Reality of Our Lives in Christ

Reality of Our Lives in Christ 

by David Brenneman 

"For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do. Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need." Hebrews 4:12-16.

There's nothing we have or ever will experience, consider, desire, dream about, or any such thing, that our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ hasn't already been through. There's just nothing unique to our lives.

He is our God of complete understanding, full of all the wisdom and knowledge of everything, who can and does sympathize with our lives. 

So why do we tend to believe the lie that we can't possibly pray about this or that?

There's no degree of uncertainty, of sorrow, of pain, of anything that Jesus can't relate to. 

So why do we persist in believing that lie?

So many professing Believers are still stumbling through their lives all because of falling for that untruth.

Jesus is patiently waiting for us to just trust Him in these things. 

How have we trusted Him with our eternal life and yet struggle to in our daily lives?  

Think about that...hard.  

Think about that when you're foolish enough to run to books or speakers or anything else before you simply come to the feet of Jesus and finally just pour out your heart to Him.

How can anyone claim to trust Jesus for eternal life yet live a life that even the world can see isn't one of obedience to God? "May that never be!" As Paul wrote. 

We put up pretenses in front of those in our lives and quite often attempt to do so with our prayers or in many cases lack of prayers to our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ. 

He examines our hearts, Dear Reader. There's not a square inch of us that He's not intimately aware of and acquainted with. 

Our motive should to live a life approved by Jesus Christ. Not a life of a mix of a slim amount of what He desires and heavy on what all we want. 

We will never experience the righteous life that God desires for us until we present our everything to Him to do with as He sees fit. 

Aside from our opening passage, we have this: "All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work." 2 Timothy 3:16-17.

We have a date, set by the Father’s own authority, to stand before Jesus to give an account of our lives before Him.  

What will your life reveal of how much and how well you trusted in Jesus? How will your relationship with Jesus be seen? How obedient to your calling in Christ will your life display?

Take a good look at your heart and life. Should you not be making every effort to stand firm in the Lord as your Bible teaches you? Shouldn't you be looking forward to time with Jesus every morning, afternoon and evening?  

"Delight yourself in the Lord; And He will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord, Trust also in Him, and He will do it. He will bring forth your righteousness as the light And your judgment as the noonday. Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him; Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way, Because of the man who carries out wicked schemes. Cease from anger and forsake wrath; Do not fret; it leads only to evildoing." Psalms 37:4-8.

What is David saying here? When the desire of your heart is the Lord Jesus Christ you'll get more of Him because that's the desire of your heart. Not that you'll get all that you want in life. 

Moving on..."But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Matthew 6:33-34.

And upon these is this: "And He said to him, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’" Matthew 22:37-39.  

Without this as your firm foundation you're going to look for answers elsewhere.  

You're going to fear bringing everything to Jesus in prayer. 

You're going to try your way before His way. You're going to struggle through life.

Collecting possessions, accolades, certificates, diplomas, titles, outside the will of God for you in Christ Jesus will always turn to ashes.  

Gaining them when you are living a life in Christ Jesus will mean something completely different. They will be yours but won't really matter in light of your real relationship with Jesus.

Jesus is waiting patiently for all to come to repentance. Waiting for those who have to lead lives in Christ that He approves.

All NASB Scripture Excerpts used by permission. 

New American Standard Bible 

(C) 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by the Lockman Foundation. 

A corporation not for profit.   

La Habra, CA All rights reserved 

www.lockman.org 

A Break and Then a Purpose

A Break and Then a Purpose

by David Brenneman 

After forty years had passed, an angel appeared to Moses...in the

desert...Then the Lord said to him, "...Now come, I will send

you back to Egypt." (Acts 7:30, 33-34)

     Often the Lord calls us aside from our work for a season and asks us us to be still and learn before we go out again to minister. And the hours spent waiting are not lost time.

     An ancient knight once realized, as he was fleeing from his enemies, that his horse needed a shoe replaced. The prudent course of action seemed to be to hurry on without delay. Yet higher wisdom told him to stop for a few minutes at the blacksmith's along the road. Although he heard the galloping hooves of the enemies' horses close behind, he waited until his steed was reshod before continuing his escape. Just as the enemy

appeared, only a hundred yards away, he jumped into the saddle and dashed away with the swiftness of the wind. Then he knew his stopping had actually hastened his escape.

     Quite often God will ask us to wait before we go, so we may fully recover from our last mission before entering the next stage of our journey and work. (from Days of Heaven upon Earth.)

Waiting! Yes, patiently waiting!

Till next steps made plain will be;

To hear, with the inner hearing,

The Voice that will call for me.

Waiting! Yes, hopefully waiting!

With hope that need not grow dim;

The Master is pledged to guide me,

And my eyes are unto Him.

Waiting! Expectantly waiting!

Perhaps it may be today

The Master will quickly open

The gate to my future way.

Waiting! Yes, waiting! still waiting!

I know, though I've waited long,

That, while He withholds His purpose,

His waiting cannot be wrong.

Waiting! Yes, waiting! still waiting!

The Master will not be late:

Since He knows that I am waiting

For Him to unlatch the gate.

J. Danson Smith

-Streams in the Desert 

In reading this last night I was given to look back over the 10 months of unemployment that I had been through...and realized this was it. I put a copy of it in my journal as well. 

Waiting in the Lord isn't a bad thing nor should it be an anxious or nervous thing. Ours is to make our requests known unto God and trust that He knows what's best to do with them. Ours also is to keep on keeping on in our obedience regardless of the size of what He brings us to be doing next. I can recall telling many people that while I can apply to this place or that place, I can only go through the door that the Lord says is mine to go through. He holds all the keys to everyone's future. 

Stop and think about that. We shouldn't really be deciding what our future should fully be without going to our Father in Heaven, our Savior Jesus Christ and only in the power of the Spirit of God. 

We will be surprised by what it is that He has in mind. I am at times overwhelmed by the blessings that they've brought our way. Certainly my God has brought more than we ever could have asked for or thought possible. Someone once said that God gives His best to those who leave the choice to Him.

We, if we're truly embracing it...believing it...trusting in it...are His workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works that we might walk in them. That may be things we're familiar with and it may not. It's on us to obey and do those things that we were created in Christ Jesus to be doing. 

Ours is to be a life modeled after our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ. Living, thinking, doing,speaking in the character of Christ.  

We are to see less of us and more of Jesus. We should see our wants and desires shift towards those things that are important to our God.

This world is not our home, we're only passing through. We're being transformed into the character of Christ as we walk with Jesus.  

We really do become more like whomever we spend the most time with in life.  

You and I are to look for whatever opportunities that the Spirit presents us to participate in. We would do well to think of this world as temporary until we set foot into our home in Heaven.  

Our times of suffering and distress won't last forever and as the devotional points out...our times of serving might get broken up in order to prepare us for something greater.  

What we went through wouldn't have been possible had we not been brought through lesser things by our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ. 

Trust in the Lord with all your heart And do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight. Proverbs 3:5-6.

In this isn't a promise of full understanding. Just a call to trust in the Lord and what He says He will do when we do. 

So who do you spend the most of your time with? A person? A phone or computer? Jesus?  

Are you prepared for the Spirit to change your direction and to obey in what you're called to be doing?

Do you see your desires being changed to what your Savior and Lord desires? If not, start by getting on your knees in prayer to ask what does He need you to change. 

All NASB Scripture Excerpts used by permission. 

New American Standard Bible 

(C) 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by the Lockman Foundation. 

A corporation not for profit.   

La Habra, CA All rights reserved 

www.lockman.org

Praying for Crumbs?

Praying for Crumbs?

by David Brenneman 

"Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it. If you love Me, you will keep My commandments." John 14:13-15.

