on you,
-Bren

WHAT IS YOUR AIM?

2 Corinthians 4:9 tells us that we may be struck down, but we are not destroyed. Hebrews 10:35 encourages us, to not throw away this confident trust in the Lord...but, to remember the great reward it brings us! God often times can use our lives in spite of ourselves. The apostle Paul fought his own flesh on a regular basis, just as we do. Paul found that the essence of the crucified life was to daily die to that part of himself that would deny, destroy or distract him from the work that God was doing in him. Paul saw as he wrestled with his inner self, his wounded ego wrestled to the ground by the spirit of God, to rise up and be a different and changed man. A man, that beforehand, had no inkling that he could be. Good change in us my friend never comes without some kind of wrestling with God. We may walk away limping, but we will be the better for it. The enemy of our soul is not concerned about the damage that we could do to the kingdom of darkness, as long as we live in fear and feel incompetent and inadequate as children of the most high, but he does care about the great work that God wants to do in and through our lives as we yield to God's work in us.

Spiritual change is achieved largely by an act of the will. The apostle Paul breaks it down for us in Philippians 2:13-14. He explains that the Christian life is not a series of ups and downs, but a process of ins and outs. God works in us, while we work it out. It is a partnership involving God and the individual believer. God begins his work in us and uses three simple tools in the process of changing and growing us into the image of himself, that we cannot make happen apart from his work and power. Through his Word he teaches us how to live. I read once where a converted cannibal in the South Sea islands was sitting by a large kettle like pot reading his Bible when an anthropologist approached him and asked, "What are you doing?" The native replied, "I'm reading the Bible." The anthropologist smirked and said, "Don't you know that modern, civilized man has rejected that book? It's nothing but a pack of lies. Your wasting your time reading it." The cannibal looked him over from head to toe and slowly replied, "Sir, if it weren't for this book, you would be in that pot right now." The Word of God had changed his life, and his appetite. If you are serious about changing your life, you're going to have to live according to the Bible. You will need to read it, study it, memorize it, meditate on it, and apply it. Through God's Holy Spirit he will provide the power, the conviction, and the direction for you to change. The Spirit of God uses the Word of God to make the child of God more like the Son of God. The Holy Spirit acts like an internal warning system in the believer when they begin to make wrong steps and like an applauding cheerleader when they take the right steps toward becoming like Jesus. Lastly, God uses circumstances to change his children.

 

Circumstances are the problems, pressures, heartaches, difficulties, and stress of life. Suffering gets our attention one way or another. C. S. Lewis said, that God whispers to us in our pleasure, but shouts to us in our pain. Painful circumstances whether we bring them on ourselves, other people cause them, or the devil incites them, are used by God to help us grow in likeness to his son. Life change is not about trying, but about training. Merely trying to experience life change can never bring about life change. I can try very hard to run a 5 mile race, but that isn't what will enable me to do it. I will only be able to accomplish it by training my body to run. Training requires discipline and time. To truly live a Christ-like life, we have to order our lives around those disciplines and practices that were modeled by Christ. The apostle Paul was trying to relay this great truth to us when he said in Philippians 1:21, “For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” “to die is gain,” Paul had learned not only that dying in his physical body in this world was gain in order to be with Christ, but to die to self while still in this world would bring him gain as well. Everything he had tried to be, everything he was, and everything he looked forward to being pointed to Christ. From the time of Paul’s conversion until his death, every move he made was aimed at advancing the gospel, and choosing to allow Jesus to be his all in all. What about you sweet friend? What is your aim?

 

Loving on you today,

-Bren

WILDERNESS TIMES

The wilderness is the last place that a believer wants to visit. That's understandable, since the notion of biblical wilderness brings with it thoughts of loneliness and suffering. People cringe at the thought of suffering. The very word conjures uneasy thoughts. Believers sometimes refer to suffering as a “wilderness time,” perhaps because it makes suffering easier to accept. However, it doesn’t necessarily make it any easier to endure. But suffering does not have to be all fearful if you desire and know the joy that is meant in your suffering. While God does not always spare His children of pain, they can be assured that He will use it for a better cause in their lives as well as in the lives of others. He never leaves nor forsakes His own and His seed never begs for bread, the scriptures tell us! If you are a believer and you find yourself in a dessert or wilderness season today you can transform your way of thinking about it from a place of suffering to a place of wonder, of change, of transition and transformation, and of being intimately cared for by the Lord while you are there. We are daily being called into a more intimate fellowship with God so why shouldn’t we experience the pain that we may be in at this time to drive us to Him. Through those doorways, God is opening up ways of fellowship with His Son. You may have but one question to ask yourself today sweet friend. Is God’s purpose worth your pain? For if not, you will count it all loss as you ask, “where is God in the bitterness of broken romances, the anguish of jobs lost,  the hunger of millions people all over the world and the struggles of all the refugees that seek a better way of living?  Or, you may think that free will isn’t worth what it costs. But God wants you to understand this; that you have a choice to walk with Him or to walk away from Him. Our pain on any level is excruciating for God, yet many times He must restrain Himself to intervene in the way that we think He ought to; for He knows His greater plan for that pain, even though we can even imagine it. Isaiah 63:9 tells us that, “In all their (Israel’s) distress he (God) too was distressed.” Remember this, God is not absent in His silence in your life. Eventually, if you continue to seek Him, you will find your answer or you will become content in His purpose for your pain, knowing that His ways are far greater than your own! Its easy teaching and talking from the mountain top experiences in our lives yet, it is from those valleys of stripping and plucking, crushing and dying, exploration and mining of the deepest innermost places of our heart that we learn to walk and trust Him. In Phil 3:10, it says, “That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death.”. Knowing Jesus personally and having access to the same power of His resurrection, as well as understanding and having fellowship in His personal suffering, allows us to be conformed and changed into His likeness as the old manly nature in us is being put to death. Take on the role of the postage stamp sweet friend and hang in there until you reach the destination that God has for you! 

