Tuesday the 31st

Psalm 118: ⁶ The LORD is with me; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me? ⁷ The LORD is with me; he is my helper. I will look in triumph on my enemies.

Did you ever stop and think who you have fighting for you? All of those days that seem like the world is crashing down on you, the mornings where you are overcome with dread at the thought of getting up to start the day, the cringe as you think of what is lined up for you as you sip your morning coffee…..why the doubt, why the fear, why let these wasted emotions dominate your thoughts, waste your time, and steal your joy? The Lord is with you……THE LORD IS WITH YOU! You are walking with greatness, you are going through your day with the One who created everything……What is there to fear? What is there to dread? What can possibly happen today, what can anyone do to you that would change the very simple fact that the Lord is with you? I will tell you what….nothing! The only person that can have a negative effect on your life, watched you brush your teeth this morning. The only person that can cause you defeat, and steal your joy is you. You have to give the permission, you have to allow someone the control. Why would you do that? The Lord is with you! If no one on this earth can harm you, then why would you harm yourself? The Lord is your helper, He will give you the strength to persevere through any hardship, you will look in triumph over your enemies…how could you not, you walk with the Lord. Maybe the question is not who do you have fighting for you….maybe the question is if you will not allow the Lord to walk with you…..who will you be fighting against? 

 

God Bless,

Brian

 

Thursday the 26th

Matthew 21: ¹⁷And he left them and went out of the city to Bethany, where he spent the night.

 

Time and time again throughout all of the Gospels we read where Jesus withdrew form the crowd, or He left his disciples, and He went off on His own. There was good reason for it. Jesus needed time to connect with His Father. He needed time to regroup, and concentrate on His task that His Father sent Him to carry out. Think about what it was like for Christ when He walked the earth. Once His  ministry took off, everywhere He went people knew Him. When He walked into town people gathered, they wanted answers, they wanted to be healed, they wanted to see this Man that everyone was talking about. It was important for Jesus to retreat because He had to make sure that He did not fall to the greatest temptation that temps us all……fame. We know that Jesus was tempted, and faced all of the trials that we face today, that is why He is so compassionate, that is why He is so forgiving, that is why no one else can understand so perfectly what it is to be you. Christ walked a mile in our shoes, before we had shoes to walk in. So we can be sure that just like any person who receives a great deal of attention, Jesus knew what it was to be tempted to drink His own kool-aid. He was a rock star in His time. Yet he never took His eye off of the goal, He never forgot that He was here to do His Father’s will, and He always reminded everyone that it was through His Father that all things are given. He was famous by the worlds standard, yet remained humble. I am convinced that He accomplished this by getting away form all of the attention so He could spend time with the one person He needed to spend time with. His Father. This is why it is so important to make sure that we are making time to get away from this world, and commune with God. In our own way, in our own lives we all have a portion of rock star status. We all have people who depend on us, we all have people that care for us, we all have people that look up to us…..yes…you do. I have seen many people fall victim to the temptress fame. They start to believe that they are the important ones, they start to believe that they are making it happen, they start to believe what they hear about themselves…..they drink their own kool-aid. They step away from God, and step closer to the mirror, they like what they see, but they forget how they got there. Make time, as much as you can to get away form the world. Find somewhere, anywhere, your car, your backyard, your bathroom if you have to, but make it a point to step away from this world every now and then. Step away from the world, so that you do not become of the world.

 

God Bless,

Brian

 

Wednesday the 25th

Matthew 18: ⁷"Woe to the world because of the things that cause people to sin! Such things must come, but woe to the man through whom they come!

 

 

We are responsible for our own actions, we all know that, and we all get that. We all know that there is evil in the world, I do not think there is anyone out there that would contest that fact. However are we aware that to some degree we are responsible for the actions of those that share in our lives? We are…that is what Christ is telling us. A thief can repent for their sins, but if the thief teaches another person to steal, they cannot repent for their students sins. Each of us might walk right up to the line of morality and successfully pull away, but we have no control if we take someone with us, and they cross that line. The choices we make, the path that we walk will at sometime or another be an instruction manual for someone else…..so what are we teaching? Our actions, even though we might not realize it, are often tied to another persons actions. What we say is OK the next person might take a step further, and cross into sin. This is why I talk so much about love, about forgiveness, about compassion. When we are living like Christ, when we are living our lives trying to help others, then our focus will be on helping our fellow man / woman improve their lives. How did you get to where you are today? What have you shown others in the past that you thought was acceptable? Are you living your life today thinking that it’s OK for me, but no one else should do this? We cannot wear a mask during the week  then try and show our real faces on Sunday morning. The people around us will not see the person on Sunday, they will remember, and emulate the person they see during the week. Where are you leading those around you? What are you teaching the world? A hard lesson for me to learn was that I can’t break the rules then explain that it was ok that one time, I can’t live my life as if nothing matters, then expect those around me to understand that God is all that matters. There will always be sin in this world, there will always be temptation, this is after all the devil’s playground. It comes down to the question of who’s team are you on? …..and there really is no gray area….we choose to be a teacher of sin, or a teacher of the Lord. The ripples of our actions reach well beyond our reach.