"What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you? Is not the source your pleasures that wage war in your members? You lust and do not have; so you commit murder. You are envious and cannot obtain; so you fight and quarrel. You do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures. You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Or do you think that the Scripture speaks to no purpose: “He jealously desires the Spirit which He has made to dwell in us”? But He gives a greater grace. Therefore it says, “God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be miserable and mourn and weep; let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you." James 4:1-10

 "Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen." Ephesians 3:20-21

It's rather interesting what our Bible says about asking God about things in our lives and the lives of people He deems to cross paths with us. 

It really hit me this past week how often I was merely praying for a good day. How often that I was only praying for the bare minimum to get by or for someone to get through what they're experiencing. 

Prayer is our God-given grace inspired, grace filled opportunity to talk with our Savior, Lord, most intimate friend of our lives...and we get all guilty about asking for the real and try to sound like we're ok with the generic answer if it's not too much trouble. 

We then are asking for crumbs and not the dinner!

After having 10 months of reminders of the goodness of Jesus my Savior brought to mind in both my then present situation as well as being reminded over and over of past times He answered not in crumbs but in the whole...it brought me nearly to tears.

My current job certainly is one that has been beyond anything I could have asked for or considered possible. This opportunity isn't just to get paid or even paid well. On my first day and throughout the last 5 weeks...the Spirit has shown me that this is my mission field. 

Do the job to the best of my ability as unto the Lord and keep my spiritual ears open and spiritual eyes looking for opportunities to be Jesus to those around me. 

That is why I was so blessed to be brought there...not by my strength nor by my ability but by the work of God in Christ Jesus in me to reach others.  

As the most excellent book "90 Minutes in Heaven" by Don Piper showed...God often orchestrates our lives and has allowed particular adversities in our lives...to prepare us to minister to unique individuals who will be touched no other way. 

My life, your life in Christ, isn't for us to get every comfort our hearts desire. Life in Christ is imparted to us to be a witness to our personal Jerusalem, our personal Judea and our path to the uttermost parts of the world.

Our prayers should align with the work of God that He invites us to participate in. Pray small get small answers. Pray big with our mission in mind and be ready for big results. 

I am overwhelmed at times by God's blessings. There's been days when they've almost been too much. 

Yet these and more are awaiting our prayers for them in Christ Jesus if we're praying with right priorities and right motives. 

There's no way to exhaust the warehouses of Heaven. Yet we live at times like we think they will or that we're unworthy to ask.

Jesus desires to see Himself in us and His workmanship in us is to achieve that.  

I am learning to pray for great days not just good days. Learning to pray for His provision for bigger in life rather than to just not and be self-defeated before ever seeing if His answer might be yes.

As someone once said, sometimes our prayers require us to pick up a shovel before His answer will come. 

Yesterday I worked on laying out railroad ties in preparation for what I am praying for. I don't know where the money will come from I only know that my God never runs out and He can make my request happen. He has already proven that time and time again. 

What are you who are among the saved in Christ Jesus refusing to pray for because you deem yourself unworthy to ask? Why are you answering no to something before you ever see what His answer will be?  

Do you ask for crumbs from your Master's table rather that take the seat He's offered you at His table to feast with Him?

All NASB Scripture Excerpts used by permission. 

New American Standard Bible 

(C) 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by the Lockman Foundation. 

A corporation not for profit.   

La Habra, CA All rights reserved 

www.lockman.org 

To Be Revealed in Us

To Be Revealed in Us

by David Brenneman 

"For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things, and through whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to perfect the author of their salvation through sufferings." Hebrews 2:10 NASB1995.

Pastor Alistair Begg's notes 2:10 "Perfect through sufferings." Christ could not be a perfect sympathizer unless he bore our suffering. He did not look at sin from the distance of heaven, but he walked and lived in the midst of it. He knows all shapes of suffering: disease, sickness, poverty, need, friendlessness, hopelessness, desertion. You cannot cast human suffering into any shape that is new to Christ. In Him there is every pang that tears the heart, every grief that forces tears from the eyes. Everything that is inevitable to flesh and blood, to hearts that break, and spirits that are depressed, Jesus knows."

We are going to go through sufferings since Jesus did. We're not going to be transformed, as Paul wrote of in Romans at the Spirit’s direction, without going through the valley of sufferings.

No human body that undergoes surgery ever does so without the ramifications of an invasive procedure, the body doesn't care to be cut into, poked, etc. 

Yet our desire of our hearts still ought to be what God wants for us...to become more like Jesus Christ. 

Nobody just puts on a number and wins a triathlon just because it was there to do without intense preparation. 

No untrained person just walks off the street into a recruiting office and then goes out the back door all ready for combat. 

Nobody just gets into a car without any training and becomes a successful judge. 

We have times in which we go through colleges, universities, community colleges, technical institutions in order to learn to be more than we were in order to become more than we used to be. It's a strenuous process. Loss of sleep, hard work, much sacrifice in order to get that diploma or accreditation. Then we reap what we sowed much more than we sowed and hopefully more than we sowed in doing so. We suffered through it.

So how much more will we go through in the school lead by the Spirit of God to become conformed to the image of Jesus Christ?

There's many lessons that we might get a grasp on what it is that the Spirit is teaching. Other times we just have to trust the promise and process that He's taking us through.  

We can see much of that process in the Gospels concerning Jesus's life on the Earth. Can we really be foolish enough to not expect trials and tribulations, sufferings, to not be a part of our lives until either He calls us home or the Rapture of the Church occurs?

If we are not going through such things we ought to be concerned. 

Great and mighty trees only get to be that way by weathering the storms that made them.

"But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves; we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. For we who live are constantly being delivered over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So death works in us, but life in you." 2 Corinthians 4:7-12.

"Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus. Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead," Philippians 3:12-13.

And "For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us." Romans 8:18.

We can and should expect to go through some rough patches in life if our desire is what He desires for us...to become more like Jesus Christ.

We can and should expect many battles in our minds over what path to take to lead a righteous life that God desires for us. 

We should also note what exactly the schemes of the devil are and strive to avoid them. 

We can't know what we need to know without being in prayer and the Word of God daily. 

The Spirit of God is our teacher bringing to remembrance all that Jesus commanded and taught. 

It's on us to submit to His plans and purpose for us, not for us to dictate what we want our lives to look like. 

Nobody enters Heaven's gates without traveling the road of suffering to get there. 

"And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us." Romans 5:3-5.

"Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong." 2 Corinthians 12:10.

"Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I do my share on behalf of His body, which is the church, in filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions." Colossians 1:24.

We cannot see what Jesus sees is becoming of us by His hands as they do their work in us. For we are His workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works that we might walk in them.

Makes you look at that great hymn "Trust and Obey" a little bit differently doesn't it?

A student must trust their teacher if they're going to be taught. 

We must travel this same road that our Savior and Lord traveled if we're going to reach the same destination. 

"For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us." Romans 8:18.

Think hard about this passage since it in fact applies or should apply to us.

All NASB Scripture Excerpts used by permission. 

New American Standard Bible 

(C) 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by the Lockman Foundation. 

A corporation not for profit.   

La Habra, CA All rights reserved 

www.lockman.org 

Be One He Loves

Be One He Loves 

by David Brenneman 

"The way of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord, But He loves one who pursues righteousness." Proverbs 15:9.

Paul spoke of running the race set before him. Here we read of pursuing righteousness. Paul spoke of running in such a way as to win the prize. Here's the prize.

The chief lesson to remember about the schemes of the devil is that he will try everything he's allowed in order to cause us to stumble or to fall.  

To pursue righteousness is something pleasing to God. As we have been exhorted in the Word of God so should we be encouraged in the Lord to get in the game and run with the aim of Godly success in this. 

Most don't recognize the schemes of the devil due to being so busy with worldly things. Pursuing success as the world defines it. Pursuing peace, love, joy, as the world defines it. Pursuing money because of thinking that's a badge of success. Spending on a whim rather that being satisfied with what one has. Not being organized enough to prepare for what comes in life. We have not because we ask with wrong intentions only planning to spend it on ourselves. We lack the spiritual eyes to see the work of God in Christ Jesus in ourselves and those He put in our lives. We lack the spiritual vision of His purpose for us and those whom we were meant to minister to. 

