Because He Does It

November 29, 2022November 28, 2022 / Mark Brady / Leave a comment

For the last several years, God has been nudging me to learn how to love unconditionally. What that boils down to is this; accepting someone just the way they are. That can be extremely hard to do, especially when you are around them. You might live with them, work with them, or be connected to them in another way. You might even know them through the church.

They probably don’t think like you and certainly don’t do everything the way you do or the way you think it should be done. They might even have personal habits that discuss you or you choose to get angry about. It’s hard and, at times, extremely hard! Especially when you are tired or low on patience and understanding. The problem may be with you. Like you may have high expectations. Or you might have arrogance issues thinking your way is the only way.

So how do you love the one that is so different than you? First, you have to make a willful decision to love them. To accept them as they are. They’re most likely not ever going to change, but you can. Then you have to remind yourself what real love is constantly.

Real love demonstrates patience, and genuine love is kind to the other person. Unconditional love puts up with the other person for a long time. It also forgets when they make the same mistake again and again. This kind of love means not having to have everything your way and it wants the best for the other person. That kind of love also does what it can to encourage them. If you practice this kind of love, you will not show how frustrated you are with your face or body language but will smile and assure them everything is alright.

Showing another person the kind of love above, God’s love, will make them feel loved. It might even change them, but that should not be your motive. Love them because it’s the right thing to do. It’s hard, but you can do it because He does it.

Psalms 36:7

7 How priceless is your unfailing love, O God! People take refuge in the shadow of your wings.

Psalms 109:26

26 Help me, LORD my God; save me according to your unfailing love.

Romans 5:8

8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

1 John 4:7

7 Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.

Romans 5:5

5 And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.

1 John 4:8

8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.

1 John 4:16

16 And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.

1 John 4:18

18 There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.

1 John 4:19

19 We love because he first loved us.

Jeremiah 31:3

3 The LORD appeared to us in the past, saying: “I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with unfailing kindness.

John 3:16

16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

Psalms 86:15

15 But you, Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness.

Psalms 136:26

26 Give thanks to the God of heaven. His love endures forever.

Romans 8:37-39

37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.

38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers,

39 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.

Ephesians 3:17-19

17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love,

18 may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ,

19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

John 13:34-35

34 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.

35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

John 15:12

12 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.

1 Corinthians 13:8a

⁸Love never ends.

He Finished Well

January 11, 2022January 10, 2022 / Mark Brady / 2 Comments

Later today, I am going to the funeral of the man pictured here, a friend. I have known this man for probably 54 years. After I heard the news last Friday evening, I was latter on Facebook. A lady from his church posted his obituary and arrangements. Below her post, people who knew him, started remembering, and honoring him. They commented about his smile, his kindness, his servant’s heart, and his laughter. They were good words.

I begin reflecting on this out pouring of love, and thought about what kind of life one lives that moves people to respond as they were. It didn’t take long for the answer to appear in my heart.

First, and foremost, you love. You love God, and then love others. You chose to ignore what other people say about someone, and you love them anyway.

Secondly, you show kindness. You show it at work, at church, in your community, and at home. With customers, family and friends.

Third, you serve others, which really is “love” in action. One man posted how my friend came and got them after their car would not start.

You do all this, not to receive kind words spoken or written about you when you die, but because this is the example Christ demonstrated for us while he walked the earth. It’s simply the kind of life God calls us to.

⁷I have fought an excellent fight. I have finished my full course with all my might and I’ve kept my heart full of faith. ⁸There’s a crown of righteousness waiting in heaven for me, and I know that my Lord will reward me on his day of righteous judgment. And this crown is not only waiting for me, but for all who love and long for his unveiling. 2 Tim. 4:7-8 (TPT)

In the above verse, Paul compares living life on earth as a race. It’s not a competition though with others to see who finishes first, second, or third. And unlike youth community sports programs, not everyone will receive a participation trophy! It’s about reaching the finish line, with God, and in my friend’s case, he finished well.

5, 4, 3, 2, 1

December 31, 2021December 27, 2021 / Mark Brady / 2 Comments

The ball drops in Times Square, of New York City. As this blog is posted at 6:00PM CST, it will drop five hours from now. When it reaches the bottom it will be a new year; 2022! I’ve mentioned before how much I like “new”. New is fresh and clean, at least for a while. How long will it take for me to put a spot, or blemish on the New Year coming? Knowing me, not long.

But life isn’t always about counting down to a celebration. In real life, when the ball drops it can mean a lost job, the unexpected death of a family member, a bad medical report, the end of marriage, or some other unexpected, unpleasant event.

