Friday the 30th

1 Samuel 17: ⁴³ He (Goliath)  said to David, "Am I a dog, that you come at me with sticks?" And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. ⁴⁴ "Come here," he said, "and I'll give your flesh to the birds of the air and the beasts of the field!"  ⁴⁵ David said to the Philistine, "You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LORD Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.

Everyone knows the story of David and Goliath, we use the image in our everyday life to explain the underdog winning. We like to tell the story of how one small man overcame the unbeatable giant. Many never pay attention to what was spoken before David slung that rock. If they did the story would take on a whole new meaning wouldn’t it? It would take on the meaning that it is supposed to have, which is no man who walks with the Lord is alone, no person who steps out in faith is defeated.  You see, David had won the moment he decided top step out on to the battle field in the name of the LORD. It must have been quite a sight! David had to of been I would imagine around 16, his brothers treated him like a kid, Saul said he was “only a boy” Now Goliath, he was a battle hardened vet. He had seen battle time and time again, the taste of death, was nothing new to him.  When it comes time to go out and face him, no one will go! An entire army of warriors, and not one would go……except for David. David had no armor, he had to borrow some, and even that did not fit, he had no weapon, save for a sling and a bag of stones. What David did have was the one thing that was lacking among the ranks of his countrymen……faith. David did not go out for fame, he did not go out for his country, he did not go out so others would treat him like a man. He stepped onto the battlefield in the name of the LORD! No spear or sword stood a chance, no warrior, no matter his experience level can stand against the LORD. This is the key, this is the part we so often forget. Yes David killed Goliath, but David was not alone, David had God with him. Even a kid becomes a formidable opponent when that kid comes in the name of the LORD. We are today’s David’s I know that we all face struggles, and battles that look impossible, struggles that no one else you know is willing to take on. We look around and we know that we do not have the best worldly armor, we do not own the high tech weaponry that the enemy might have. What we do have is armor that cannot be pierced, and the weapon that we carry with us, is the power of the Lord our God, the creator of the world. What earthly obstacle can stand a chance against the one who created everything? I see people daily going up against their Goliath, and failing over and over again. The problem is always the same, they want the ending of the story, without the beginning. They want the glory for themselves, not for the Lord.  They want the win, but they do not want the way! If you want to slay your Goliath, all you need is what the Lord puts in your hand. If you want to be victorious, step onto the battlefield of life in the name of the Lord.  It is the first part of the story that is important. Without it you’re just a kid slinging rocks!

 

God bless, and have a great weekend

Brian

 

Thursday the 29th

Ephesians 4: ²⁵Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one body. ²⁶"In your anger do not sin": Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry

 

This is a tough one for me, it is something I struggle with daily. Speak truthfully to my neighbor. I know I am not alone in this struggle, because many people do it to me daily as well. I am not talking about out right lying, I am talking about the little falsehoods, the little “white” lies if you will. They are not spoken out of anger or malice, these lies tend to be spoken out of love…..misguided….but out of love none the less. The scripture sums it up we are members of one body, would you tell your hand that it’s nails look great when you and your hand know good and well they need to be trimmed? Would you tell your feet that they do not stink, when in fact they do? This is really what the scripture is drilling down on, real, honest, loving truthfulness. We are all bound by the blood of Christ, as a result we must be honest, you don’t have to be hurtful, just honest. Therein lies the problem, a lot of times the truth hurts. We have advanced to a place in society where to speak the truth is not wanted if it might inflict pain. Even if that pain might be exactly what is needed to cause the needed change. I think of Christ when it comes to issues like this. Chris never embellished, flattered, or glossed over the truth. He just put it out there. He told people that hey yeah, you are a sinner, you need to look at how you are living, you need to make a change in your life, so that you might live forever with me. Here is the key though, it is something that Christ was so good at (big surprise) and where we often fail. Christ always loved, He always encouraged, and He always offered forgiveness. We find it much easier to just shine it up a little bit. We say things like it’s not that bad, or there are worse things you could do, we are very good at rationalizing others actions so that we can fit it in to the OK section of life. We do no one, ourselves, or God any favors when we approach our relationships that way. As Christians we need the truth, we depend on the truth, and we crave the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. It might be painful to hear, it will be painful to say, but if we really do love and care for the person, it is the only acceptable response. It is no surprise that the next verse is do not let the sun go down on you while you are angry. Guess what? We start handing out the truth, and there will be hurt feelings, and hurt feelings tend to bring about anger. When that happens what is needed? More truth! When your hand goes to sleep do you whisper, and coax it awake? NO! you shake it, you move it around, you get the blood going as quickly as you can…the truth is you need your hand back, and you can’t wait around for it, your hand is important to your every day life. That is how important we are to each other. This is the model for a real conversation, this is the way to communicate with each other. There will be no need for anger, if we are honest on both ends of our conversation.  If we are to operate like one body, full communication is needed. Think of playing any sport. Your head is in constant communication with your body, and to be good at any sport your body has to be working together in unison. There is no glossing over the truth, the foot can’t keep dragging if the body is to walk without a limp, and the foot will not correct the problem is the body keeps telling it that it will be ok to continue. There is a world of communication going on with your body just to walk down the street. This is why the image of us being one body is so powerful. There is no room for dishonesty or falsehood, or white lies. No matter the intention, the body cannot function without the full truth. So speak plainly, speak honestly, and when spoken to honestly, don’t be angry, don’t seek to hurt. Speak as Christ spoke, honestly, directly, full of forgiveness, full of love, and most importantly with full honesty.

