A 4:46 AM Meeting

August 12, 2022August 9, 2022 / Mark Brady / Leave a comment

My wife, April, starts her work day early in the mornings. Sometimes, due to the number of pending orders to get out, she has to be there by 4 AM. The other day was one of those mornings. Because I drive her to and from work, I also have to get up early.

“I would like mornings better if they started later.” Garfield

I certainly agree with Garfield. So, as a result, I do not have the best demeanor that early. As is usually the case, now I can’t even recall what April did that I chose to get upset about. I dropped her off without a proper “Goodbye” and proceeded home.

On the drive home, I remember the Holy Spirit whispering, “Watch Steven Furtick.” He comes on a local TV channel at 4:30 AM. I responded with a, “No! I don’t want to.” When I got home, I knew I needed to do as God instructed me, so I did. Sure enough, Rev. Furtick was delivering a message that had to do with attitudes. The word of God ministered to me as well as convicted me. I prayed and asked God for forgiveness and to help catch those situations before they escalated.

Later that morning, April texted me about something going on in our life. I responded with the requested information and included some humor with a “Love you!” After reading my reply, she texted back, “What happened? Your attitude is much better.” I wrote back, “God called a meeting.”

I don’t like it when my attitude gets out of alignment, but when it does, I am so thankful that God is right there and quick to make the necessary adjustments. That’s the work of a loving Father.

^19-21Post this at all the intersections, dear friends: Lead with your ears, follow up with your tongue, and let anger straggle along in the rear. God’s righteousness doesn’t grow from human anger. So throw all spoiled virtue and cancerous evil in the garbage. In simple humility, let our gardener, God, landscape you with the Word, making a salvation-garden of your life. James 1:19-21 (MSG)

“Open?”

July 5, 2022July 4, 2022 / Mark Brady / 2 Comments

I am writing this blog post while at a church. I’m not listening to the sermon, for one is not being given. That’s because today is Thursday. I’m assuming the main doors are closed. The office is probably open, but I have no business inside. Although I would prefer to be inside because it is warm outside and there is not much breeze.

Some churches utilize their buildings all week while others do not. Kind of like people. Some people only have a use for God on Sundays. The rest of the week, they live however they want to. It seems as if I will never be able to forget the shocking statement of one of my classmates when I was in the eleventh grade. That was a long time ago! She said, “I love being (popular religion). I can have my sins forgiven on Sundays and live like hell the rest of the week.” I think I recall almost falling out of my desk after she made that declaration.

Her statement seemed to go against everything I had been taught about God and living for him instead of living for myself. Sadly, a few months later, her life was cut short when her husband put a shotgun in her mouth and pulled the trigger. I have often wondered if she regrets living the way she did.

“Going” to church doesn’t guarantee you will make it into heaven. It comes down to accepting Jesus Christ into your life, asking him to forgive you of your sins and wrongdoings, and then living for him. It’s about the attitude of your heart, and only God can know that. So maybe it doesn’t matter if the “church” is open or not; God is! It never hurts to attend church, though. There you can find people like you, and together you can encourage each other as we all face the challenges of living like God in an ungodly world.

So let’s do it—full of belief, confident that we’re presentable inside and out. Let’s keep a firm grip on the promises that keep us going. He always keeps his word. Let’s see how inventive we can be in encouraging love and helping out, not avoiding worshiping together as some do but spurring each other on, especially as we see the big Day approaching. Heb. 10:22-25 (MSG)

I wish this building was open, and I had the nerve to go in and ask to use their bathroom. That is my most significant need right now!

This church’s building is beautiful! I only hope the people who attend here are as well. I know for sure two of them are because they are my neighbors, and this is their church.

(This blog post continues on Friday, July 8th, 2022)

“You Want Fries With That?”

February 22, 2022February 19, 2022 / Mark Brady / Leave a comment

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)

“Now Serving Number 5”

February 8, 2022February 7, 2022 / Mark Brady / Leave a comment

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”!

Grumpy Old Man?

February 23, 2021February 20, 2021 / Mark Brady / 2 Comments

I believe I have expressed how much I dislike “injustice” before, but it seems like I am becoming more vocal when I see it. Either out loud, or under my breath. I don’t like how it makes me feel, and if I am not careful, I go on way too long about it. This is a pattern I’m not too fond of.

