Unbreakable Covenant and Conviction

Unbreakable Covenant and Conviction 

by David Brenneman and Daniel 

"Then these commissioners and satraps came by agreement to the king and spoke to him as follows: “King Darius, live forever! All the commissioners of the kingdom, the prefects and the satraps, the high officials and the governors have consulted together that the king should establish a statute and enforce an injunction that anyone who makes a petition to any god or man besides you, O king, for thirty days, shall be cast into the lions’ den. Now, O king, establish the injunction and sign the document so that it may not be changed, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which may not be revoked.” Therefore King Darius signed the document, that is, the injunction. Now when Daniel knew that the document was signed, he entered his house (now in his roof chamber he had windows open toward Jerusalem); and he continued kneeling on his knees three times a day, praying and giving thanks before his God, as he had been doing previously. Then these men came by agreement and found Daniel making petition and supplication before his God." Daniel 6:6-11.

Maybe you noticed the slight alteration to who's writing this post today.  

Daniel is certainly writing to all who would read about his life with the Lord. He makes no mention of it when they were first taken to Babylon but the evidence is clear that from a young age he had the unshakable, unbreakable, covenant conviction to pray every single day. He met with the Lord 3 times a day and nothing nor anyone would ever change that.  

Read between the lines concerning how and why Daniel succeeded in all he did. Where did it start? Where did it come from?

We cannot show others a life in Christ if we aren't living it our in an unashamed manner. We shouldn't make excuses for missing our own appointments with Jesus. 

Yet we do. We allow this or that to get in the way. We desire things that would make us potentially happy at the expense of a moment or two with Jesus who died in our place. 

We allow excuse after excuse and wiggle out of the responsibility that we have been taught to obey in.

Daniel certainly shows the example for all of us. I know that personally catching the message of this post has brought conviction to my heart.  

We easily find the time for many things but never really get consistent in prayer.  

Daniel's life exuded prayer as being of the utmost importance. As did Joseph. Those visions he had whereby his brothers and father were upset with him? Those came from a life obedient to the Lord. His own family didn't recognize the hand of the Lord in them although Israel aka Jacob kept what these words were in his heart and mind. 

Throughout the life of Joseph we read of how the Lord was with him.

This leads us to his prayer life. Joseph was a man of prayer. 

Daniel was a man of prayer. When he prayed Heaven certainly heard.

What is holding you back from a greater prayer life? What is it that convinced you that it was optional or wasn't really worth your undivided attention? Consider the silence that's there where there should be conversations between you and Jesus. 

Daniel's life exemplifies commitment. Even if facing earthly judgment he didn't care and wouldn't stop. Just as his friends answered King Nebuchadnezzar so in his actions he said the same to Darius and those who accused him. 

His life is our example just as much as Joseph's. Keep this in mind as you reread Psalms 139:1-24. If we believe that He the Lord Jesus Christ knows us this well and believe His promises concerning us, shouldn't we desire to get to know the One who loves us to that extent?

Yes this going to mean letting go of things we claim to like or love. But we cannot know the benefits until we break that cycle and start this one with the right heart attitude. 

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 

Oh the Depths

Oh the Depths 

by David Brenneman

O Lord, You have searched me and known me. You know when I sit down and when I rise up; You understand my thought from afar. You scrutinize my path and my lying down, And are intimately acquainted with all my ways. Even before there is a word on my tongue, Behold, O Lord, You know it all. You have enclosed me behind and before, And laid Your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; It is too high, I cannot attain to it. Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend to heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there. If I take the wings of the dawn, If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea, Even there Your hand will lead me, And Your right hand will lay hold of me. If I say, “Surely the darkness will overwhelm me, And the light around me will be night,” Even the darkness is not dark to You, And the night is as bright as the day. Darkness and light are alike to You. For You formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother’s womb. I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Wonderful are Your works, And my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret, And skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth; Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; And in Your book were all written The days that were ordained for me, When as yet there was not one of them. How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How vast is the sum of them! If I should count them, they would outnumber the sand. When I awake, I am still with You. O that You would slay the wicked, O God; Depart from me, therefore, men of bloodshed. For they speak against You wickedly, And Your enemies take Your name in vain. Do I not hate those who hate You, O Lord? And do I not loathe those who rise up against You? I hate them with the utmost hatred; They have become my enemies. Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me and know my anxious thoughts; And see if there be any hurtful way in me, And lead me in the everlasting way." Psalms 139:1-24.

