God on the Spot

February 16, 2024February 5, 2024 / Mark Brady / Leave a comment

I have said it before, but here it goes again. “God really does care about the little things in our lives.” The toilet upstairs in our house gets easily clogged if too much toilet paper is used, even if the paper is like that thin restaurant toilet paper.

It happened again, and I had been struggling to unclog it without removing the toilet from the floor. After several attempts using a plunger and a plumber’s snake, I was still defeated. The toilet could handle one but not two, if you know what I mean.

Today, I knew I needed to get it resolved, but we didn’t have the money to call a plumber. I started praying. I asked God, “What do I have in the garage that I can insert in the end of the plumber’s snake that has teeth?” Like a meat-cutting knife. I went into the garage and started looking around. Then I saw my jig saw. It uses small blades. I took the blade out and inserted it into the end of the snake. Then, it was too long to make the bends in the back of the toilet, so I had to break it in half.

Once the blade was where I thought the clog was, I turned the snake around and around and then back and forth. I removed it, and the toilet still didn’t flush smoothly. I heard in my spirit, “Plunger it aggressively.” I did, and it must have finished knocking the clog loose because it worked. The toilet now flushes normally.

Perhaps you are saying, “So what?” To me, it was a big deal and an answer to prayer. I love knowing that God hears us and cares enough to help us. “God knows all the answers to every question if man would only ask.” Bill Johnson from his book “Dreaming with God.”

Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. 1 Pt. 5:7 (NIV)

I challenge you to tell God what is bothering you. See if, afterward, you don’t sense a loving warmth coming over you. Ask Him how to fix something or solve a problem that you are dealing with. Then, listen for Him to answer. He’s real, He’s alive, and He loves and cares so much about you and what you are going through.

Do You See Him?

July 20, 2021July 20, 2021 / Mark Brady / Leave a comment

There is an old story, yet true, of three Jewish teenagers. Their real names are hard to say, and spell, so let’s call them, Jerry, George, and Bob. Bob was kind of strange, but there were moments when he would say or do something that caused Jerry and George to laugh, so they accepted him.

Their country was currently controlled by a foreign government. Along with new rules to live by came a demand to conform to the foreign country’s religion. One that included worshiping before a golden idol of their god.

Jerry, George, and Bob believed in the one, true, God, but their faith was about to be put to an extreme test. When the king, of the foreign government, learned of their devotion to their God he demanded they bow down to the idol, or to be thrown into a fiery furnace.

“Then what god will be able to rescue you from my hand?” Said the king.

Bob spoke up with boldness in his voice and said, “King, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand. But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”

This made the king so angry he ordered the furnace to be heated up seven times hotter. The three young men were tied up and when they were thrown into the furnace, three of the king’s guards died from the heat coming through the opening.

Then the king leaped to his feet in amazement and asked his advisers, “Weren’t there three men that we tied up and threw into the fire?” They replied, “Certainly, Your Majesty.” He said, “Look! I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth looks like a son of the gods.”

Yes, almighty God delivered Jerry, George and Bob from the fiery furnace, and from the hand of the king. As a result, the king ordered that all the land worship the one, true, God of Jerry, George, and Bob.

Last week I wrote about life’s problems, and your attitude toward them. I know that is easier said than done for some, or perhaps even most. But know this; when you are facing a storm, or even a trial that challenges your faith in God, look around for the Son of God who is in the fire with you.

He may say, “Peace be still” to your storm, he may extinguish the flames, or he may choose to walk through either with you. The bottom line is this;

YOU ARE NOT ALONE!

Your God has not forgotten you, or abandoned you. He has heard your prayers, and has counted every tear. He loves you more than you will ever know, and when you hurt, He hurts. We are created in his image, and so God does have emotions. Trust him.

(If you would like to read the above story for yourself, you can find it in the Bible; Daniel chapter 3.)

What’s the Problem?

July 16, 2021July 14, 2021 / Mark Brady / Leave a comment

Life can come at you hard and fast at times. Bills you can’t pay arrive in the mail. A routine checkup delivers a death sentence. Your spouse announces their love for you has run dry. Yes, these may be the extreme cases of life, but even the everyday life can cause you to gasp for air. You feel, “If I could only reach the surface, I could breath.”

