Still Looking?

April 24, 2019April 23, 2019 / Mark Brady / Leave a comment

Charlie 75 Do you know the first thing Jesus said, when he exited the tomb? “Ta-Da!” Answered a third grader in a Sunday school class one Easter. He probably didn’t, but should have. Perhaps he said, “I told you!” I don’t really know, but it doesn’t matter. What does count is what he did for you and me by dying, being the perfect sacrifice for our wrong doing, and then defeating death at its own game.

Something I had never thought of before; the word “tombstone” probably came from Jesus’ tomb stone. Although his never got engraved with something like:

Here lies Jesus Christ
Son of God, and Mary
0 – 33

Luke 24 ^1-3At the crack of dawn on Sunday, the women came to the tomb carrying the burial spices they had prepared. They found the entrance stone rolled back from the tomb, so they walked in. But once inside, they couldn’t find the body of the Master Jesus.

^4-8They were puzzled, wondering what to make of this. Then, out of nowhere it seemed, two men, light cascading over them, stood there. The women were awestruck and bowed down in worship. The men said, “Why are you looking for the Living One in a cemetery? He is not here, but raised up. Remember how he told you when you were still back in Galilee that he had to be handed over to sinners, be killed on a cross, and in three days rise up?” Then they remembered Jesus’ words.

^9-11They left the tomb and broke the news of all this to the Eleven and the rest. Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them kept telling these things to the apostles, but the apostles didn’t believe a word of it, thought they were making it all up.

¹²But Peter jumped to his feet and ran to the tomb. He stooped to look in and saw a few grave clothes, that’s all. He walked away puzzled, shaking his head. (MSG)

I love when the angel said, “Why are you looking for the Living One in a cemetery?” Are you still looking for answers to your life? Are you looking for them in a cemetery? Why? Jesus, is the One you are searching for, or for more of, even if you don’t realize it. Your spirit is crying out to be reunited with God and that is only possible through accepting Jesus.

So where is Jesus then? He is right there with you now. Waiting for you to turn to him either for the first time, or again. Everything else in life, and every other place will be empty. As empty as the tomb Jesus borrowed for three days. Stop looking, and start accepting that Jesus Christ has risen, and is alive, and he’s been pursuing you, waiting for you to believe.

Three Days of Darkness

October 17, 2018October 15, 2018 / Mark Brady / 2 Comments

dispel There is nothing like the fear that comes from physical, or emotional darkness. When you can’t see your way, and you have no clue on when and where light will come. Your heart can pound like a concert bass drum.

Exo 10:21-23 MSG GOD said to Moses: “Stretch your hand to the skies. Let darkness descend on the land of Egypt–a darkness so dark you can touch it.” Moses stretched out his hand to the skies. Thick darkness descended on the land of Egypt for three days. Nobody could see anybody. For three days no one could so much as move. Except for the Israelites: they had light where they were living.

Another time, when there was darkness on the earth, for three days, was when the Son of God, Jesus died. You talk about your only ray of light going out and sickness settling in, to the very depths of your being. Jesus had once said, “I am Light that has come into the world so that all who believe in me won’t have to stay any longer in the dark.” (Joh 12:46 MSG) Three days of darkness, until Jesus was resurrected from the dead, then Light once again walked on the earth.

Are you stumbling around in life desperately running your hand along the wall, panicking as you look for the switch? Has your darkness lasted much longer than three days? Don’t get angry, as Pharaoh did. Don’t let your heart be hardened, as his did, and definitely don’t shake your fist at God. He may be allowing the darkness, to move you toward Him, who is Light. Accept Light. Accept God. Try living in a way, where you can see your way, by believing in God’s way.

Your View

August 18, 2018August 17, 2018 / Mark Brady / Leave a comment

“Jesus” by Titus (age 6)

Your view of Jesus has a lot to do with how close you are to him. Is your knowledge of the Son of God first hand, or secondary? Do you look at him from above, therefore looking down on him? Or is your perspective from his side, as if equal? Perhaps one should look at Jesus from the foot of the cross. Feeling crimson forgiveness of sin drip on you. Hearing deep gasps of air as he spoke his last words. Smelling the stench of death waiting in the wings to take him. Watching the Savior of the world, arms opened, exhibiting love, even in death.

