dreams

Believing in the Impossible

/ Mark Brady / Leave a comment
Photo by Rafal Maciejski

“Welcome to Hollywood. What’s your dream?” A famous line from the movie, “Pretty Woman”. I realize I have been blessed to be born in America. I grew up hearing and believing you can do anything you put your mind to. America offered opportunities and to some point, still does.

My plans and desires have not all worked out yet or without challenges, but I have gotten to do and see some pretty exciting and beautiful things. For example, while in the 8th grade I read a book about a young man who flew gliders. I wanted to do that. I got that chance about ten years ago. It was awesome and exhilarating. I wanted to be an architect. I have worked for several years in an architectural office. I even worked for Frank Wallace the architect of Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, Oklahoma. There are so many other things I could list as well, but I try to keep these posts as short as possible.

A few years ago I begin to believe that I could write a book. I have done that but it has not been easy. “Kill The Preacher Man” is a novel. https://bradymarka.com/current-projects/ Today, I am working on my next book, “Ask, Flip and Invite”. (Coming soon) I have written devotions, articles and have contributed to two books. This very blog has been read in 120 countries. That blows my mind! Only God can take something, bless it and multiply it.

My wife, April is new to living in America and is originally from the Philippines. She is beginning to realize anything is possible, especially with God. She likes to cook and she likes to share her cooking skills on the internet via her YouTube channel, https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxCVluI_lWrk-bwaie1QF7w The number of subscribers is growing and she is encouraged to do more and be even better at her craft of being an influencer.

Believing in the impossible is nothing new. Mary had to do that when an angel announced to her she was going to give birth to the Son of God. (Luke 1:26) Countless others in the Word of God have dared to believe in the impossible and as a result, have changed the world. They could probably be counted as the first influencers on earth.

If you have a dream, give it to God. Ask Him to help you and lead you in it no matter how big it is. Place it in His hands. Ask Him to bless it and multiply it, then believe in the impossible! “Welcome to God. What’s your dream?”

Copyright © 2022 Mark Brady.  All rights reserved.

This Isn’t What I Expected

/ Mark Brady / 3 Comments

Are you living the life you once day dreamed about?  I’m not! I’m not saying it’s bad or anything, but there is room for improvement. Especially if it is going to be like what I desired. I wanted a large family for myself. A real “Brady” bunch if you will. I love children. But after I saw the price tag for two my first wife and I decided that was enough. I wanted to marry into a large family. I did, but it wasn’t long before the realization of how one bad, sour fruit hanging on the family tree can spoil relations.

After I divorced it was many years before I dared say, “I do” a second time. And once again I found another sour fruit on the family tree. Then in my own family, yep you guessed it. Some of the sourest fruit you have ever been exposed to. So the dream of “one big, happy family” has never manifested.

I could be downright depressed about it, and at times I have been. I have prayed, asked, griped and complained. Eventually, God began to give me knowledge and understanding concerning the bad actors in this cast. That has helped. It certainly is better than giving up and running away, or doing everything and anything to avoid them.

I saw the sign in this photo and realized that’s what I’m doing, but hadn’t labeled it. God is helping me know that all I can do is make sure my attitude is right, and pleasing to him when it comes to family. I can enjoy the life I have with April, and make the most of it. I’m happy being retired, and writing books now. And next week I and my business partner will be hosting our first writer’s conference, held in the setting of an old west town. (see expwriting.com) Then my first book is coming out soon. A modern day novel, “Kill The Preacher Man”. I am extremely excited about that. So really, life isn’t what I wanted, but it’s not bad either! Thank you God for taking all of my messes, and making something that can be pleasing to you.

Be cheerful no matter what; pray all the time; thank God no matter what happens. This is the way God wants you who belong to Christ Jesus to live.
1 Thes. 5:16-18 (MSG)

Copyright © 2022 Mark Brady.  All rights reserved.

It’s Christmas at Denny’s Tonight

/ Mark Brady / Leave a comment

I dream of what my life might have been, if only…

Do you live with regret?  I could, if I allowed myself to.  I sometimes wonder what the church would look like if I had stayed on track and became the pastor I believed God had called me to be.  Would we, the people of the church be an Acts chapter 2 type of church?  Believing in, and walking out the power of the Holy Spirit.  Would we see souls saved daily?  What about signs and wonders?  If only.

But instead, I stopped holding on to, waiting for the promises of God, and I accepted the devil’s substitute for my life, because it was there, now, in the moment.  I just had to believe the lies he was telling me that it was okay.  Kind of like accepting the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden.  As I mentioned in my last blog post, Satan tempts or attacks us where we are weak.

Life didn’t end there, for me, as I imagined it would.  I could have become a shell of a man.  I didn’t.  I received God’s forgiveness, asked that his Spirit not depart from me, and moved on.  That is what one should do when things don’t work out the way we think they should.

I read a post on Facebook the other day.  A young woman just had a child in the hospital, but after returning home her and her husband came down with Covid.  The baby was fine, but had to be separated from his new mother.  The baby’s father had to return to the hospital, this time in the intensive care unit.  The young mother wrote something along the lines of, “We dreamed of hiking in the mountains with a tour guide.  But now we are hiking through this with the Lord as our guide.”

Life is not going the way they dreamed, but her focus remains on target.  On the Lord.