 

God Bless,

Brian

 

Tuesday the 24th

Romans 5: ¹⁰For if, when we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!

 

You are reconciled with God. You are forgiven. It is a phrase that we use often. We use it to the point that the words are said, but often are not heard. Do you believe it? Do you live it? We hear the phrase that we are forgiven, and it is easy to think of a lot of people in your life who are forgiven, and needed that forgiveness…but what about you? We hear the phrase, and we know that those around us have had the slate wiped clean, but what about you? DO you realize that that forgiveness is on a very deep, internal, and personal level, that the Lord’s forgiveness is yours and it was given directly to you? We are always eager to make sure others know about the love of God, the forgiveness that we were given through His Son, yet we have a problem giving ourselves permission to enjoy that same forgiveness. We know that Christ lived dies and rose again to save the world, but do we centralize that down to the point that we understand that He did all of that for each one of us? You are forgiven, you are reconciled with God, your past does not matter anymore…..So are you living like you are forgiven, or are you living like you are still waiting to be? If you have not dropped the pain and the hurt in your life, how can you expect anyone you talk to do it? A forgiven life is a life of  service, and thanksgiving, a life waiting to be forgiven is a life of servitude to the world, and regret. Choose to accept the forgiveness that is freely offered. It is forgiveness that was extended to you before you were born. It is a standing offer, that is never revoked, but you have to choose to accept it. You have to choose to live it. Christ did not hang on a cross so that you could see all those around you receive the benefit. He did it for you. His forgiveness is not just for everyone else, it is specifically for you. Your sins are no worse, your short comings are no different, your past is just that the past. Live the life of the forgiven, not the life the world would have you live. Choose to take the Lord up on His offer, and truly let Him in. let go of the regret, the Lord has already forgotten it.

 

God Bless,

Brian

 

Monday the 23rd

Luke 12: ¹⁵Then he said to them, "Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions."

 

I know that this is something that comes up a lot, but when I read the headlines, look at the world around me, and listen to my co-workers….and honestly to myself…..I know that this is something that we all struggle with. It must have been a pretty big problem back in Jesus’ day, because He felt the need not just talk about it, but to make it a point to warn people. WATCH OUT! Be on your guard……..that is a pretty clear to me that something is going to happen, temptation is right around the corner. Now here is a point I feel is important to point out. Greed in the NIV is covetousness in the KJV, and the oldest text I have is the Bishops Bible from 1568 which uses the word couetousnes (they were not big with using the letter V) Strong’s dictionary shows the original word used in the Greek text to be pleonexia

pleh-on-ex-ee'-ah  that is, (by implication) fraudulency, extortion: - covetous (-ness) practices, greediness.  So at the heart of the matter is not just the feeling that we all struggle with (hey, I want that) it is allowing that feeling to turn into an action, an action that will take you on a path further from God. You might think that you will never allow that to happen, but let me be the first to say that Christ is correct, Watch out, and be on guard. The opportunity will present itself. The first job I ever had where I was purchasing things with company money the temptation came up often, ever since that day of the first offer, others have continued to arise. To some extent it is a temptation that we all face from time to time. The ability to get something, to attain status, or to further our goals, by way of fraudulency, or extortion……. greed, as we know it today, can be a tempting mistress. The pile of toys that we could amass are fun to have. There is a reason we are warned against it….like most things in life the easy way pays well in the short term. I know I could have made quite a bit of money taking the easy way, I have known men in high positions that have taken the easy way. I have worked with many people in many companies, that took the easy way. All of them had one thing in common….what started out as” just this once”, turned in to a lifestyle of corruption, and I can honestly say in each case I know of, it ended poorly. We come into this world with nothing more than the life that we were given by the grace of God, when we leave, the only thing we will take is the soul given to us. The time in the middle will determine the condition of that soul. There is a reason Christ used the image of storing up our riches in heaven. It is the polar opposite of the greed He was talking about. So take heed, watch out, and be on guard. The scales of justice are weighted in your favor, for Christ is on your side, but “just one” can quickly turn in to “just until I get ___” and the scales tip quickly when Christ steps off.  HE will never leave you, but if you choose to walk alone, and balance your own scales, He will let you do just that.