The other day, and I wish I could remember the source, I was involved in my devotional time and I came across the phrase, “a gentle and quiet spirit”. It keeps resonating in my head. Kind of like a “LSS” (Last Song Syndrome). You know, the last song in your head that you keep singing over and over. It seems I can’t get away from thinking about it, so I determined, this must be something God is calling me to.

Now, raising awareness of an injustice is needed and getting loud about it is important for it can draw attention to the situation and cause others to stop, look and decide to join you in your fight to alleviate it, but in everyday life, how you call out something that isn’t fair and or even mention it at all, is important. That’s where I have been failing in recent days.

Not using the right words, the correct volume or the Godly wisdom to get my point across.

So mush so, I could be labeled as a “Grumpy Old Man”! I don’t want to be known that way. When I hear that phrase, I think of the old man in the Disney movie, “Up”. And now that I think about it, there was a movie titled, “Grumpy Old Men”.

So I am now in the process of transforming my mind. Training it to “capture” every thought of negative, grumpy, stinking, old criticism and renewing it to handle what I see that bothers me in a “gentle and quiet” way. I may actually find that technique gets more people to hear what I am saying.

“Do not be shaped by this world. Instead be changed within by a new way of thinking.” Rom. 12:2 (ICB)

You Were That, but Now You Are This

November 17, 2020November 16, 2020 / Mark Brady / Leave a comment

“You’re such a nice person,” said the new co-worker. The woman had been hurt by many men in the past and so naturally she was leery of any man who seemed, “nice” in the beginning of a new relationship. Evidently, trusting a nice man and letting her guard down has put her in the position to get hurt in the past, but this guy was different. His attitude seemed real, genuine. She wondered how this could be.

After meeting Jesus Christ, and accepting who he is as God’s son, that encounter should change you. It changed Saul, who was later named “Paul”. You see after Saul’s salvation, or conversion he was filled with the Holy Spirit, and into him entered the fruit of the Spirit.

^13-14Ananias protested, “Master, you can’t be serious. Everybody’s talking about this man [Saul] and the terrible things he’s been doing, his reign of terror against your people in Jerusalem! And now he’s shown up here with papers from the Chief Priest that give him license to do the same to us.”

^26-27Back in Jerusalem he [Saul] tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him. They didn’t trust him one bit. Then Barnabas took him under his wing. He introduced him to the apostles and stood up for him, told them how Saul had seen and spoken to the Master on the Damascus Road and how in Damascus itself he had laid his life on the line with his bold preaching in Jesus’ name.

^28-30After that he was accepted as one of them, going in and out of Jerusalem with no questions asked, uninhibited as he preached in the Master’s name. Acts 9:13-14, 26-30 (MSG)

So what changes a person so drastically? It’s the fruit of the Spirit. Each attribute of the Spirit replaces one(s) in the flesh:

Love replaces hate.

Joy replaces sadness, depression.

Peace replaces nervousness, anxiety, fears.

Longsuffering replaces quick tempers. Gives time for understanding.

Gentleness replaces anger, rage.

Goodness replaces selfishness.

Faith replaces worry, and hopelessness.

Having the fruit of the Spirit within you provides life, real life, the way God intended it. People will see the difference and be drawn to you, but what they are really being drawn to is the heart of God. If you have not been filled with the Spirit of God then ask God to fill you with his Spirit. Then allow it to perfect your walk with God, and affect the world, the people around you.

When God Kills You

February 16, 2019February 15, 2019 / Mark Brady / 2 Comments

Charlie 2 I once wrote, the act of dying doesn’t hurt. I am learning it does, when you die, while you are still living. What in the world am I saying? I thought I had fully surrendered everything to God, and then I moved to the Philippines following his direction. Now, he is requiring more of me. To give up my self-reliant attitude. Living in a foreign country, where they speak some English, but not fluently, and I only know about 12 Tagalog words.

Now I am reliant on others to help me know what is being said, where to go to purchase basic needs, etc. I am not used to this, nor do I like it very much. I have grown accustomed to doing what I want, how I want which I think is very productive and effective. I’m dying. I believe God is asking me to give up, give in, and give way to his Holy Spirit. To be humble, ask for help, and when things don’t go as I think they should, to smile graciously and be thankful that someone cares enough to try to help me.

“He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” (Micah 6:8 NIV)

Do I have to die? No. I can go on living as I am and probably hurt more people along the way. God is most likely removing this from me, so when the next chapter in my life starts, I will be ready. In that case Lord, kill me.