My Favorite Phrase

November 3, 2023November 1, 2023 / Mark Brady / 1 Comment

Life brings its own set of challenges. Keeping on top of everything or ahead of it all is a full-time job. But what if God gives you a command or challenge to carry out? Do you blindly obey with all the faith you have? Do you say, “Okay, God, but help me.”? Or do you debate why He should probably choose someone else?

Earlier this year, April and I went to Texas on a mini vacation. The hotel we stayed at, of course, had a swimming pool. I talked April into joining me. The water was warm, but the air was a little cool, so as we entered the shallow end, we kneeled so the water would rise to our necks. We were having a good time when I suggested to April we go to the other side. She agreed and climbed onto my back as I swam to the deep end until she could grab the edge. April trusted me to get her to the other side even though she couldn’t swim. She remained calm and didn’t put up a fight or resist. She went for it.

A dear friend from one of my past churches I used to attend in another state told me God asked her to bake pies and to take them to her neighbors. It was a way for her to get to know them and to have an opportunity to share the gospel. Some of those neighbors lived on the other side of the street. She obeyed.

What is God asking you to do? Jesus once told his disciples, “Let us go to the other side.” They did.

^35-38Late that day he said to them, “Let’s go across to the other side.” They took him in the boat as he was. Other boats came along. A huge storm came up. Waves poured into the boat, threatening to sink it. And Jesus was in the stern, head on a pillow, sleeping! They roused him, saying, “Teacher, is it nothing to you that we’re going down?”

^39-40Awake now, he told the wind to pipe down and said to the sea, “Quiet! Settle down!” The wind ran out of breath; the sea became smooth as glass. Jesus reprimanded the disciples: “Why are you such cowards? Don’t you have any faith at all?” Mark 4:35-40 (MSG)

The above is a popular portion of scripture preached a lot about faith. And it is good. I mean, Jesus told them they were going to the other side, so they should have known they weren’t going to drown. My favorite part is what happened next in Chapter 5. Jesus set a man free from the possession of a demon named Legion, for there were many demons in him. As a result, a whole town heard of Jesus and had an opportunity to accept Him.

So, if God is asking you to do something, obey. Don’t argue, don’t resist, believe and go, even if you can’t swim. He will calm the storms that may try to prevent you from reaching the other side, but have faith. For what is on the other side most likely has eternal dividends.

This Line Isn’t Moving

September 2, 2022September 1, 2022 / Mark Brady / Leave a comment

Waiting. The final frontier. To boldly go where no man wants to go. I don’t know about you, but I hate to wait on just about anything. No, I’m not that important, where I have to have everything right this second, but it would be nice.

Just today, my wife, April, is at the hospital waiting her turn to have a procedure done. They told us to be at the hospital at 10:15 AM, but they did not get her procedure started until 2:22 PM. As you know, one is not allowed to eat or drink after midnight before an operation, so needless to say, April was hangry! Yeah, that’s right, hungry and angry. I must say, she handled the delay a lot better than I would have. That’s because she is a very patient person. I, on the other hand, am not. It’s just not one of my finer qualities, although I desire it to be.

Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges (and traffic and lines that don’t move) come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don’t try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way. (Words in parenthesis mine.)
Jam. 1:2-4 (MSG)

Waiting in a line of traffic is challenging, and in a line to be served at a restaurant can be worse. Both are excruciating experiences to suffer through especially when the line next to you is moving, but yours is not. I hesitate to pray and ask God for help because I am afraid, He will put me in more situations to practice. Something I am not a big fan of in the first place. James 1:2-4; What challenging verses to live out!

Probably though, the most difficult thing to wait for is for God to provide help with your finances or a healing. It’s a toss-up between the two. If you are in a similar situation at this juncture in your journey called “life,” be encouraged. It may take a while for God to get all things lined up or to get your heart lined up with his perfect will for you, but He will do it.

So, hang on, hang in there. Keep believing, keep trusting, be patient with God because though you may not see the line moving know it is, and you will not be in that same spot forever. You will reach your destination. After all, isn’t that the goal?

[Post note: The surgery went well, and April is resting and recovering now but prayers are always welcome! Thanks.]

Where Am I?

July 9, 2021July 9, 2021 / Mark Brady / 3 Comments

We are spoiled. We have access to all kinds of technology these days, but my favorite is “GPS” (Global Positioning System). No longer are we dependent on paper maps or atlases to tell us where we are. I recall traveling across America and pulling into a rest stop, and looking at the big state map on the wall and searching for those familiar, reassuring, words, “You are here”.

It’s nice to know where you are. It’s also good to know where you are going, but God doesn’t always provide one, or the other, or both. “Blind faith!” But there are times when you can look back at where you have been and at what you have done, and project a path toward the future. Doing so may provide some clue as to what God is up to and what He may have for you. It’s kind of like solving a mystery.