I have also mentioned before how I don’t do New Year’s resolutions. I, like so many others, break them in the first week. But there is something I want to change in me. That is how I react to people, things, and even unexpected ball drops. I want to operate in one, or multiple “fruits of the Spirit”. You know them;

Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Gal. 5:22-23.

My favorite part of verse 23 is this, “against such things, there is no law.” I take this as to mean that this fruit is from God, and no one can affect them, change them, or remove them! With God’s help, I can renew my mind and my first reaction to anything said, or done will be one of these fruits. Fruit, as we know, provides nutrients that are good for us, and others. Fruit tends to be sweet, delicious, and full of flavor. When this type of change comes about, all will be better for it.

So come on 2022! I’m ready to change!

Happy New Year!

God Day

May 7, 2021May 5, 2021 / Mark Brady / Leave a comment

Okay, I do realize that this coming Sunday is Mother’s Day, but at the time of this writing it is the anniversary of my father’s death, so I was thinking about him as well. Then a thought came flying down the big brain bypass. I say “big brain” not because I am smart, but because I am always thinking. The thought was, “What would God want for “God Day”?

Pastor Robert Morris says, “To find Biblical answers, you must look in the Bible.”

“I call Heaven and Earth to witness against you today: I place before you Life and Death, Blessing and Curse. Choose life so that you and your children will live. And love God, your God, listening obediently to him, firmly embracing him. Oh yes, he is life itself, a long life settled on the soil that God, your God, promised to give your ancestors, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”
Deu. 30:19-20 MSG.

God wants you to have life now and for eternity. He wants to talk, yes talk to you. He has a lot to say. He created man in the first place to have someone who would choose to love him back by their own doing. He wants to have a great relationship with you. He hopes you will choose him, which is choosing life.

God is amazing. He made us, therefore we belonged to him, but He gave us the freedom to choose to love him. Then, after Adam and Eve sinned and mankind was doomed to eternal death, God gave us his only son to die a brutal death on a cross that purchased us back to God. But then He did the most unselfish thing one could do afterwards, He gave us that freewill again to decide for ourselves if we want to love him.

God wants us to have a life full of the fruit of the spirit. You know, love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. That means, no one can police them, regulate them, market them, or stop them, but all mankind can profit from them.

Don’t you see? God wants nothing but good for you, but the only thing He wants from you, is your heart. I hope you have already given it to him, or you will, soon, perhaps even today.

Be the Movie

July 17, 2020January 7, 2021 / Mark Brady / 2 Comments

A month ago I was the guest speaker at a writer’s group meeting. It was an honor, but this speaking engagement was different. You see with Covid-19 still a great risk, the group currently meets on-line. I had never done that before.

I was using my phone to attend the meeting, and the way it was set up, whoever was speaking is the person I viewed. The president of this group introduced me, so she was the last person I saw.

About 20 minutes into my talk, she gets up and goes elsewhere, leaving me with no one to look at while I was speaking. Normally, a speaker will scan the attendees, making eye contact, and looking for positive feedback at what is being said.

A few minutes later, she came back with a bowl of what looked like popcorn, and a drink. I thought, wow! now I know what it feels like to be a movie.

The truth is this; if you are open and outspoken about your faith, your relationship with God, then people are watching you. They listen to what you say, about current issues, our government leaders, and others around us. They watch how we respond to troubling times.

Would the people watching you give a positive review on “Rotten Tomatoes”? What if we had “Yelp” for humans? Would you, would I, receive a thumbs up, or down? Would people want to visit us after reading an accurate review on one of these platforms? Probably not, if it was negative.

“So I give you now a new commandment: Love each other just as much as I have loved you. For when you demonstrate the same love I have for you by loving one another, everyone will know that you’re my true followers.”
John 13:34-35 The Passion Translation (TPT)

Jesus knew people will watch us, for they watched him. He was ever aware that he could only display the qualities of his father, God. Those would be love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. (Gal. 5:22-23)

So be aware of this no matter where you are, whether at work, out and about, or at home. You want your life to be a movie people want to see over and over again.

Because He Is

October 16, 2019 / Mark Brady / Leave a comment

Charlie 12 God, I worship you, and praise your name, because you are:

Love

Patient

Kind

Merciful

Good

Long Suffering

Forgiving

Creative

You Want the Best for Me

You Endure

You Never Fail

Worthy

Deserving

God

Father God, it’s my privilege to know you, love you back, and worship your Holy name. I can’t even begin to fathom where I would be in life without you, God. Possibly, I would have everything the world says I should in order to claim a successful, rich, and happy life, but I know without you, I would be bankrupt! I would have nothing. Thank you, God, for everything that matters.

brady, mark a.

Words to inspire you

kindness