The Best Day of My Life

September 2, 2017 / Mark Brady / 1 Comment

070315_26 I used to think the best day of my life was the day I retired. I no longer have to work.
Then I thought the best day of my life was the day my granddaughter was born. I experienced such joy.
The day my daughter was born was a great day too. She smiled, my heart melted.
The day my son was born, wow, I beamed as he held my finger when I took his hand.
My wedding day was awesome. This beautiful woman accepted me, and said, “I do.”
Graduating college was a good day. A little more meaningful than finishing high school.

Those were good days of my life, but the best day, was the day I accepted God’s free gift of salvation through his son, Jesus. For it was God who got me to those great days, and through them, and all of the ones that weren’t so great.

In reality though, the best day of my life will be my last one. The day I die. (Don’t worry, I’m not rushing it.) You see, on that day, because I gave my life to God, and have done my best to live according to his word, and have asked for forgiveness for the times I didn’t, when I die, I will enter into heaven. No more pain. No more hurts, disappointments, or tears. That, will be the best day of my life!

Would You?

August 5, 2017 / Mark Brady / 1 Comment

Dying for someone else How far would you go for someone else? Would you take a bullet for someone, like the secret service men who protect our president? Would you volunteer to be put to death so someone else could live? The answer to these questions probably matter on who the one escaping death is, and how much they mean to you.

What if the one going to die was your spouse, parent, or your child? Would you die for them? What if it was more than just dying? What if you were asked to die and then to spend eternity in hell on behalf of the one you choose to take their place of? Would you do that? Knowing hell is a place of utter darkness where individuals are tormented constantly. That makes the decision a lot harder.

I had a situation this past week come up where some people close to me hurt me very bad. First I had to use a lot of “Satan Spray” (see last week’s post) and then I started earnestly praying for those individuals. I prayed they would come back to living a life pleasing to God and not the devil. Then I had the thought, if they don’t change their lifestyles they could very well wind up in hell! I wasn’t judging them, I was only comparing their lives to the word of God. I began to pray for them even harder, and a new thought hit me. I said, “God, I don’t want to see them die and go to hell. I love them so much. Could I take their place?” Now tears flowing. I know I can’t take their place, because everyone will be judged on their own.

Then I was reminded, this is exactly what Jesus did. He loves us so much he told his Father he would die for us and go to hell on our behalf. So that those who choose to believe in him and ask him to be their Lord would be saved from eternal death. The difference is Jesus had the power to break through the utter darkness. His light overcame Satan, and now there was a way for those who believe and accept him to live. WOW! What love!

Joh 3:16 “This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life. (MSG)

It Hurts!

May 27, 2017 / Mark Brady / Leave a comment

HURT You listen as they describe their current pain, despair, nightmare of a life. They go on and on without the slightest glimmer of hope on their face, or in their voice. They want relief, they want out, they want something so different then what they have. Like a blind man looking for his glasses, their searching is in vain.

You’ve heard it before, from them and from others you care so much about. Will this be the time they listen to you? Have they reached the end of their rope? Have they had enough? Maybe, maybe this will be the time they here you share the life they could have if they would only accept the free gift of Jesus Christ. How His death provides life. How His taking on the whole worlds sin and sorrow deliveres eternal joy, happiness, and peace, if we just say, “Yes” to His offer.

It hurts, when we hear them say, “Thanks, but it’s not for me.” It doesn’t make sense. It’s hard for us to understand. Irwin McManis put it like this, “People would rather live a bad life “they” purchased, than a great life that is free.”

Keep praying and trusting God for those you care about.

Why?

April 15, 2017April 15, 2017 / Mark Brady / Leave a comment

Cross nailed He laid as still as he could. Any movement reminded him of the flogging his back took. The soldier placed the nail with the tip pressing his palm. He saw the other soldier rear back with the hammer. He turned his head. Bam! The nail drove through his flesh pinning him to the cross. That nail represented the times I took something that wasn’t mine.

The same thing took place on the other side. Bam! That nail represented the sinful times I touched something I had no business touching. Bam! The nail in his feet represented the times I have gone somewhere I had no business being. The thorny crown shoved down into his head represented the evil thoughts I failed to bring into captivity. The beatings he suffered should have been mine. The spit that landed on him, represented the disgrace that was meant for me.

Everything Jesus went through, the trial, lies, pain, agony, and torture was for me. The 39 lashes that shredded his back open and bled was so I could be healed. He chose to go through that for me. He chose to go through all that for you. Why? Because He knew, He was the only who could. Because He knows pure love, and how to show it.

He also knew how to defeat death, and on the third day, He proved it.

THANK YOU, JESUS.

Are You Wrong?

March 5, 2017 / Mark Brady / Leave a comment

wrong Everybody has an opinion on what happens after they die. Some of those opinions are: nothing happens, reincarnation, you go to heaven, and various other beliefs. I personally believe that if one has accepted Jesus Christ as God’s Son, and have asked him to forgive their sins then they go to heaven. If they haven’t then they go to hell. Either way, it’s for eternity!

I was talking about this subject with a coworker several years ago, and he believed then in reincarnation. Our conversation ended by me saying, “John (not his name), if your belief is right then neither one of us have anything to worry about, BUT, if I am right then you may find yourself in an uncomfortable situation while you are standing before God giving an account as to how you lived.” He walked away concerned.