Do you pursue righteousness? Do you rather pursue things of the world?

Where your treasure is there your heart will be also. If you're working towards worldly values you're going to miss Godly values. 

What we do in Christ is what will survive the fires of His Truth on the day we stand before Jesus to give an account of our lives. 

Yes this is a repeated subject and with good reason. Look even back at the early Church. Much was written in our Bibles of being found ready for the return of Jesus Christ for His Church.  

I've never met, nor even seen in television or movies, where anyone was truly overjoyed at being caught unawares when someone important came to not visit but to evaluate their lives. 

At the point of the Rapture of the Church...the first to be raptured will be the dead in Christ. Those who have already physically died. They have nothing to be immediately surprised about concerning this taking place. Those who are alive and remain will be right in the middle of life. Right in the middle of work, of driving vehicles, of relationship issues, of medical treatments, of everything happening right now in the world. Some will certainly be caught flat-footed.  

Will you be found to be running the race set before you or will you be caught on the bench, on the ground, on anything but running the race to reach for righteousness?

Will you be found with the mind of Christ because you lived a life putting whatever the Spirit taught you as first place in your life? Will you be found in a shameful situation?  

The word of God says that we do not know the day nor the hour of Jesus's return. We ARE to seriously consider that if the owner of the house had known what time he was going to be robbed that he would have prepared for the robber.  

Lesson being that we should always be prepared for that moment we step into eternity. 

Be "Rapture Ready" and while being that, being on our spiritual feet running the race set before us. Pleasing the Lord that we are pursuing righteousness found only in Christ Jesus.  

It's never going to matter what accolades we achieve in this world in light of eternity. 

It's never going to matter what places we went to, spending thousands to go see and experience. 

It's not going to matter what famous people we met if those people aren't going to be an encouragement in Christ to us and others. 

It's not going to matter how nice a house, how nice a car or anything we can accumulate. 

It's not going to matter how much we sacrificed for our kids to give them everything except the teaching to pursue the Lord with their everything. 

Pursue righteousness. Pursue what pleases our Lord Jesus Christ. Bring Him joy in our pursuit of what pleases Him.

All NASB Scripture Excerpts used by permission. 

New American Standard Bible 

(C) 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by the Lockman Foundation. 

A corporation not for profit.   

La Habra, CA All rights reserved 

www.lockman.org 

The Checks and Balances of the Christian Life

The Checks and Balances of the Christian Life 

by David Brenneman 

"In the early morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house, and went away to a secluded place, and was praying there." Mark 1:35.

      Intimacy with God is one of the most essential elements of the

Christian life. A profound, abiding relationship with Him is the key to a lifelong journey filled with joy contentment, significance, and fruitfulness. Of course, learning to love the Lord takes time, diligence, and willingness This is why Jesus

demonstrated the importance of being alone with the Father by consistently rising early and going to a solitary place where He could pray without interruption.

      Do you need a place where you can find refuge, hope, strength,

and a greater love than anything this world has to offer? If so, your soul is longing for God's presence. Thankfully, He is always available to you. He gives you profound wisdom, unfailing strength, and unshakable hope for even the toughest situations,

      But as complicated as your life is, how do you start-especially

if you've never scheduled regular time to be alone with God? Begin

this very minute, close your eyes and sit for a moment without

saying anything. Simply focus your heart on the Lord and the fact

that He loves you unconditionally. Then pray, asking Him for the desire to know Him better. That's a prayer He loves to answer.

Jesus, teach me to draw closer to You in every way. Amen.

- Trusting God with Today. Dr. Charles Stanley. 

How personal is your relationship with Jesus? 

Your answer and mine is THE answer in the checks and balances of our lives. 

Not to lift "Trusting God with Today" too high on a pedestal, but there's just some days the short devotional seems to be written with me in mind. So much so that I have bought copies for my Mom and 2 friends.  

In our society we measure things in order to determine gains or losses. We measure to determine repeatability. We measure to determine health. We measure to determine duration of time. Measure, measure, measure. 

A thing that is certainly different about a life in Christ is what is shown to be important to measure and what all the Bible says to stop measuring. We are to examine, aka measure, ourselves to see if we are in Christ. We are to examine, measure, our hearts to see if there be any hurtful way in them. We are to be looking to see if we are indeed growing in Christ or if we've deceived ourselves and have been backsliding...again through measuring. 

I have countless ways to measure physical things. Innumerable rulers, gages, tape measures, yard sticks, folding rulers, calipers. Yet the only standard of measurement for the heart is Christ Himself. The only set of standards to follow are Christ Himself and what He did, what He said, and what He's done.  

We start down the path of Intimacy with God by the very measuring stick of the Scriptures...Jesus. Scripture says that He is the Way, the Truth and the Life. We'll start with Truth.  

We must be truthful with Jesus in order to start an intimate relationship with Jesus. There can be no falsehoods, no egos, nothing but the truth. An we must listen to Him in truth. He's not going to lie to us. He WILL tell us, show us, lead us, through what appears to be difficult, different, hard, complicated, times in our lives. 

It's on us to "Trust in the Lord with all your heart And do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight." Proverbs 3:5-6.

It's on us to pray for ourselves to be more like Jesus Christ. An for us to look, aka measure, our lives to see if we're making choices that uplift that path. 

If we're uplifting anyone or anything else, the measurement is off.

We begin with honesty and truth. We stay in that. We then must make the choice to do what must be thought, said and done that is right in God's eyes, according to God's Word. Only then will the results show a path of righteousness that aligns with Jesus Christ. 

Where is your intimacy with Jesus these days? Do you 'find time' to read, to pray, to think about God's Word or are you intentional about meeting with Him as with your most intimate friend?

Do you neglect to do any of these things? If so then for sure your measurements are going to be off.

You will not measure up to your calling in Christ Jesus.  

You can make appointments to watch television or streaming or video games. 

You can make appointments to be places and meet with people. 

An you then and only then try to squeeze in a few moments with the One who saved you?

See how those priorities are wholly backwards?

Check your priorities. 

Realign your ways.

Start measuring with Godly measurements...the Word of God, which: "All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work." 2 Timothy 3:16-17. 

And think about "Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve. For he who does wrong will receive the consequences of the wrong which he has done, and that without partiality." Colossians 3:23-25.

Because remember: “Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to render to every man according to what he has done. [13] I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.” Revelation 22:12-13.

How intimate, how close are you with Jesus? 

All NASB Scripture Excerpts used by permission. 

New American Standard Bible 

(C) 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by the Lockman Foundation. 

A corporation not for profit.   

La Habra, CA All rights reserved 

www.lockman.org 

Get into It

Get into It 

by David Brenneman 

"How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, Nor stand in the path of sinners, Nor sit in the seat of scoffers! But his delight is in the law of the Lord, And in His law he meditates day and night. He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, Which yields its fruit in its season And its leaf does not wither; And in whatever he does, he prospers." Psalms 1:1-3.

How often do really consider the ramifications of your actions in light of God's calling for you and your purpose in His plan for mankind? My Dear Reader, if indeed you are saved, you are on the clock concerning your part in God's plan for humanity. You were gifted with a gift or more from the Spirit of God upon coming to Christ for salvation. Do you take whatever you're called to be and do seriously?

The small phrase "meditates night and day" only appears twice in the NASB Bible. Here and in Joshua chapter 1. 

It's going to mean not doing other things in order to create a new, good, wholesome, habit of being in the Word of God daily. 

It's also our privilege to do so!

He who called you has not left you alone to figure it out or to fight the good fight by yourself. There's to be your desire to live a life pleasing, approved, of by God in Christ Jesus. 