He pressed them, “And how about you? Who do you say I am?” (Mat 16:15 MSG)

This is the truth about who Jesus is; He is the Son of God, the only one born of a virgin, who fulfilled 400 prophesies concerning the Messiah, who healed the sick, the lame, the hurting, who spoke truth, and was without sin, therefore being the perfect sacrifice for the forgiveness of sin, who died and was resurrected three days later whether this is your view or not.

We will all stand before Jesus one of these days, and he will ask us the same question, “And how about you? Who do you say I am?”

How Much?

July 14, 2018July 5, 2018 / Mark Brady / Leave a comment

book 1 I would go visit them, and before I knew it, they would be giving me a guided tour of their latest acquisitions. Antiques, what nots, weird things, but things that appealed to them. I would hear the story of where they found it, and why they liked it. The one fact that never went unnoticed was how excited they were over their latest find, and the one thing that always struck me funny was when they would ask, “You want to know how much I paid?”

I was reminiscing the other day about those times and chuckling when I begin to envision Jesus showing me his latest acquisitions. “This is John. He was in a bar when he realized his life needed to change. He asked me to help. This is Manjola from Albania. I pursued him a long time before he finally accepted me. Oh! Over here is Akemi. She’s from Japan. She was desperate for real love, and a friend told her about me.”

Person, after person. Jesus was enthusiastic over every one of them. He told me their story. How long He looked for them, as they were lost, but the one thing He never asked was, “You want to know how much I paid?”

“You were bought with a price [purchased with a preciousness and paid for by Christ]” (1Co 7:23 AMP)

The Confession

July 7, 2018July 5, 2018 / Mark Brady / 2 Comments

20180618_161958 Confession: I have never been inside a confessional booth. I grew up in a church where doing so was not part of our spiritual practice. I am at a temple where there is one. I am writing this blog post while sitting inside it. Not intended, but in order to see I brought a small, but bright LED light. It is casting such a white glow I think it scared a couple checking out the temple.

Here I sit, in this small, wooden structure. It smells old, musty, perhaps from tears soaking the carpeted board beneath my feet. There is carpet on the walls as well. I guess to absorb the sound, but aren’t confessions meant to be heard?

I think there is also supposed to be a man in the booth next door. A man to hear my sins? My wrong doing? What if he is actually a newspaper reporter? Wait, when Jesus died on the cross, didn’t his selfless act of love cut out the middle man? After all, the veil in the temple was ripped from top to bottom. The veil that once separated man from God. Now Jesus is our High Priest.

I guess while I am in here I might as well start talking. Heavenly Father bless me. It has been 23 minutes since my last confession. You remember. Oh, you don’t? Then maybe I should choose to forget it also.

Now, I confess all my sins. The ones that denied you, dissatisfied you, destroyed me and demolished others. The sins that dishonored you, discomforted you. The ones that would disqualify me from your presence, if it were not for your Son. The sins that diminished others, disgruntled my employers, and devalued my wife and children. And don’t forget the one that deflowered me before I was with the proper one at the proper time. The ones that delayed me from being obedient unto you and your plans. I also confess the times I digested things that defiled my body, your temple. The words I spoke that derailed others on track to finding you. The times my actions denounced you. The sins that I allowed that wound up discouraging me and damaging my faith.

Forgive me Father. I ask for your mercy and grace. Thank you for not deleting my name from your Book of Life. Thank you for forgiveness, and for your Son, Jesus who gives life through his death.

Now what do I do Lord God? “Go and sin no more.”

The Temple

June 30, 2018June 26, 2018 / Mark Brady / 1 Comment

20180618_103427 I was sitting in a church admiring the grandeur, the architecture. Then, I opened my Bible to a random spot.

