forgiveness

The First Eternity

/ Mark Brady / Leave a comment

Have you ever realized that there was an eternity before what we have now on Earth? Think about this: when God placed man in the Garden of Eden, it was perfect. There was no sickness, no hurt, no pain, no Washington D.C. (um-hum), and no death. I believe God intended for life always to be that way. Walking and talking with man and woman each day.

Then, Adam and Eve sinned by disobeying God, and darkness entered the world, ending perfection.

Hundreds of years later, Light once again came to the world, and the hope of a perfect eternity was now obtainable by believing that Jesus is God’s Son and accepting his gift of salvation for the forgiveness of our sins.

God never intended for people to hurt or for them to deal with sickness and disease. He didn’t want them to suffer in any way, shape or form. God didn’t want anyone to feel hunger, the pain of war, or the sting of a broken family. He never wanted to comfort a parent having to bury a child. God only wanted his best for his children.

Not living with God is choosing to live in a dump! Darkness dumps on you, most likely every week, if not every day! Your Facebook posts constantly share the pain and heartache that you deal with on a regular basis. I’m not saying you shouldn’t post those things with us because it reminds me to pray for you. And I’m not saying life with God is perfect on this side of heaven, but it is definitely better than living in a dump!

Accept God. Learn to live his ways by studying the Bible, his manuscript for living life. Walk and talk with him daily. Ask lots of questions, for He is the only one who has the correct answers. You will enjoy the victories along the way until you reach the second eternity.

John 8:12 – Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

John 3:16 – “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

Proverbs 21:21- Whoever pursues righteousness and love finds life, prosperity and honor.

Romains 8:28 – And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

Isaiah 41:10 – So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

Copyright © 2024 Mark Brady. All rights reserved.

Faultlines

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I read a poem today, and I was not too fond of it. The person who penned the words claimed that because the world is “flawed,” the one at “fault” is the Creator. I see this as a huge problem today. Nobody wants to take responsibility when they are wrong. Even an extremely popular, major online shopping company won’t admit it and do something about it. I decided to stop ordering from them. If I can’t find it somewhere else, then do I really need it?

Someone cuts you off on the road. You honk. Yet you get the finger! Oh, maybe they’re showing me they are my number one fan! It can be very frustrating, to say the least. Knowing someone is wrong, but they won’t admit it. And the truth is, they know they were wrong, too.

Below is one person’s comment to the poem:

“Interesting perception, I have made products that work perfectly well until the people who buy them get their hands on them. It’s worth reading the historical records of all the creation accounts they point to a perfect creation and interference.

Your final analysis is also flawed because if I don’t read the instructions and follow direction how is it the manufacturers fault that the product doesn’t work.

The Creator is perfect, the creation was perfect but decided it didn’t need the creator it exercised freewill and the flaws are the product of thousands of years of poor decision making by the product. But thanks for sharing the poem.”

What they are saying is true.

God created the world. He made man and gave him free will. Man decided not to live life according to God’s commands. As a result, sin entered the world. Then sickness, disease, anger, pride, and so on bringing down mankind and, thus, the world.

Today, we have God’s instruction manual, the Bible. Yet mankind still wants to exercise his free will and drive, I mean live life his way, contributing to the downfall of the world. But if asked, they would probably say, “It’s not my fault!” They would instead place the blame on anyone or anything else. The problem with that is this: they are still wrong and will pay the price ultimately for their wrong or sin.

The ONLY solution is to accept Jesus into your life and ask Him for forgiveness of your sins. Then, get a Bible and read how God says we should live. The book of Proverbs is a great place to start. I am wrong a lot! But I admit it and ask God and, if needed, an individual to forgive me. It is so freeing!

Proverbs 11:17-31 (MSG)

17 When you’re kind to others, you help yourself;
    when you’re cruel to others, you hurt yourself.
18 Bad work gets paid with a bad check;
    good work gets solid pay.
19 Take your stand with God’s loyal community and live,
    or chase after phantoms of evil and die.
20 God can’t stand deceivers,
    but oh how he relishes integrity.
21 Count on this: The wicked won’t get off scot-free,
    and God’s loyal people will triumph.
22 Like a gold ring in a pig’s snout
    is a beautiful face on an empty head.
23 The desires of good people lead straight to the best,
    but wicked ambition ends in angry frustration.
24 The world of the generous gets larger and larger;
    the world of the stingy gets smaller and smaller.
25 The one who blesses others is abundantly blessed;
    those who help others are helped.
26 Curses on those who drive a hard bargain!
    Blessings on all who play fair and square!
27 The one who seeks good finds delight;
    the student of evil becomes evil.
28 A life devoted to things is a dead life, a stump;
    a God-shaped life is a flourishing tree.
29 Exploit or abuse your family, and end up with a fistful of air;
    common sense tells you it’s a stupid way to live.
30 A good life is a fruit-bearing tree;
    a violent life destroys souls.
31 If good people barely make it,
    what’s in store for the bad!