Our world puts every effort into trying to get people to put selfish desires first and foremost in life. 

To put off perceived 'unpleasant' things. Especially to make spending time in your Bible as something either for those 'closer to God' or for when you can 'squeeze it in'.

Our happiness, our joy, should be found in Christ. Should be in doing what pleased Him to give to us to be doing.

We're not going to know if we're not in His Word to find out are we?

Do you not want to live a life pleasing to Jesus who bled and died for you? His obedience to His Father meant our salvation, so should we not make every effort to live in Christ in a way that shows it?

It may mean not pursuing certain things and in turn pursuing something we never considered. It may mean choices we never thought we would make. It's not about our personal comfort.  

Sanctification is what our lives are rooted in.  

Doing everything necessary to become fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ.  

Doing everything in such a way that people see our good works and glorify our Father in Heaven. 

The light of Jesus Christ in us should never be hidden or silenced.

Are you giving your best effort towards living for Jesus or have you been trying to skate by because you don't want to give up something or someone? Be very careful about what you hold on too tightly to. Sooner or later it will turn to ashes. If it's in the way of your life in Christ as He intended, it ought to go.

7 plus years and I am daily amazed at what God's doing with this blog. I pray over it, He does the global distribution. Remaining faithful is when we see the power of God in even the little things. 

Are you like Isaiah and are eagerly wanting to serve and be who you are to be in Christ or are you going with a mistaken notion that if you don't raise your hand that maybe God won't notice you and volunteer you for anything? All who are in Christ are going to have things to go through in life in order to grow in Christ. It's never going to be all sunshine and rainbows.  

Start with a set time, daily-not skipping days-and a set place. A chapter a day is a good pace. Be consistent. Pray before you start that the Spirit would talk to you about it. You have to start somewhere.  

Personally I was afraid to read it at first many decades ago. An one day came where I realized that there would indeed be a day to stand before Jesus to give an account of my life and how was I going to explain never having read my Bible?

Today, I can't recall how many times I have read my entire Bible. Every time something new pops up from a page.  

You need to start somewhere. Do YOU really want to explain your lack of being in your Bible?

Start today. 

All NASB Scripture Excerpts used by permission. 

New American Standard Bible 

(C) 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by the Lockman Foundation. 

A corporation not for profit.   

La Habra, CA All rights reserved 

www.lockman.org 

Obedience Starts with a Single Step

Obedience Starts with a Single Step 

by David Brenneman 

"Then his servants came near and spoke to him and said, “My father, had the prophet told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more then, when he says to you, ‘Wash, and be clean’?” 2 Kings 5:13.

      Sometimes our greatest acts of faith will come through small steps of obedience. This was certainly true for the highly respected captain of the Syrian army named Naaman. He traveled to Israel and sought the prophet Elisha to be cured of his leprosy. However, Naaman felt insulted when Elisha sent a lowly servant to

instruct him to wash in the Jordan seven times.

      Naaman was so outraged that he refused to perform the one act

that would save him from his very painful disease. Thankfully, his

servants confronted him in his pride and pointed out that the Lord had promised healing through that small step of faith. Naaman

realized that if he refused to humble himself before God, it could cost him his life. So he obeyed, and his flesh was made whole.

      You may not pay attention to the little things God calls you to

do because they seem insignificant. However, you don't know the amazing way He may want to work through your obedience. Say yes to the Lord regardless of how small, mundane, dull, or inferior the task seems He will reward your humble steps of faith.

Jesus, whatever You command is great and worthy of my obedience, I will do as You ask, Amen.

Trusting God with Today. Dr. Charles Stanley.

Many, many...many times in life we go forward in perseverance only by the taking of a single step. 

We don't know what that single step will accomplish but when that step is for us to do because the Spirit says to take it...then you take it. 

I can tell you all about what the day looked like when I was outside of my last employer. What's more important was that step outside was a step towards something not away from something. A step towards what was to be a time of growth in Christ that couldn't come any other way. 

We can and will get confused by some of or maybe most of the steps that the Spirit directs us to take.   

I can tell you most emphatically...do the right thing and respond with a heart of obedience to God regardless of how it appears to the world. 

For many months leading up to that step into an unknown future, the passage that the Spirit brought time and time again was "Trust in the Lord with all your heart And do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight." Proverbs 3:5-6.

Each day after June 12th was a day of just asking God what was there for me to be doing. Whether or not I had an earthly employer or not all my work was to be done as unto the Lord. Colossians 3:23-24.

For you my Dear Reader it's never for you nor I to stand still in our walk with Jesus. Re-read Psalms 23. He leads, we follow. Where He says to rest, we rest. When He says it's time to move, we move. 

We are to walk by faith and not by sight. Trusting God with all your heart. Not trusting what we perceive of our circumstances. There's no circumstances we can be in that God was ever unaware of. 

We can choose to either trust Him and take whatever steps He's directing us to take or we choose to live with the consequences.  

There's always consequences for obedience and consequences for disobedience. We reap what we sow more than we sow and much later than we sow. We either reap the benefits of God in our obedience or more lessons from God until we do.

The size of the step makes no difference. Just trust and obey. 

Just do and be thankful.  

My Dear Reader you're going to go through even a solid life in Christ and yet will spend eternity having what was really happening with you and others explained to you. In this here this now we can't comprehend it.

I found myself either just doing housework or fixing things. Found myself cleaning and organizing. Found myself working for people. Found myself resting. Found myself in various circumstances that otherwise I never would have had the chance to be in had I been employed. Found myself strengthening relationships. Found myself starting a few new ones. Found joy in just doing little things for strangers when out and about the city. 

God's not going to lead you in some way that's not going to be in your best interests. He allows many things in order to grow us in Christ. Storms, not fairweather days, cause deep roots for a tree.  

It's the storms that turn a man into a sailor and not just someone who can steer a ship. It's the battlefield that makes all the training given make sense to the soldier.  

Listen and obey the Spirit of God when He tells you or takes you in the way you should go. Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Walking by faith and not by sight.  

Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness and all these things will be added to you.

Listen and obey. Don't let your feelings get in the way. Truth is your feelings are responsible for many a failure of living out what Jesus wants for you. Look at the Disciples and how often they missed out because they let their feelings dictate their actions. 

Pray, listen, obey. Repeat. 

All NASB Scripture Excerpts used by permission. 

New American Standard Bible 

(C) 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by the Lockman Foundation. 

A corporation not for profit.   

La Habra, CA All rights reserved 

www.lockman.org

What is Your Desire of Your Heart?

What is Your Desire of Your Heart?

by David Brenneman 

"Delight yourself in the Lord; And He will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord, Trust also in Him, and He will do it. He will bring forth your righteousness as the light And your judgment as the noonday. Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him; Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way, Because of the man who carries out wicked schemes. Cease from anger and forsake wrath; Do not fret; it leads only to evildoing." Psalms 37:4-8.

"Commit your works to the Lord And your plans will be established." Proverbs 16:3

"The mind of man plans his way, But the Lord directs his steps." Proverbs 16:9.

What is the desire of your heart? Is it things, or people or perhaps experiences? What do you spend your time with thinking or doing?

What do you spend your money on?  

These will give clues as to what your heart is preoccupied with. 

How much of your time do you spend desiring to obey God?

How much of your time do you spend that has nothing to do with obeying God?

You're going to be intentional about one or the other. 

These thoughts come on the heels of reading in Deuteronomy this morning. Moses was instructed in what to write for the current and future generations of the children of Israel. He was also told, and they heard in hearing it themselves, that not soon after they would enter into the Promised land that they would be enticed to turn away from the Lord and would indeed fall away from God. The desires of their hearts would be for anything and everything that was before their eyes. Various gods of the nations they were sent to destroy would become the desire of their hearts. 

In our world idols and false gods are everywhere. Christians are not immune to the siren songs of these.

This is particularly why Paul, Peter, James, the writer of Hebrews, all point people to being steadfast in the Lord. Standing firm in the Lord. 

