Heaven Won’t be the Same Without You, But Hell Will

February 24, 2018February 24, 2018 / Mark Brady / 5 Comments

healing At the age of seven, I knew I was a convicted cookie thief! I went to a church, where the anointed man of God, my pastor, scared the hell out of me! He preached straight up sermons concerning what would happen if we died and had not accepted Jesus to forgive us of our sins. As a result, out of fear of going to hell, I choose God, and heaven.

Today, I realize, some don’t chose God, because they don’t have firsthand knowledge of the Holy. They don’t know God. They don’t know what makes him smile, laugh, or hurt. They don’t know He gets jealous when someone worships anything, or anyone other than him, and they obviously don’t know He is serious about only two places to spend eternity. They haven’t felt his great love. People then, believe more in themselves than they do him.

God created heaven for his followers. He created hell for Satan, and the fallen angels that followed him. When men started rejecting God, he had to expand hell to accommodate them.

“Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels” (Matthew 25:41). “Therefore Hell hath enlarged herself, and opened her mouth without measure: and their glory, and their multitude, and their pomp, and he that rejoiceth, shall descend into it” (Isaiah 5:14).

Now, at my current age, I have experienced the love of God in such a way, there is no other place I would rather be, than in heaven with him. Therefore I feel commissioned, everywhere I go, to make myself available as God leads to share his great love with those who don’t know. I spoke the title of this blog to a very dear friend of mine, because it is absolutely true. If my friend chooses God, heaven will be better, but hell won’t change at all without him.

Check it out: See helpful life keys. Beth Olsen

Can You Stand Naked before God?

February 17, 2018February 17, 2018 / Mark Brady / 2 Comments

Photo by Michael Wall of Wall2WallFoto

Feeling uncomfortable right now? I know I did, at first, when I asked myself that question. Ironically, I was about to step into the shower when the thought came to me, but then my thoughts soon turned to my current reading in the book of Genesis.

God walked through the garden. He was looking for Adam and Eve. He called out for them. They hid after doing their best to cover up their nakedness. It wasn’t their bodies they were ashamed of. It was their sin. Adam and Eve had disobeyed God. You see, when the presence of God shows up the Holy Spirit convicts. What matters is how we react to the Holy Spirit’s conviction.

People still sin today. They still disobey God. They still try to cover up their sinfulness. They try to hide. But I tell you the truth, God searches diligently for you. He calls out your name. To point His finger at you and condemn you? No! To love you. To forgive you. To cleanse you, if you will let Him. You see, for Adam and Eve, God spilled the blood of an innocent animal to cover their nakedness. For you, He allowed His innocent Son’s blood to be spilled to cover you.

But God shows and clearly proves His [own] love for us by the fact that while we were still sinners, Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One) died for us. (Rom 5:8 AMP)

When you accept God’s forgiveness, there is no problem standing before Him naked, for you no longer have anything to hide.

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The Other Side of Pain

February 10, 2018February 9, 2018 / Mark Brady / Leave a comment

PAIN P ersonal
A nguish
I ntense
N umbness

N eeds
I llustrated
A wareness
P rovided

Beautiful songs are composed out of PAIN. Books, cards, and letters as well. When one hears, or reads words that were birthed in PAIN, it resonates, it feels familiar, and it comforts. It lets you know, “You’re not the only one who has felt this way.”

Respect PAIN, but don’t hang on to it too long. Place it in the hands of the One who has felt the very same thing. Jesus is there, waiting, loving, comforting. Saying to you, “You’re not alone in this.”

Then, look around you. There are people, who are a part of your world, who are hanging on to PAIN. You can see it in their eyes. For you saw it in yours, every time you looked in the mirror. Get beside them. Be Jesus in that moment to them, and say, “You’re not alone. Let me show you how to give it to Jesus.”

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Understanding vs Knowing

February 3, 2018January 29, 2018 / Mark Brady / 2 Comments

Power There are things, that go on in this world, I do not understand. I ask questions like, “Why”, and “How?” There are also things of God I do not understand, but I never used to question Him. To be honest, I felt as if it showed a lack of faith. So I have grown in my relationship with God just believing, and trusting, and knowing, “He’s got this!” And in some ways that is good. I relied on the following verses whenever I couldn’t understand or know what God was doing in my life, or in other’s lives around me:

Isa 55:9 “For as the sky soars high above earth, so the way I work surpasses the way you work, and the way I think is beyond the way you think.” (MSG)
Phi 4:7 “And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” (KJV+)

But now I am learning from my pastor to ask God, and it’s okay. It’s not a lack of faith. Especially when I sense knowledge coming from Him. Maybe another way to put it is; if I believe the Holy Spirit is showing me something, and I do not understand what I am sensing or seeing, I ask God, “What is this?” “What does this mean?” “Who is this for?”

My pastors are Joel & Linda Budd. They teach a lot about this in their book, Fill Me or Kill Me. God wants to teach us how to reach people with power and authority. How to set the captive free, and heal the broken-hearted. In order to do that, we need to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Jesus promised this power of the Holy Spirit in Acts 1:8. Jesus also illistrated this kind of power in His ministry while here on earth, so it’s nothing to fear. You won’t be weird. In truth, you will be more like Jesus. And isn’t that what being a Christian means, an imitator of Christ?

When the Holy Spirit hands you the keys to someone’s heart, real ministry can take place. The receiver won’t argue religion, won’t ask unanswerable questions, but they will receive God’s love through you. Understanding is good, but there is power in knowing!