God Will Provide

July 4, 2025June 19, 2025 / Mark Brady / Leave a comment

I use an Excel spreadsheet to keep track of and forecast our household budget and expenses. Sometime last year, I started declaring at the top of each month’s sheet, “GOD WILL PROVIDE!” Then I list our income and expenses by date. You know how a budget works.

After I balance each month with my bank statement, am I the only one who still does that? I make the following declaration: GOD DID PROVIDE!

I admit that our budget has tightened with the current expenses of remodeling our house and buying some new furniture. So when God started whispering to April and me to be benevolent for a particular cause, my first thought was, “Ouch!” That is going to make life a little more uncomfortable for a bit. It’s kind of like putting on an old pair of jeans after months of not wearing them, and you realize you have gained ten pounds or so! “Ouch!”

Now, April and I can do our part and not eat out like we did last month, and we can do what we can to keep our utility bills down, but that is only going to help so much. But here’s the thing: I know God. I know how He works, and if we continue to tithe and live in a way pleasing to him, God will provide! I don’t know how, but He always does!

I don’t have to know how He is going to do it, but I know that He knows what we need, and our heavenly Father, who loves us, will take care of our needs.

The exciting part of where the money went is it has the potential to change a person’s life for eternity. And their changed life may very well change the lives of countless others. I feel honored that God would speak to our hearts and allow us to be a part of his plan and the great love story that He is writing in that individual’s life.

That individual had a need, and at some point, they probably had no clue as to how God would provide for them. I hope they never forget that He came through in the last hour.

I tell you the truth: living with God and for God is the most fun you will ever have and the greatest adventure of your life. I hope, if you never have, you will accept him and his Son, Jesus, into your life and start down the road of faith. Faith pleases God.

April and I have faith that God will provide!

But without faith it is impossible to please and be satisfactory to Him. For whoever would come near to God must [necessarily] believe that God exists and that He is the rewarder of those who earnestly and diligently seek Him [out]. Heb. 11:6 (AMPC)

“If God gives such attention to the appearance of wildflowers—most of which are never even seen—don’t you think he’ll attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for you? What I’m trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God’s giving. People who don’t know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don’t worry about missing out. You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met. Mat. 6:30-33 (MSG)

You Are the Same God

November 4, 2022October 31, 2022 / Mark Brady / 3 Comments

Yesterday at church, I was so encouraged by the lyrics to the following song, “Same God.” It was good to remember that despite what is happening in the world, in my country, or in my personal world, God is still God. He is not affected by current events or swayed by popular opinions. He is still the same God; if He did it before, then I know He can do it again for me, my country, and my world.

I’m calling on the God of Jacob
Whose love endures through generations
I know that You will keep Your covenant

I’m calling on the God of Moses
The one who opened up the ocean
I need You now to do the same thing for me
For me, for me

O God, my God, I need You
O God, my God, I need You now
How I need You now

O Rock, O Rock of ages
I’m standing on Your faithfulness
On Your faithfulness

I’m calling on the God of Mary
Whose favor rests upon the lowly
I know with You all things are possible

I’m calling on the God of David
Who made a shepherd boy courageous
I may not face Goliath
But I’ve got my own giants

You heard Your children then
You hear Your children now

You were providing then
You are providing now

You moved in power then
God, move in power now

You were a healer then
You are a healer now

You are the same God
You are the same God

You were a savior then
You are a savior now

You’re faithful God
Jesus, You’re the same
Yesterday, today, and forever

You freed the captives then
You’re freeing hearts right now

You touched the lepers then
I feel Your touch right now

Never changing
Oh, forever
We feel You now
You’re the same God

I’m calling on the Holy Spirit
Almighty River, come and fill me again
Come and fill me again

(Let that be your prayer)

Songwriters: Patrick Barrett, Christopher Joel Brown, Steven Furtick. For non-commercial use only.

Counterfeit

June 14, 2022June 11, 2022 / Mark Brady / 1 Comment

Life is hard sometimes. Lately, it seems like, for April and me, things have been more difficult than usual. Perhaps I had gotten too used to God pouring out his blessings regularly because life was easy. Direction came easy, and so did His provisions.

I know what the scriptures say about trials and patients but that doesn’t mean I have to like them! It can be extremely challenging to wait on God. To accept the idea that it is better to live according to the watch that He wears. Some people give up hope and decide to settle for Satan’s substitutes. Their “knock-offs” of God’s original designs. “Counterfeits.”

“Satan can’t give you the fruits of the Spirit!”
Sadie Robertson Huff of Duck Dynasty fame.

He can’t give you love, joy, peace, patience, faithfulness, goodness, kindness, gentleness, or self-control. If you think he can, examine it thoroughly because it’s a fake!

You know, perhaps God’s pouring out His blessings from a higher dimension, and that is why it is taking longer to get here but when it does it will be abundant, more than enough, overflowing. “Okay, God. I’ll wait for your originals in my life. Thanks and I love you!”

God Did It

April 15, 2022April 15, 2022 / Mark Brady / 2 Comments

A mother wanted to take her children to a special event where they would learn, grow, be inspired, and empowered. She knew in her spirit it was the right thing to do, but her bank statement was telling her otherwise! She finally told them, “I’m sorry kids. Your father and I have done everything we can think of in order to get you all there, but we just can’t. But, if God really wants you there as well, then He will make a way.”

This is what God says,
the God who builds a road right through the ocean,
who carves a path through pounding waves, Isa. 43:16 (MSG)

Thirty minutes later the mother received an email inviting her and the children to the very event they wanted to attend…free of charge.

Yes, there will be times when God’s involvement in our lives is obvious, but there are other times when it is not. In the aftermath, of something good happening, if we were to sit and look back on how it happened, if we were to investigate it, like a crime scene, we just might see the hand of God. There could be a faint trace of his hand, his presence in our lives.

Recognizing that God made a way, when there seemed to be none, when He led us to employment that will meet our needs, or lead us to the right doctor who He can partner with to heal us. They say, “Seeing is believing”, and there is truth in those words, but when we believe “before” we see, it does something within us. It builds our faith, encourages, and helps us know we are loved by God. He will make a way, even when there seems to be none.

Look around your life. You might just see traces of God.

It’s Just Life

September 7, 2019September 6, 2019 / Mark Brady / 2 Comments

Charlie 222 I was facing several issues the other day. To be honest, they overwhelmed me. I cried out to God to ask why was this happening, and how am I going to pay for it all? (My first ungodly belief (UGB) was thinking that I was going to pay for it all. Everything my wife and I have comes from God, He pays for it all.) I spoke to a couple of others about it, and they were encouraging, but it still consumed my thoughts. I got mad, complained, and cried, to no avail, because I felt the same after each one of my flesh’s outburst.

THEN,

I got quiet. I had asked God for enough money to get through this and upcoming consumers of money issues, but He whispered, “Have I not provided what you have need of today?” “Yes, Lord. You have,” I replied. “Then what’s the problem?” He said.

My thoughts turned to the children of Israel, who were commanded of God to only take enough mana for what they needed that day, except on Saturday’s they collected what they would need for two days. If they took more than they needed it would spoil. (Exodus 16:4-26)

If God gave me more, than I needed for today,

would it spoil me?

“The fundamental fact of existence is that this trust in God, this faith, is the firm foundation under everything that makes life worth living. It’s our handle on what we can’t see. The act of faith is what distinguished our ancestors, set them above the crowd.” Hebrews 11:1-2 The Message (MSG)

Faith can be difficult at times, but for a believer in God, it must remain in tack despite what our eyes see, despite the news, and despite the balance of our bank account. After all, it’s just life.