 

God Bless,

Brian

 

Wed the 28th

Malachi 3: ⁹ You are under a curse—the whole nation of you—because you are robbing me. ¹⁰ Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.

 

Bring your whole tithe into the store house! I know, I know, here we go again talking about money, why does it always have to be about the money? What if I was to tell you that if when you read this passage and if all you get is that God wants you to give more money, then you have missed the point?! This passage reads that God is asking for His whole tithe. All of it, and sadly what comes to my mind is all the people who just  put some money in the plate at church on Sunday, and consider their tithing done. This is a big scripture, God is calling us to give Him all of our tithe, that means a lot more than money. We get to wrapped up worrying about how much money we give. There are people who have plenty of it, and don’t give enough, and there are many who can’t afford to give much and still keep a roof over their head, and if you read the scripture, God has no intention of you being destitute. He wants to bless you, He wants to give you so much that you will not have enough room for it all. You see that is how God works, HE gives you plenty, so that you might have plenty to give….but it is not all about the money. Everything has value, especially to God. I was talking to a friend yesterday, and he was telling me that when he orders stuff online and it comes in, and does not fit, he donates it. Sure He is comfortable, he can afford to do that, but the difference is he does it. Most would return it and get what is theirs. Not this fella, he gives every chance he gets. I have another buddy of mine that he does not have much money, but he goes around and he gets people to sponsor him, so that he can go on mission trips, and help others.  He might not have money, but he has time, and he gives it. Another friend of mine spends his time teaching at a rehab center that is Christ centered, he does not have a lot of extra time, or money, but he has knowledge. These are men who give what they can, and then go out and give what they have extra of. This is offering God your full tithe. This is living for the glory of God. We all have something extra to give. Why would you want to hang on to it? DO you want more? Do you want to be blessed? Then give what you have, God promises He will give you more! Not just here Jeremiah 29 tells us that God has plans for us to be happy, to prosper us. Joshua 1 reminds us that God will be with us always. There are countless passages that show how much the Lord wants to give us. HE wants us to be happy, but we have to get rid of what He gives us, if we try to keep it, if we try to save it, it will rot in our storehouses. SO maybe you are thinking right now Brian, “I hurt to much to give anything, I need it all for myself” I can promise you others are hurting worse, and need you, and your perspective. If you want to heal yourself, go share the Word of God, and see how fast you will heal, and help heal someone else. It might be the very thing that is hurting about right now, needs to be shared with someone else with no faith, or little faith. Share it! Bring out your full tithe. God wants to open the floodgates of heaven, and drowned you in His love, but He has to know that you ware willing to do the same! You world can be flooded with the love, and blessing of God, just remember to grab a bucket and start passing those blessing out! We all have something to give, and there is someone out there that needs what only you can give. It all counts to the Lord, there is nothing to small, every act done in the name of the Lord is huge, and He will repay you double. Bring your full tithe to God, it is the only thing God will ask you to test Him on. You want to experience the full blessing of God? Test Him!

 

God Bless,

Brian

 

Tuesday the 27th

Mark 13:  ³²"No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. ³³Be on guard! Be alert! You do not know when that time will come. ³⁴It's like a man going away: He leaves his house and puts his servants in charge, each with his assigned task, and tells the one at the door to keep watch. 