Living a life of diligence, perseverance, in the Lord. 

Moses entreated the children of Israel to not do what was foretold they would do. What we also see in those closing chapters of Deuteronomy were what the prophet Daniel saw of how and what to pray after the days of the 70 years were completed.

You, my Dear Reader, have before you both life and death. Living what the Bible teaches as a true life in Christ and that of living for self.  

You, my Dear Reader, will give an account of your life before Jesus. 

Of how you either lived for Him or lived for you. 

Nothing in that account will be sugar coated. There will be no grading on a curve. There will be nothing but the truth of what our hearts were desiring while in our bodies. 

We will see how we were deceived and how we deceived ourselves. In that moment we will see everything from the light of His truth. 

There will be nothing hidden anymore.  

We only think we get away with the lies we tell ourselves and tell others. We only think that there's no consequences.  

Examine your desires. Examine your heart. Ask the Spirit of God to reveal the truth that we aren't telling ourselves.  

Yes it keeps coming back to that. Our lying to ourselves.  

“The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick; Who can understand it? I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the mind, Even to give to each man according to his ways, According to the results of his deeds." Jeremiah 17:9-10.

"He who trusts in his own heart is a fool, But he who walks wisely will be delivered." Proverbs 28:26.

Pray for:

"Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me." Psalms 51:10.

At the end of the day we cannot trust ourselves but we can trust Him with whom we have to do. 

Our lives are to reflect Christ to the world. If we're so wrapped up in fulfilling our desires for us the world will never see Jesus. 

Think about that. 

“Pray, then, in this way: ‘Our Father who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done, On earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.’" Matthew 6:9-13.

"Lord, empty me of me, and fill me with more of you."

All NASB Scripture Excerpts used by permission. 

New American Standard Bible 

(C) 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by the Lockman Foundation. 

A corporation not for profit.   

La Habra, CA All rights reserved 

www.lockman.org

Obedience by Being In God's Word

Obedience by Being In God's Word 

by David Brenneman 

"All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work." 2 Timothy 3:16-17.

"I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths." 2 Timothy 4:1-4.

When we come to Christ for salvation there's a work began in us by our Savior Jesus Christ. We become his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works that we might walk in them.  

We are given tasks and assignments that are for us to do that are going to both exercise and grow our faith.  

The man of God...read that well if you, my Dear Reader happen to be a born again man. This isn't directed towards those Dear Readers who are born again women. As we read in his letters to Timothy and to Titus and can find in his many other letters...men are called to lead in the Church. Men are supposed to be the Godly teachers of the Word of God. Both in the home and in the Church. In his letter to Timothy Paul explains why. 

So the thoughts to you, the men reading this this morning...what are you doing to live up to this God-given responsibility?

Are you striving to make what He wants of you your highest priority?

Are you intentional about learning from the Word of God so that you may be adequate, equipped for every good work?

Are you studying the Word of God to show yourself approved by Jesus?

The men of God are supposed to be at the heart of the growing Church. 

We're not to be bench warmers. 

We're not to leave it to others. 

We're not to ever abdicate our role and responsibility that has been given to us in Christ. 

Are you seeking to know and to understand God's Word? We read all of its benefits in that it is "profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness;". 

In reading verse 17 read it slowly. Note what it isn't saying. It's not referring specifically to Pastors or Elders. The man of God. The men of God. 

We're to invest in the Word of God as if not only our lives but the lives we will encounter depend on our efforts. 

If other extra-curricular activities are in your way then you really are not putting God first in your life. 

All things that we put in higher importance than our relationship with Jesus can be removed by Him in an instant if we persist in them. 

A Life Principle of Dr. Stanley's is that anything we hold too tightly to will turn to ashes.  

The Spirit promises to teach us men if we commit the time and effort to learn. 

Women aren't entirely left out of the learning. Women, as Paul wrote, are to teach other women as well as children...and only those two groups of people. 

They too, by being in the Word of God daily, can grow with respect to their salvation and be prepared to teach other women and children. 

We seem to, as you look at humanity as a whole, have no difficulty in committing to anything that we allow ourselves to desire. 

In the life of a Christian our commitment ought to always be in obedience to God's Word.

Those who try to uphold any doctrines other than what is upheld by Scripture are, according to God's Word, cursed. Let them be accursed it says. These accursed people will be those whom Jesus says to "depart from Me for I never knew you".

The twisting of the doctrine of the Scriptures, the destruction of God's intention for marriage, family, and individuals is what Satan and his minions are all about.  

We must be in the Word of God to learn how to live out our salvation in Christ and to be able to refute such lies with the Word of God. 

Get with God's plan and purpose for you. Quit running from it if you have been. Do all that you do as unto the Lord as we read in these same life giving Scriptures.

Seek to be found obedient to God's Word and not be among the disobedient. 

Do you want to be giving an account of your life whereby Jesus says "Well done!" or will you hear of how your ways were not what He wanted of you? That you wasted your lifetime of opportunities to do what you were called to be doing?

Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness. First, not after you get what you want. 

Trust in the Lord with all your heart And do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight. 

"I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you should go; I will counsel you with My eye upon you." Psalms 32:8.

All NASB Scripture Excerpts used by permission. 

New American Standard Bible 

(C) 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by the Lockman Foundation. 

A corporation not for profit.   

La Habra, CA All rights reserved 

www.lockman.org 

Expectant Perspective

The Expectant Perspective

by David Brenneman 

"But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these." 2 Timothy 3:1-5.

"But know this: Hard times will come in the last days. For people will be lovers of self,  lovers of money,  boastful, proud,  demeaning, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, slanderers,  without self-control, brutal, without love for what is good, traitors,  reckless,  conceited,  lovers of pleasure  rather than lovers of God, holding to the form of godliness but denying its power.  Avoid these people." 2 Timothy 3:1-5 CSB.

"But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!" II Timothy 3:1-5. NKJV

Take a really good look at this passage from 3 translation perspectives.  

As several of the Study Bibles that I read last night attest to, these kinds of people that were there in Timothy's time are certainly in ours as well. Again, the Churches were taught to be expectant of the possibility of Jesus Christ returning.

That expectant perspective should be ours today.

How much more focused are you on cleaning up your home when someone you haven't seen in a long time is supposed to be stopping for a visit?

How much more presentable will you be in that moment?

When you know of someone you look up to is going to be nearby and the opportunity presents itself for you to meet them. How much more attention are you going to pay to your appearance?

When you have been entrusted with completing something and you know that you're going to be checked concerning it, how much extra effort will you make to ensure its as perfect as it can be?

Jesus is certainly returning for His Church, just as assuredly as He arose from the dead to sit at the right hand of the Father in Heaven.

We're warned of the kinds of people we will encounter and what we ought to do concerning them. We also ought to be on the alert if such people try to infiltrate the Church to disrupt the proper teaching of God's Word. Regardless of if you agree or not, women who think they can be called to preach over a congregation are listening to the doctrines of demons. These ideas of this were happening at Ephesus. It's nothing new to our age. 

Earlier in these letters to Timothy we read of the qualifications for men to be the only ones called to be preachers of the Word of God.

At the end of Chapter 3 we likewise read "All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work." 2 Timothy 3:16-17. Paul's instructions were for Timothy to seek out and find approved men of God to be the future preachers of the Word of God. Using the Bible as the standard of measurement. 

In our days we are seeing an explosion of false teachers and women who think they can be a preacher over a congregation. We see the Name of Jesus Christ removed from being essential to salvation. We see the Bible not even referred to during church services. We see Jesus not honored in worship music.  

Look at Paul's next words to Timothy. "I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths." 2 Timothy 4:1-4.

Right there is the headlines of today's world. 