It is in those moments having a trusted friend helps. So does having a church to go to where God has prepared a meal for you from his word via your pastor. There are also an abundance of messages online, or on YouTube. Listening to someone else’s testimony can encourage your faith, but keep in mind, just because God did something in one person’s life in a particular way does not mean He will do it that way in your life. The point of a story, or testimony is to help you believe, be convinced, God sees you, knows you, loves you and wants to be active in your life,

Keep this fact in mind; Jesus went to the cross. He died on that cross. His body was removed from that cross, so he is no longer suffering to the point of death. Then, three days after his body was placed in the tomb to rot, to decay, to go away, he overcame the chains of death. He arose from the dead. The stone was rolled away and the light of the morning became his “exit” sign.

My point is this: if you believe in Jesus and the power he demonstrated, and you place your trust in him and you believe that he overcame and can empower you, and lead you to be an overcomer then what’s the problem?

It’s not ignoring the issue(s) of life, but placing them in the hands of the One who overcame not only life, but death! The problem you are currently dealing with does not own you. It does not define you. It has no power over you, because if you give it to Jesus, then you will overcome it. Not only will you look at it in the rearview mirror someday, but you will recount the story of it, to others, to encourage them. To help them overcome their current situation as well.

“I’ve told you all this so that trusting me, you will be unshakable and assured, deeply at peace. In this godless world you will continue to experience difficulties. But take heart! I’ve conquered the world.” John 16:33 (MSG)

You Have to do Something!

November 13, 2020November 13, 2020 / Mark Brady / Leave a comment

God sent **ONE** angel to defeat the entire Assyrian army.

Whenever we are in a rough spot, and our backs are up against the wall, there is something innate within that forces us to want to find our own way out. We will do just about anything, and it seems the more desperate the situation the more radicle our action will be. Most people seem to have a fight mentality when we are in a corner.

In 2 Chronicles chapter 32, we read that Jerusalem was threatened by the Assyrian army, a horrible group of men, who had no respect for mankind, and they had no fear of God. This army would first send tablets into a town they were set on over taking. These tablets showed detail pictures of how they were planning on torturing their captives in savage ways, which struck ultimate fear in their hearts. The people of Jerusalem knew for sure life was all over. There was only one thing they could do,

pray.

King Hezekiah, joined by the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz, responded by praying, calling up to heaven. God answered by sending an angel who wiped out everyone in the Assyrian camp, both warriors and officers. Sennacherib was forced to return home in disgrace, tail between his legs. When he went into the temple of his god, his own sons killed him. 2 Chr. 32:20-21 (MSG)

You pray. You commit the situation to God and then you wait. That’s right. There are times when you have to trust God, like in Psalms 46:10a

“Be still, and know that I am God…”

It’s hard not to do anything. My wife has been stuck in the Philippines for several months now. She is done with the immigration process and only needs her interview at the U.S. Embassy in Manila. It’s difficult to be separated for so long. It hurts!. I have tried everything I could think of, but nothing has happened. I surrendered it to God, I’m being still. Another version of this verse says, “Stop striving…” That is what I have had to do.

In 2 Chr. 32 above, it says they prayed, and God answered, and sent one angel who wiped out the entire army. God may need to send more than one angel to deal with the U.S. government, (kidding) but I do know the answer to my prayer is on the way.

Whatever situation you may be facing, painful, dreadful, frightening, or whatever, pray. Give it to God and then be still and watch him answer as He sees fit to do so.

It Was Bigger Than Me!

February 15, 2020 / Mark Brady / Leave a comment

Charlie 021520 Big companies have a big pool of customers, and a bigger database of files. Welcome to the computer age where you can automate systems to handle this big work load. Sounds good, but what if one of the employees pushes the wrong button?

From my own experience I’ll tell you what happens. A mess! A big mess.

I discovered this today as I called a big company who sent me an email saying my bill was past due. “What?” “How can that be?” “I pay my bills!” According to the first person I spoke to I owed several hundred dollars. Not something you want to hear.

