DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOUR BLIND SPOTS ARE?

 When I was a young woman, a close friend and I would walk our neighborhood after we had dropped our children off at school. On one of our walks, my friend ask me the strangest question that kind of caught me off guard. She ask, if I thought there were any obvious blind spots in her life that she may not see in herself; but may be obvious to others and in doing so, had impacted what they may think about her in a negative way. WOW! No one had ever ask me that question before. I really struggled at first to be honest with her, because I knew that I probably had far too many blind spots myself, to try and council someone else of theirs. Plus, I knew that the scripture warned in Matt. 7:5 not to try and take the splinter out of someone’s else’s eye if there was a huge plank in their own. 

I would had never wanted to hurt her with any comments that I could have possibly contributed. After all,  I had loved her warm and considerate caring nature, and in no way did I want to nitpick her blind spots when I was struggling with a Kung Fu grip on my own. Little did I realize at first, that it was not my judgement that she was seeking, but truth from a friend that she felt she could trust. She was on a journey, seeking truth, change and personal revival. She needed a new vantage point and was willing to see her shortcomings as others might see them. Once she realized that the reward far outweighed the risk she was willing to act, but she also knew that she could not look where she could not see. 

Like my friend, I too had to learn that once I realized the rewards of being willing, they far outweigh the risk of being offended. Through the years I have learned even though I still struggle at times, that a blind spot is a performance hindering mindset or behavior of which we are unaware or have chosen to overlook. It’s virtually impossible to achieve change without first having clarity on where making changes will most help us.  All of us need to learn how to discover these blind spots. 

However, we cannot center our focus on something that we can not see, and we must be very willing to see them when they are pointed out to us. No matter how hard we try to be self-aware. Everyone including the best of folks, have unproductive behaviors that are invisible to them, but glaring to everyone else. Our behavioral blind spots can create unintended consequences for us. They distort our judgment, corrupt our decision-making, reduce our awareness of them, destroy relationships and sabotage our careers and ministry. 

A blind spot is a mindset that turns into a behavior of which we are unaware or have chosen to overlook. Every personality type has strengths and weaknesses. But when carried to the extreme or inflamed by stressful situations, even our core strengths can become a damaging weakness and we become our worst enemy. While it is, in our human nature to want to defend and win an argument, conflict becomes destructive when our good thinking turns negative and erodes our trust in anyone other than ourselves. Empathy and insights are tossed aside when we filter incoming information through the lens of what we believe and want; but may not always be fact and truth. When this happens, it becomes easy to categorize others as the enemy, who must be wrong. Instead of differences of opinions, conflict becomes a power struggle that prevents you from seeing any other solution other than winning your own point. 2 Cor. 10:12 warns us not to compare or measure ourselves by ourselves, because it is not wise and we lack wisdom and understanding if we do.

 Through the years I have learned that one of the greatest values that a good friend or mentors can have, is the ability to see ahead of what others cannot see and to help them navigate a course to a good destination. People can’t appreciate what they don’t know is there. There’s more than one lens in life and you just happen to possess one of the billions.

Hold Fast

-Bren

LITTLE FAITH TESTED AND TRIED

 We realize that as believers, we’re supposed to trust God with every aspect of life, but circumstances can cause us to waver. This is not a new problem! Every believer will be tested and tried in the area of their faith more than once. God is not caught off guard in this either and had a plan before you ever came to a believer’s faith in Christ for your salvation to help you find His way. He knew that life’s trials would serve to bring you grief and doubt and that your faith would be tested by them, yet He did not leave you helpless against them. You see, the great mystery as it often appears to be, is not that we lose all our faith, but that we fail to maintain our faith and walk in Christ through some awkward difficulty that we encounter and our faith becomes little, not lost. If you look closely in God’s Word, you will see five different times in the book of Matthew, where Jesus pointed out examples and symptoms of what He called “little faith.”

Some people had little faith brought on through their anxiety. In the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 6:25-34, Jesus addressed people who were worried about their basic needs being met. He assured them of a divine provision, if God’s kingdom was their top priority. The difference between little faith and bigger faith, is only focus. They were wrongly focused by what their eyes and bellies were seeing and feeling. Many had little faith because of the fear of what their physical senses were telling them, not by the Word of God that Jesus was sharing with them.

When a storm arose in Matthew 8:23-27, the disciples were afraid, even though the God of the wind and sea was with them in the boat. Asleep, yes, but He was there. They were concerned, because Jesus appeared not to be concerned. Isn’t that ironic? We are like that as well. We can feel like God is not concerned with our situations when He is not responding to us like we are wanting Him to and even place blame on Him that we know that He could fix the problem but seems not to want to. But, Jesus had no fear or worries because He was the Truth, the Way, and the Life and they needed a good lesson in truth and trust. He was preparing the disciples for a great life-lesson through that storm. Peter had little faith when his focus became skewed and he paid attention to something other than the truth that He had been looking at in Matthew 14:24-33. As long as Peter kept his eyes on Jesus, he had faith to walk on water. But when he took his eyes off of the Truth (Jesus) and focused on his circumstances, he began to sink. See how quickly our faith can become little?

Sometimes, faith becomes little when we are sidetracked and fail to stay on the course that we were planted on. 2 Timothy 3:14 tells us, “But as for you, continue in what you have learned and found to be true, because you know from whom you learned it.” In Matthew 16:5-12. Despite the feeding of thousands, the disciples failed to remember Christ’s past provision in their current situations.

Spiritually laziness happens when believer’s stop attending fellowship with other believers, stop studying their Bibles, their prayer life changes, other things take priority over their spiritual walk. Before they realize it, the enemy has baited them and they have taken the bite, hook line and sinker. They become unconcerned in making Christ Lord and priority any longer and the shift begins. If they are genuine believers, their spiritual conscience will grieve and they will take on depression, doubt and little faith. In each case, the wrong mindset resulted in a lack of confidence in Christ.

Little faith begins not with circumstances but with our thinking and focus. Therefore, if we want to increase our faith in God, we must fill our minds with the truth of Scripture, remember our Father’s faithfulness to us in the past, and look for His hand working in our present situation. When our minds are renewed, our faith will be also.