Me, personally, I am excited and expecting Jesus to return. I am wanting to be found by Him ready to go and be with Him. I am not about to mince words and am not writing what He has me write to spare feelings. He instructed me over 7 years ago that He would give me things to write and it was upon me to write them. If I didn't then I would be needing to give an account as to why. Just as the Watchman on the Wall of Jerusalem was accountable for the warning of dangers to the people, so am I with this ministry. 

You may not agree, but that's between you and Jesus. Take it up with Jesus. Get out your Bible, and go to Him in prayer. 

As for me and my house we will serve the Lord. My expectation of His return is to be obedient to His Word to me for me. Doing whatever I do as unto the Lord. You, my Dear Reader ought to do the same. Being sure of your salvation. Being in the Word of God daily. Being in prayer as consistently as possible. Being in the whole armor of God at all times. Seeking first His Kingdom and His righteousness. Living a transformed life that honors Jesus Christ and is eager to be found obedient to your calling in Christ Jesus.

Someone once said that if we ignore the past we will be doomed to repeat our mistakes in the future. Various denominations have ignored the past that Paul, Timothy, Luke, Titus, and others lived through at Ephesus, Philadelphia, Corinth and other such places and here we have those mistakes repeated today.

Are you going to be found faithful to the Word of God or to the myths of mankind? Are you going to be shocked and ashamed at Jesus returning or are you going to explode with joy at His appearing?

As Timothy was so charged by Paul to live up to, so are all men of God that are to be the spiritual leaders of the Church.  

Be about the work of God in Christ Jesus that's yours to accomplish. Be sure that what you are doing is God's plan and purpose for you and give it your everything.  

Be obedient to God's Word and not the mere speculations of this world. 

Be found to be ready by living a faithful life in Christ Jesus. 

Be ready for that shout that will call us out of this world!

All NASB Scripture Excerpts used by permission. 

New American Standard Bible 

(C) 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by the Lockman Foundation. 

A corporation not for profit.   

La Habra, CA All rights reserved 

www.lockman.org

The Coming Son of God

The Coming Son of God 

by David Brenneman 

We ought to pay close attention to the reading of the Scriptures every day. It's with much intentionality that regardless of the days events that I have developed a persistence in this endeavor. It requires persistence. You cannot, of your own volition, trust you to complete such a task. Each one of us would turn our own way and choose anything but time in the Word of God without a certain level of persistence in doing it.

Think of Paul's analogy of the runner preparing for a race. Without persistence in that, there would be no preparation. They would most assuredly fail to come close to a winning time among the others in that particular race. 

Without persistence in taking the time for the meaningful reading of the Scriptures, how would one know what the promises of God really were?

Without persistence in taking time to be in the Word of God, how would you know what to look for with regards to what Jesus said of returning for His Church? 

Personally I have lost track of how many times that I have read through my Bible. Which is an excellent problem to have. 

Right now I am reading the Old Testament in a year in the mornings along with a chapter in Proverbs a day that matches the day of the month. In the evenings there is devotional books and 4 study Bibles with their notes. A few months back I changed it up a little. While two of my study Bibles are the same translation, I listen to that night's chapter when I get to that particular Bible rather than read it twice.  

You too must persist in making the time to be in God's Word. I, as well as others in Christ, will tell you that you will never come away from the experience unchanged. You will always, no matter how many times you read through it, will find something new.  

As someone once said how often can you read a book where the Author is right there with you?

You also honor Jesus Christ when you obey in this.  

Decades ago it hit me hard. How could I have come to Him for salvation and yet had neglected to read His love letter to the world? How could I stand before Jesus and had never spent time in God's Word?

"For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do." Hebrews 4:12-13.

Without the Word of God we wouldn't know the truths of God to transform our lives, wouldn't know what to look for concerning His return either.

Paul wrote a lot about the return of Jesus Christ, did you know that? He taught those he preached to as well as exhorted those he wrote to, to live as though today were THAT day of His return.  

Will you add to your problems when you stand before Jesus to give an account of your life by not having made your time in God's Word an important part of your life?

My Dear Reader God's Word gives us everything pertaining to life and Godliness. "Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge, and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness, and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ." 2 Peter 1:5-8.

How would you know of what I just shared if you weren't reading your Bible?  

I encourage you all the more as the day of the Rapture of the Church draws near to get into the Word of God. For those of you who can, memorize it. For those who struggle with memorization just persist in reading it anyway. I take great comfort in "Your word I have treasured in my heart, That I may not sin against You." Psalms 119:11. Some translations say "hidden in my heart". 

The all important thing is to get it in your heart.  

A physical analogy is that while you don't understand fully how, all the food and drink you take in transforms your body with regards to growing...you just know that it does. You must feed your spirit and soul with the Word of God in order to grow in Christ. 

You also honor all that Jesus did on the cross for you when you do your best to live out your salvation in this way. 

God's Word says that it a right and good thing to be ready for when the Lord Jesus will appear. To not be taken by surprise. 

Make it your mission in life to be including time in God's Word as your highest priority.

He IS coming back soon and my hope and prayer is that you and I would be both looking and prepared for that day. 

All NASB Scripture Excerpts used by permission. 

New American Standard Bible 

(C) 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by the Lockman Foundation. 

A corporation not for profit.   

La Habra, CA All rights reserved 

www.lockman.org

Who Do People See?

Who Do People See?

by David Brenneman 

They will see your honorable behavior, and they will give honor to God. 1 PETER 2:12 NLT

      I'll never forget the amazing statement heard from a young man as we talked about his upcoming mission trip- He had some of the normal anxieties that usually accompany such an endeavor, but he also had a tremendous amount of enthusiasm. And as he prayed, his words caught my attention: "Lord, I pray that those who meet

me during my stay also encounter You." That struck me in a profound manner. He wanted the contact between him and others to be a genuine encounter with the person of Christ Himself.

      Frankly, that is a goal for which all believers should strive. Indeed, I wonder what would happen if each of us adopted that same mindset. How would our days be different if each morning we asked Jesus to so permeate our words and deeds that others would sense the reality of His presence with us? How would it

transform our families, coworkers, friends, acquaintances, and even

our enemies? It would certainly change the world.

      So consider: do others see Jesus in you? People desperately

need His salvation. Don't keep Him a secret. Allow Him to work

through you so others can witness His awesome presence and know

Him as well.

Jesus, may anyone who encounters me find You and believe in Your name. Amen.

- Trusting God with Today, Dr. Charles Stanley 

This particular exerpt from his book comes nearly a month after I began the new job that God gave me.  

Several times during these nearly 4 weeks I was and am reminded of a friend from a church plant in Mt. Sterling, Ohio who almost always included in his prayers "Empty me of me and let me be filled with more of you".

It matters not if it's the online world or the physical world all Believers are where they are to represent Christ first and foremost. THEN they are to be whatever role it is that they are there for. Some have taken to talking about it, as an example of my case, that I am an Ambassador of Christ Jesus cleverly disguised as a Manufacturing Repair Technician.

My Dear Reader there's no hiding behind phone, tablet or computer screens when we interact with the online world. We still represent Christ first. 

When we are in our homes or out among people we represent Christ first.

We always ought to stop and consider just how we are being seen by others. Are they seeing Jesus in us or are they merely seeing us?  

Which is more important towards fulfilling the call of God in Christ Jesus for each of us?

Are they going to meet Jesus when they meet us or are they not going to?

Yes we're going to run into unsavory types in both places...and the temptation is going to be there to not think before speaking or doing. 

It's a great thing to remind ourselves of to be sure of our salvation then to be sure that people see our Savior in each of us before they see us.

Empty me of me and fill me with more of you!

If Dr. Charles Stanley could be so impressed that he added such an entry to his book...I take that as something seriously worth noting. 

Our successes should never come at the expense of people finding Jesus was among them.

Before you type out something online. 

Before you speak a word. 

Before you make any gesture. 

Stop and see if you will be displaying Christ in you or if it will be you.

All NASB Scripture Excerpts used by permission. 

