Infruence

January 7, 2025January 3, 2025 / Mark Brady / Leave a comment

No, I didn’t typo the title of this blog. When I lived in Chicago, I had a Chinese friend and coworker who struggled to say the word “influence.” She always inserted an “r,” and I teased her a lot about it. She actually went on a women’s retreat, and “Influence” was the theme. They all wore T-shirts with the word printed on them. I took her picture and photo-edited it to say, “Infruence.”

Influence might be mixed with “favor.” Something I have noticed for a long time but never had the wisdom and understanding of until today is this: frequently, when I patronize a store or restaurant, they tend to get busy shortly after I am there. I’m always happy to see them get blessed and make money because then they will stay in business. I’m also glad the crowds arrive “after” I have ordered or have made my purchase!

I know that as a child of God, I walk around with favor upon me. It is not something I take lightly. In fact, sometimes, when I am not sure if something will go the way I prefer it to, I pray and ask God for favor or extra favor to be upon me.

And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature, and in favor with God and with people. Luke 2:52 (NET)

Then you will find favor and good understanding, in the sight of God and people.Pro. 3:4 (NET)

What I learned today was the favor that is upon me overflows onto the establishment I am visiting. That is why they get busy after I walk in. I just had a funny thought: businesses should “pay” me to come in.

I recall having a friend from church some years ago. She saw the “favor” effect I had on the restaurant she worked in. She confessed to me that if they were slow and she wasn’t making much money in tips, she would pray and ask God to send me in. She smiled as she told me this because she said, “Many times, it worked!”

I don’t think of myself as an “influencer” like those who are on TikTok and generate content. I mean, there are not throngs of people who are waiting to see what Mark Brady is doing or where Mark is shopping or eating. Side note: I don’t understand why people have to do what a celebrity does. Personally, who cares? But that is probably another blog post to discuss why they make them their idols.

So, if you have a business that needs customers, get in contact with me. We can work out a payment plan. LOL. I am definitely joking, for the favor of God is not for sale and should not be used for personal profit.

^18-19When Simon saw that the apostles by merely laying on hands conferred the Spirit, he pulled out his money, excited, and said, “Sell me your secret! Show me how you did that! How much do you want? Name your price!”

^20-23Peter said, “To hell with your money! And you along with it. Why, that’s unthinkable—trying to buy God’s gift! You’ll never be part of what God is doing by striking bargains and offering bribes. Change your ways—and now! Ask the Master to forgive you for trying to use God to make money. I can see this is an old habit with you; you reek with money-lust.”

²⁴“Oh!” said Simon, “pray for me! Pray to the Master that nothing like that will ever happen to me!” Acts 8:18-24 (MSG)

The Conference Room

April 20, 2021April 19, 2021 / Mark Brady / Leave a comment

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.

Establish the Mood

June 23, 2020June 22, 2020 / Mark Brady / 2 Comments

062320 What happens when you walk into a room of people? Are they glad to see you, or do they cringe? Do they come up to you and greet you, or do they pretend to be busy, and walk away hoping to avoid you? I had a boss that every morning when I saw her enter our department, I knew my peace was about to leave.

What kind of mood encompasses us, goes with us and enters, when we do? Does your very presence change the environment, the atmosphere of a place? It should.

Back when I worked in an office building, in Chicago, I took on the challenge of trying my best to put a smile on my fellow passenger’s faces while we were in the elevator. Difficult, because some of them got off on the lower floors, giving me only seconds to come up with something to do or say that would change them. That would leave them better when they got off the elevator than when they got on. Pun intended, my words could lift them up, or let them down.

Once there were several people entering the elevator. I said, “Call out the floor you need.” They did, then I announced, “I like pushing people’s buttons.” I wonder if that was some’s only laugh for the whole day?

As the years went by, people would get on the elevator, see me, and smile immediately. I’m not boasting, because I knew two things:

The love and joy in my life, I shared with others, only came from God.
I entered the elevator on purpose, with a purpose.

For those who have accepted God, have his love, his truth, and his life inside, we can change, or flip the environment of a home, office, church, store, or wherever we go, just by walking in. Oh, how the world needs us to enter their lives and shatter the darkness they dwell in with the light of God! “Let there be light!” Offer them the hope of Jesus. When we welcome the presence of God in our lives He goes with us. People sense it, and are either drawn to it, or openly resist it.

No matter where your feet take you, take God.

Be there on purpose, with a purpose. Be mindful of those around you. Roger, a good friend of mine, does this every day when he goes to work. Share hope, peace, faith and love. Scatter lots of joy. Show everyone there is a better way to live. Make them curious how you can still be smiling despite all that is going on around us. Establish the mood!

Don’t Sweat It

February 8, 2020February 13, 2020 / Mark Brady / 2 Comments

Charlie 020820 I went shopping earlier in the week and one of the items on my list, I really needed, was deodorant. The store I buy it from, most often, was out of it, and that store was my last stop for the day. After I got home I had to start a new list with this item at the top.

Today, I had to go to CVS (inside a Target store) to pick up a medication. The young lady who works there is always lecturing me about not letting the $5 off coupons expire. She’s kind of fanatic about it, but I do see her point, it’s free money, and to be honest, the budget is tight these days and any savings helps.

So, before I left the store I thought about my next shopping list and the only thing I could remember, that was on it, was deodorant. I found my brand and noticed it was marked “Clearance”. I bought four of them. The normal price for four would have been $11.96, but since they were a clearance item and I had the $5.00 off coupon, I only paid $3.32.

When I save money like that, I always walk out smiling, because I feel as though I shopped like a woman. That’s meant as a compliment. Now I know, this may not seem like a big deal to you, but to me I was thanking God. I thanked him for the other store being out of it, and helping me not to complain about it, too much. I thanked him for helping our budget. This may be a little thing, but it shows the God of the universe cares about us, our lives, and even the little things. Either that, or he didn’t want me walking around stinking!

But seriously, think about it, if God cares about the little things in our lives, then how much more does he care about the big things in our lives that need his attention. There is a common phrase, “Don’t sweat the small things.”, but with God, we don’t have to sweat the big things either! Here is what his word promises us:

Matthew 6:31-34 (MSG) “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. Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes.”