Hold Fast,

-Bren

LITTLE FAITH

 There is hope! A real faith is never lost, it simply becomes “little”.  In real life, every time we face unfortunate events such as setbacks, illnesses, loss and misfortune, we can sub come to doubting and thinking that God has forsaken us and we no longer feel His presence as we once did. It is then that we sink into negative thinking that leads us away from the truth we once knew and begin to lose faith in God. You see our enemy is watching us like a mad animal waiting for the right opportunity to bite. He is relentless in his coming after us to break us down so that we are no longer harvesting the power that is given to us by our Heavenly Father to battle him in our thoughts and actions.

When we first come to know the Lord, we quickly find that He is forever the embodiment of grace, blessings, compassion, and mercy. And because of this, after we receive Him as Lord and Savior, we expend ourselves with great enthusiasm, and are willing to follow Him the rest of our lives with no thought of temptation, trials or  future disciplines that he may bring. Then, there comes a day when God seems to turn His face away from us and baptizes us in discipline, frustrations, diseases, loss and trials. At such time, if we are not properly grounded and clothed with the right armament, our faith in Him can suddenly turn cold, and we become full of misunderstandings feeling betrayed and harbor blame towards Him. When this happens we become weak in faith to the point of being unable to get ourselves back on the spiritual track that we jumped off of ourselves. The process is so subtle, progressing in such small increments, that we can fail to recognize that there is even a problem and before we know it, our lives are reflecting the words in 1 Corinthians 10:12, "If you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don't fall!"  One day all is well and the next we are searching for answers as to why we feel the way we do.

Job, the Bible’s role model for enduring life’s hardship’s, did not only display his trials and struggles. Before his loss, Job recalled many times when God showered him with favor and blessings. But then, out of nowhere, came life’s trials, hard and quick. His beloved children were killed, he was robbed of his livestock, and all his possessions were lost, and to add to his agony, his body became covered with boils and his wife’s lack of faith encouraged him to renounce God, die and end his misery. She thought that he shouldn’t suffer misfortune and asked him to abandon God altogether. Even his friends said that he most likely had offended God and by doing so, brought on his own calamity and was therefore abandoned. Yet deep in his heart, Job did not think like that, nor did he blame God; rather, he said this very rational thing: “shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?” Job 2:10. Job knew, that no matter whether he was given blessings or misfortune, it was all God’s design and arrangement and he should unconditionally accept it. Which we know, that is what he did. Sweet friend you are accepted in the beloved not because of what you can do for God but simply by what God has done for you.

As children of God, we are entitled to victory through our faith in Him, not of ourselves but through Christ alone, God gives us the power to change every situation that doesn’t align with His holy will for us. Join me next week as I share with you how to gain back the ground that you may feel that you’ve lost.

 

Hold Fast,

-Bren

LIFE AND DEATH OR DEATH AND LIFE

Recently Charles and I purchased two burial plots in a beautiful little country cemetery. The place that would house our decaying fleshly bodies until our return with Christ to meet Him in the air and finally receive our longed-for and new glorified ones. It was a joy, to see the spot where my family would say their last goodbye’s and ponder upon past memories that we had shared together. Death no longer has a sting for me, but only a longing for that better place that my heart longs to be. I have not always felt this way though. There were times that I dared not even think of death, for the fear that it held in my heart. Fear of the unknown, the unexpected and the unsure. Many people today are like I once was. They fear death and as the result, they do not like to talk about it. They want to ignore it. Rather than face death, they try to mask it. Even funeral directors try to mask death in flowery scenes and by making the deceased look as alive and serene as they possibly are able to.

People are afraid of death because they do not know what lies ahead for them on the other side. It was this fear that prevented Hamlet from committing suicide after he pondered, “To be, or not to be? That is the question.” When pondering what may lie on the other side of death, some like to think that when they die they will be annihilated and become extinct, hoping to be no better or no worse than a dead animal on the roadside. Others like to think, that when they die they will be reincarnated, in which case, they will face the prospect of returning to this world as a fly only to be swatted or an ant to be smashed, which holds out little more comfort than being annihilated.

However, within the heart of mankind is the natural fear that when they die they must face God’s judgment whatever it may be and that is a frightening thought! Some try to deny the existence of hell to escape the fear of their being condemned to it. Many, on the other hand, hope they will go to heaven, but they know their hope is only wishful thinking. These uncertainties plague them as they see their lives slipping away, thus their perspective of death is one of uncertainty, fear and gloom after they die. They desperately know there is nothing they can do to prevent it except to cheat death by living as long as they can.

But for those who put their trust and faith in Christ, we have a different perspective; a perspective that gives hope and a strong confidence. Most people speak of  life and death in this order; life and then death. But for the true believer who understand their relationship with God through Christ, we should speak about it as God’s Word does in Colossians 3. It states: “For you died, and your life has been hidden with Christ in God”. This verse puts them in the opposite order. It speaks of death and life rather than life and death. This gives us a different perspective of death that holds out hope. First there is death: then there is life. For you see apart from death, there can be no life. God is telling us that, “You died, remember!” It is telling us that our death has already occurred, over and done with. It’s in our past once we become born again. As far as God is concerned our death and burial have already taken place in connection with Christ’s death and burial. Through our baptism into Christ we reveal to the world that we have died and were buried with him. Our old sinful self with its evil deeds and desires, died and was buried with Christ through His death and resurrection. For the child of God, to live is Christ to die is our gain! Philippians 1:21 Where do you stand today sweet friend? What plans are you making for your life? 

Hold Fast,

-Bren

WHAT KIND OF MAN

I am thankful today that God does not give me what I actually deserve, but shows me grace and mercy in spite of my sinful nature according to Psalm 103:10 and if not careful, I can succumb to that nature at any given time. His word tell us in Ps. 103:14 that, He does not deal with us according to our sins in the way that we deserved but, He knows our frame and remembers that we are but dust. A song comes to mind that makes me think about how loving God really is.  The song is basically a story about how God through the life and death of His only Son, showed mercy and love to three men in the New Testament. The song begins with a man named Barabbas who says, “I am Barabbas, a rebel, a prisoner, death was the sentence for me. Led before Pilot, I stood there beside Him, this man some were calling a King. And as the crowd shouted, “crucify Him”, the soldiers let me go free! What kind of man, guilty of nothing would suffer the shame and disgrace. Hang on the cross, despised and rejected and willing to die in my place; at Calvary, for someone like me?” Then Thomas spoke; “My name is Thomas, for 3 years I followed, I saw every wonder and sign. They say He is risen, that His grave is empty, but I just can’t believe He’s alive. Now standing before me, Jesus showed me the scars on His hands and His side. What Kind of man, embraces a doubter, lovingly drawing me near? I don’t have to wonder if I’ve been excepted, He settled the worry and fear, at Calvary, for someone like me!” Peter states; “My name is Peter, I knew Him and loved Him, but oh how I failed Him that night! I promised Jesus that I’d never leave Him, I’d willing lay down my life. But, there at His trial, I stood by the fire, and denied Him 3 times! What kind of man pours out His mercy on someone who stumbles and falls. There’s no way to earn it, no way to deserve it. Forgiveness still came after all. At Calvary, for someone like me!”

