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This Old House

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When I bought this house almost eight years ago, I started fixing it up on the outside. It really needed the attention. I started with making repairs on the old wood siding, hoping it would last another four years or so. It didn’t! I had new energy-efficient windows installed. That helped me save money on utilities. I started fixing items on the inside, but I had to have new siding put on after two years of ownership.

So the outside looked great, but the inside still needed a lot of work. I eventually got brave and learned how to remove “popcorn” ceilings. Then I started painting walls and installing “beadboard” wood in the bathrooms. New toilets, faucets, and towel bars, so the old ones had to go. Everything must be color coordinated, you know. And if you have ever remodeled a house, then you know you find surprises when you remove things.

I poured myself into making this old house nicer, especially after marrying April. I wanted her to pick out colors and things so this place would no longer be mine but ours. I literally have put my blood, sweat, and tears into this place—tears for when things were not fitting like they should or when I was struggling and couldn’t get something to work out.

I have leaned on God for a lot of help. There were times when I needed to know how to do something or needed some muscle to help get something to fit. One time, he nudged me to look it up on the Internet. I was shocked that God knew about the Internet. (I know. I shouldn’t have been surprised.) He has helped me with electrical, plumbing, and, well, everything!

Some people look great on the outside. As if they have it all together, and as if there is nothing wrong in their life or family. But if you were to look on the inside of them, what would you see? Perhaps the demons they face on a daily basis? The emotional scars from their past? Their weaknesses? Most people have a side of themselves they would rather others not see. I know I do. I have a temper that, at times, can get out of control.

The house is only a shelter. The home is about people. A home and a life are places for God to come and fill with His presence. A place for the fruit of the Spirit to be manifested. Love, joy, peace, self-control…. I’m glad God doesn’t get tired of working on us, or in my case of “this old man,” give up!

There has never been the slightest doubt in my mind that the God who started this great work in you would keep at it and bring it to a flourishing finish on the very day Christ Jesus appears. Phi. 1:6 (MSG)

Copyright © 2025 Mark Brady. All rights reserved.

Thankful?

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Are you ready for Thanksgiving this coming Thursday? Do you have the turkey and all of the trimmings? A pastor’s wife once asked me if I was going to join them for Thanksgiving. I replied, “Sure. I’ll be there.” She then said, “Oh good. Now we’ll have a turkey!” Hahaha, right?

A lot of people spend a lot of time preparing for the holiday. They prepare the menu, invite the guests, and make sure the house is presentable. Others begin packing their suitcases if they are going to be traveling far to celebrate with friends and or family.

I have to ask, though, “How many prepare their heart?” For the one who has been forgiven of their sins, through Jesus Christ, has a lot to be thankful for. Even if this life isn’t perfect and there are trying times, you still have God on your side. One of the best sermons I have ever heard lasted about ten seconds. The minister was sitting on a newspaper machine in Chicago. While the “Do Not Walk” sign was lit, he preached. He said, “I don’t care how bad life is. As long as you have God on your side, it will be okay!”

Because I am daily mindful of how much God has done for me and continues to do for me, I am always thankful! When I walk through the house, I feel blessed. This home has been a big blessing to me and April, and it will continue to be one after I am gone. (I am older than April by several years.) This house has the ability to rent out the second floor with no intrusion for whoever is living on the first floor. This will provide another stream of income for April.

Thanksgiving isn’t just an American holiday. It’s an ever-present attitude of the heart. Maybe you will be asked what you are thankful for this coming Thursday as you sit around the table. If you have a roof over your head, peace in your country, food on the table, good friends, and a family that loves you, a job that meets your needs and God, then you have more than most to be thankful for. And if you don’t have all of those things I listed, then turn to the God who loves you. Tell him. He’ll listen! And who knows, perhaps by the following Thanksgiving, you will.

“Don’t bargain with God. Be direct. Ask for what you need. This isn’t a cat-and-mouse, hide-and-seek game we’re in. If your child asks for bread, do you trick him with sawdust? If he asks for fish, do you scare him with a live snake on his plate? As bad as you are, you wouldn’t think of such a thing. You’re at least decent to your own children. So don’t you think the God who conceived you in love will be even better? Mat. 7:11-20 (MSG)

Copyright © 2024 Mark Brady. All rights reserved.

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.

He Knows (cont.)

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25 “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?

28 “So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; 29 and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?

31 “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. Matthew 6:25-34 (NKJV)

Jesus spoke the words above. He was trying to teach the people in his day and us today not to worry. A lot of people do worry today. They live in fear of many things. Will their job last? And if they lost their job, how would they pay their bills? As an adult, I went through unemployment twice. It’s not easy, and it’s not fun at all! It’s hard not to fall into the temptation to worry.