"How deep the Father's love for us

How vast beyond all measure

That He should give His only Son

And make a wretch His treasure

How great the pain of searing loss

The Father turns His face away

As wounds which mar the Chosen One

Bring many sons to glory

Behold the man upon the cross

My sin upon His shoulders

Ashamed, I hear my mocking voice

Call out among the scoffers

It was my sin that held Him there

Until it was accomplished

His dying breath has brought me life

I know that it is finished

I will not boast in anything

No gifts, no power, no wisdom

But I will boast in Jesus Christ

His death and resurrection

Why should I gain from His reward

I cannot give an answer

But this I know with all my heart

His wounds have paid my ransom

Why should I gain from His reward

I cannot give an answer

But this I know with all my heart

His wounds have paid my ransom" 

(c)2003 Philips, Craig and Dean "How Deep the Father’s Love for Us".

I have had the older music in my collection come to mind of late. Partially I think because of the "Trusting God with Today" devotional by Dr. Charles Stanley exerpts that I have scanned and printed to put on the board at my study desk. To remind me of how much the Father loves me. How my God loves me.

God is so in love with His children.  

You are God in Heaven

And here am I on earth

So I'll let my words be few

Jesus, I am so in love with you

And I'll stand in awe of you [Jesus]

Yes, I'll stand in awe of you

And I'll let my words be few

Jesus, I am so in love with You

The simplest of all love songs

I want to bring to you

So I'll let my words be few

Jesus, I am so in love with You

And I'll stand in awe of you [Jesus]

Yes, I'll stand in awe of you

And I'll let my words be few

Jesus, I am so in love with You

- "Let My Words be Few" (c) 2001 Philips, Craig and Dean.

We were looking at the blessings of God towards us during our season of my unemployment. We have been oh so blessed. We in turn don't hesitate to bless others if it's within our means to do so.  

As a lesson I read about with a father and his son goes...he gave his son two coins and had one in each hand. He was to clench his fists tight n no matter what examples he gave he wasn't to give those coins to him. So his first example was someone in need who could really use them. His child didn't budge. Then he offered him something of even more value than the coins. He thought about it but still didn't budge. Then his father pointed out to his child that so long as their hands stayed closed around what they were given, they could neither bless someone else nor receive anything more.

We can often get into that situation. We get blessed then neglect to be ready to bless. We can set limits on blessing others when the Spirit is clear on what He's wanting us to do. We can neglect to see something greater on the horizon when we focus only on what's in our possession. 

Jesus knows our hearts. Has known us from afar. From before we were even born. Knows our going out and our coming in. He saw us being formed in our mother's womb. Knew all our days before as yet one of them occurred. 

Oh how deep the Father's love for us, how vast and beyond all measure. Yet we can miss it all by just a bit of selfishness. A bit of this or that.  

How can you be a blessing if you're not in that mindset to bless?  

How can you say you're living for Jesus when you refuse to go where He says, do what He wants or even have your hands open to receive what He's wanting you to have?

We cannot hide the truth behind our motives with He who IS Truth. 

We can and will lie to ourselves to appease our conscience. We will convince ourselves that the choices we made are even having been wrought in God that we did what we did for Him.  

But the truth is still there. 

Are you really trying to please God in all that you do or are you jockeying to get what you want out of life instead? Are you striving to please Him in all that you do? Are you really committed to the requirements of "Whatever" that comes with salvation in Christ Jesus? As Peter was told so are we "As for you, you follow Me!".

"And He was saying to them all, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, he is the one who will save it. For what is a man profited if he gains the whole world, and loses or forfeits himself?" Luke 9:23-25.

Self-examination in terms of wanting what God wants for you is always a healthy thing. Then begin praying for yourself in the changes that the Spirit will, not might, tell you needs to happen.  

His job is to make us fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ. To make us more like Christ. Only Satan's schemes and our sin nature are fully opposed to that. We need to recognize these things and hand them to Jesus to deal with. 

Oh the depths of His love for me and for you. Our lives were never meant to be the same after coming to Christ for salvation. We were given spiritual gifts to be both discovered and to be used.  

Pray for yourself this day to be who Jesus wants you to be, to let go of what you should and to be ready both to bless and receive the blessings of others.

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 

Seeking Spiritual Understanding

Seeking Spiritual Understanding 

by David Brenneman 

"We walk by faith, not by sight."