Copyright © 2024 Mark Brady  All Rights Reserved

It’s Not Until

/ Mark Brady / Leave a comment

“It’s not until you know how to die that you begin to know how to live.”

April and I were watching the movie “I Can Only Imagine” when the words above spilled into my heart. I have been thinking about them ever since.

Jesus knew how to die; therefore, He knew how to live. And He came to Earth as a baby, no less to show us. In a few days, we will be celebrating that birth. The birth of Jesus. He quietly entered the world, and only a few noticed. But his death shook the Earth and is still making headlines in the hearts and lives of people all over the world today! Jesus knew how to die.

Between the start of his life and his death, He showed us how to live. He laughed with us, cried with us, accepted us no matter what we had done in the past, and loved us. It was with love he lived, and it was in love He died. It was because of love and the love of His Father in heaven that He came in the first place; He did not want us to die eternally. Jesus knew how to live.

You see, it’s how you live your life that will determine where you spend eternity after you die. If, in your ever so brief life, you decide to accept Jesus’ free gift of salvation and ask him to forgive you of your sins, then you will live forever in heaven with him and probably a lot of your friends, neighbors, coworkers, and family members. But only if they accepted Jesus as well.

I know I’m not perfect. I have made a lot of BIG mistakes in life. I have hurt a lot of people, and I feel bad about that. The only thing that helps that pain is knowing that God has forgiven me through Jesus’ death on the cross. And every morning that I wake up, I have another opportunity to try my best to get that day right. That is what makes life worth living. So, I, too, know how to die, and I know from God’s word how to live, and that is with love.

16-18 “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. God didn’t go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again. Anyone who trusts in him is acquitted; anyone who refuses to trust him has long since been under the death sentence without knowing it. And why? Because of that person’s failure to believe in the one-of-a-kind Son of God when introduced to him. John 3:16-18 (MSG)

Merry Christmas, everyone!

Copyright © 2023 Mark Brady

Wash, Rinse, Repeat

/ Mark Brady / 2 Comments

I learned yesterday one of my high school classmates was stabbed and killed. One can’t help but think about their own mortality when news like this comes our way. I thought about mine while I prayed for the family and friends as they begin the grieving process.

We know from the word of God that it is appointed to each man once to die and then the judgment. That makes the act of dying a serious issue. We also know from His word that each of us is presented with the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is then our free will to choose whether to accept Jesus and what He did on the cross, forgiving us of our sins. Therefore giving us the right to live forever in heaven after we die.

When we stand before God to judge how we lived our lives, Jesus will remind his Father that we accepted his gift of salvation and that our sins are forgiven. Some believe that once you accept Jesus, your eternity is fixed and you can live however you want to. But one should live God’s way. I feel we need to constantly ask God for forgiveness of our sins. Hence the wash, rinse, and repeat. Washed in the blood of Jesus. Rinse off the dirt of our lives and do it all again as needed. It’s not a religion but a relationship with the one and only God of the universe.

For me, that is daily. Every night, before going to sleep, I ask God to forgive me for my sins. I know I am not perfect, and I have no deception that I am. I do not blame wrongdoing on others. I take responsibility for what I do wrong. I do this because I do not want to die, be found guilty of unforgiven wrong, and be condemned to die for eternity in hell.

Hell is a horrible place! Time and gravity keep man grounded. In hell, neither will exist. It will be pitch black, so one will not see anyone else. Sorry, there will be no party in hell. And then there is the constant torment of being burned alive. This will all go on for eternity. With that truth, why would anyone willfully decide to reject God and his Son, Jesus?

You might be a “good” person, but everyone has sinned and has fallen short of the glory of God. God is so Holy that He can not be in the presence of sin. This is why there will be such a defined separation in the end. Heaven or hell? You decide.