It’s understandable with inflation, supply chain issues, and the war in Ukraine. We just came through the Coronavirus, and our nation is divided. But can any of us control these things? Or other items not listed?

This is why we need to place all of our trust in God. He can control all things even when He allows humankind free will. He does know what we have need of and wants to make sure we have those things and more. He is a good Father who loves us so much and wants to give us good gifts. He wants to see all of our needs met so that we have enough and am able to bless others out of our abundance.

The key to this life of trusting God is seeking him first. Pursuing the things of God, especially his character. His most remarkable character is love. Everything God did and everything God does is out of love. It is out of this love that He knows.

Copyright © 2023 Mark Brady. All rights reserved.

Clutter? Or Clean?

/ Mark Brady / 7 Comments
Photo by: cottonbro

Is there any correlation between a clean house and a clean spiritual life? Is someone who is too busy, too lazy, or too distracted by life to pick up the place where they live also due to that stuff challenged to pick up the mess in their life with God? I would dare say, “yes.”

I’ll share a truth with ya; if people enter your home and don’t see clutter, they tend to think your house is clean, even if it isn’t, but if they see a mess everywhere, they will sense your home is dirty.

Keeping a house clean is a constant job. There are no days off, vacations, or holidays. The same goes for maintaining your spiritual life with God. I learned from my parents to look around whenever moving about the house and to pick up something out of place and return it. I also learned to put things up as soon as you finish with them. I understand that living with others who do not share your desire to keep items picked up can make your job more difficult.

So how does all of this relate to your spiritual life? Keeping on top of your relationship with God takes desire, time, and effort. You have to make a mental decision to make it a priority. Even when there are things in life that are begging for your attention. Yes, you may be tired, have distractions, hardships, financial pressure, or have relationship struggles, but you still need to make time to spend with God. In fact, if you have anything from that list going on, you would be crazy not to go to God and take it with you to turn all of it to him.

15 But the news about him spread even more, and large crowds were gathering together to hear him and to be healed of their illnesses. 16 Yet Jesus himself frequently withdrew to the wilderness and prayed.
Luke 5:15-16 (NET)

Sometimes you can’t get to the house, but don’t let anything keep you from your time with your heavenly Father. Take the example of Jesus himself. He knew how important it was to spend time with his heavenly Father. Doing so keeps your mind and heart clear, clean, and uncluttered.

Copyright © 2022 Mark Brady. All rights reserved.

Telling The Truth Can Cost You

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A father was acting out concerning a relationship. He was unhappy about how it was going, and the other person was not acting the way “he” wanted them to, which upset him to no end. There were some names spoken that were not flattering. The father talked about the situation over the phone with his son, and his son listened, but when he tried to correct his father’s attitude, the father got mad and hung up the phone. When the son called back again, he was rudely hung up on by his father.

The son’s motivation was pure as he wrote his father a letter. He tried to get his father to understand how he was treating people in several relationships and was pushing them away, and people did not want to be around him anymore. The son tried to tell his father the truth as lovingly as possible.

The father went ballistic and set out to get revenge on his son. He lied to his son and tricked him into going down to the bank to get him to sign a document that would remove him from all of his accounts and his safety deposit box. Then he removed his son from the deed to his house and even cut him out of his will. Apparently, he really did not like hearing the truth!

When Jesus walked the earth, he successfully told people the truth. Some heard him and accepted his message, changing how they lived, but others did not. They chose to get enraged.

People may not want to lose control over their life, so they will not accept the truth. Or they may fear not knowing what life will be like if they change. Others are deceived into thinking they are fine the way they are, and some feel they will lose status or power if they change. Then there are those who blame others for their actions instead of accepting the truth.

The truth is; the truth will set you free! (John 8:32)

I know of one pastor who won’t share with his wife what the word of God says about how marriage and the home should be set up. On this matter, he once told me, “You may be right, but you will be alone!” What he was saying is that “he” feared being alone if he dared to share the truth with his wife. The sad thing is the problem in their home of the wrong person being the head of the household transferred into their ministry. Whenever the home is not set up right, or the ministry, people get hurt! And in the case of their church, there is a very long list of people who have gotten hurt and have left. If the truth were accepted, their home life would be different, and the wall preventing their church from becoming a world leader would finally be lifted.