Also, keep in mind, just because one claims to know Jesus, doesn’t mean they have accepted him, or obeyed his commandments. Consider these verses from the Bible:

Mat 7:21 – 23 Not everyone who says to Me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father Who is in heaven. Many will say to Me on that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name and driven out demons in Your name and done many mighty works in Your name? And then I will say to them openly (publicly), I never knew you; depart from Me, you who act wickedly. (AMP)

So the question then is this: “Are you okay being wrong?”

What Living is Meant to Be

January 1, 2017 / Mark Brady / Leave a comment

dirty-shirt-500 It’s December 31, 2016 as I am actually writing this. In a few minutes, 2016 will end, die, and the “new” year will begin. Some like new. New opportunities, new hope, a fresh start, but there are those who hang on to the old. It’s kind of like someone continuing to wear an old, worn out, dirty shirt, instead of putting on a new, clean shirt. They probably are not comfortable with something they don’t know how it will fit, or feel, so they continue to wear the old worn one. The same can go for when people accept Jesus. They know He has replaced their old rags (life) with something new, and that they “should” let go of the old life, but they struggle in doing so.

Have you ever realized if Jesus hadn’t of died there would be no new? Without his death, there would be no resurrection. God’s plan of salvation would have been nothing more than a nice gesture, or a generous thought.

2Co 5:17 “Now we look inside, and what we see is that anyone united with the Messiah gets a fresh start, is created new. The old life is gone; a new life burgeons! Look at it!” (MSG, italics mine)

It can be very difficult, but in order to truly live, our old flesh has to die. All of it. So as this new year begins, make a fresh commitment to let God work on you, inside and out. Let the old things pass away, and let new things in. May you learn to get comfortable in how God dresses you. Who knows? You may finally realize what living is meant to be.

Choose to Live

November 20, 2016November 20, 2016 / Mark Brady / 1 Comment

20161119_112851 A young man hid in the bushes. When he judged the train was too close to stop in time he ran out and dove onto the tracks.

I was riding that train on my way to work this past week. I have been commuting in and out of Chicago for 23 years, but this was the first time I have actually been on the train that struck a pedestrian. They ruled it a suicide immediately.

While the investigation was proceeding I thought about this person and wondered, how bad was his life that he decided he had no more hope? What was going on? Satan won a victory that morning. John 10:10 tells us, “Satan comes to kill, steal and destroy.” Anything God has created, or made, including mankind, Satan wants to get rid of it.

Pastor Robert Morris, of Gateway Church in Southlake, Texas once said, “As long as you are alive, you have hope.” If you are hurting, if the pain is more than you think you can bare, then please talk to someone. Please, I beg you. There are numerous organizations that are set up to help in all kinds of ways, but you must contact them. Depression, and mental illness is not something that shows up on the outside. Most people may not ever know, until you speak up. And if someone speaks up to you, I pray you will love and care about them enough to listen intently, and help them. Life, can be a beautiful thing. Choose it.

Is it 10:00?

October 8, 2016 / Mark Brady / Leave a comment

“Betty, what are you doing?” asked the caregiver.

“I have to get dressed. I have a 10:00 appointment.”

“Its 2:00 Betty.”

“Morning, or afternoon?”

“Morning.”

She helped Betty get back into her hospital bed. Betty tried this again two more times.

“But I have an appointment at 10:00. I need to get dressed.”

“Betty, you don’t have an appointment today at 10.”

“Yes I do.”

“Here, let me help you get comfortable in your bed.”

Betty went to be with Jesus at 10:24 AM.

This is a true story. Betty was my great aunt. I wrote about her on her 97^th birthday this past January. I once told her that she has lived so long her friends, already in heaven, might think she passed and went the other direction. In another conversation, “Your place, that Jesus promises to make for us in heaven, must really be something, because it has taken a long time to get it ready.”

We all have an appointment to keep one day. When we too will stand before God. I hope you’re ready like my aunt was.

“I love you Aunt Betty! I’m going to miss you, but I’m glad you are home.”

Betty

Who’s Remembered?

April 3, 2016 / Mark Brady / Leave a comment

“If I hear you died, I would only cry one hour”, says my ex-girlfriend. Gees, was I that bad? I can’t explain it, but going on a big trip makes me think of death. It makes me think of the people who are, or have been in my life. If the worst happens how will I be remembered? Will the thought of me bring a smile or a few “choice” words?

What about you? If you left the lives of those you do life with today, how would you be remembered tomorrow?

Those that did life with Jesus never forgot him. Never stopped being a witness of his love, his mercy, his grace and his power.

The truth is, one isn’t likely to die on a big trip, but can just as easily die during the process of living life in a very predictable way. The point here then is to live that predictable life in an unpredictable manner.

Live it in a way that causes those around you and those who encounter you to
sit up and take notice that there is something indeed different about you. So strikingly different they inquire of what sets you apart from the rest of humanity they live with. Then you will have the incredible opportunity to be a witness of Jesus and his love, his mercy, his grace and his power.

The main goal of my life is this: It’s okay if people don’t remember me when I die, but I hope they never forget the One (Jesus) I tried my best to live for, and smile.