Why?

April 15, 2017April 15, 2017 / Mark Brady / Leave a comment

Cross nailed He laid as still as he could. Any movement reminded him of the flogging his back took. The soldier placed the nail with the tip pressing his palm. He saw the other soldier rear back with the hammer. He turned his head. Bam! The nail drove through his flesh pinning him to the cross. That nail represented the times I took something that wasn’t mine.

The same thing took place on the other side. Bam! That nail represented the sinful times I touched something I had no business touching. Bam! The nail in his feet represented the times I have gone somewhere I had no business being. The thorny crown shoved down into his head represented the evil thoughts I failed to bring into captivity. The beatings he suffered should have been mine. The spit that landed on him, represented the disgrace that was meant for me.

Everything Jesus went through, the trial, lies, pain, agony, and torture was for me. The 39 lashes that shredded his back open and bled was so I could be healed. He chose to go through that for me. He chose to go through all that for you. Why? Because He knew, He was the only who could. Because He knows pure love, and how to show it.

He also knew how to defeat death, and on the third day, He proved it.

THANK YOU, JESUS.

Your Permanent Record

February 19, 2017 / Mark Brady / Leave a comment

permanent-record “This is going on your ‘Permanent Record’ young man!” Remember hearing that in school? Has anyone ever seen their “Permanent Record”? I haven’t. Was that a threat to get us to have better behavior and grades? Perhaps.

God sees and hears everything we say and do. He also knows the attitude of our hearts when our behavior is on display. Now if anyone was going to keep a permanent record it would be Him, and in fact He does. There will be a day when EVERYONE will stand before God, and give an account for how they lived their life, attitudes, words toward others and everything.

At the end of that time before God He will simply look in a big book (The Book of Life) and see if your name has been “blotted” out, or if it still remains. If your name remains that means you had accepted God’s son Jesus, and his death on the cross paid for all of your wrong doing.

Rev 20:11-15 I saw a Great White Throne and the One Enthroned. Nothing could stand before or against the Presence, nothing in Heaven, nothing on earth. And then I saw all the dead, great and small, standing there–before the Throne! And books were opened. Then another book was opened: the Book of Life. The dead were judged by what was written in the books, by the way they had lived. Sea released its dead, Death and Hell turned in their dead. Each man and woman was judged by the way he or she had lived. Then Death and Hell were hurled into Lake Fire. This is the second death–Lake Fire. Anyone whose name was not found inscribed in the Book of Life was hurled into Lake Fire. (MSG)

Allergic to God

February 5, 2017February 5, 2017 / Mark Brady / Leave a comment

end-times-2 Don’t be naive. There are difficult times ahead. As the end approaches, people are going to be self-absorbed, money-hungry, self-promoting, stuck-up, profane, contemptuous of parents, crude, coarse, dog-eat-dog, unbending, slanderers, impulsively wild, savage, cynical, treacherous, ruthless, bloated windbags, addicted to lust, and allergic to God. They’ll make a show of religion, but behind the scenes they’re animals. Stay clear of these people.

Sound familiar? Like something right out of the news? Or remind you of people you know, work with, or even in your family? The above is a description of end times from 2 Timothy chapter 3, verses 1-5. (MSG) Those words were written over 2000 years ago.

GOD KNOWS WHAT WOULD, IS, AND WILL HAPPEN IN THE FUTURE.

Flat and Colorless as a Shadow

January 28, 2017 / Mark Brady / 1 Comment

Ecc 8:12 Even though a person sins and gets by with it hundreds of times throughout a long life, I’m still convinced that the good life is reserved for the person who fears God, who lives reverently in his presence,

Ecc 8:13 and that the evil person will not experience a “good” life. No matter how many days he lives, they’ll all be as flat and colorless as a shadow–because he doesn’t fear God. (MSG) shadow

I don’t know about you, but I don’t want my days to be as flat and colorless as a shadow. I want them to be in full living color and have substance to them, to have meaning. Whether I always know and understand that meaning or not. I do that by giving my life back to the Life Giver. To go, do, and say as He leads. To fear God, meaning respect Him, and His words written in His book the Bible. (All of them.)

Looking Your Best for God

January 8, 2017January 9, 2017 / Mark Brady / Leave a comment

big-hat There was an emphasis on wearing your “Sunday best” when I was growing up. Every week at church most would be decked out in the nicest piece of wardrobe in their closet. “You should look your best when going to church,” was often heard. Believe it or not, in some churches, the hats worn on Easter are so large one cannot see the pastor when sitting behind such monstrosities.

Now there is certainly nothing wrong with looking nice when one attends a church service, but note that wearing your best is on the outside. God probably appreciates the effort, but what is likely more important is someone coming into God’s house looking nice on the inside. In other words, having a contrite heart, or a heart after God’s heart. A heart that is concerned for others, and where they will spend eternity.

“Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right, persevering, and steadfast spirit within me.” Psa. 51:10 (AMP)

Knowing this, perhaps here at the beginning of a new year, it is time to clean out your “spiritual” closet. Get rid of all of the things that make you look good only on the outside. Let God examine your heart, and guide you in where changes need to be made.

Are You Afraid of Sin?

August 6, 2016 / Mark Brady / Leave a comment

When the serpent was talking to Eve, why didn’t she run? Today if a serpent was around, most of us would run. Before Eve’s eyes were opened she didn’t know any fear. She didn’t need to, with the exception of fearing God, meaning respect Him, and His words. Here in front of her was sin, evil, the downfall of mankind and the world, yet she wasn’t afraid.

Are you afraid of sin? Are you afraid of your sin? A lot people must not be because there is a lot of it going on. Sinning that is. Why? 1) Some people don’t feel what they are doing is wrong. They justify it in a number of ways. Real deception is when they think the wrong they are doing is actually right. 2) The other reason they aren’t afraid of their sin is they don’t know what it cost. Ultimately it will cost them their life. Before that it may cost them a good job, a loving family, friends.

All sin must be paid for. There are only two ways to do this. 1) Either you pay for your own sin, which means dying eternally in hell, a lake of fire, and utter darkness. 2) You accept the fact the Son of God, Jesus Christ died on a cross to pay for your sins, which means you will live in eternity in heaven.

Live in heaven forever, or die in hell forever? Are you afraid of sin now? You should be.

Rom 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; (KJV)
Rom 6:23 Work hard for sin your whole life and your pension is death. But God’s gift is real life, eternal life, delivered by Jesus, our Master. (MSG)

What Does Your Fruit Look Like?

April 13, 2015 / Mark Brady / Leave a comment

Gen 3:1 The serpent was clever, more clever than any wild animal GOD had ma temptation de. He spoke to the Woman: “Do I understand that God told you not to eat from any tree in the garden?”
Gen 3:2 The Woman said to the serpent, “Not at all. We can eat from the trees in the garden.
Gen 3:3 It’s only about the tree in the middle of the garden that God said, ‘Don’t eat from it; don’t even touch it or you’ll die.'”
Gen 3:4 The serpent told the Woman, “You won’t die.
Gen 3:5 God knows that the moment you eat from that tree, you’ll see what’s really going on. You’ll be just like God, knowing everything, ranging all the way from good to evil.”
Gen 3:6 When the Woman saw that the tree looked like good eating and realized what she would get out of it–she’d know everything!–she took and ate the fruit and then gave some to her husband, and he ate.
Gen 3:7 Immediately the two of them did “see what’s really going on”–saw themselves naked! They sewed fig leaves together as makeshift clothes for themselves. (MSG)

Packed into these few verses is so much! So much of how sin appeals to us. So much about how we start thinking in our mind that we understood what God “really” must have meant, but He didn’t say. In verse 4; no the woman wouldn’t die physically, but after disobeying God she begin to die spiritually. In verse 5 we see the devil tell Eve that she will be “like” God. The very thing that got him and his followers kicked out of heaven. In verse 6; Eve no doubt on the first shopping trip pictured how the fruit would match her outfit, and thus complete her ensemble. In verse 7; was the first time a woman uttered the words, “Don’t touch me!”

Seriously here is how sin works: Eve saw, Eve thought, Eve touched. One will sin every time most likely when they “look” too long. When they “think or reason” in their mind too much, and it is almost impossible to stop once they “touch”.

So what does your fruit look like? What is your weakness? What do you need to not look at too long, or at all? What thoughts do you need to stop thinking? What, or whom, do you need to not touch?

I Tasted Sin

February 1, 2015February 1, 2015 / Mark Brady / 1 Comment

Now I know what sin taste like! I was buying some sparkling water in downtown Chicago when there it was. Its dark covering looked so appealing. It was as if the packaging itself was saying, “Mark, come hither.” It’s okay. You can eat just one. This one small bag won’t hurt you. Look, it’s a limited edition. You better hurry. You don’t want to miss out. You don’t want to be the only one that doesn’t know what this taste like do you?”

Isn’t that just like sin? I know these phrases have been used from the beginning of mankind. From satan tempting Eve with the forbidden fruit to this bag of milk chocolate Wavy Lay’s potato chips. “Milk” that’s healthy isn’t it? Doesn’t milk do a body good? “Yes!” I bought the bag.

Sin – it draws us in through the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. You see – you want. You imagine – you feel. You think – you become. All of this starts in the mind. That is why the bible instructs us to “bring EVERY thought into captivity.” Capture the thought, and let it become subjective to God’s words, God’s ways, and God’s plan.

Sometimes sin isn’t presented in obvious packages, but introduced to us subtlety, slowly. Watch, be aware, and be mindful of how satan tries to use your weaknesses to kill, steal, or destroy you. He doesn’t care about you, he is just trying to get revenge on God

Oh! In no way am I saying it’s a sin to eat chocolate covered potato chips, but find a group of people to share them with, so you don’t over indulge and become a gluten. Now that might be a sin.