Friday the 11th

I wrote this earlier in the week, but thought I would pass it on to this group as well.

 1 Corinthians 1:4-9 (Holman Christian Standard Bible)

  ⁴ I always thank my God for you because of God's grace given to you in Christ Jesus, ⁵ that by Him you were made rich in everything—in all speaking and all knowledge — ⁶ as the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you, ⁷ so that you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁸ He will also confirm you to the end, blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁹ God is faithful; by Him you were called into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

 

We all have Spiritual gifts. They lie inside of us waiting to be set free. If you think you don’t have any, or don’t know why it is not just jumping forth I will let you in on a little secret…..it is kinda scary to let them out….there I said it. It is the truth though, one we might not like to say out loud but,  we know what we excel at, we know what we are good at, and we can all see how our gifts could be used to support, praise, and magnify the Lord, but we keep them tucked town inside, we say things like ohhh I can’t, or what would people say? We worry about how it will affect our worldly relationships….I mean really….people might think you were one of those Jesus Freaks!  We worry more about our fellowship with society, than our fellowship with the Lord. The gifts are there, we just have to let them out. For us to truly discover what our gifts are, we have to give them a chance to blossom. I will be quite honest and say one of the scariest things I ever did was start writing about the Lord. See the writing led to talking, and the talking led to preaching. Why was it scary? Well….honestly I was worried about what people who knew me would think. I mean really….I am a cradle Catholic…..well a recovering Catholic now but most of my religious peers have a looooong nose to look down when you start talking about bible based churches, or use that nasty word non-denominational. Sure enough though, I let a little bit of that gift out, and there was no looking back. Guess what, the vast majority welcomed it, matter of fact many people tell me that I have helped them feel more comfortable talking to God themselves. But I had to let that gift out. Honestly I knew it all along, I knew good and well what my gift was….running my mouth! I don’t know if you have noticed, but I can talk/ write a blue streak sometimes! It was just a matter of my applying that gift to the ends that it was meant for which of course is glorifying God. Each and every one of us has  gifts that are waiting inside of us. God does not make second rate product, he makes spectacular works of art! If you are thinking that you do not have a gift, rest assured you are mistaken. The candy company might forget to put the prize in the cracker jack box, sometimes you might not get that gift with the happy meal, but make no mistake about it, there are gifts inside of you, God put them there, we are his children, why would he not give us more to offer than we ever imagined, why would he not make us better than we think we are? Would you deny your own child…. Your own family? Of course not!  We are not lacking except in what we allow ourselves to be lacking in. open your hearts, your eyes, and your mind. Your gift to the world is banging at the door, let it out, all it needs is just a small chance to be allowed to grow. Give it the chance! 

 

Peace,

Brian

 

 

Thursday the 10th

Hebrews 13:9

 

⁹Do not be carried away by all kinds of strange teachings. It is good for our hearts to be strengthened by grace, not by ceremonial foods, which are of no value to those who eat them.

 

The first sentence carries so much weight in today’s world. Strange teachings, they are everywhere, not just in the spiritual, but in the natural world as well. We are being assaulted daily with all types of new ideas, and new teachings. To say they are strange is an understatement. I am not suggesting that we should be sedentary in our lives. There is always a better way to do something, there is always a better mouse trap to be built, however we have to make it a point to hold on to our values, and our morals. It is not uncommon today to hear people start their phrases off with, well I believe that the Lord meant…… when he said …..we have to be vigilant in the way we take in new information. The will of God will never contradict the written word of God. Never has in the past, and it will not happen in the future. This can be applied to every aspect of your life. If you want to do some fact checking there is always one place you can go, one place you can always trust. You know the answer, the Bible. If you are worried about translations, then go download a version that has the original text right next to it, read it for yourself. We will be told often that we can do this , or we should not do that, let us all remember that we are saved by grace, not our deeds or works. It is by the grace of God that we are forgiven, it is through the blood of Christ that we have access to the Lord. Let us all use Their teachings as a guide, and leave the teachings of the natural where they belong…..with the dead.

 

God bless,

Brian

Wed the 9th

Hebrews 12: 23-24

………You have come to God, the judge of all men, to the spirits of righteous men made perfect, ²⁴to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.