 

God bless,

Briane will never lea

 

Friday the 20th

James 1:  ²Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, ³because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. ⁴Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

 

Ahhh another school year has started, and times they are a changing. It does not matter if you have kids, your kids are no longer kids, or you never plan on having kids, this time of year always makes for hectic times. If you have kids, the money pit opens up and has to be fed, the schedules around the house change, responsibilities are shifted, and time becomes ever so elusive. If you do not have kids, then you still have to deal with the traffic, change routes, and of course deal with all of the stressed out people who do have kids, and are living on their last nerve! My point is that this is a season that comes every year, and one that can get the best of us if we let it.  This scripture reminds us that these are good times to be in! Yeah, I know….”are you crazy, Brian, these are not good times!) but they are, not only are they good times, they are important times in our faith. These are times that test our faith. The pressure of the day press down on us like a wine press, and we feel as if we are trapped. What will you do, where will you turn? If you are thinking about now that you cannot do it on your own, then you are half way there, because you can’t! Not only can you not do it alone, you are not expected to. These are the times when we make sure that we have Christ in the drivers seat. It is not sheer stubbornness that will pull you through, it is reliance on your faith that will! When time gets small, and the world gets big, it is time to put your faith in the God that is bigger than any world out on display. This is the time when prayers are answered, needs are met, and gaps are bridged, but only if you are making the prayers, needs, and gaps known. If you don’t hand them over to the Lord, they will stay your problems for a long time! Faith is not a short term dividend. It is a long term retirement investment. It is the continued reliance on your faith, and God’s grace that will take you through any tough time. Perseverance is the key. It is not just never giving up, but never giving up on God. The road to spiritual maturity is not just a short trip through one or two seasons, it is a journey through many years of many seasons, and I promise you the more you trust in the Lord, the shorter those seasons get! So as the weight of the world starts settling on your shoulders this year, shrug it off and give it to the Lord. We are not built to carry that heavy of a load, that is why we were given His Son. Turn your pressures over to the One who carried all of our sin, then you will find the strength to persevere, you will find that you will not be lacking anything!

 

God Bless,

Brian

 

Thursday the 19th

Psalm 141: ¹ O LORD, I call to you; come quickly to me. Hear my voice when I call to you.

Come quickly to me….hear my voice when I call. That sounds more like telling than asking, doesn’t it? There are several times in the book of Psalms that I can’t help but think that David had great expectations when it came to God. He expected the Lord to protect Him, he expected the Lord to come to him, he expected the Lord to hear him each and everytime he lifted his voice to God. You know what? God did all of that and then some. The Lord has no problem meeting our needs, and our righteous expectations. As He told Jeremiah in chapter 32: ²⁷ "I am the LORD, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me? God wants us to depend on Him, His Son, and the Holy Spirit. He expects us to expect Him to. When we trust someone, when we love someone, when we depend on someone, then we expect things from them, and they from us. A child expects that their parent will be there to pick them up after school, a brother expects his older brother to protect him, the best friend is expected to be a confidant, and a supporter of dreams, and goals. There is nothing that the people that we surround ourselves with will not do for us……so how much more is God willing to do for those that love Him? If you can trust your life to your family, and a few friends, then how much more can you trust your eternal soul to the one who created it all? Call on Him, He will answer…expect Him to answer because you can trust Him, you can trust Him because He has told us that we can. Jeremiah 33: ³ 'Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.' Call on me, and notice here that God does not say He will listen, or that He will hear. In our time of need we call and He will answer! God wants you to expect things from Him, The Lord wants you to depend on Him, and Him alone for your needs. There is nothing to hard for Him, there is nothing to big, there is nothing He will not do for you. You have to ask, then you have to have the faith that He will answer. The quickest way to get your voice up to the Lord, is to get down on a knee. Call on Him, He is expecting you.

God Bless,

Brian