That is the only way to deal with potential regret.  Give it to him, and continue to seek him for guidance, for his leading.  He knows the way.  Life may feel like Christmas at Denny’s, but it doesn’t have to.  It comes down to your perspective.  Your view of life.  Is your current situation a set back?  A delay?  A roadblock, or simply a detour?  No matter what it is, God can speak into your spirit and say, “Recalculating.”  God knows the way.  He will get you through the storm and to the other side.

Trust in the Lord completely,
    and do not rely on your own opinions.
    With all your heart rely on him to guide you,
    and he will lead you in every decision you make.
Become intimate with him in whatever you do,
    and he will lead you wherever you go Prov. 3:5-6 (TPT)

Copyright © 2021 Mark Brady.  All rights reserved.

It’s Free to Dream

/ Mark Brady / 2 Comments

One of the most famous dreamers in the Bible is Joseph.  As you know, he dreamed about being in a position where even his brothers would bow down to him.  As you can imagine this didn’t set well with them when he told them about the dream, and at one point they even planned to kill him.

Dreaming gives God an opportunity to communicate with you, even while you are sleeping.  Maybe He likes to talk to us in our sleep because we can’t argue with him, or reason in our natural mind.

99% of your dreams are about you.

The dream is most likely about you even if you see something happen to someone else.  Dreams can give you guidance, understanding, and warnings.

Your waking life!

Dr. Charity Kayembe teaches that one should line up their dreams with what is going on in their waking life.  There is a lot to learn about interpreting dreams, but it is not impossible.  Dr. Kayembe has several good teachings on the matter.  Here are some tips about dreams:

Know who to share your dreams with and when.
If your dream is about something in the future be aware someone may try to kill your dream by speaking negative words into your life, and please don’t tell yourself, “No”.
God uses your vocabulary, so you will recognize the symbols and words in your dream.
Symbols in your dreams may mean something else to another person, so don’t get hung up on items in the dream, or while referring to a dream language interpretation book.
Pay attention to how your dream made you feel.  Excited, scared, happy, etc.
Consider the setting, or location.  These are often clues to the meaning.

God talking to me via dreams is awesome.  When I think of it, before falling asleep, I invite God to speak to me in the night.  By the way, the title of this post came from my wonderful wife.  She is such a loving helpmate.

Another area, new to me as in understanding and walking out, is “day dreaming”.  It is dreaming about the desires of your heart.  Earlier this year I was day dreaming about speaking to other writers.  Three days later I received my first invitation to do just that.

Once you have a good, solid, biblical interpretation of your dream then the most important thing to do is follow it, or act on it.  Don’t let fear overcome you either, and pray against dreams that might be scary, or nightmarish.  It’s exciting to dream, in fact, I think I am going to go take a nap now!

Copyright © 2020 Mark Brady.  All rights reserved. 

I Heard God

/ Mark Brady / 2 Comments

081420“The voice of the Spirit of God is as gentle as a summer breeze— so gentle that unless you are living in complete fellowship and oneness with God, you will never hear it.” – Oswald Chambers

I had two dreams, in the same night, several days ago that was kind of strange, and no, they weren’t brought on by late night pizza.  In both dreams, I was being instructed on how to write this blog.  I was told to make it more, “grunge”.  What is “grunge” I asked myself.  I had heard of it before.  Webster says, “The untidy fashions typical of fans of grunge”.  Okay, so how does that relate to writing my blog, I asked God.  Is that writing wearing casual Friday clothing on steroids? I sensed as though it meant to write more “raw”, “revealing”, if you will.  I draw from my life for inspiration or examples, but not always in detail that reveals personal feelings.

A week ago or so, I was feeling down, and depressed, because Covid has caused my wife and me to remain apart longer than needed.  I haven’t held her in my arms for over a year now, and that hurts.  With the current conditions, I could not see a path for us to be together any time soon.  We are done with the immigration process, and she just needs her medical exam and her interview at the U.S. Embassy in Manila.  Then she would get her Visa and come home.  It is difficult to be apart from one you love, and even harder when that person loves you back.  I have tried everything I could, even emailing the embassy to see if they would do a “tele-interview”.  They said, “No.”

I cried out to God, I begged, and I pleaded.  To make things worse, He wasn’t saying a thing, or if He was, his answer was so soft I couldn’t hear it.  Then, I confessed my attitude to a friend, who listened and didn’t just quote scriptures I had heard so many times before, but he assured me God knew and then he prayed for me.

An hour later, as I was writing a blog, I came across a scripture in God’s word, and I realized God was speaking to me and to my circumstances.  My smile came back, and my heart felt like a ton of bricks had been unloaded, the heaviness was gone.

God does hear us, and yes he cares about what his children are going through, but it is so reassuring to hear his voice.  He can speak to us in many different ways, like through his word, dreams, through others, blog post, and that still small voice inside, if we calm down enough to hear it.  God also knows what we have need of, before we even ask. (Matthew 6:8)  Remember this: If you aren’t hearing God right now, it has nothing to do with him loving you less.  He’s just waiting for the right time, for when it will make sense.

Has God miraculously made a way for my wife to come to America? No, but now I have understanding as to how He plans on using this for his Glory., I’m okay with that.  My friend called me back a few days later and I told him, “Through a scripture, I heard God, and I am good now!”

Copyright © 2020 Mark Brady.  All rights reserved.