 

The final judge, the great mediator, the Holy Spirit and the New Covenant……  This is what is so exciting about the Christian faith. The New Covenant, the chance for salvation, the forgiveness of sin…..while we know that God will judge us, we also know Jesus will be our mediator. His death covered our sins, and opened the gates of Heaven. This New Covenant built on love, compassion, selflessness, and faith, a Covenant that reflects the life that Jesus lived; it is our road map. It is our center, and our compass. TO wake up every morning, and know that we are saved, to lay our head down at night, and know that our short comings are bridged, and our sins can be forgiven, that is news to shout form the mountain tops. This concept is the jump off point for our faith. This is the good news in a nut shell. It is not our bank accounts, or our standing in the community that counts, it is our standing in the eyes of God. It is our trust in God, our Faith in Christ, and our belief that this world is only the beginning that makes up the cornerstone of our lives. SO what gets you going in the morning? Is it the prospect of what the day holds and what you will amass, or is it the prospect of all that you can do for and through Christ? Will you wake with the desire to just make it through the day, or will you rise with strength that comes from knowing that God, Christ, and the Holy Spirit, are working on your behalf before your eyes even opened? Will you allow the Lord to use you as an example of all of his greatness? We have come to a better place, a place where the Holy Trinity works on our behalf under the New Covenant. Let us work to exemplify that, let us reflect that love, and let that love flow from us like river that has broken through a dam!

 

May God bless and keep you,

 

Brian

Tuesday the 8th

Hebrews 12: 17

¹⁷Afterward, as you know, when he wanted to inherit this blessing, he was rejected. He could bring about no change of mind, though he sought the blessing with tears.

 

Esau gave much in his young life up, and once it was given up, it could not be regained. We make choices everyday that are not so different from Esau’s. While we do serve a great and forgiving God, and there is nothing that can separate us from his love. We do make choices that once made, cannot be reversed. Oh we might later down the line realize our foolishness, or our transgression, we may repent, and seek forgiveness, and we will receive that forgiveness through God’s sweet grace, however the bell cannot be “unrung” the deed is done, the action was completed, and as my father was so fond of saying “all the crying in the world won’t fix it”. This is what we must be cautious about. Paul often reminds us that we live in evil times, and there is little doubt he is right. What we must do is shut out the bitter root, and turn our hearts outward, not inward. The choices we make, the deals that are struck, the broken promises, and the outright lies, these all have consequences. When we put our focus on making those choices for the benefit of others, when we start to live a life of love of brother, and less love of self, then we can start to see the life that God intends for us. Not one of remorse and constant repentance, but one of righteousness, a life built on the solid foundation of Jesus Christ, a life full of choices that amplify the love that is Christ. When we start to live that life, we will find that we will spend more time crying tears of joy, not tears of regret. We will find our life overflowing with blessing, not second guessing, and it will be a life worth of a child of God.

 

Peace,

Brian

Friday the 4th

^{Hebrews 13:5}

⁵Make sure that your character is free from the love of money, being content with what you have; for He Himself has said, "I WILL NEVER DESERT YOU, NOR WILL I EVER FORSAKE YOU,"

We all remember God when things are going bad. Why would God do this to me? What did I do to deserve this? Why me?……sound familiar? We all have said it from time to time. When we are down and out, God is typically in, and pretty high on our list. Yet it is when things are going well that it is easy to lose sight of God. When we are on top of the world it is easy to think that no one can top us….could you imagine the look on God face….I can just see him looking down, and saying “whhhhaaaat?? How does that work, he prays and prays for it to get better, he worked so hard and praised my name, a night did not pass without him bending a knee and asking for guidance, but NOW what happens??? Things get better and no more prayer, no more thanks, no more praising, now all he wants is a flat screen, and a new car, and a new house, and…..jeez when did I go from being God to being Santa?” We all know people like this and perhaps we have even been a little guilty of it ourselves. Folks we have one thing, and it is the only thing we need. We have God, from the time we wake up, to the time we go to sleep, and all the time in between, we have the only thing in our lives that we HAVE to have. Worldly wealth comes and goes, I have known many a rich man who has lost it all, and many beggars that became quite successful. This world is a roller coaster, you are on top one day, and right back to the bottom a few days later. Learn to take it all in stride and hold on to all that the world gives you loosely. Hold tightly to the important thing in your life, God. With him every peak is a little higher, and every low point in not quite as low. Be content with what you have right now, be it a little or be it a lot. I can promise you it will change. Success is a wicked mistress, and wealth is a terrible partner. Both will come on strong, but will leave you cold in the end. They never shine as brightly, or warm you as much as you thought they would when you were chasing them. Drop out of the worldly race, and enter into the spiritual one. Chase after the Lord, you will find that he will provide more than you need, often even more than we deserve. Your bank account will always fluctuate, your faith never should. Your success in this world is a roll of the dice, but your salvation is etched in stone of you will accept it. your new house will not make it to your next life, but the Lord is with you now, he will be with you then. He will never leave you, he will never forsake you.