I’ve been Barabbas, was guilty yet, set free, and I’ve been Thomas a doubter redeemed, and I have been Peter who in shame have denied Him. Yes, I’ve been all three! What kind of man, bleeds for the worthless and saves him whatever it takes? What kind of man will rescue the sinner and offer such amazing grace? I tell you Jesus, the One and Only Son of the Most High! He died once, for all, according to Romans 6:10. John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.” Romans 10:9 says this, “If you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” Today sweet friend, if you have never made the decision to receive Jesus into your heart, ask Him now! Are you like one of these men? Have you believed with your head, but not yet in your heart. God has made salvation very simple to understand. The only thing that is left for each of us to do, is to make that personal decision to accept what He says that we must do. If, today you have ask Christ in to your life, then make sure that you are a part of a Bible believing church and follow Christ in believer’s baptism. By your baptism, you are showing others that you are not ashamed and that you have committed to die of that old sinful nature and live for Jesus in the newness that He will now work out in your life. God loves you today sweet friend and so do I!

 

Hold Fast,

-Bren

ENJOY THE JOURNEY

Have you ever noticed that there are two types of people who are on a journey. They are the “journey” types and the “destination” types. The “journey” types of people enjoy the planning of the trip. They enjoy the driving, and they enjoy taking in the sites and all the side trips. They are enjoying the journey while on their way to their destination. The “destination” types do not enjoy the journey. They are all about getting to their destination. They are in a hurry to get to their destination and they want nothing to interrupt their trip.   Sometimes being a destination person is a necessity, like needing to get to a hospital in an emergency. But if you rushed all the time you will miss some very important things along the way. Now in some ways, it’s not a bad thing to be a destination type, because at least you have a destination. Without a clear destination, a journey lacks focus and any way to measure progress forward, because you don’t know what the way forward is.

The Bible pictures the Christian life of following Jesus Christ as being like a journey. In fact, when you think about it, we are all on a journey, whether you are a person who takes their time to enjoy the ride or a person who just wants to get there. The fact is we are all on this journey, called life. As Christians our journey is a bit different, we have been called to follow Jesus. Our journey did not end at our salvation and baptism. These points of our lives weren’t an ending destination they were the beginning. We are called to listen for the voice of God and to follow. It is not easy work, but what a journey it can be, if we just took the time to stop and listen, so we don’t miss anything!

That’s why it is important to enjoy the journey, not just the destination. In this world, we will never arrive at a place where everything is perfect and we have no more challenges and John 16:33 confirms this, “In the world ye shall have tribulation”. As admirable as setting goals and reaching them may be, you can’t get so focused on accomplishing the goals that you make the mistake of not enjoying where you are right now. For where you are right now may very well be a place where God is wanting to stretch and grow you closer to Him through situations and yes, even difficult times of trouble.

Phil. 4:6 tells us “not to be anxious about anything”, yet we do. We’re anxious to grow up, graduate from school, get that next job, get married, start a family, for our children to grow up and then, move on to the next season of our lives. God however, wants us to slow down and consider the things that are passing us by. He tells us in Ps. 46:10 to “be still and know that I am God”. He wants us to enjoy where we are as well as our looking forward to that blessed hope and final destination.

So the next time that you are tempted to become bored and frustrated in your journey, recall the times your children pleaded with you to make their trip go faster than you were able to. Few things are more difficult than driving a long distance with small children. You pack the car, it’s a hot day, and you dread the long journey ahead. You instinctively know the kids will be restless. No matter how many activity books, games and DVDs you bring, you still hear the steady complaint of, “Are we there yet?” and recall how you may have answered them.  Was it with an irritated or threatening response? No matter how you respond, on long trips, kids seem focused on the final destination, that is just what they do, it’s their human nature which must be trained.

Like our children we often get focused on the destination and forget to pay attention to the journey we are on as well. No matter what God provides for us and does for us on the trip we still seem to be focused on the destination. However, those who embrace their journey and find ways to enjoy them are allowing themselves to be trained by them and will find that their journey was just as important as their destination.

 

Hold Fast,

-Bren

THE SECRET CODE

Philippians 4:11-13 We all have days when we don't feel particularly blessed, especially during a trial. If that is your situation today sweet friend, take heart. Given any other time, you may be the first to testify at how God has blessed you. 

We just tend to get hung up on counting our troubles instead of our blessings, especially when we have been in the battle for a while and feel little if any, relief. Put in the proper perspective, our situation no matter how big it may seem, can become a blessing to us. But it will be up to us alone. We are the only one that can change the results of how they end. It is mearly by choice and attitude. Paul tells us in Phil. 4:12 something that we all need to learn. He says,"I have learned the secret of being content in any every situation..." 

A secret? Really? Is Paul speaking code to us in that verse? Yes, he is.
In John 4:22-24, Judas (not Iscariot) ask Jesus, "But Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not the world?"Another message in code? Yep, these truths are for God's children only. Jesus responds to Judas by saying, "If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching...then continues with....My Father will love him and we will come to him and make our home with him." And ends by saying "He who does not love me will not obey my teaching...."

You see many people claim to be believers and to follow Jesus, but they are not true followers, but only fans. They root for him from life's bleachers, when times are good, but let a few trials come their way and it reveals what is really inside them.
You can make it today my friend, but it will be as Paul's was....you learn the secret as you learn to endure and not give in or give up! Run the race....to win!  Hebrews 12:1 says, "throw off everything that hinders...and thus avoid some of "the sin that so easily entangles".