 

I was standing in the kitchen last night and I heard on the TV a woman say that “she wants to live in amazement of something”….(I think it was an ad for a movie coming up or something like that) She wants to live in amazement……I ask how can you not be living in amazement everyday?!  We don’t have a lot of time here on earth when you stop and think about it. Each and everyday counts, each moment counts, each interaction is a chance to be amazed. Look at the world that we are surrounded by, the beauty, the life, and the love that is all around us, and tell me that there is not a lifetime of amazement surrounding us at any given moment.  The woman was partially right, but it is not that there is nothing in your life right now to live in amazement of….no it is that we are not awake enough to see it. I don’t want to live in amazement, I want to be awake, I want to be present, I want to live alive, for I know that I have no idea how long it will last. We allow entire block of our day to pass in a fog, sometimes it seems like entire days might slip by us……We must remember to live alive, not just when we get home, or not just on the weekend, but each and everyday. When we start the day off putting the Lord first, then we set up our day for one of amazement, carry Him along with you throughout the day. If you want to be alive, if you want to be alert, decide to take the Lord with you each and everyday, each and every hour. Live you life in amazement of all that He has given you, and all that has been placed at your feet. The Lord gave you a life, that life spans 24 hours, 7 days a week. He has filled that life with amazing things, people, events, and moments, will you be awake enough to see them? Will you live your life with the Lord, or will it be alone and asleep?

We know that we don’t know the day or the hour that the Lord will return, and we know that when that day comes the time for do overs or getting it done is over…..so the real question is, are we alert? Are we ready? Are we living our life and making each day count? I remember my parents, my preacher, my god-parents, all of them would say live today like it could be your last…..and I would always say OK! It gets me to thinking, what if I left today? What would I leave undone? What have I been putting off for tomorrow? Live your life in amazement, and you will be alert, give your day to the Lord, let Him direct your steps, and you will find a life full of amazement, joy, peace, and life. Keep watch, be amazed, live alive!

 

 

God Bless,

Brian

 

Monday the 26th

Colossians 3: ¹³Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. ¹⁴And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

 

Forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another…interesting word grievance the Greek word that Paul used was momphē  meaning blame, or my implication,  fault, the KJV uses the word quarrel. Now a grievance we understand to day as something that was done against us, however the word quarrel, dials us a little closer in to fault, or blame. It brings to mind an important piece of advice I was given once, I am sure you have heard the same….don't sweat the small stuff…..and if there is one thing I have learned, most of it is all small stuff. That is the trap that the devil lays for us. All the little grievances, the little quarrels, all the little faults that we carry around and pin on people. It is the hope of the ole' devil that we get so caught up in the details of the little things, that we allow hate….no that is to harsh, it does not even have to get to that level for the devil to win……. we allow indifference to enter our hearts, and it is from an area of indifference that we start to live our lives. That is not how we were called to live. We were called to live a life of love. Here Paul calls us to put on love, as if it is clothing, something to drape over your entire body, we are to strive to have so much love that we are covered in it. Why? Because a loving heart is a forgiving heart; and a forgiving, loving heart cares about each person they come in contact with. It is the loving heart that impacts everyone it comes in contact with. Paul drives the point home by pointing out we are not just to forgive, but we are to forgive as the Lord forgave you. Ouch! That is a tough one! We all forgive, but do we forgive completely? You all know what I am talking about, we say oh I forgive you, but we don't, we hold on to the hate, or hurt, we lay and wait for the opportunity to strike back, we speak the words of forgiveness, but we do not give the love that is supposed to come with it. We must learn that we will hurt people in our lives, and we will be hurt by others in our lives. We do not mean to, just as most do not mean to hurt us, we are human, we make mistakes and we blunder through this world bumping in to each other. We hurt, we forgive, we love, and we grow. So we must learn to forgive, but that does not mean we have to forget. This can be a hard concept to get your head around, but if we keep it in the context of Christ it helps to shed a little light on it. The Pharisees were always after Christ, he forgave them for their ignorance, but He held no malice towards them. He still spoke the truth to them, He still had love in His heart for them, and the hope that they would change their minds. As a matter of fact, if one were to come to Christ and ask for forgiveness, are we to believe that Christ would have told them, to go away? Of course not! We know that many Jews became followers of Christ. When people tried to trap Christ, and kill Him, did He hold ill will against them? No He forgave them for it. He was still very well aware of the fact they wanted Him dead, but He only held out love in return. One of the last things Christ did with His time here on earth, was to ask His Father for forgiveness for the very people who had hung Him on the cross. That is the best example of forgiving, that is the best example of living with only love to give in return. That is the best example of how we are to live draped in love. We live with a forgiving heart, fully aware of the world around us, fully aware that we might be hurt, but fully aware that the only thing that will ever beat hatred, and indifference, is love and forgiveness.

