Month: February 2022

Crumbs of Rumors

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“I admit I once lived by rumors of you;
    now I have it all firsthand—from my own eyes and ears!
I’m sorry—forgive me. I’ll never do that again, I promise!
    I’ll never again live on crusts of hearsay, crumbs of rumor.”

Job 43:5-6 (MSG)

There are a lot of people who only hear about God, but they have never “experienced” God for themselves!  They “go” to church thinking that He takes attendance, or something. He doesn’t! As if their “going to church” is the only thing required of them in order to go to heaven. I would think after hearing how great God is, how marvelous, how wonderful, and how loving they would want to spend time getting to know him. You know, reading his number one, bestselling, book, and talk to him on a regular basis.

I find it difficult to understand why they only want to “hear” about God. Perhaps they attend a church service that is lifeless, an hour of following the same rules week after week, therefore thinking that knowing God is not life at all? On the contrary, knowing God is really living! The most exciting adventure you will ever experience!

I have heard others say their priest or minister has told them the Bible is too difficult to understand. The truth is, the gospel of Jesus Christ is so simplistic that even a child can understand and accept it. Don’t over complicate the Word of God, or his plan of salvation. It’s all about an “invitation of the dying love”. That sounds like a book’s subtitle I once heard of.

Copyright © 2022 Mark Brady.  All rights reserved.

“You Want Fries With That?”

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I try my very best to be a careful, cautious, and courteous driver. Because of that I have expectations that others will be as well… but the reality is, some are not! The other day, April and I left the house and a block from home I had an ambulance pull out in front of me with their emergency lights and or siren NOT on. Gees! Then about a mile later I had a driver cut me off and I had to slam on the brakes to keep from hitting them. As it turned out, they pulled into the same drive-thru we did.

That restaurant provides two lanes to place your order.  I was finished placing ours and proceeded to pull forward. That same driver, who had already cut me off once, gave it the gas and cut me off again! I had to hit the brakes hard and then I laid on the horn to show my disapproval. I begin complaining to April about this person’s attitude. I don’t think she wanted to hear it!

On my way back home, after dropping April off at work, I felt bad for allowing this particular person to affect my attitude! I begin praying about it. I felt better. Then I started praying for the individual. I stopped mid prayer and thought, “What kind of a day is this person going to have?” I assumed a very bad one.

I imagine this type of person is the one in the office you cringe every time you have to encounter them. Whether for their time sheet, office supplies, or for information you need to include on the report your boss asked you to write.  You know the type.  You have met one, or two in your career, I’m sure.

Here is how I know they were going to have a bad day; that driver sowed “evil”!  Therefore, they will reap “evil” That is a universal law that God put in place; you reap what you sow. I still prayed for them, but I refocused the words. I prayed they would come to know God, and that his love would fill them as they become like him.

If you are experiencing a lot of bad things and bad people with bad attitudes, perhaps you should consider what you are sowing? It’s not always the case but you can never escape this one universal law.

Don’t be misled: No one makes a fool of God. What a person plants, he will harvest. The person who plants selfishness, ignoring the needs of others—ignoring God!—harvests a crop of weeds. All he’ll have to show for his life is weeds! But the one who plants in response to God, letting God’s Spirit do the growth work in him, harvests a crop of real life, eternal life. Gal. 6:7-8 (MSG)

Copyright © 2022 Mark Brady.  All rights reserved.

Post-it

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Post-it notes are great!  I depend on them and use them all the time for several different things. Not only are they good for jogging your memory, which I need a lot, but I have also used them as bookmarks amongst other things.

Another thing they are good for is to post a message in front of you that you see every day! I know some will post messages to encourage themselves every morning, or to help them remember just how important they are to God, and if He loves them, then they should love themselves as well. Others might write out scriptures to memorize.

Lately, as I have mentioned before, I am trying to renew my mind so it will change how I react to people with one or more of the fruits of the Spirit. A Post-it wasn’t going to be big enough, so I used the magnetic letters on our refrigerator. Messages to ourselves should be posted where we go often, hence the refrigerator! We only have two sets of letters, so April and I had to get creative on how to list most of the 9 fruits. The last one in the list is “patience”.

It’s working. I see and am reminded of the different fruits and I do think of them when I have the occasion to operate in them, which when dealing with people is often. So let me encourage you to take the time to post in front of you the words, the message you need to see as much as it takes until they become a part of you, and live within you. Words, written or spoken are powerful, even the ones on Post-its!