As much as we may want to know where God is taking us the important thing to remember is to be obedient each and every day. In other words, do today what you know is the pleasing and perfect will of God. Taking each step, each day will lead you to the destination, action, or even the provisioning God has for you.

The challenge is to keep going, to not get discouraged, but to keep putting one foot in front of the other. That process is how individuals have done amazing things, so why wouldn’t it work in your journey with God?

I find Paul’s words encouraging. I hope you do as well:

“I’m not saying that I have this all together, that I have it made. But I am well on my way, reaching out for Christ, who has so wondrously reached out for me. Friends, don’t get me wrong: By no means do I count myself an expert in all of this, but I’ve got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward—to Jesus. I’m off and running, and I’m not turning back.” PHI. 3:12-14 (MSG)

I suppose, in some way, you could define “GPS” as “God’s Positioning System”. I also find it comforting that although I may not know what God is doing in my life, or where He is taking me, He always knows, “Where I am!”

Don’t Look Away

August 4, 2020January 7, 2021 / Mark Brady / 2 Comments

Why are people changing because of what is going on in the world? Does that make sense to you? Who you are before hard times should only strengthen during those times.

Why let circumstances alter your relationship with God for the worse? If it is going to change at all, it should grow and get stronger, but as I have heard from several others in the last few days, that is not happening with some. As reported, a lot of people are turning away from God in these times, and the lifestyle that once fostered their relationship with God is being discarded.

“As for us, we have all of these great witnesses who encircle us like clouds. So we must let go of every wound that has pierced us and the sin we so easily fall into. Then we will be able to run life’s marathon race with passion and determination, for the path has been already marked out before us.

We look away from the natural realm and we fasten our gaze onto Jesus who birthed faith within us and who leads us forward into faith’s perfection. His example is this: Because his heart was focused on the joy of knowing that you would be his, he endured the agony of the cross and conquered its humiliation, and now sits exalted at the right hand of the throne of God!

So consider carefully how Jesus faced such intense opposition from sinners who opposed their own souls, so that you won’t become worn down and cave in under life’s pressures.” Hebrews 12:1-3 (TPT)

God’s word (like above) encourages us not to look at what is happening around us, but to keep our focus on God if we want to be an overcomer.

What Color is Your Faith?

July 10, 2020July 10, 2020 / Mark Brady / 4 Comments

071020 CARALYN, a popular blogger at, beautybeyondbones.com who has shared her testimony of recovering from anorexia with God’s help, also shares her day to day life while living in the big apple (New York City).

The other day she shared how she has not gone to mass in person for about four months, due to Covid-19, and how she started noticing her faith waning. She realized how she had been relying on other places to do the work that was needed to increase her faith. Meaning, she wasn’t creating an environment on her own that would do the job. She admitted she was developing “Good Person Christianity”. (She explains that term in her blog post.) I suggested, via my comment, that perhaps God was using this time to show her how strong her faith was without any props holding her up. She went on to describe her plan to change things.

It is in times, like our current days, faith is not formed, but displayed. These days our faith may be tested or challenged, but at the end of it all, you will know how solid your faith is.

In these times, what you believe in, or who,
begins to show, or starts to go.

“Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don’t try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way.”
James 1:2-4 (MSG)

So, you got this. Stand firm on what you know to be true despite what you hear and see. The days preceding these have prepared you for this hour, and like time, this will be over before you know it, and we will move on to sharknadoes, or something else.

Your Toughest Challenge

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

challenges My toughest challenge is being single. It’s not what I wanted, and certainly not what I thought would happen growing up. The apostle Paul, from the Bible, says being single is better because then you are available to God whenever he calls upon you, but Paul also said it is better to marry than to burn. Perhaps, Paul was shipwrecked one too many times!

Have you ever wondered why Jesus put Judas, who later betrayed him for $600, in charge of the group’s money? Bill, one of my past youth members once said, “The tester, wants you to pass. The tempter, wants you to fail.” Jesus wanted Judas to overcome his toughest challenge. Jesus wants you to overcome your toughest challenge too. That is why he is willing to help you.

No test or temptation that comes your way is beyond the course of what others have had to face. All you need to remember is that God will never let you down; he’ll never let you be pushed past your limit; he’ll always be there to help you come through it. (1Co 10:13 MSG)

When facing your toughest challenges, ask Jesus to help you. Cry out to him if you need to. Also, it is helpful to go do something else, go somewhere else, and start thinking about something else. Don’t flirt with temptation. One thing that helps is praying. It’s hard to sin when you are praying! You and Jesus got this, just as I have learned, he helps me be single, every day!