27 Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, 28 so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him. Heb. 9:27-28 (NIV)

19 since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 20 For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse. Rom. 1:19-20 (NIV)

for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, Rom. 3:23 (NIV)

Copyright © 2023 Mark Brady.

The Walking Dead

/ Mark Brady / Leave a comment

Watching shows or movies about zombies takes me back to watching horror flicks with my father. Late Saturday nights, we would stay up and laugh at the creative ridiculousness of such things as giant spiders or rabbits that killed people.

Recently, while watching a zombie show, I realized that even though zombies do not exist in real life, in real life, we have people all around us that are the walking dead. You see, the truth is that those who have not accepted God’s love and his free gift of his son, Jesus, are dead in their sins.

As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, Eph. 2:1 (NIV)

It’s eerie how like zombies, the walking dead who live in sin seem to want to bite and infect the healthy. The “healthy” are those who are alive in Christ Jesus. Those who have had their sins forgiven by accepting Jesus as their savior.

But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. Eph. 2:4-5 (NIV)

As we get closer to the end of the world, the devil is working overtime to keep people from knowing the truth. One way is to get them wrapped up in the world’s issues so they focus on that instead of recognizing God’s love and relentless pursuit to bring them into the family of God. Another way is to keep their personal life in chaos.

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. Eph. 2: 8-9 (NIV)

No one can save themselves from eternal destruction in hell. No one can be “good” enough. You still come up short, for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. (Rom. 3:23) The ONLY way is to accept Jesus and to ask for forgiveness of your sins. Then, when you die, you will walk the streets of heaven alive.

Accept Jesus into your life before it is too late. Walk with and among the living. Life is better when you are truly alive.

Copyright © 2023 Mark Brady.

My Lowest Point

/ Mark Brady / 2 Comments

I was still sobbing, but nothing more was falling out of my eyes. The stain of tears on the church carpet was about 18 inches in diameter. After an hour or so, I got up and accidentally stepped in the puddle, and the salty discharge rose, almost covering my toes. I was genuinely sorry for what I had done. To the church, to the group I had led, to my pastor, to the married woman I had fallen in love with but mainly, to God.

From that day forward, I felt connected to King David. And the words of Psalms 51 would forever ring in my heart. I was 23 and single but had allowed the devil to deceive me without realizing it. If he had come straight at me, I would have quoted scriptures and commanded that he leaves me in the name of Jesus. His attack came from behind. He used the strong desires of my heart to be loved, causing me to stumble and fall.

“Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.”

I wanted so badly to be forgiven!

“Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me. 4 Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest.”

I knew God would judge me for my actions. It was only fitting.

“Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities.”

I, too, asked God for a clean heart. For a fresh start.

“Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.”

To me, hell is being absent from the presence of God. So I pleaded. And I also asked Him to let me keep His Holy Spirit inside me. For that was my source of true power in ministry.

“Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit. Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee.”

I wanted God to allow still me to minister and teach people. He has, but to be a pastor and shepherd of a church I will never get to.

“The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.”

God answered my prayer. Throughout the following years, He was faithful to His promise to rebuild me. He gave me a ministry in writing, which is one reason I do my best to seek Him every week and post a blog to encourage others to grow in their relationship with God. And every once in a while, I have the pleasure of being someone’s pastor. Thank you, Father God. You are truly good.

The portions in quotations are from Psalms 51 (KJV).

Copyright © 2023 Mark Brady.

Finding Home

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We were recently gifted a Roomba. I’ll confess I have sat on the sofa with my feet up, watching it vacuum our floors. The device we now call “Berta” supposedly comes with Artificial Intelligence (AI). If I understand what I have heard, the appliance learns the layout of each room of your house. A few days ago, we rearranged the furniture, so I guess it had to start all over again.

The one thing it does know is this; where “home” is. Home is where it docks to rest and reenergize its batteries.

As I am out and about in this world, driving April to work, buying groceries, running errands, or whatever, I see many people that don’t seem to have any intelligence. Artificial or otherwise! I can tell by how they treat ya, drive, or lack of, and conduct their business. I have also noticed there seems to be an underlying issue of anger.

I feel sorry for them because they appear to be so lost. I have been saying the following phrase lately when encountering them: “I’m sorry. I forgot it is your world, and I just get to live in it.” But the truth is, it is God’s world, and He made them to live in it, hoping they will do it with Him and His help and love.

The individuals I encounter, and I do pray for them, need to find “home.” Like Berta does, even when life has been rearranged. They need to know where to dock to empty the dirt (sins) from their life they collected, rest, and power up.