2 Corinthians 5:7.

     Imagine you've gone through a difficult experience in your life and you're fearful of what the future might hold. To encourage you, a friend says, "You can do it, one day at a time. Remember: just walk by religion, not by sight." Walk by religion? To a biblically literate Christian, the very sound of that phrase is off-putting, to say the least.

     You probably know what Paul really said in 2 Corinthians 5:7:

"We walk by faith, not by sight." But even the idea of walking by faith seems contrary to common sense. If we walked by religion, we would at least have a tangible structure- things that are seen--to pin our hopes on: buildings, traditions, schedules, liturgies, ministers, and the like. If we walk by faith, we have only the promises of God. But we also have "the evidence of things not seen" (Hebrews 11:1). We not only have God's promises but we

also have the evidence from thousands of years of history that He has kept His promises to those who trust Him. And He will keep

His promises for you.

     If you are facing an uncertain future (and who isn't?), remember to walk by faith-faith in the God who promises He "will never leave you nor forsake you" (Hebrews 13:5).

Walking by faith means being prepared to trust where we are not permitted to see.

JOHN BLANCHARD

-Walking with God, Dr. David Jeremiah. 

In many ways we neglect to see the world from the spiritual point of view that we see Jesus teaching the Disciples for 3 and a half years...and of which they taught the early Church for 20+ years before they had Paul's letters, Peter's letters, James and the rest.

We don't even look at the world in which we live as they did. We don't look for how spiritual matters impact the physical life. We listen to the world in it's feable understanding and chalk it up to chemical imbalances and the like.

Why is it those 2026 years ago understood and could tell the difference between the medical and the spiritual when it came to what someone was suffering from? Why? Because the master of deception has had 2026 years to perfect his deceit.

We don't get involved because of a few reasons. One is that we're not as trained up as those first Disciples were. I speak not of those who became Apostles...but those whom were the first that the Apostle's trained.  

We live in a world immersed in deceit. Lies that are so sugar coated that unless you're really a student of the Scriptures, as my Spiritual Dad, Mike Wingfield teaches...you will indeed be deceived.

We have been taught not to challenge wrong thinking. We have been taught to accept those who break the laws of the land as if they had a right to. We have been taught that it's acceptable to not challenge doctor's diagnosis. That we should believe them no matter what.  

We don't look at people as Jesus looked at people. He saw beyond their physical issues...to the root cause of their issues. Today's world is 'treat it with a pill or an IV and you'll be ok...leave God out of it.".

Most in the professing Church today I would dare-say that in his recent newsletter "PT News" at www.ptnews.org is spot on...they don't know how to recognize what is and is not spiritual warfare. They do not know what to do and are not aware at all of their spiritual surroundings.  

They've accepted so many compromises that they don't think they have a right to stand up in the faith.

No matter where you are in your spiritual journey with Christ...you CAN and SHOULD stand firm in the faith. You have to start somewhere or start again somewhere in your life in Christ.

When we accept and do not challenge Satan's lies...his deceit...then we can and usually do enable people to stay trapped in whatever hell on earth they are in.

Look at what happened even with the Disciples...who were given authority to cast out demons. There were some that even that authority wasn't enough. Prayer and fasting were needed to bolster that request.  

You, my Dear Reader, need to sit down and have your own serious, dedicated, intentional, training in righteousness with the Spirit of God if you are going to ever have your thinking about people and about yourself ever straightened out.

Within this...realize that which the Scriptures say WILL take place. "Everyone will be without excuse" when they stand before Jesus. "Chemical imbalance" will not be an acceptable excuse. "I couldn't help myself" will not be an acceptable excuse. "I didn't think it would be a bad thing" will not be an acceptable excuse.

In fact...let's make it simple...as simple as the coming to Christ for salvation. There are no acceptable excuses for not coming to Christ for salvation. There's no acceptable excuses for not doing, saying or being as Christ, through His Spirit, teaches us to do, say or be.  

We will indeed see hard times when we come to Christ. Jesus said so.

Long ago there was a song "One Day at a Time" and the message is right that it speaks to. Even in the hard times, as well as the good times, take every day with Jesus one at a time. Don't get ahead of Him. Always be learning about how to be who God in Christ Jesus wants you to be. Always be aware of your surroundings in the spiritual sense. Listen to the Spirit, not the world. Don't let anything get in the way, be it family, friends, or even your own self-interests in being all who God in Christ Jesus wants you to be. 