Hold Fast,

-Bren

THE PURPOSE OF THE BLOOD

Hebrews 9:22 "...without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness."

Blood may only be an after-thought for some of us, as we celebrate this upcoming Easter holiday. Because, Easter is not a time to celebrate the past, but the future. 

The Children of God will begin to reflect and meditate on the resurrection and not the cross as well as their future beyond the grave; for that is what Easter provides those that are in Christ. Yet, without the cross, without the shedding of the blood and death of Christ, there would be no resurrection. While the resurrection is just as important, we should never forget the cross, the passageway to death and the grave. The cross provided for us all, the only solution to our greatest problem, which was a sin problem. The resurrection promises us that because He rose from the grave, those that are in Him will as well. 

Like me my friend, you were born into a fallen world, resigned to participate in a degenerate existence with no hope of recovery on our own. The pain of sin and death immediately attached itself to our life and put into perpetual motion the ravages of death, each day drawing us closer to our eternal demise. Our own wills had separated us from God and was our greatest enemy. It had sealed our fate as long as we chose to continue on the path without Christ and continue to walk in sin. Apart from the redeeming power of the blood of Jesus Christ, we were doomed. But God demonstrated His own love for us, in that while we were yet sinners, going about doing wrong, not caring about Him or his ways, Christ died for us according to the scriptures, paraphrasing Romans 5:8. He took the beating that we deserved. 

His hands and feet bear our scars. His side bleed godly blood that had the power to set all mankind free to walk away from the life that they are living in and become new again. When I realized this and decided that the life that I was living was a life of sin and un-generated disgust. I realized that the best that I had to offer God, was as a filthy rag to His Holy nature. Yet for many years I struggled in the same deception that all men and women struggle in. Though many refuse to see their sin as God sees it, for me, my greatest problem is now solved!

Once I saw my sin and my ways as God saw them, I realized my need for the salvation that He was offering. How about you sweet friend? Can you too say, that at the point of surrendering your life to God, your biggest problem has been solved? Do you too understand and agree with why I am thankful for the blood that purchased me; or would you have to admit that you cannot see a difference in your life from the time before you say you came to Christ and afterwards. Has there been a change? Some people struggle with that question because they don’t really see a difference. Maybe you were a good person and have a hard time seeing your sin as God does. 

May I tell you that God’s Word declares that the best that you can do or offer Him, is as a filthy rag according to Isaiah 64:6. Maybe you might need to stop comparing yourself to all the so-called hypercritics and bad folks that you compare yourself with and compare yourself to what God sees and knows you to be. I John 1:9 tell us that, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Maybe sweet friend it is because while you have a wonderful head knowledge about God and you believe that Jesus came to earth to die, you have never really committed your life to Him by repentance. By having a holy sorrow for your sin and wanting to change. 

As Easter approaches, I am mindful of what it cost God to give His only Son, that He should suffer and die for someone like me, but He did, and I know it! Because I no longer bear the burden of having such a great problem any longer. Problem solved! How about you sweet friend? Can you celebrate this Easter knowing that because of His blood that covers your sins through believing and repenting, you can rejoice that you will be a part of the great resurrection that is to come? I sure hope so!

Hold Fast,

-Bren 

ENDURE, ENDURE

Hebrews 12:2 "...fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."

God is watching your life sweet friend and at some point in your trial, He will say enough. That moment may be crystal clear to you or you may realize it one day as you are looking back over it and realize that it was gone and that you were unaware of its passing. You now can only see it in the rear-view mirror of your mind, a passing memory of it.

Whether for weeks or months or years, every trial lasts for its appointed time. When you are undergoing a trial sweet friend, it may seem unending, but remember this, there is a limit, an expiration date already stamped on it. 

You have only to find its purpose and make the changes that need to be made in order to bring it to its end as quickly as possible.

Your trials can even be, in the nature of "being be caught up" in someone else’s storm and you may need simply to endure it, by riding it out. Trials come for various reasons. Not always out of discipline, because of some sin. Often times trials may and do come from a wrong choice that is made. But we must pray over and determine for ourselves the purpose of them.

Psalm 30:5 reminds us, “For his anger is but for a moment, and his favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning.” And know this, that Hebrews 12:11 tell us that “For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant…”

Job’s assurance can be ours today. So, do as he did, get under it and don’t waste any of it. The sooner we learn what we need to learn from it, the sooner the Lord will bring us out of it. Your painful season is going to come to an end, but until it does, endure, endure, till you get there and remember this sweet friend, God’s timing is always perfect.

When we are in the middle of a trial we must realize that we have to accept God’s time frames by our faith and trust in Him, because our human tendency is to bail out at the first opportunity of it coming on. Stay there friend and don’t move, until His purpose is
accomplished in it!

Let us pray, “continue to teach us Lord, and help us to stay still under the weight of this thing...and Yes Lord, slap dab in the middle, until You have accomplished your purpose in us, through them”.

Hold Fast,

-Bren

CHANGE HOW YOU SEE- INSTEAD OF WHAT YOU SEE

In a world of photo shops and apps we can achieve instant gratification by giving us the enhancement of what we seek to make us look better than what we believe we actually are. It’s easy to find these apps that give us the appearance of what we want, rather than what we may actually be seeing. Technology, social media and surgeries have made it so easy, that if we don’t like something, we can just change it. If we don’t like our physical appearance, there’s a surgery to fix it. If we don’t like our relationship status, there is a dating service to change that as well. If we don’t like our circumstances, we can buy, charm, run, and even fight our way out of it. But what if… the circumstances that we are in, are exactly where God wants us to be?

Maybe, we are fighting a fight that may not can be won; because God is allowing us to be smack-dab in the middle of it for a reason. God's word tells us that we are called to live the life we are given. While we are to strive to be better in our walk and spiritual behavior, some things will continue to be a battle our whole life, just as Paul's situation became his thorn. Each one of us has unique value, insight, and experience God wants to work through to share the good news about Jesus. Our lives were not meant to be a comparison party where we attempt to constantly gain or achieve other people’s stuff and circumstances.