 

Loving on you,

-Bren

 

OUT OF THE SLIMY PIT

In one of the Psalms the psalmist writes, "He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand.“. Have you ever been rescued from a situation as grave as being stuck and unable to get out? If you have, then you can relate to what David is saying in Psalms 40:2. Actually David had been in many pits in his life as he struggled with his relationship with Saul, his royal position as King and his dysfunctional family. But, he also understood the freedom of being released from those pits that often times felt as though they were slowing consuming him. While David’s pits may not have been the kind of pits that you may find yourself in or an actual muddy pit; the feelings he had, were so strong that he felt that he could compare them to what it must be like to actually being in stuck in a pit, just about to sink. Whatever it was that David was feeling at the time, we know that his troubles seemed to be beyond even the greatest human effort that he had access to at that time and proved only to be futile in handling them himself.

Like sinking in quick sand, David found that the more he struggled over his situation the worse it became and the more his situation drew him deeper into the pit. In his writing David was trying to create and convey his deep understanding of what it is like to plunge down into despair and what can appear to be, an impossible situation. We know that many of the things that caused David to feel the way he did stemmed from the effects of opposition from others be it friend or foe, from a military defeat or simply the effect of wrong choices made during the course of his lifetime. Not really knowing the cause of his Psalms 40:2 pit is actually to our advantage though. Because without knowing what it was that made David feel that way, allows us a window of sympathy and compassion to know that while we have also gone through trying times, we are encouraged that we too can come out on the other side; freed, once the trouble passes.

Where is your place of absolute impossibility today sweet friend? In a relationship, a habit, a wrong choice or a relapse of a past sin or situation that you cannot seem to get over?  Is someone opposing you? You never meant it to become what it has become. At first it was harmless, nonthreatening, but now you are stuck in it and feel the mud and mire covering you with darkness and depression. You wish there was a way out! If so, may I tell you that those are the very things that God is best at! Pulling us up and rescuing us when we cannot rescue ourselves. However, for Him to get to us, we must move out of His way and allow Him to work the way He wants to in our lives and not in accordance to how we want to instruct Him to do. The secret to receiving His help is found in Psalm 40:1 and says, “I waited patiently for the Lord; He turned to me and heard my cry”. You see the problem is that God knows that we need Him; we are the ones that need to learn that concept and learning comes so many times through trials and tribulations, pain and even heartbreak. If God places you in an impossible situation, He has a divine plan for your rescue. But you must call on Him, and wait for Him to show up and know this: He is never too late for those that cry out to Him with the right heart attitude. So, remember, when you cannot see a way out, look to Him, He has the tools needed to get you to safety.

Hold Fast,

-Bren

The Father's Love For Us

So very often we tend to expect too little from God. We tend to imagine that He's too angry with us from our past failures or that He does not bother with us, if we do not bother with Him. That's not the God of the Bible, and that's certainly not how Jesus works in our lives. Jesus continually reaches out to people, yes, even people who mess up and need another chance. When ask how many times we should forgive others, Jesus replied seven times seven and that, is how He forgives us! You must start seeing God realistically. By that I mean, by seeing Him mending your hurts and disappointment. Seeing Him running out to meet you, to give you that other chance, just like the father of the prodigal son did. The more we view Him as He really is, the more we can trust Him with what we give Him. Because the most loving, powerful Creator of the universe wants to forgive, heal and restore you and me. Just think, if God can create a world and place it the arms of a universe, don’t you think that He has the power and creativity to meet your needs and minister love and compassion in your life where it is needed?. His word tells us that He holds us in the palms of His hands. What better place to be? There is no sin that God cannot forgive. There are many accounts in the Bible where God gave people other chances to do better. The devil not only wants to break the one who seeks forgiveness, he also wants to hurt God’s Son by using our wrongdoing to accuse us before the Father. Just like those teachers of the law trying to use the women’s sin as a trap to accuse Jesus in John 8. satan hates that God can forgive sin. He hates the fact that God even wants to forgive sin period. You see satan loves sin and sin is what separates God from man. That is why God went to all the trouble that He did, to reconcile those that could not reconcile themselves to Him. For He knows that we are but dust and wants to help us! Satan is unrelenting in his attempts to shame you, strip and dishonor you in order to challenge God's work in your lives. He wants you to believe that because of the life you have been living, you aren’t worthy for the Kingdom of God. He wants you to give up and throw your spiritual towel in. He wants you to think that God can’t use you anymore. But sweet friend, when you are feeling down and unworthy, remember all those God used in the past. Moses was a murderer; David slept with another man’s wife and had him killed so he could be with her. Abraham lied about Sarah being his wife, Peter betrayed his good friend, the Son of God, and the list could go on, yet as they became broken before God, they became mighty instruments for His Kingdom. Even the story of Jonah wasn’t about a fish. It was about the God of the another chance. Think of it this way; life is like a football game and until it is over you have many opportunities to get into the game and make a difference. Psalm 103:9-13 says it best. "The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever; he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him;".

Hold Fast,

-Bren