We need to take the lessons that Jesus taught to heart. It's still an amazing thing to me to look at the book of Acts from that perspective. All they had for 20 plus years was ONLY the teachings of Jesus...and it was THOSE plus the Old Testament that transformed the global landscape as the Church of Christ spread out into the world. The letters, epistles, etc. that came later only served to bolster what they already had in their firm foundation of the teachings of Jesus from the Apostles.

Look at your life. Get real with you about where you have compromised. Where you have accepted the world's doctrines on how to live life and what you should or should not accept as truth.  

While yes this life is likely going to be rough...and it likely WILL get rough when you stand firm in the Lord and the light of His Word.  

Seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness and all these things will be added unto you.

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

We cannot know or understand the true life that awaits us in Christ if we are not choosing at a minimum those two promises.  

We are to be living for Jesus in all that we do. Whether or not we understand or not. Whether it makes sense or not. A light shining is totally indiscriminate on what it reveals. OUR light is supposed to shine in such a way that people see our good works and glorify our Father in Heaven. Our FIRST priority to live a life acceptable to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Not the world.  

"may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him" Romans 15:13.

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 

His Open Arms Are For You

His Open Arms Are For You 

by David Brenneman 

"Opening his mouth, Peter said: “I most certainly understand now that God is not one to show partiality, but in every nation the man who fears Him and does what is right is welcome to Him. The word which He sent to the sons of Israel, preaching peace through Jesus Christ (He is Lord of all)—you yourselves know the thing which took place throughout all Judea, starting from Galilee, after the baptism which John proclaimed. You know of Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him. We are witnesses of all the things He did both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They also put Him to death by hanging Him on a cross. God raised Him up on the third day and granted that He become visible, not to all the people, but to witnesses who were chosen beforehand by God, that is, to us who ate and drank with Him after He arose from the dead. And He ordered us to preach to the people, and solemnly to testify that this is the One who has been appointed by God as Judge of the living and the dead. Of Him all the prophets bear witness that through His name everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins.” Acts 10:34-43

Long long ago for me, these facts about my Savior were explained to me. I was around 7 at the time. I knew and understood that I was a sinner in need of a Savior, who was Christ the Lord. I knew that there was nothing that I could do on my own to be right before God. It wasn't me who did anything to save me. I heard His call and He reached out and did everything that I couldn't do.  

"For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;" Ephesians 2:8.

Grace. The truest definition is "unmerited favor". Getting something we don't deserve. We have nothing to offer in exchange for our soul. There's nothing we could possibly give to cover our own sins.  

This comes hand-in-hand with mercy...our not getting what we do deserve for breaking God's laws. We are born in sin and we need His God-given perfect sacrifice to deal with this.  

What we receive in exchange is a life we never could or would see otherwise. We are adopted into the family of God. We have all our sins, past, present and future dealt with. He promises to be faithful and just to forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Removing them as far as the east is from the west. 

So no, I have not a remembrance of a life before Jesus. But for sure my life has never been the same as it would have been.  

Throughout my life there's been countless examples of His loving hands turning my life into something worth living. He's brought me through dangers that by any other means would have been impossible. He's provided in ways that I never could have considered. When it comes to battles with those whom have wronged me, He's fought them on my behalf. He is a promise keeper.  

Jesus is very real and is very much open to saving more people. He said that whomever comes to Him in faith by no means would He ever cast out.  

What does it take? Read it here: 

"But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart”—that is, the word of faith which we are preaching, that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him; for “Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.” Romans 10:8-13.

First you have to acknowledge that you are a sinner in need of a Savior...just as I had to do. 

"For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" Romans 3:23.

Next is to acknowledge His truth about sin. That the Bible is clear that what we deserve for sin is death. 

"For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." Romans 6:23.

Romans 5:8 says "But God demonstrates His own love for us that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us."

And in conclusion you already just read what Romans 10 says.

My Dear Reader the gift of eternal life is free. Jesus paid it all. He wants to be the forgiver of your sins and the leader of your life. But you have to ask Him to do that.  

I really like this portion of a story about a man who believed...his daily prayer that was the beginning of his life in Christ. 