New American Standard Bible 

(C) 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by the Lockman Foundation. 

A corporation not for profit.   

La Habra, CA All rights reserved 

www.lockman.org 

Guard What You Have Learned

Guard What You Have Learned
by David Brenneman

"Retain the standard of sound words which you have heard from me, in the faith and love which are in Christ Jesus.  Guard, through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us, the treasure which has been entrusted to you." 2 Timothy 1:13-14

Because Christ’s return is imminent, that ought to be motivation enough for the man of God to remain faithful to his calling until he dies or the Lord returns- Study notes from Pastor John MacArthur.

How motivated are you to live an obedient life to God's Word than you are to living life for yourself?

Are you seeking your own self interests first or are you allowing the Spirit to work through you?

While yes I do have a new job, that's not why I am there.  This new job is first my mission field, second is my position of work while I am there. 

Are you living life realizing that Jesus could return at any moment?

That's what the Apostles taught the Church and wanted the men leading them to pass on to future generations. 

A life in Christ is to be one that is a fully devoted follower of Jesus Christ.  That is to say we follow and do as the Spirit directs us first before what we desire or want.

Jesus paid it all for us so that we would be saved because of His sacrifice. 

Are we living with that in mind?
Are we making what is right and good in the eyes of God that which goes with us throughout our day?

Christians are not at all immune to temptations.  We're to flee youthful lusts. We're to flee from temptation as Joseph ran from Potiphar's Wife.

We're to desire spending time in God's Word.  Do you? 

We're to desire spending time in prayer, talking with Jesus.  Do you?

We're to avoid the various traps and schemes of the devil.  Do you even recognize such things in the first place?

When we came to Christ we immediately are in opposition to the ways of the world. 

Satan cannot kill us but he can tempt us with many a temptation to keep us from living out our faith.

Causing us to waste time, energy and effort as well as money on fruitless ventures so that when we stand before Jesus to give an account of our lives there's nothing to show of a life lived for Him.

How well are you guarding what has been entrusted to you in the Lord?

How much of your day is you intentionally spending time with yourself rather than with Jesus?

Rise up before your day begins and read a chapter or two.  Before you go to bed read a few more. 

Your spiritual body needs fed more than your physical one.

Are you starving your spiritual body and yet wonder why your life is as it is?

You cannot guard what you have little to nothing of.  Be intentional about your walk with Jesus and then you will begin to really live.

The Spirit has work for all Believers to be doing and will until the Church of Jesus Christ is complete and He calls us home. 

Do more to grow in Christ.
Get your priorities straight.

It's more than time to live the righteous life that God desires for you.

All NASB Scripture Excerpts used by permission.
New American Standard Bible
(C) 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by the Lockman Foundation.
A corporation not for profit.  
La Habra, CA All rights reserved
www.lockman.org

Down to Brass Tacks

Down to Brass Tacks

by David Brenneman 

Are your eyes on the sky? 

Are your ears attentive to the voice of the Lord Jesus?

Would you recognize the things that Jesus said would be coming or that which Paul wrote to the Churches?

Do you have eyes that see and ears that hear?

Do you ever pray for those whom are in authority over you? It's written there in 1st Timothy to do so.  

Do you run to the Father when life takes a turn you hadn't expected?

Do you talk to Jesus when you need an understanding heart?

Are you living the life you have been given in Christ to the best of your ability as unto the Lord?

Yes, many questions, but none so difficult that you shouldn't be able to respond to.

This day is the day that the Lord has made...for you...for me...for even this world that is perishing. 

Will you rejoice and be glad in that as the song goes?

My Dear Reader we aren't to be so attached to this world that we forget or neglect our calling in Christ Jesus.  

We have no excuse for not being in the Word of God daily. Nobody does. It's available easily online or as an app. It can still be found as a physical book. Can be ordered through Amazon and many other places.

The Apostle Paul wrote the Thessalonians as well as others to be on the alert against apostasy in the Church. It's happening all over the world and it seems clear that much of the professing Church doesn't or is incapable of recognizing it. Biblically unqualified people in positions of leadership. Women in positions of authority over men. People who have turned away from the sexual orientation that God established in them supposedly serving in the Church as if it wasn't against God's Word. Neutral worship songs that don't point people to Jesus. Some that try to say that God is a woman. Scripture says to beware of those who call good evil and evil as good. 

These are the things that make up the apostasy in the Church. 

Throughout the same letters to the Churches, Paul exhorted them all to stand firm in the Lord and to remove such things from among them. Yet those things are being widely accepted today. 

The Rapture of the Church is going to come and countless millions are going to be crying out to the Heavens for Jesus to come back. 

Millions and millions of people who are being deceived by Satan will still be here for that great and terrible experience of the Great Tribulation. 

Be sure of your salvation Paul wrote. Be sure you are saved. Then LIVE it. 

Paul's writings to Timothy and Titus are filled with exhortation to live out their lives honoring God through their calling in Christ. 

Paul wrote in Romans about a life transformation that's to be taking place in the lives of those saved in Christ Jesus. 

Do you pray for those around you? Do you pray for those who you know to be Believers? 

Do you pray for those in authority over you? For your nation and its leaders whom God put there over you? It's a grand fallacy that anyone voted people into offices. The Scriptures say that it is the Lord who establishes those in authority and it is He who removes them. 

It's written clearly that women are not to be in authority over men in the Church. They are not to be Pastors. Timothy and Titus were instructed to teach faithful MEN. Elder/Pastor/teacher is the same word in the original language. There are no women elders. Women Deacons yes...referred to as Deaconesses.  

We are told directly from Jesus to be careful how we listen. Be careful of what we're listening to and who. 

Paul wouldn't give anyone even an hour of his time if they were talking contrary to the Word of God. 

Jesus told not just those in the recorded Gospels but to us as well...go and learn what this means: I desire obedience over sacrifice. 

Have you learned what obedience to the Lord means? Are your desires getting in the way of your obedience to God's Word? Are you letting what you want to be true mean more to you than the Word of God? Are you avoiding the Word of God because you know what you will find there?

Think about it. Consider it well because it's these things that will be at the heart of that account all Believers will give before Jesus. 

All NASB Scripture Excerpts used by permission. 

New American Standard Bible 

(C) 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by the Lockman Foundation. 

A corporation not for profit.   

La Habra, CA All rights reserved 

www.lockman.org 

Why Don't You? Yes YOU!

Why Don't You? Yes, YOU.

by David Brenneman 

"Everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved." Joel 2:32.

So why don't I call on His name? Why do I run run to to this person or that person, when God is so near and will hear my faintest

call? Why do I sit down to plot my own course and make my own plans? Why don't I immediately place myself and my burden on the Lord?

      Straight ahead is the best way to run, so why don't I run directly to the living God? Instead, I look in vain for deliverance everywhere else, but with God I will find it. With Him I

have His royal promise: "[I] will be saved."' And with Him I never

need to ask if I may call on Him or not, for the word "everyone" is all encompassing. It includes me and means anybody and everybody who calls upon His name. Therefore I will trust in this verse and will immediately call on the glorious Lord who has made such a great promise.

      My situation is urgent, and I cannot see how I will ever be

delivered. Yet this is not my concern, for He who made the

promise will find a way to keep it. My part is simply to obey His

commands, not to direct His ways. I am His servant, not His advisor. I call upon Him and He will deliver me.

- Charles H. Spurgeon

As God would have it, this was part of my reading yesterday evening. On the heels of our Grace Group studying in Psalms 25. 

"My eyes are continually toward the Lord, For He will pluck my feet out of the net. Turn to me and be gracious to me, For I am lonely and afflicted. The troubles of my heart are enlarged; Bring me out of my distresses. Look upon my affliction and my trouble, And forgive all my sins. Look upon my enemies, for they are many, And they hate me with violent hatred. Guard my soul and deliver me; Do not let me be ashamed, for I take refuge in You. Let integrity and uprightness preserve me, For I wait for You." Psalms 25:15-21.