Be blessed, and be a blessing,

Brian

wed the 2nd

Hebrews 10:33-34

 

³³Sometimes you were publicly exposed to insult and persecution; at other times you stood side by side with those who were so treated. ³⁴You sympathized with those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions.

 

You are a child of the most high God! You are the sibling of Jesus Christ! Created in their image to show the world what the Love and light of Jesus Christ looks like in action.  As much as we do not like it, that task can be very trying sometimes. As Paul is reminding us here, there will be persecution, there will be times where you, your loved ones, your friends will be picked apart and there will be no rhyme or reason to it. Take heart; these times, as unpleasant as they can be, are nothing more than opportunities, opportunities to show the world that adversity is just a season, and like any other season it will be met with the faith that comes with knowing what lies in store for you. You see, we know that this life is not a journey to an end, but a journey to a beginning. It is a journey that will end with God wiping away each tear, and we will cry no longer. Let the world judge, let them hold you up, and knock you down, it is of little consequence for a child of God. The wrongs we are done here on earth will be repaid double with joy when we join God. DO not succumb to the ways of this world, do not jump on the bandwagon of persecution, and judgment. There will be a time for judging, and there is but one that will be our judge and jury. When that time comes let us stand proudly at the throne, knowing that while we have endured many hardships, we have dealt few in return; that even though many judged you harshly, you have held your judgment for the one who will judge all. Life is messy, it is hard, and sometimes the season of pain and persecution can seem to last a lifetime, but know, this too shall pass. God works for the good in the lives of those who love him….. not sometimes, not most of the time, but all of the time. The painful times, while they are not enjoyable, are useful. Utilize them to grow your faith, turn the pain over to the Lord, He wants it, he asks for it, and he paid a very high price for the chance to carry that pain for you. Yes, judgment, pain and persecution will come, but let your faith burn bright for you know that the source of this worldly judgment carries no weight, you have far better and lasting possessions in store for you from the one whose judgment does!

 

God Bless,

Brian

 

 

Tuesday the 1st

 Hebrews 12:1

 

¹Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.

 

 In Chapter 11 Paul has just finished listing off a great number of people who have lived by faith, and now he is encouraging us to throw off all that hinders, as well as the sin that entangles……oh if it were only that easy right? If it were just a matter of brushing off the hindering entangling tentacles of sin, but it’s not always that easy is it? old habits die hard, old friends always seem to find you when you are at your weakest, and while more days than not we fight the good fight, we all have those days when we feel the tempting whisper of the devil,  to just let go…..no one will know, you will never get caught, or even better everyone is doing it, and no one really cares. The key is found in the next part of the verse. RUN….let us run the race. All the people listed by Paul in chapter 11 lived a life of great faith no doubt, but they all ran the race. Not a lot of time to sit around and wait for a sign, they kept moving, working towards the goal, running the good race that God had marked out for them…..and that is where so many of us falter, we get the faith, we throw off the things that hinder and the sin, but then we wait….and wait, and end up trapped once again. We get the good news and then let it get choked out like the seeds that are scattered among thorn bushes. SO remember to run! We don’t get a map, we only see the next goal. Much like the distance runner looking for the flag on the course. Look for the markers, God has set out, they are defined and easy to see but we have to run to get to the next one. Don’t make the mistake of becoming stagnant, a stagnant pool turns toxic, a stone that sits sinks into the ground. Let us run the race of faith and spread the good news.

 

Peace,

Brian