"I JUST CAME BY TO TELL YOU, LORD, HOW HAPPY I HAVE BEEN,

SINCE WE FOUND EACH OTHERS FRIENDSHIP AND YOU TOOK AWAY MY SIN. DON'T KNOW MUCH OF HOW TO PRAY, BUT I THINK ABOUT YOU EVERYDAY. SO, JESUS, THIS IS BEN, JUST CHECKING IN TODAY."

You too can pray such a prayer after you receive the free gift of salvation through Jesus Christ alone.  

Until you do, there's a great divide between you and God that cannot be crossed without going through the cross of Jesus Christ. Only through the finished work of Jesus on the cross can we come into the presence of God.  

Jesus loves you. When He looked forward to the cross He thought of you. When He was cruelly beaten and scourged, He thought of you. When He was being nailed to that cross, He thought of you. When He arose from the dead, He was ready to welcome you into His family, having done it all to make it possible to join Him where He is. 

Scripture further says that without faith it is impossible to please God. Without the free gift of salvation through Jesus Christ alone we cannot please God.  

What's holding you back? Questions yet you may still have?  

Jesus said you must come as a child does. Look upon Him who died and arose again and simply believe that that is and was for you. Believe that He said it about you and claim it for yourself. 

You can text the word "Jesus" to (330) 264-9459 and you will be connected with someone who will talk to you about this salvation in Christ that you have read about today.  

Jesus is waiting with open arms for all who would come to Him to be saved. No matter what the baggage is we bring, He will deal with it. No matter how sinful we feel He will heal it. No matter what...He's ready to save. 

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 

Where to Put Anxiousness

Where to Put Anxiousness
by David Brenneman

"Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.  And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.  Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.  The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you." Philippians 4:6-9.

"For even when we came into Macedonia our flesh had no rest, but we were afflicted on every side: conflicts without, fears within." 2 Corinthians 7:5.

"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.

"And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me." 2 Corinthians 12:9.

Paul's anxiousness, his weakness, was his overwhelming concern for the Churches of God.  When not there with them it's evident that the enemy of God was trying to cloud his mind with attempts at worrying about them. 

I had thought long ago, as many have tried to preach on the subject, that his thorn in the flesh was his eyesight.  However, when you really consider the dynamic person Paul was, that's actually utterly rubbish.  Paul's list of things he went through physically he didn't complain about so why would he about his eyes?  But in the context of the dynamics of Paul's life you see his extremely strong desire that his efforts to prove obedient to the command given to him by Jesus towards the Gentiles...it makes perfect sense.

In that light you see the proper use of that same zeal he originally was showing in his youth in his attacks on Christianity as lived out in assuring the Churches he planted weren't in vain.  So he visited...and visited...and visited these churches.

Anxiousness is part of the human experience but it doesn't need to define it.  Our identity, as was with Paul, isn't wrapped up in our feelings and emotions. 

Our identity is who we are in Christ, who the Father says we are.  When imputed with the righteousness of Jesus Christ upon us all the Father sees is Jesus when He looks at one of us.

If I were asked about these last, now going on 8 months, of unemployment if anxious thoughts were there...in all honesty...for the most part no.  Certainly the peace of God which passes all understanding has guarded our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

Regardless of anyone's social or employment status...remain faithful in the Lord.

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

"Commit your way to the Lord, Trust also in Him, and He will do it." Psalms 37:5.

:For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart." Jeremiah 29:11-13.

"Cast your burden upon the Lord and He will sustain you; He will never allow the righteous to be shaken." Psalms 55:22.

"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.

Considering what passages we read today...and the many others that are available to us...Paul had to trust what investments in people that he had in those churches, equip them, and leave them with Jesus to take from there.

Our lives are such chaos at times we get pushed this way and that and through it all...Jesus is the constant that never changes.

I was reminded of the fall of 2021 in 2 and 3/4ths months my Wife and I were literally pushed through the wringer after I accepted an offer for a job 2 hours from where we were living.  I had to give a 1 week notice at my current employer.  Had to find a realtor in our new hometown, find one in our current hometown.  Figure out where to put stuff we were keeping, and the excruciating part of what to do with what we were not keeping.  Add to this points of the home inspection where we were that had to be addressed.  All the while I was staying in a camper heading into winter, working through the week and handling the rest on weekends. 

Yet God saw us safely through it.  Upon move-in day our new church sent many people to unload.  God had provided for their meals.  God had provided warm weather and no snow which was right before Christmas. 