Words kill, words give life;
    they’re either poison or fruit—you choose. Prov. 18:21 (MSG)

Copyright © 2022 Mark Brady.  All rights reserved.

Ask God

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I just finished editing my novel, with its cover design, and got it successfully sent off to the publisher. A huge undertaking to say the least. There were more issues that I ran into than there were tissues in the box. “Honey, we need more tissues!” Sorry, but I think she was making out the shopping list for the week. Yes, quitting, or giving up came to mind, more than once.

You see, this novel has been a seven year journey. I enjoy the story every time I read it. And even though I know what is coming next it still makes me laugh, or tear up. Knowing how I felt about the story I didn’t just want to throw it away.

So how did I get it completed? I asked God for help, a lot! He gave it to me too, It came in the form of wisdom not to run and buy software in order to load a tool I was in need of using, but He directed me to go to April’s computer and it had the necessary system requirements. He guided me who to reach out to for technical help. Not buying new software saved us money and that was a great thing! There was several other ways He helped as well.

I believe in “asking” God for help. In fact, it is one of the subjects in my next book I am going to start working on and finishing. I have been making this principle a part of my renewed mind in order to “ask” quickly, so I am not wasting my time struggling on my own.

He has even directed me to the internet to seek out answers. Isn’t that cool to know God knows about the internet? He will also help you find things that are lost, or misplaced, and you just can’t seem to find them. There seems to be a special anointing on items that are lost. I even asked God why He helps us find things that are lost and immediately I sensed in my spirit, “Because you were once lost!”

So the next time you need to know something, seeking wisdom and understanding, or are looking for something you can’t find, ask God for help! You will be amazed at the results. This is just another way God demonstrates how much He loves us and cares about the everyday things that matter to us. Also, remember to ask God to help your friends, and family members, loved ones to come to know him and accept him, for until they do, they are lost.

“If you don’t know what you’re doing, pray to the Father. He loves to help. You’ll get his help, and won’t be condescended to when you ask for it. Ask boldly, believingly, without a second thought. People who “worry their prayers” are like wind-whipped waves. Don’t think you’re going to get anything from the Master that way, adrift at sea, keeping all your options open.” James 1:5-8 (MSG)

Copyright © 2022 Mark Brady.  All rights reserved.

Know Him

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If you find yourself deciding to trust God, then you must also trust in all of his nature.  Going all classic Amplified Bible on ya; knowing, being confident, non-wavering, on the very issue that God runs the universe and nothing happens that He doesn’t make or at the very least, allow!

Who could confront me and get by with it?
    I’m in charge of all this—I run this universe!

Job 41:11 (MSG)

One who is trust worthy demonstrates certain qualities. They are:

Integrity, Sincerity, Reliability, Consistency, Commitment, Competent

The list above are not qualities of God, but part of his very nature! This is just simply who He is! When you get to know him, by talking to him in prayer, and reading his word, the Holy Bible, his nature is revealed to you. Just as important is knowing that God doesn’t ever change who He is due to what is happening around us, but forever the same.

For Jesus doesn’t change—yesterday, today, tomorrow, he’s always totally himself.

Heb. 13:8 (MSG)

Keep in mind, Jesus repeated often, in the gospels, that he does what He sees his heavenly Father do, therefore we can know that God doesn’t change either! Spending time with someone is the best way to get to KNOW THEM. So I challenge to do just that.  Spend time with God, and perhaps his nature will rub off on you. Umm, not such a bad idea.

Copyright © 2022 Mark Brady.  All rights reserved.

“Now Serving Number 5”

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You hear the announcement, and yes, you look down at the number on the tag you pulled out of the dispenser when you walked in, even though you already know it wasn’t your number they called. You might as well be holding number “2275”.

 Sad, but at least in America we are so impatient. We are spoiled. We are used to getting things now. Unfortunately, there are times when we take that attitude toward waiting for things from God. We make our needs known to God, and then we have to wait for the answer. Depending on the situation it can be extremely difficult. We wonder, “Did He even hear me?”