But, when we are being who God made us to be in the circumstances He has given us, people can look at our lives and wonder, how we are able to have so much peace in the midst of wherever it is that we may be in . When we find ourselves in less than desirable circumstances and prayer doesn’t seem to be changing them, maybe we need to change our prayer. Instead of focusing on finding a way out, ask God for a change of perspective about the situation we’re in. Then, watch and see how God works through our struggle for our strength and His glory. I Cor. 7:17 reminds us this, "Nevertheless, each person should live as a believer in whatever situation the Lord has assigned to them, This is the rule I lay down in all the churches." Praying for you today to give up the struggle and rest in the peace that He is trying to bring you! 

1 Cor. 7:17-24

Hold Fast,

-Bren

WORRY & STRESS

Matthew 6:25-34

I wish I had a penny for every moment I have wasted in stressing over unmerited worry. You know …the kind of stressful worry that is out of your hands and you have no control over. The kind of worry that robs you of precious time that you can not get back. In Luke 12 we are called to consider the Lilies of the field and compare them to the splendor of a King. That call requires us to stop and think about it….to consider it! Much of the time though we are too busy to stop and give consideration to anything, for even that, takes time in which we often do not feel we have to give; because we are to busy being overwhelmed in our hearts, stressed by every turn of the day, worried and not to mention the dread of tomorrow. Yet, it is that very consideration that can bring relief and comfort to our daily troubles that seek to overtake us and bring us to despair. In the midst of our everyday turmoil, our hearts long for a place of peace, to which we can turn and run to if needed.

Life’s good and happy moments can often times leave us feeling like they are slipping by way too fast, while our painful days seem to turn into endless hours. Sometimes, we can race so fast through our day that we are left wondering if there really is a place of refuge instead of the toils and snares of the moment, and the concept of rest and peace seem like nothing more than a hopeful figment of our imagination. Yet Psalm 61:2 tells us that there is a Rock that is higher than we are, and that we are to pray, to be led to it! For it is there that we find the refuge that we seek and the hope of escape from those toils and snares that seek to entangle us.

It is easy for us when we are going down the well-lit path and we are seeing things for what they are. But what about those times that we are trudging through dreary seasons? It is at those very points of time that we are called to consider the lilies. It is God’s way of saying to us, to remember those times of when He was walking with us and we saw Him in the light; then, recall and give consideration to it, for we can still trust Him in the dark even when we may not be able to see that He is there.

Have you ever sat down to write a letter, draw or paint a picture and at some point just wad it up and toss it away because it was not what you were happy with. That is the way we need to deal with our worries that cause us such stress. If we know in our heart that we truly can not change the situation we should begin to view it as an unwanted possession and learn to simply toss it aside, put it out of our minds, replace them with things that the scripture tell us to think upon….whatsoever things are true, good and that build us up….not tare us down. The battle is won when we release the burden and pick up something that brings peace and joy to us in the place of that worry. Once we have learn to do that, we have learned to conquer and cast out our fears, worries and doubts and replace them with peace and contentment.

A while back, I found myself being inundated with fears that caused worry over the potential harm from a situation. I realized that my concern had turned into grief and that grief was throttling any joy or peace that the Lord was wanting me to have.

As I considered the scripture concerning the lilies in the valley, I realized that what God was trying in His infinite way of telling me, was that I was like the lily and all that I needed to do was to be still and accept that. If I would realize that I was like the lily knowing who I was in Christ, then I should not waver, nor should I be tossed around in my heart by the fear of not having any control over my heartbreak. Once I realized that and accepted it, peace came in flooding my soul and left me with truth. That truth was the fact that I did have some control over my situation, maybe not for those involved but for myself, I had some control…..by simply covering all the sadness of the situation with prayer in faith believing that God was going to do a great work….WOW…the light of that truth truly set me free. Genesis 15:6 says that Abraham believe the Lord and the Lord credited it to him as righteousness.

You see the only job of the Lilly is to grow and reflect beauty. It does not have to worry over being watered, fertilized, pruned, nor cared for in any way. It simply beholds the beauty of the creator. God longs for us to see ourselves in the same way. His word tells us over and over, that He will care for us, that He will provide for us, He prunes us when we are in need of it and are not reflecting Him. His ground is fertile and we grow from it producing the fruit that is in Him, if we will simply be like the lily and grow in Him and reflect who He is by our lifestyle.

The truths of God are not always easy to understand let alone be obedient to, yet they are the very things that bring us peace and happiness.

Consider the lily....take the time, it will be worth it!

Hold Fast,

-Bren

WHAT ARE YOU TRUSTING IN TODAY?

Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.
Ps. 20:7

One of the many problems that plagued Israel throughout the Old Testament was that they would often times turn for help to the nations around them when they got into trouble or needed help, instead of turning to God. They would rely on pacts made with Egypt because they had chariots and horses and other nations out of fear of them more than they feared God.

But before we become too judgmental toward them, we need to take a good look at ourselves and ask, "Do we turn to our material wealth, our human wisdom, our education, our looks or something else instead of relying on God?"...Even today, many of us who claim to trust God will try to fix our situations and troubles ourselves, instead of simply turning them over to the Lord. Just like God promised Israel that He would take care of them, He promises the same to us.

The reason He does this is simple, He loves us and we are His people. He had made a great nation out of the slaves taken from Egypt. He promised Abraham that He would do this and He kept his word. Beginning in Egypt (before they even left) He told them to trust Him and He would supply their needs and protect them from their enemies. He repeated this same promise many times during the journey to Canaan and then again when they arrived and began to take the land. He also promised them if they did not trust him and live for Him He would punish them and He kept His word without fail on both counts.

They were blessed and prospered when they walked close to Him and they lived in misery when they did not.

May we pray, Lord please increase our faith. Direct our hearts to turn to you when we face trials in our lives and when problems seem to overwhelm us, may we be strong and faithful. Give us the strength to face each day with the trials and temptations that come with it. Help us keep our hearts set on you and our priorities in the right order.

Hold Fast,

-Bren 

SKIPPING OUT ON GOD'S WORD

Sleep can bring welcome relief from the worries of the day, especially when we leave our problems at the foot of the cross in prayer before closing our eyes and resting our minds. We can join the psalmist throughout the book of Psalm in his cry for mercy, his pleas that God will not forget him in his distresses, and in doing so is able to find peaceful rest each and every day.

But often times when we wake up, and ­after the grogginess wears off, the burdens we were carrying the day before come back and load us down again. That is why it is so important to go to Him each day, to renew what we know in our hearts to be true. For His mercies are new every morning and His grace is suffciant for each of our needs.