That’s where we come in. As ones who have found our “home” in Jesus Christ, we can lead them and help them find their way. We can point them to the amazing power of the cross and the liberty that comes with it when accepted. Keep in mind; someone most likely showed you the Way.

If you are feeling lost, you can find your way home. You can pray the following prayer:

“Father in Heaven, I confess to you that I have sinned against you. Thank you for sending your Son to die in my place. Thank you for raising Him from the dead so I could have eternal life. I give you my life now and ask you to come and live in me and make me your child. I love you and want to live for you from now on. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”

Welcome home. Find a Bible-believing church and go there to find others like you who have taken the same step. Read God’s word (The Bible) for yourself. Learn what it says. Start in the New Testament in the Book of John. Then get to know God by spending time with Him and talking to Him as you would a friend.

If you want to know more, read the following from: “What is the Romans Road to Salvation?” GotQuestions.org. https://www. .gotquestions.org/Romans-road-salvation.html

The first verse on the Romans Road to salvation is Romans 3:23, “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” We have all sinned. We have all done things that are displeasing to God. There is no one who is innocent. Romans 3:10-18 gives a detailed picture of what sin looks like in our lives.

The second Scripture on the Romans Road to salvation, Romans 6:23b, teaches us about the consequences of sin: “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” The punishment that we have earned for our sins is death. Not just physical death, but eternal death!

The third verse on the Romans Road to salvation picks up in the middle of Romans 6:23: “But the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Romans 5:8 declares, “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Jesus Christ died for us! Jesus’ death paid for the price of our sins. Jesus’ resurrection proves that God accepted Jesus’ death as the payment for our sins.

The fourth stop on the Romans Road to salvation is Romans 10:9, “That if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” Because of Jesus’ death on our behalf, all we have to do is believe in Him, trusting His death as the payment for our sins – and we will be saved! Romans 10:13 says it again, “for everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” Jesus died to pay the penalty for our sins and rescue us from eternal death. Salvation, the forgiveness of sins, is available to anyone who will trust in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.

The final aspect of the Romans Road to salvation is the results of salvation. Romans 5:1 has this wonderful message: “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Through Jesus Christ we can have a relationship of peace with God. Romans 8:1 says, “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” Because of Jesus’ death on our behalf, we will never be condemned for our sins. Finally, we have this precious promise of God from Romans 8:38-39: “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Copyright © 2023 Mark Brady.

Oh No, They Didn’t!

/ Mark Brady / 1 Comment
Photo by: Andrea Piacquadio

One of the most challenging things about life is having relationships with people! I haven’t been shy about my allergy to people. If given a choice, I avoid them, but that can be hard to do when you work, have friends, or have a love life. It doesn’t matter if that love is within a marriage or if one is dating.

I recently became aware of a person who is dating, and the relationship hit a major snag. I understand the feeling of being cheated on (I should insert here, not by my wife, April.). But when we get hurt by a relationship, what’s the appropriate reaction?

Should we curl up and die? Do we withdraw from life, turn off the lights and hide? Press the pause button?

Some might seek revenge and physically harm the other person or their property, or worse, hook up with someone else. That saying, “Two wrongs don’t make a right!” is undoubtedly true.

Jesus was cheated on, betrayed, so He knows the pain you are going through or have gone through. We should look at how He reacted when his friend, Judas-Iscariot, his co-worker, hurt him. First, Peter got angry and went for revenge by cutting off the ear of one there to arrest Jesus. Jesus commanded him to stop, and then Jesus healed the man’s ear and went peacefully with them. (Matthew 26:47-56)

Judas no doubt knew that Jesus still loved him and forgave him but could not handle the guilt. And that is why I think he committed suicide. Sad! Loving and forgiving sets you free. It doesn’t tell the other person, “What you did to me was okay.” it does tell them, “I’m not going to allow your actions to stop me from living life!”

I, too, know it’s hard, and fair warning, it will take time to get over it. And you will have to make that decision many times to forgive and to go on living and loving. It’s not a “one-time” decision.

Keep in mind responding inappropriately can not only hurt you or put you in jail, but it can hurt those around you. How you decide to respond can have life-changing and long-lasting results. Forgiving and loving is best.