 When we don’t see the answer we expect, and by the time we feel we need it, we can develop an attitude, toward others and even toward God. The truth is how do you know God isn’t working on it? What do you think He is doing? Here is what Oswald Chambers says:

 “We look for visions from heaven and for earth-shaking events to see God’s power. Even the fact that we are dejected is proof that we do this. Yet we never realize that all the time God is at work in our everyday events and in the people around us. If we will only obey, and do the task that He has placed closest to us, we will see Him. One of the most amazing revelations of God comes to us when we learn that it is in the everyday things of life that we realize the magnificent deity of Jesus Christ.”

I like how Chambers worded this issue. When we “ask” God, then our next step is to “trust” God. Know, be confident that He has heard you and that He “is” working things out in the way that is “best” for you. Keep in mind, God isn’t working on one request at a time, but on every request of everyone around the world who ask, all at the same time. He doesn’t take care of one request and then call the next number of whoever is line. Yes God is that omnipotent and powerful, but also so loving that He puts on every job a personal touch designed just for you.  And that my friend is called, “Love”!

Here’s What You Do

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What do you do when they correct you and then proceed to give you instructions on how to accomplish a particular task? Here is how God responded to Job:

“Do you presume to tell me what I’m doing wrong?
    Are you calling me a sinner so you can be a saint?
Do you have an arm like my arm?
    Can you shout in thunder the way I can?
Go ahead, show your stuff.
    Let’s see what you’re made of, what you can do.
Unleash your outrage.
    Target the arrogant and lay them flat.
Target the arrogant and bring them to their knees.
    Stop the wicked in their tracks—make mincemeat of them!
Dig a mass grave and dump them in it—
    faceless corpses in an unmarked grave.
I’ll gladly step aside and hand things over to you—
    you can surely save yourself with no help from me! Job 40:8-14 (MSG)

It seems as if God was sarcastic.  Knowing very well Job couldn’t do anything he asked him to do. As we humans are now on Earth, there is no way we can know everything! I was talking to a friend the other day about this same issue, and I mentioned how I had learned to say, “I’ll take that under advisement”.  He laughed and then shared what he says, which is, “That’s a great idea.  I’ll look into it.” Both responses sends the “know it all” away with a sense of pride and accomplishment. They probably feel as if they just helped another one!

God was sarcastic with Job, because He knew Job couldn’t do those things, or even knew how. We don’t know what a person knows, so perhaps what to do is simply listen, and execute our escape as soon as possible. That’s better than hurting the other person or debating and or arguing.

Copyright © 2022 Mark Brady.  All rights reserved.

“I Got You Babe”

/ Mark Brady / 2 Comments

“Oh I am so excited about today!” the man’s wife said as she arose from the bed.  He immediately begun scratching his head trying to remember if today was a special day in her life, or their life.

Her happiness continued as she prepared their breakfast and sent him off to work. As he drove he questioned, “Is it our anniversary? Her birthday? I don’t think so, but she was so excited I don’t want to screw up.” So after getting settled in to his office he ordered her some flowers to be delivered. At lunch he ordered a balloon boutique. On the way home he stopped and picked her up a box of chocolates.

When he walked through the door she greeted him with a smile and said, “Wow!  I can’t believe all that you have done for me.  This has been the greatest “Groundhog Day ever!”

That really is a true story, and tomorrow is “Groundhog Day.” I have no idea if Punxsutawney Phil will see his shadow or not. I believe we will have six more weeks of winter whether he does or doesn’t. If you have seen the movie, by the same name, then you know Bill Murray relieves the same day over and over. Every morning his alarm goes off at the same time to the same song playing, “I Got You Babe” by Sonny & Cher.

There are times when real life feels that way. As if you are in a rut and can’t get out. The days creep by one after the other. To what avail? But there is more to life than sitting around waiting to die. There is life with God. You surrender your will to accept his and then follow his leading to living the most exciting life one could ever imagine.

 I said, “Not my will, but yours Lord” a long time ago. I haven’t always gotten it right every step of the way, but it has been an exciting life. One I would certainly do again in a heartbeat. I love witnessing firsthand how powerful God can be, and how gently he can show his soft love. Realizing he has been working out intricate details of your life without you even asking him to. When provisions show up unannounced, or he leads you to be a blessing to someone else. Acting like my heavenly Father is a privilege.  Seeing the face of someone when they become aware they have been in the presence of almighty God, even if via one of his servants, there is nothing like it.

 It certainly isn’t the life depicted by the movie, “Groundhog Day” at all. A life “with” God and “for” God is the best kind of life one can have.

Copyright © 2022 Mark Brady.  All rights reserved.