We often don't go first to the Throne of Jesus Christ when something has been allowed to occur in our lives. Please re-read that, it's important. 

"My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” John 10:27-30.

A prayer for myself concerning what began June 12th of 2025 is that I not forget at all the steps that my Savior took my Wife and I through. Especially the beginning steps. Those steps that began with my keeping silent as I was escorted out and found myself sitting in my truck looking at the end of my career at the company I had spent almost 4 years at.  

My first reaction was shock of course. Then came prayer. Then His immediate plans were for me to call my Saturday Group Leader. Then my Wife then others. My God had allowed this and it was happening. Regardless of what I was told in the meeting that had just taken place I knew that I wasn't returning. I had no idea what steps to take and keeping in prayer was where I began. One of Jesus's promises of never leaving or forsaking us was the first that came to mind.  

But why permit such things? Because of many reasons but the first is that when we come to Christ for salvation we are no longer our own. We were bought with a price, the shed blood of Jesus Christ. We are now His. We began a path of life that has its goal of growing us in Christ, to be conformed to Christ. To remove our character and replace it with the character of Christ. 

As I explained in sharing last night, and as the Group Leader said appropriately, I can look back from memorial stone to memorial stone. Can look back and its the Spirit telling me "See how far you've come? Back then you couldn't make it through what you are going through today.".

We can't know the path of righteousness set before us without stepping in that direction with Jesus. 

Someone once wrote something about hand holding with God. That if we hold hands with Him, we'll be tempted to let go. Yet if He is the one to reach out to hold our hand, He's never going to let us go.

Our tendency is, in reality, to underestimate our situation. We underestimate and attempt to take it on without asking God for help. In this we fail every single time. We ought to come to Him first. Not even trying to figure it out on our own. Standing on His promises.  

My Dear Reader, even though you're probably already in the mix with your supposed unique situation, Jesus is waiting on you to come to Him with a sincere heart ready to do whatever He's got in mind for you to be doing. 

All my life I have always lived to the truth that God would always allow me to work wherever He put me until He made it impossible for me to stay. June 12th 2025 was just the most different way that He has ever used to make it impossible for me to stay. No more no less. 

Emotionally it was rough at first. Relationships that I thought were ok were shown to be a sham. So I pray for them because I know with as solid a certainty as the ground beneath my feet that my God will deal with them in ways that I never could. In every single time that someone has wronged me as an employer God has dealt with them in that way. I just needed to stay out of His way. I could relate stories but this isn't the place for them. 

Jesus wants us to stand on His promises and is going to permit situations where we are lead to do just that, if only we would recognize that's what the purpose for it is.

There is always a purpose for what we go through in Christ. Listening for the voice of the Spirit of God is paramount. Obeying is paramount. 

Beginning with that...THAT is what begins to bring a peace that passes all understanding.  

That is what leads us in the path of righteousness for His Name’s sake. 

That is what brings glory to God in our circumstances.

These things are what adds to that crown of righteousness that we will give back to Jesus.

Begin by stopping to take a breath and pray. Go immediately to the throne of grace.  

He WILL keep His promise to always take care of you. 

He WILL keep His promise to never leave you or forsake you. 

To relate this point to an earlier post. Take these concerns to the Lord and leave them there. Don't give in to the temptation to pick them back up and go your way with them. Leave them with Jesus then obey all you're told to do in the Lord. Listen to the Spirit. Listening FOR the Spirit.  

Lastly be thankful in everything. Yes even these things...that's what the Bible says.

All NASB Scripture Excerpts used by permission. 

New American Standard Bible 

(C) 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by the Lockman Foundation. 

A corporation not for profit.   

La Habra, CA All rights reserved 

www.lockman.org

On Behalf of All Men

On Behalf of All Men 

by David Brenneman 

"First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for all, the testimony given at the proper time." 1 Timothy 2:1-6.

"Do all things without grumbling or disputing;" Philippians 2:14.

"Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving;" Colossians 4:2.

"And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve the things that are excellent, in order to be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ; having been filled with the fruit of righteousness which comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God." Philippians 1:9-11.

"But I tell you that every careless word that people speak, they shall give an accounting for it in the day of judgment. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.” Matthew 12:36-37.

Maybe a strange topic but it is a worthy topic this morning. There are many, throughout the world let alone here in the United States of America, who erroneously display their emotional side of their political views without discerning whether their words aren't beneficial to those who hear.

Here in the USA we aren't a democracy, but rather a Constitutional Republic. Yet this gets forgotten during such rhetoric. 

Time and again and in every way possible we must guard our hearts as the Scriptures say to us. We must guard our mouths as well.  

For those of the household of God, we, of this world, are the most examined of all. Satan's minions as well as the unbelieving are always on the lookout for ways to discredit our life in Christ. 

For all who believe and are the called in Christ Jesus...we are commanded to pray for those in authority over us. Be it politicians, law enforcement, emergency services people, employers, any whom the Lord Jesus Christ deems to establish over us in authority. 

For those raring to go with arguments...your barking up the wrong tree when you don't like whomever the Lord set in those positions of authority over us by going to your fellow mankind about your unhappiness in them.

Do you not believe the whole Scriptures? That the Word of God says that indeed God establishes and it is He who removes?

Are you not tarnishing your image to the world by your words and actions when you're really in a disagreement with the Sovereign Lord over all mankind?

Jesus is the one who's directing the affairs of mankind in accordance with the plan of the Father. When He walked the Earth teaching His Disciples He taught that He was about the Father’s business. When He arose from the dead, He appointed the Apostles to carry on the Father’s business. Teaching future generations of Believers to do the same. 

Personally I have a party that I align myself to. But unless I feel it safe to do so I do not bring it up. To me it's a non-issue that doesn't support the preaching of the Word. It's not something that will ever be THAT thing that will be what a person needs to know before they come to Christ for salvation. But going on about those kinds of things haphazardly will push someone away from that gift of salvation through Jesus Christ. 

We are to pray without ceasing...not a 24/7 ongoing prayer. But when the moment is requiring it, do it. We are to pray for ourselves and others. Praying for people here is to pray for that treasure we will have in Heaven.  

It is the work of Satan to distract, to divide, to disrespect, to disrupt, the lives of people to take their minds off of Jesus Christ. Believers and the unbelieving alike don't know just how easily we can be played to do all those things. 

We also play right into them when we complain unendingly about those whom God put over us.  

Are you praying without grumbling? Do you not know that you're pulling nothing over on God when you are praying? He is the one who searches the hearts. Praying from a sincere heart is a requirement for a prayer that is meaningful. 

Additionally...all who are put in authority over us are part of God's plan that one day will include the Rapture of the Church as well as the beginning of the Great Tribulation after that takes place.  

As it's been a known impossibility...you can't hate and love at the same time. You cannot pray for the will of God for you and the world in Christ Jesus and pray against what He is both needing to do and is going to do with mankind.

Ours in Christ is to obey the Word of God. Ours is to be Ambassadors for Christ before the world. Then we are other things after that obligation is fulfilled. Then we are workers for employers, then we are father's and mother's to children. Then we are whatever our role is in the Church even. We are to represent Christ first and foremost. If we allow anyone or anything to usurp that...we've lost.

Take the time to pray as you know you ought to. Take the time to likewise ask for forgiveness if you've let your personal opinions on others disrupt your Ambassadorship in Christ. 

Ours is to trust and obey. 

Ours is to live, act, be, in the character of Christ to the world. 

An it certainly is on us to trust in the Lord for whom He chooses to put over us. We are to give of our best as unto the Lord in everything.  

All NASB Scripture Excerpts used by permission. 

New American Standard Bible 

(C) 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by the Lockman Foundation. 

A corporation not for profit.   

La Habra, CA All rights reserved 

www.lockman.org