The devil will wait for us to slip up in our thinking. he watches us and is quick to place snares in front of us to trip us up....he tells us, "Oh you can skip your time in God's Word today...besides, you've had a quiet time three days in a row this week"...and we reason that, in our thinking....we say "yes, I have...surely I can skip a day" then we skip another day and before we realize, the week has gone by without spending time in God's Word renewing our minds.

The difference in our feelings and thinking is this: When troubles come our way and we are walking daily in God's Word....we are prepared to handled them. We have placed the proper piece of God's armour on.... that shields us from those lies and snares that satan sets for us in order to cause us to trip, compromise, detour or sway from the truth that we know that will bring peace and trust to us during difficult times. We reconize that those wrong thoughts and doubts are from satan, not God.

When we are skipping around and missing those important and much needed times with the Lord, we are placing ourselves in the path of the enemy unarmed. That is when fear, worry, doubt and all kinds of wrong feelings come in to play and just like Eve, we allow satan to trick us into thinking wrongly...and we have only ourselves to blame.

Out of know where our feelings can change from a good day..... to feelings of being alone

in a parched desert wondering how we got there....and we are overwhelmed and our souls are craving the living water that we must have but have neglected to drink in order to renew us. We cry out to God saying, “My tank is empty Lord, please refill me....I need you now!"

And He comes along side us, helping us find our way back to where He is. Taking His easy yoke can only be attained by the daily surrender of our wills to His. Do it His way!

God will not force Himself on you. He will allow you to go alone, until you realize that you are alone, doing it your way....He promises to never forsake you and is ready the very moment you realize you walked away, He didn't. You can count on the fact that, if you are His, His eye never turns away from you and He sees you, even when you loose sight of Him!

Hold Fast,

-Bren

WHEN satan BRINGS YOU IN TO THE EQUATION

Job 36:15-16 "But those who suffer he delivers in their suffering; he speaks to them in their affliction. He is wooing you from the jaws of distress…"

While reading about the life of Job, I was reminded that he had a devotion to God, and in spite of all his pain and suffering he was determined to stay true to what he believed, that God was "Just", no matter the situation, and he knew in his heart that God always had His children’s best interest in mind. He was already a man that bared much spiritual fruit. Which puts me in mind of a scripture found in the New Testaments that says, “Every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it, that it may bear more fruit” John 15:2. God prunes the righteous (His children) by removing anything unproductive in our lives that is not bearing or reflecting Him and His character. Job’s life before his great calamity was a life to emulate and his life during and after his calamity was one of great example to follow as well. The example that we should follow is to realize that when we don’t understand God, He can still be trusted. You see the devil caused Job’s troubles, but Job did not realize at first that it was the devil. He struggled with trying to understand why he was suffering. According to Job 19:1-12, at first Job thought that God was causing him to suffer, but in fact God did not. He only allowed his suffering. Like we do, Job also pondered a little over the fact that it appeared that God seemed to ignore some of the wrongs that others did in Job 24 while he was suffering for no apparent reason. Have you ever pondered that yourself? Sure you have we all have! But Job's thoughts were about to be corrected in later chapters of Job. While Job never cursed God, he did struggle over some issues about his situation.

Reading these verses reminded me of the times that I have wrestle with God over my own problems. Sometimes I know without a doubt why trouble has come my way. I do my best to repent of any actions that may have brought them on and move forward with a better understanding of how God prunes off the unfruitful and unprofitable things in my life. But sometimes like Job I do have question about God’s decisions in why He allows certain things or does things the way He does; because sometimes it does seem like the innocent suffer while the guilty get away with wrongdoing. But as Elihu reminded Job and his friends, God has a reason for everything that He allows. And if we know Him and trust Him we are to counter our doubt and lack of misunderstandings with that faith.

The only reason that satan had, in bringing on Jobs’ conflicts, was in hopes that Job would curse and dishonor God because of his pain and suffering. And while Job struggled with trying to understand it all, he never cursed God. Even God tells us to come and reason with Him. He understands that we have questions. But we are never to doubt His reasons by thinking that He is unfair in what He does. Understanding our situation will only become clear to us, when we surrender any frustration, bitterness, anger or self-opinion. satan is our enemy, because he is God's enemy. God is who he ultimately wants to hurt and when God's children are brought into the equation, they need to be prepared.

I ended my scripture reading with this verse, "And the Lord turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends": also the Lord gave him twice as much as he had before Job 42:10. You see this is a prime example of how satan wants to do us harm by what he sends our way, yet, God wants to turn it around and use it to prune off the bad in us, so that the good fruit will surface. And when friends try to offer advice as Job's friend's did, be wise as you listen and remember that they are only human and they think and reason as you do often times. As Elihu the wiser friend rebuked their thinking in chapter 32, his advice was not to accuse God at all. We must learn to trust the Lord, even in hard times and our questions seem to have no answers. When we accept the things that we do not understand or can change, satan will slither away like the humiliated snake that he is. Knowing that he failed again, just like with Job and his friends and just like Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane and the cross defeated once again! 

ATTITUDE

A while back I visited a Nursing home as I had a number of times in my life, and can tell you that they are some of saddest places on earth.

Upon this visit, I recall standing in the corridor looking around. I could see four elderly ladies all sitting in wheel chairs in a sitting room surrounded by glass. One lady was starring at the floor, two ladies were sitting beside each other mumbling words repeatedly to each other, and I am not sure if either one of them could understand the other, nevertheless, it appeared as if they were making some effort to keep each other company. One lady was sitting 4 feet from a table that had a glass of water on it. This precious lady kept bending over with an extended hand trying to reach the small plastic glass of water.

As I starred at them all, I wanted to run into that room and holler out, “Okay girls, get ready for some fun” with the hopes of jarring them out of their stupor of being paralyzed to their sadness and loneliness of just sitting there without anyone to interact with them.
It goes without saying that every elderly person that I came in contact with during my visit there got some kind of reaction from me.
I spoke to them, patted their hand, and smiled making effort to embrace their sadness, if for only a moment.

While I am very aware that for the most part these precious ladies all had some type of physical and or mental problem if for no other reason; their age; I know in my heart that they could feel and show happiness because of their response to me. Once I made the effort to make contact with them, they in turn despite whatever medication they were on to keep them immobilized; managed to reach back to me.
By the way for those of you left wondering; yes, I did push the little lady over to the table to get her water…..I just prayed that it was her water that she was drinking!