The first guy passed me off to another department and after being on hold for a while the second guy came back with an answer and a resolution. Evidence pointed to an employee, a year earlier, pushing a button that shouldn’t have ever been pushed. The company informed me I did not owe the money.

I asked the second guy, “How did you figure this all out?” He said, “When I first started looking at it, I realized this was bigger than me! I asked for help.”

His phrase got my attention, and I thought, some people, including me, don’t recognize quick enough how big a situation in our life is. Before you know it, things can get out of control and start causing a lot of pain. The point is this; we should take “everything” to God in prayer from the very first indication of life being out of order.

“Oh what needless pain we bare, all because we do not carry everything to God in prayer.”

Ask for help from God at the beginning, you know, the first moment you sense something is wrong. You don’t always have to be the hero. It’s okay to say, “This is bigger than me.”

The Wise Thing to Do

October 2, 2019October 1, 2019 / Mark Brady / Leave a comment

Charlie 49 “That’s just great! What am I going to do now? How am I going to get out of this?” Have you said something along this line in recent days? It seems like I have, a lot, or on several occasions. Some, when faced with problems or challenges don’t sleep much, while others, might get worried sick.

I generally have no problems sleeping, ever, but I am guilty of focusing too much on answering the question, “How am I going to take care of this?” Did you catch my mistake, or see where I went wrong? My thinking and attitude is totally off balance. “How am I going to do this?” Sure, it’s always easier to see what someone else is doing wrong. Here is what I should have done: gone to God and asked for wisdom.

“But if anyone is deficient in wisdom, he should ask God, who gives to all generously and without reprimand, and it will be given to him.” James 1:5 New English Translation (NET Bible)

I picked this translation because the word, “deficient” is a better translation of the Greek word instead of “lack”. And, to be honest, I can identify with being deficient, bankrupt, empty, void of understanding of the problem, which almost paralysis me. According to Rick Renner,

“Wisdom gives you special insight that helps you know what to do.”

Also, the word, “ask” is more of “reverently expecting an answer”.

So go back to sleep, or go back to living life. Admit you don’t know, ask God for wisdom, and be confident your answer is on its way, because God gives wisdom generously. That’s the wise thing to do!

Problem or Opportunity?

August 24, 2019August 21, 2019 / Mark Brady / Leave a comment

Charlie 777 I ordered an item from Kohl’s. I was looking forward to its arrival as it was going to be a gift for someone I love, a lot! (My wife! Who were you thinking of? By the way, don’t tell her because she doesn’t know.) Can you feel my disappointment when it didn’t arrive on the promised date(s)? I tracked it, and learned it couldn’t be delivered for some reason, not disclosed to me. So the item was sent back.

Was I mad? No, but not happy about the situation either. I like things to go smooth, and I am allergic to “problems”. I looked on Kohl’s website to see what could be done when the bill arrives, but the package doesn’t. I found an 800 number. I called and John answered. (Name changed to protect the loved.) John listened and then looked to see what he needed to do to resolve the “problem”. While he was working, I mentioned living in the Philippines. John said, “That’s where I am right now.” Yes, Kohl’s has a call center in Manila.

When John informed me of his whereabouts, I heard the Holy Spirit whisper to me. I said, “John, can I put you on my prayer list?” He agreed that was okay, but asked why.. I answered by saying, “John, I sense you have an issue going on in your life right now that bothers you, or is hurting you.” “I do,” John said. I continued, “God knows it, and He wants you to know how much He loves you. He loves you so much John, that He allowed me to have a “problem”, so you would have an “opportunity”, to know He sees you and how much He loves you. My missing package was no accident!” John was receptive.

If we, who believe in God, will stop complaining about “problems”, and look for “opportunities” for God to show his mighty hand, it would change our attitude, and a result of a changed attitude is it could change the life of someone else and change the world. Isn’t that what Jesus called us to do?

NOTE: Did you happen to notice Kohl’s very own tag line? “Expect great things”. What a statement of faith!

How Big?

August 29, 2018August 28, 2018 / Mark Brady / 1 Comment

God It doesn’t matter how big your problems are. What matters is, how big is your view of God?

brady, mark a.

Words to inspire you

problems