 

God Bless,

Brian

 

Friday the 23rd

Genesis 50: ²⁰ You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.

 

This is what Joseph told his brothers when they all met up for the first time after His brothers had sold him off. You intended me harm, but God intended it for good.

 

A lot of things in our life are like that you know. We can’t see the good until we get closer to the end of the season. Joseph went through a lot….and I mean a lot, sold off by his own family, wrongfully accused, thrown in jail, but in the end God raised him up. God had a plan, and Joseph knew it, so throughout the entire season of pain, Joseph continued to give thanks to God. I know many of you are asking if God is so great then why did He allow Joseph to go through all of that pain. All I can say to that is that God is great, He is an awesome God…..we however are not! It takes time, and pressure for us to be shaped into the person God needs us to become. Have you ever helped your kids make cookies? When you roll out the dough, and you place that cookie cutter onto the dough, you have to press down. What happens if you do not apply enough pressure? Well the cookie does not come out right does it? The dough will not fill in all of the places around the mold, as a result, once the cookie is baked, you can’t really tell what it was supposed to be. The corners are missing, the middle is not filled in, it is just not right. However if you press down hard enough the dough will fill every corner, and once it is baked it comes out just the way it is supposed to look. Well that is how it is with us. We are the dough, and God has to press down pretty hard sometimes to get the mold filled like He needs it to be. SO during the seasons of trial, when life is hard and it seems like the entire world is pressing down on you, give thanks! It might not be fun, and it might be painful, but know this, God is shaping you into something that He needs. HE does not want you to be a hunk of dough, He has a specific mold just for you that needs to be filled. It will take some effort on your part to help get all of the places filled in, and that might be tiring, it might be relentless sometimes, but know that in the end, after that season of shaping, God will raise you up. He will unlock the full potential of His love and grace, and then you will realize that all that is behind you has been for the good. Even those that might try and harm you, in the end, God will use it for the good. SO do not buckle and give up when you draw the short stick, or someone sells you down the river. Give thanks and hang on! God has great things in store, he just has to get the mold filled!

 

God Bless, and have a great weekend!!

Brian

 

Thursday the 22nd

Ecclesiastes 9  ⁷ Go, eat your food with gladness, and drink your wine with a joyful heart, for it is now that God favors what you do. ⁸ Always be clothed in white, and always anoint your head with oil. ⁹ Enjoy life with your wife, whom you love, all the days of this meaningless life that God has given you under the sun— all your meaningless days. For this is your lot in life and in your toilsome labor under the sun.

I have to admit, I am broke! I often wonder how I am going to pay for the next bill that come in the mail. I have a house payment that is too high, kids that both need braces, and college, and cars, and clothes, where is my ministry going, how will I pay for it’s needs,  am I serving the Lord, am I doing enough and well…..I just do not know how I am going to do it all. How am I going to pull all of this off, how will I be successful? AS I sat and thought about all of these things, I could not help but thank God! I give Him thanks that I am fortunate enough to have these problems! I bent my knee last night, and this morning full of thanks. That may sound strange to some, why would I be giving thanks when I have all of these things to worry about, all of these stressors in my life (and that was just a partial list).  Well for one I know the I am not the only person in the world that has many of these same issues, but more importantly, if I allow myself to get down and wallow in all of the unknowns, I will not have any time left to eat my food with gladness, or drink my wine with a joyful heart! You see, he was right, it is now that God favors what you do. He is not to concerned with what you want to do, or what you are planning on doing, or, if you are repentant, what you have done in the past. No it is now the God favors what you do. So what are you doing now? Are you caught up in the “what ifs”, and the “what abouts”? Have you become a slave to all that you don’t have, and all that you need to do? Are you missing the opportunity to enjoy your life, because you are stuck at a stand still full of fear, and worry? You have to let it go. By that I do not mean just forget it, or ignore it, I mean give it to God. He wants it, He sent His Son so that we could rest all of our cares on Him. As Scripture reminds us, if God provides for the birds, and the animals, will he not provide for us?  turn your cares over to the Lord, and start being joyful! Life is short my friends and we only get to do it one time. God did not intend for you to spend your 12 hours of daylight caught up in worry. Don’t let this spectacular gift of life that God has given you slip by with your head down. Live it fully, enjoy every moment that comes your way, and give thanks to the Lord. That is the life He wants you to live, eating with gladness, drinking with a joyful heart, living your life full of pure happiness. Don’t miss tonight’s sunset, because you are worried about tomorrow’s sunrise!

 

 

God Bless,

Brian