The shear fact that they were being pursued to have fellowship caused an emotion in them to reach back to me if even for a moment’s happiness and companionship.
They were so graciously grateful for that little bit of interaction and touch of human kindness. They simply made the choice to reach out and take some happiness for themselves if not for any other reason, but out of gratitude for me reaching out to them!

I believe that our gratitude has a lot to do with life’s satisfaction. If we can learn to savor even the smallest of pleasures, I believe that we would be a happier people. And last but not least, I also believe that keeping an attitude of forgiveness is the trait most strongly linked to real happiness; it has been said that, it is the queen of all virtues, and probably the hardest to come by. Many people are trapped inside themselves harboring unforgiveness that reeks pain and depression on them. If they would but embrace forgiveness, their lives would be set free. You see God’s word tell us that unless we forgive, we are not forgiven. I think this principle is passed over way to often. You show me a person that is unwilling to forgive and I will show you a person that is haunted with bouts of depression and a strong feeling of not feeling loved.
Even God said that you can not hate your brother and love Him. It is just not possible.

Sweet friend, please release whatever it is today that is holding you back from happiness and keep striving until you get a foothold on the answers that you are looking for. Remember, God is not absent during His silence….He is waiting for you to get to the place where you will see things His way and not your own! Happiness really is a choice, but we must choose it; every time some one reaches out to you in loving kindness. See it as the Hand of God reaching out to you to love on you!

I love you and pray peace and Happiness over you today and let's all choose to have "AN ATTITUDE OF GRATITUDE" during these trying days. And may we all see and learn what our hard times are trying to teach us!

Hold Fast,

-Bren

TRAINED BY TRIALS

The writer of Hebrews knew that Jesus was the best example of enduring hardships and trials. He knows and understands ours as well. Even in the garden, Jesus was faced with a trial/hardship that He knew was unbarable alone, in the part of Him that was human.

But, amazingly, He was able to see beyond the cross. He endured the immediate because He placed His eyes and mind on the ultimate objective goal of His hardship. Today sweet friend begin to look past your hardship and see beyond the cross, the ultimate purpose of your situation. Hebrews 5:8 tells us that Jesus, though He was God's Son, learned obedience from what He suffered. I pray you don't miss that! Jesus understands because He had to make the same decisions in obedience and He came out as a winner every time!
How about you....what is your level if commitment today. Will you allow your hardship to push you to obedience or fall short? 

When everything is going our way, it is so easy to say, I will serve You Lord. Then comes the test to prove our comittment to what we said. Your response to your trials has a lot to do with the benefits of what you will receive from them. 

Read Job 23:10.....God knows the way your life is going and no matter how dark or overwhelming your pathway may seem now, He has good things ahead. If you are serious in your relationship with God and are seeking restoration... Pray this simple pray with me
Lord Jesus, have Your way in my ordeal. Refine me, yes. Remake me, yes. And Restore me! In Your name I ask!

Hold Fast,
-Bren

THE HAMMER AND THE WORK

One year ago I was diagnosed with cirrhosis of the liver. Not all cirrhosis of the liver is from alcohol. Mine is from a fatty liver and heridity. While it did not rock my world to find this out, I did begin to prepare my heart and life for what was to come if it be God's will for me. After all one of my favorite Bible verse that I have tried to live by is Phil. 1:21 "For me to live is Christ, to die is gain".

It's easy to make promises to God if we don't really think He will take us up on them. We may say, 'Lord all I have is Yours"; But what happens when He answers, "OK, I'll take it"?
When our precious child God gave us is sick, diease hits and shortens our life or the lovely home we were blessed with goes up in flames, a relationship gets broken or a job that provided food and shelter is gone, then what?

Can we say with Job, "The Lord gives, and the Lord takes away" Job 1:22?
Our trials are very different. My trials are different from yours. Never think that someone else's trial would be easier to bear than what you may be ask to go through. To do so is to question the Most High and the wisdom that He has in allowing yours. Don't get between the hammer and the work that He plans to use to purify you to make you more like Him.
Read James 1:3 to find out what testing does in your life.
God is a teacher like no other. He does not test us to find out what is in us. He test us to show US what is in us and uses those testing to humble us and to put the old carnal, flesh in us to death. And over time when we get out of step in our walk with Him and the old flesh in us that tries to show its ugly head rises up....He sends another test.
Our part is to yield and wait to see what His plans in our testing is meant to do for us.
David learned to do a lot of waiting, read Ps.27:4 and he well understood James 1:3 before that verse was ever penned.
For 40+ years now I have been schooled in the classroom of repeats. But, I am getting it, and am learning, Job 13:15, "Though He slay me, yet will I serve (trust) Him".
How about you?

Hold Fast,
-Bren

LIFE IS HARD AT TIMES

One reason that we don't like hard times, is because they tend to bring to surfice and expose things about ourselves that we don't like. Things that are down deep in us that otherwise we may not be aware of. Like weaknesses, blindness to our little sins.....you know what I'm saying....let us get in a hard place and watch how our sweet loving spirits turn ugly. 

May we not resist the work in us that God wants to do during these days ahead. May we say: reveal to me Lord that which is in my life that breaks your heart....help me be broken and repent...then restore me to what I know I can be through You!

I am reminded of Hebrews 12:3, As we struggle in our lives, we always ought to "consider Him who endured." And because He did, we can too....and in knowing this truth, not grow weary or fainthearted along our way.

Hard times are to be teachable moments that God will use to grow us, to restore us back and to love on us that belong to Him!

Real living is made up of trials and hardships, occasionally interupted by wonderful relief.
At times we may even feel like God is no where around. But I assure you sweet friend, that God is not absent during His silence.


God uses our hard times to refine us as gold. To be refined, gold must be melted so that the impurtities in it can rise to the surface and be removed. God uses a similar process to purify believers who submit to His refining work in their lives. And it all starts in the crucible of their suffering.


If you are a child of God, you can be sure that trials are coming your way. But remember that your hardships are the raw materials that God will use to work in your life to refine you in order to reflect more of Him and less if yourself. You can trust Him to burn, (yes it burns) away those impurties and to bring you forth as gold. That is why they are called Hard Times! 