Yes, telling the truth can cost you. It could cost you thousands of dollars, your inheritance, a job, or family relationships It cost Jesus his life which is the ultimate price to pay for sharing the truth. Jesus wasn’t afraid of being alone. You may be isolated from friends and family, but you will live in freedom. If you find yourself alone, know that you are not, for you are in the company and presence of God.

Copyright © 2022 Mark Brady. All rights reserved.

When God Was Still by My Side

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“Oh, how I long for the good old days,
    when God took such very good care of me.
He always held a lamp before me
    and I walked through the dark by its light.
Oh, how I miss those golden years
    when God’s friendship graced my home,
When the Mighty One was still by my side
    and my children were all around me,
When everything was going my way,
    and nothing seemed too difficult.”

Do you find yourself saying something similar in the days of late?  Are you longing for the days when life seemed easier?  I have.  Reality, though, is this; those days had their own problems, but with that said, there is more “hate” these days and “perverted lifestyles” right in front of our faces.

Another reality is this; God hasn’t changed.  He is the same yesterday, today, and forever.  It may seem harder to detect his presence, see the path He wants us to walk, but He is still there.  He still graces our homes.

Maybe things in life aren’t going “your” way, but they very well could be going “God’s” way.

Though the days may be different, God is the same, so we need to trust in him the way we did back in the “good old days”.  We need to remember not to look, or focus on the lives of those around us, or the hate being spewed by hurt people, but to keep our gaze on him, who is, and will forever be in control of all things, and know this; God is still by your side!

The above quote was spoken by Job in Job 29:1-6 (MSG)

Copyright © 2021 Mark Brady.  All rights reserved.

The Power of Praise

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Okay.  I’m going to go all Steven Furtick on ya now:
You think you are all ALONE, but God is right there with you!
You believe the lie that your MARRIAGE is over, but God says, “Commit it to me!
”You think your JOB is going nowhere, but God wants to show you why you are there!
You were promised a PALACE, but you are in a PIT, God says, “Its part of the journey!”

Yes, LIVING is hard, but God is greater!
Yes HEAVEN seems so far away, but it is closer than you think!
One way to overcome life is through the power of praise.  It works.  It lifts your spirit, it strengthens your faith.  Whether you simply praise God with just words, or if you add music.

From the song, “Praise Him”
Let praise be a weapon that conquers all anxiety
We sing your name in the dark and it changes everything
Let it rise, let praise arise.
We’ll watch the giants fall

Fear cannot survive when we praise You
The God of breakthrough’s on our side
Forever lift Him high
With all creation cry,
God we praise You

Oh, we praise You, oh

Let faith be the song that overcomes the raging sea
Let faith be the song that calms the storm inside of me
Let it rise, let praise arise

This is what living looks like
This is what heaven sounds like
We praise You, we praise You

Try praising God despite what you see, or hear in the natural.  Then witness the power that comes with it, or through it, for yourself.  You will be glad you did.

Copyright © 2021 Mark Brady.  All rights reserved.

The Conference Room

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You really can “walk with God”.  It’s not a clique only found in the Bible at all, but something you can ask for, something you can expect, count on, and do. 

Leviticus 26:12 “And I will walk among you and will be your God, and you shall be my people.”

Each morning my wife and I join hands to pray over our breakfast. We include the words, “and God lead us this day.  Guide our steps.  Direct us to those who we need to spend time with and when there give us your words to speak to them.”  It’s not something we have memorized, so the actual words may come out different each time, but that keeps it fresh.

I knew of a child and when called upon to pray over their evening meal she said the same thing every night.  It got to be kind of a joke to the whole family.  In fact, it didn’t take long for it to get the nickname, “Prayer number 505.”  The family got seated each night for dinner and settled by 5:05 PM.

I know God has guided my steps for most of my life.  After all, He has lead me to my wife April, and I am now experiencing the fullness of what it means to be married, at least how God intends a marriage to be.  But it seems as if in the last month his direction has been every day, and in the last week especially.

God has lead us to the right people, at the right time, to have the right conversations.  A big blessing this past week has been putting together our new room, “The Conference Room”, as my wife labeled it, because it is there we meet with God.  We dedicate that room for time with God, whether in his word, or in conversations with him, as we pray for friends, family and others around the world.  Or perhaps we will just sit and wait for God to provide wisdom, understanding and direction for a particular need.

The original idea for this room only came about Sunday just over a week ago, and before a week could go by, the room has taken shape, and is only in need of a few final pieces, like photos hung on the wall of those we pray for.  The room came about so quickly because we wrote out a list of what we wanted and we prayed over it.  Then, early in the week, I told a friend of what we wanted.  He mentioned, the next day, seeing a chair for our room at a new discount store where the proceeds go to build housing for those in need.  A cause I can get behind and support, by shopping at the store.