As he walked away from the Temple, one of his disciples said, “Teacher, look at that stonework! Those buildings!” Jesus said, “You’re impressed by this grandiose architecture? There’s not a stone in the whole works that is not going to end up in a heap of rubble.” (Mar 13:1-2 MSG)

Then I heard God whisper, “They try so hard to please me. To follow rules. To get every step of pomp and circumstance in order without missing a beat. But I, the Lord God simply want to rule their heart. I will put my rhythm in their steps. I will take their chaos and create order. Even the windows to their hearts are stained. There are many doors, but where do they lead? Do they lead to me?

Their prayers are simply memorized. Just hit play! Where is the freshness that drips from their lips? Their place of worship is hard and cold. I desire 20180618_103903 they worship me from their soft, warm, living hearts. They feel their good deeds achieve tally marks on a chalk board by my chair. I would rather the receivers of those deeds feel me. They step into a dark, small closet to confess their sins. I say confess them loudly from your roof tops, so you are less likely to repeat them.

The water by the doors is not holy. Only I, the Lord God Almighty is Holy. Dip your fingers in me. Sprinkle me upon your body. And while you’re at it, take a shower in me.”

God can be in any building, in fact He can be anywhere like your home, office, or car, but only if you take him there, or invite him in.

My Chair

June 23, 2018June 5, 2018 / Mark Brady / 3 Comments

HER CHAIR: “Hi. How are you?” I stood, holding open the door to the bank.

“Oh, I’m okay I suppose. I just came from seeing my foot doctor, and well, I just can’t wait to get home to my chair,” the elderly lady said doing her best to conceal her pain.

A CHAIR: As I reached the car, the words “my chair” were still echoing in my ears. I was reminded of a pastor I once listened to, who used to encourage us to have a chair, where we would sit and have time with God.

THE CHAIR: Then I thought of James Rubart’s book, “The Chair”. A good read about an antiques dealer who is given, what appears to be a simple chair, but he is told it was made by Jesus when he was working in his dad’s carpenter shop. He struggled to believe this, but when things happened to those who sat in it, his acceptance, begin to grow.

Your CHAIR: Do you have one? Do you have a special place where you like to go and sit and spend time with God? Either in his word, or talking with him through prayer, or a place where you just go and absorb God. I hope so.

MY CHAIR: I have a chair, and I value the time I take to sit in God’s presence. Yes, I know, life gets busy, and it takes discipline, or a strong desire to be with God, to take a moment and step off of the hamster wheel. You know the wheel just goes round and round. No matter how hard you try, you get nowhere. Perhaps getting off, and resting with God will get you further down the road of life than you ever could imagine. Sit, invite God into your room, into your life, and see what begins to happen in you.

Believing Builds Believing

June 16, 2018June 5, 2018 / Mark Brady / Leave a comment

“I just don’t believe there could be one, all-powerful being,” David said.

“So you would like proof, first, before you would choose to believe in God,” I replied.

“Yes!”

“God asks us to believe in him by faith,” I said.

“I need proof.”

“Okay. Let’s say God will, because of how much he loves you, let you have proof first. What would it take? What would you need to see, or witness, in order to believe in God?” I asked.

As David sat in his office chair, he was visibly considering my question. After ten minutes, he turned, looked at me, and said, “I don’t know. I don’t know what would be enough.”

God_you there A somber event took place in front of me. The reality is this; for a man, using his own reasoning, which is limited, nothing could satisfy him. No proof would be enough. Everything God might do, or has done, to prove his own existence, some men would reason it away, and have. It’s as if they try to make God conform to their rules of existence, and that’s just not going to happen.

Another reality is this; God does exist. I have met him. I have talked to him, and he has answered me. I have seen his work, in creation, in the most intricate details of nature, and in the life of a man. Only God, can take the vilest of men, and change him forever. One example is Saul. He saw Jesus. Saul had a life changing encounter with Jesus, and he went from wanting to kill those who believed in God, to preaching to those that didn’t.