Hold Fast,

-Bren

WHAT WILL YOU TAKE AWAY?

According to English mountaineer George Mallory; he says that mountain climbers climb "Because it's there" and that they are driven to climb whatever is in front of them. Something tells me though that there is more to it than just "because its there".


I wonder, is the take away something more precious, more subtle?
Climbers may come back from the mountain with nothing in hand to show of their reward, but that does not mean that they descend with nothing.


For the test of the climb and the effort to reach the top have brought out something in them about themselves. The hardship of the climb itself changed them. They moved forward and overcame the conditions that tried to defeat them along the way. The climb itself disciplined them, pushed them, broke them, yet something in them kept encouraging them not to give up!


You see there is great value in our hard times. May I remind you sweet friend that God's discipline comes with great reward.


What you take away from your hard time is not what you get, but what you become. More like Jesus!


Hold Fast,
 -Bren

THE LOADS OF LIFE

If ever there was a generation that felt life's load, it must surely be this one. The stress from the loads that many carry today seems to be at epidemic proportions. Many of those stresses are fueled by a variety of different events that we're seeing taking place right across our globe. We live in a time where, due to opportunity and access we have more than we have ever had on all levels of life. We've more money, or at least more access to have more plastic money than ever before. We've better living conditions, our working conditions are much better than our parents. We've more holidays and leisure time than ever, yet there seems to be more strain, more stress, more striving and more struggling than ever, in people's lives. There is a consistent attitude of, “The more I get, the more I want”, and the more some get, the less contented and satisfied they seem to be. More than ever, hospitals and psychiatric wards are filled with people who have been wracked by anxiety, fear, striving with labors and burdens from the loads of life, and those burdens are causing more health care issues for people than ever before!   They are simply the loads of life, and we all carry them.

If you're experiencing the strains of life,  and if perhaps you have even been striving to do better, but seem to always be failing, and don’t know what else to do. Maybe you've been striving in religion, by trying to keep some kind of dogmatic hold of some kind of faith or ritual, and you feel miserable because you just can't ever reach the mark. Maybe your problem is that you've no peace of mind, tranquility in your heart has eluded you because of fears, maybe even doubt about this life and eternity, maybe questions that you can't get answered. You may be even at this present moment feeling like you are momentarily sinking under the burden of guilt for things that you've done in the past? Maybe your heart is broken because of the hurts of others that have been inflicted upon you. Whatever it is, whatever your specific situation is today, you are simply under the load of life, and you feel it oh so heavily. My friend, may I remind you that we all feel that load at times. For you are not alone. Remember that!

In the Kingdom of God, we are to look at our situation through the eyes of faith, not our fleshy eyes but with our spiritual eyes. Now understand this…it is very important,  in order for it to help…to see with spiritual eyes, we must first, have our eyes opened spiritually. After they are opened, we are allowed to view life from God’s perspective. If, after God shows us the thing that we must see and what we are  to do about it, and then we are unwilling to correct it, then our load becomes heavier and more troublesome. If we respond properly, the burden is placed on Him and He carries it for us as we are able to walk in peace. If however, we choose to ignore what He shows us, then I can assure you that those burdens will only increase until we get to the proper breaking point needed to reveal whatever needs to be revealed.

There is only so much we can do in our day in, day out living. Whether it is in the workplace, our homes, with family and friends, or in the church. The need is always going to be great, or at least feel that way if they are important to us. I am constantly being reminded that  as I feel overwhelmed that there is so much to do and seemingly so little time to do it.

Sometimes a simple choice to let others help can alleviate some strains on us. Someone once asked this question: Which is the less stressful person, the one who can do the work of ten people, or the one who can get ten people to work? More than likely it is the latter one. For this is a person who has learned to delegate the task and gives others (and this is so very import) the freedom to do it. Some people are great at telling other what to do….but they insist on them doing the work the way the one who is delegating it wants it to be done. Now in some cases that may be alright. But in most, I have found that the whole point is allowing others to use their own God given abilities to be creative as well as being used in the process of taking burdens off others. Sometimes, we are simply our own enemy.

We must ask ourselves it we are contributing to our own burdens or the burdens that we are placing on others?  Simply put, are we adding to the weight of the task; or are we helping to lighten the load for ourselves as well as others. We might even say it this way…..are we being an asset or a liability.

There are days that I don’t know what to do first, answer my emails, work a spreadsheet, file important documents, call my daughters to remind them that I love them and am praying for their day, read my Bible, do to the laundry, decide what to fix for dinner, plan a Bible Study, have a fellowship in my home…? But the most important thing that I want to do, is to be at peace and not be overwhelmed throughout my day….and I have found, that when I put God first above all the other stuff…..then I take peace with me as I go through those moments of frustrations and loads that life will surly dump on me throughout my day.

Matthew 11:28 says, "Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest". These very words that Jesus spoke show us something that is universal. The pressures and problems that confronted the people of His day… are unchanging through the centuries. Things that happened centuries ago are still happening today.

If you feel that you can't carry your load much longer, you can't bear it much farther. May I remind you that there is a place for you to find rest, and that place may be somewhere in your life that you need to let something go. You may need to take a dip into the Word of God and find that the answers to your questions lie in the pages of that family Bible that has collected more dust than the shelf that it now rest upon.

Maybe you need to pray a simply prayer of repentance asking the One who longs to bear your burdens for you to come into your life and open your spiritual eyes that you may no longer see from your perspective but from His. Maybe you need to turn from something….we are told to take His yoke for it is not heavy….that means simply to do it His way and stop trying to do it ours…..you and I don't need any more instructions on how to get to God….we need only pray and seek Him who is waiting for us to come.

Hold Fast today my Friend…..don’t you give up!

Hold Fast,

-Bren

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 that He answered it in a way that you were not happy with.

            

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 room of my prayers, I am confident that God will answer them according to what is best for everyone 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 while we are waiting on Him in our prayer request. "...The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availed much." James 5:16b tells us. This verse has zeal in it, or feet you might say; because it's the kind of faith that is going places and seeing things happen!

           

I agree with Andrew Murray when he 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. 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, He 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! Hebrews 11:6b says,"… that He is a re-warder of them that diligently seek Him." Lord, help us to be diligent!

Hold Fast,

-Bren