Prayer: Father God, if someone reading this post is currently living with this kind of pain or has and hasn’t dealt with it, then I ask you to help them. Comfort them, Father, and help them to ask you for assistance in dealing with the pain and respond in a forgiving and loving way. Help them remember your Son, Jesus, has “been there!” Assure them that life will go on, and they will be a survivor. Thank you, Amen.

Copyright © 2023 Mark Brady. All rights reserved.

Nine Lives?

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Photo by: Marko Blazevic

They say cats have nine lives, and in some weird cases, that may be true, but a man?

“I have fallen off two roofs, maybe three, I can’t remember. I was digging a hole for a tank, and I hit a transmission line. I was lying on the ground about forty-five feet away when I woke up. A witness said there were lots of sparks and I should have died. Then there was the time I was involved in a vehicle accident where my truck went off the road and landed in some trees thirty feet above the ground,” said a man I had recently met.

I was shocked and amazed, and my reaction showed it. Then he said there had been several other times he probably shouldn’t have survived. The phrase of having “nine lives” was spoken. I sensed the Holy Spirit, and I said. “Man! God really must love you because your life has been spared so many times!”

“I don’t know about that.” He said.

“Well, do you have a personal relationship with God?”

“No.”

I then explained how one could have a personal relationship with God by asking His Son, Jesus, into their heart. How doing so would forgive them of their sin and wrongdoing. He squirmed and acted like he didn’t want to hear this. Then I felt as though he thought if he accepted Jesus into his life, he would have to change his behavior. I explained to him that getting to know God is the best thing to do. Start loving Him back. I mentioned how a relationship with God was not about “rules” or “do’s and don’ts.”

 “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. God didn’t go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again. Anyone who trusts in him is acquitted; anyone who refuses to trust him has long since been under the death sentence without knowing it. And why? Because of that person’s failure to believe in the one-of-a-kind Son of God when introduced to him. John 3:16-18 (MSG)

I went on to explain that everyone will die once, not nine times. Then they will be standing before God giving an account of how they lived their life. I explained how if one has accepted Jesus, they will continue that loving relationship with God for eternity in heaven. Or they will be forever separated from God’s presence in hell if they have not. He said he was a good man, and I agreed that he was. But I then informed him that our good doesn’t forgive us of our wrongs. That is why we needed Jesus. How Jesus was a perfect sacrifice for sin when He died on the cross.

Everyone has to die once, then face the consequences. Christ’s death was also a one-time event, but it was a sacrifice that took care of sins forever. And so, when he next appears, the outcome for those eager to greet him is, precisely, salvation. Heb. 9:27-28 (MSG)

He then told me that he had to return to the project he was working on. My heart was broken knowing how much God loves us all. He simply wants us to receive His love and have a great relationship with him. Before we finished our conversation, I told him that he had heard the truth and there was no way he would ever be able to tell God, “No one told me!” Now you have been told as well.

Prayer: God, may everyone receive your love and your Son, Jesus, into their life. May they experience that love in all areas of their life. May they feel your love and go tell others so that no one will perish but have everlasting life with you.

Copyright © 2023 Mark Brady. All rights reserved.

Grace is Enough

/ Mark Brady / 2 Comments

What reason do I have to wake up with the rising sun
And not be held down by the weight of all the things I’ve done?
What reason do I have to feel this hope instead of hurt?
How can it be I don’t receive the judgement I deserve?

How can you see me at my worst and still say I am loved?
What promise can I stand on when I don’t feel good enough?
When the enemy’s reminding me of all that I’ve done wrong
What freedom do I have to sing this new creation song?

I know the only reason I can stand here free of all my shame
Is wave upon wave of grace upon grace
Wave upon wave of grace upon grace
Upon grace

I have done so many things wrong in my life and, at times, still do. I’m not too fond of it when my wife, who is full of love and grace herself, sees the darkest side of me. There are times I am ashamed of my behavior. I thought by now, with God’s help, all my personal struggles would have been defeated. I can only continue to ask for forgiveness, ask for help, receive God’s grace, and continue fighting the good fight of faith. God’s grace is for you too!

But you, Timothy, man of God: Run for your life from all this. Pursue a righteous life—a life of wonder, faith, love, steadiness, courtesy. Run hard and fast in the faith. Seize the eternal life, the life you were called to, the life you so fervently embraced in the presence of so many witnesses. 1 Tim. 6:12 (MSG)

Parts of the song “Grace Upon Grace” were used.
Songwriters: Matthew West, Aj Pruis

Copyright © 2022 Mark Brady. All rights reserved.