All this time Saul was breathing down the necks of the Master’s disciples, out for the kill. He went to the Chief Priest and got arrest warrants to take to the meeting places in Damascus so that if he found anyone there belonging to the Way, whether men or women, he could arrest them and bring them to Jerusalem. He set off. When he got to the outskirts of Damascus, he was suddenly dazed by a blinding flash of light. As he fell to the ground, he heard a voice: “Saul, Saul, why are you out to get me?” He said, “Who are you, Master?” “I am Jesus, the One you’re hunting down. (Act 9:1-5 MSG)

If you want to see God the Father, then study the life of Christ. For Jesus himself said, “To see me is to see the Father. So how can you ask, ‘Where is the Father?” (Joh 14:9 MSG)

(Note: The person’s name, in this real story, was changed.)

It’s About Time!

June 9, 2018June 1, 2018 / Mark Brady / Leave a comment

Old Testament time: Mankind was given “time” by God. He created light, and separated it from dark. He called the light “day”, and the dark “night”. That was day one. (Gen. 1:3-5) Pastor Robert Morris says, time gives us stability, and rhythm to life. During eternity, there will be no need for time. Jesus operates in a whole different realm than we do. He is not bound by time. He can go back in time, and forward in time, in no time.

Abraham’s wife, Sarah, had time reversed for her body and appearance. She did not look like an old grandma when she had Isaac at the age of 90, but like a beautiful young woman. So much so, while Abraham was camping in Gerar, he lied, and said she was his sister so he would not be killed for actually being her husband. (Gen. 20:1-18)

New Testament time: When Jesus’ mother, Mary, asked her son to turn water into wine, while at a wedding, he answered her request. One of the wedding guest commented the host saved the best wine for last. Good wine takes 2 years to make. How did Jesus do it? I’m not sure, but I believe he could, can and did. Mary believed as well. (John 2:1-11)

Your time: I heard a testimony the other day where a kid closed the car door on his hand. His mother prayed that his hand would go back to how it felt 2 minutes before the accident. When she got done praying, he said his hand didn’t hurt any more.

Why am I sharing this? There is a realm, we who call ourselves believers, need to move into. The realm of possibilities that Jesus lives in. A realm that is not bound by time. Being “Christ like” can be for these days, and not just after we arrive in heaven. Why now? Because as we approach the last days our faith will need to be stronger. We will need to know the impossible has always been possible, if we just learn to believe it, and ask for it, like Mary did. We don’t have to know how, but that it can be done. The Holy Spirit is sharing this with others around the world. Jesus will help us and welcome us into this new realm of believing and living. In fact he will probably say, “It’s about time!”

Have You Considered?

June 2, 2018June 1, 2018 / Mark Brady / Leave a comment

Covering of protection

Have you ever considered what your breaking point would be in life? How much you could take? What could you handle, but what is too much? Severe sickness of you, or of the ones you love the most? Losing your entire net worth? Being abandoned by the very ones you thought cared the most about you?

“And the Lord said to Satan, Have you considered My servant Job?” Satan replied, “Have You not put a hedge (a covering) about him and his house and all that he has, on every side?” (Job 1:8 & 10 AMP)

God, because of Job’s relationship with him, had put a covering over him, or had his hand over him, so the results of a fallen, sinful, world could not affect Job, his family, or his possessions. Once I got really angry at one of my neighbors. I was so mad, I wanted to harm her, but I didn’t. Instead I prayed and asked God to take revenge on her for hurting me, After all, “Don’t insist on getting even; that’s not for you to do. “I’ll do the judging,” says God. “I’ll take care of it.” (Rom. 12:19 MSG) One day I asked God what happens when he gets vengeance on someone. He whispered back, “I slowly remove my hand from their life.”

I shuttered! As time went on, I witnessed my neighbor losing her job, experiencing vandalism, and worst yet, the death of her oldest daughter. I prayed for her. I know God was hoping she would stop resisting him, and in turn, run to him. She finally did.

Job resisted the temptation to blame God for his troubles and die, but eventually repented of his prideful way of thinking. Then God restored everything back to him and doubled what he had lost. Could you have handled such loss? Or perhaps the better question is this, would God ever say to Satan, “Have you considered my servant: __________?“ (fill in blank with your name)