So needless to say we visited the store and bought the majority of the pieces we desired from that store and the bookshelf came from a curbside, discard pile of a homeowner’s furniture. The bookshelf just needed a little cleaning up and some minor repairs.  There have been times in my life when I may have been discarded, thrown out of someone else’s life and Jesus looked at me and said, “He just needs a little cleaning up and some minor repairs.”

My wife’s and mine first action in our new room was to pray, and dedicate it to God.  For his purposes, to his Glory, and to advance his kingdom.  This blog post was also written there, so from “The Conference Room” to your heart comes a message from God to you.

Dream with God.  Ask him to make it happen.  Write it down.  Doing so will increase your faith.  It will help you start seeing it even though it is not there.  Then, ask God to lead you and guide you to the right places, at the right time, to have the right conversations.  That is walking with God.

Copyright © 2021 Mark Brady.  All rights reserved.

A New Chapter

/ Mark Brady / 3 Comments

America.  She changed today.  Maybe the reality is, she changed a long time ago from the innocent days I once knew, but this truth is obvious today.  I grew up in Oklahoma, in a middle class family that somehow, always seem to have enough and then some.  I watched as my parents made good decisions and choices who worked hard for what they wanted.  “The American Dream”.  I believed in this dream and I too sought it out.  I wanted to own my own house, well after paying 30 years of payments.  I desired a good job, a loving wife, 2.5 kids, one of each sex, and to be a happy family.

The truth is, it took me 35 years to buy the house that will be mine in 26 and 1/2 years.  I have two kids, one of each sex, who don’t talk to me, and, their mother divorced me after she made a huge mistake, but convinced everyone our marriage failed solely due to me.  As a result, my biological family doesn’t want to have anything to do with me, so you could say I don’t have the happy family I desired.  Many Christmas days have been spent filling the empty stocking with tears.

After years of checking the “Divorced” box on forms I met and then married a Filipino woman.  I thought perhaps now I would get the happy family I desired.  You know what?  There are cynical, greedy, lying family members in all cultures, but the woman I married is the exception to a few members of her own family.  I have written about it a few times; my wife lives out God’s definition of love.

After our wedding, I was with her for seven months in the Philippines, until I needed a medical procedure, so I left her there thinking immigration wouldn’t take that long and she would come to America on my heels.  There was some delay in the process, but as we were reaching the finish line Covid hit.  Another year without her, another moist Christmas day.  A lot of crying out to God, and asking, “Why?”  The big three set in: Discouragement, Disappointment and yes, even Depression.  As I crawled through those dark days way down, deep inside me, was a mustard seed of faith that was whispering, “God knows what He is doing.”  In full disclosure, my mind was asking, “Are you sure?”

January 7th, we received an email stating my wife has her long awaited interview with the U.S. embassy in Manila.  LIGHT pierced our darkness.  I wanted to wait to share this until she was actually here, but someone needs to read these words now.  We are hoping we will be together by Valentine’s Day.  What a time to reunite our love for each other and for our God who loves us beyond belief.

When my wife is in our home in Oklahoma a new chapter of our lives together will begin.  Unfortunately, she will never know the “America” I grew up in.  Today, those with money want more, and those who “think” they have power want total control.  I sense days may be coming that perhaps will not be comfortable.  Standing up for what is true, for what is right could prove to be difficult.  There will most likely be a separation of those who have a solid relationship with God from those who were pretending, because in the America I grew up in, it was popular to say you were a “Christian”, but not anymore.

Yes a new chapter will be starting soon in my life, but also a new chapter in the life of America.  Our country’s slogan, printed on our currency, may no longer be, “In God We Trust”. Sometimes I wonder who is really holding the pen, writing each chapter.  As for my life, I want God to, because whether I understand his ways or not, He does know what He is doing!

Isaiah 55:8-11(MSG)

8-11 “I don’t think the way you think.
    The way you work isn’t the way I work.”
        God’s Decree.
“For as the sky soars high above earth,
    so the way I work surpasses the way you work,
    and the way I think is beyond the way you think.
Just as rain and snow descend from the skies
    and don’t go back until they’ve watered the earth,
Doing their work of making things grow and blossom,
    producing seed for farmers and food for the hungry,
So will the words that come out of my mouth
    not come back empty-handed.
They’ll do the work I sent them to do,
    they’ll complete the assignment I gave them.

Copyright © 2021 Mark Brady.  All rights reserved.