This is but one example of a stressful time where prayer was our answer to what was anxious to us but never to our Savior in whom we trust. 

The temptation to be anxious is part of our fallen nature.  If even the Apostles dealt with it we will too.

Remembering these passages when anxiousness creeps in is the proper response to it

We are several months removed from unemployment benefits yet God keeps faithful in His promises to provide for us. 

The end is near, both my Wife and I agree on that.  Soon enough I will be working at a job again.  In the meantime my job is to both look and to accomplish whatever it is He puts before me to be doing.  Whether its around the house or helping others.  Colossians 3:23-24 "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.".

So before going down the path of anxiousness...ask yourself what it is that you're not trusting God with.

Our very life is in His hands.  He's surprised by nothing.  He always provides exactly on time.  Hecsays never to worry about tomorrow for tomorrow has enough trouble of its own.  He's already there dealing with your tomorrow before you see it or experience it.

Think on these things.

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

So Do You Ask?

So Do You Ask?
by David Brenneman

"Let me hear Your lovingkindness in the morning; For I trust in You; Teach me the way in which I should walk; For to You I lift up my soul.  Deliver me, O Lord, from my enemies; I take refuge in You.  Teach me to do Your will, For You are my God; Let Your good Spirit lead me on level ground.  For the sake of Your name, O Lord, revive me. In Your righteousness bring my soul out of trouble.  And in Your lovingkindness, cut off my enemies And destroy all those who afflict my soul, For I am Your servant." Psalms 143:8-12.

Most, while we are in school, long for the days when we are not.  Some with aspirations go on to college or technical schools or maybe even the military or full time Christian ministry.  All of which require more training and years of commitment.

For those who are in Christ...you and I...our schooling never ends and we should both be glad and expectant of what's to come from the Spirit of God who's job is to teach us all things.

Do you incorporate your spiritual training in righteousness into your life?  Do you pick up your textbook to find today's lesson?  Do you talk to your Teacher? 

When we came to Christ for salvation we begin something that will go on throughout our lives and only reach a graduation day when we step into eternity in Heaven with Jesus.

We became His workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works that we might walk in them. 

Do you know what that means or what those things are for you?

Do you know what kinds of thoughts you should be thinking with regards to spiritual matters that the Spirit lays out before you?

Do you look to taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ Jesus?  It's right there in our textbook, the Bible.

Do you examine what you are told to see if it is so in your textbook, the Bible?

Do you have conversations with your Teacher about what you have read?

What we do in a physical school environment isn't much different than with the Spirit of God.

We may take notes, find similar topics, take even days to go over a subject. 

"Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.  And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect." Romans 12:1-2.

Do you even understand what seeking first His Kingdom and His righteousness means?

Do you know what setting your mind on the things that are above and not on the things that are of this world looks like?

Idolatry is everywhere in the world...have you given thought to this passage?  "Little children, guard yourselves from idols." 1 John 5:21.

Jesus spoke of how the Father listened to Him because He always did what was pleasing to the Father.  

Do you strive to do what's pleasing to God? 

Do you look to get rid of the things in your life so that you can be the best you can be as unto the Lord?

Is there anything within you that's looking to hear "Well done My good and faithful servant"?

Set aside time in the morning, time in the evening.  Daniel's life was so personified with his dedication to prayer that everyone knew where to find him 3 times a day. 

Set aside time to spend in prayer outside of meals. 

Give of your best to the Master,
give of the strength of your youth;
throw your soul's fresh, glowing ardor into the battle for truth.
Jesus has set the example-
dauntless was He, young and brave;
give Him your loyal devotion,
give Him the best that you have.

Give of your best to the Master,
give of the strength of your youth;
clad in salvation's full armor,
join in the battle for truth.

Give of your best to the Master,
give HIm first place in your heart;
give Him first place in your service,
consecrate every part.
Give and to you shall be given-
God His beloved Son gave;
give Him your heart's adoration,
give HIm the best that you have.

Give of your best to the Master,
give of the strength of your youth;
clad in salvation's full armor,
join in the battle for truth.
- Give of Your Best to the Master, Howard B Grose.

If we want to stand before Jesus with our lives having been lived pleasing to God we need to put in the efforts to do so.  If we want to run the race, finish the course, as though to win, we need to train.

Take the time to evaluate you as a Student of the Master and see what you need to change in order to strive to only live a life pleasing to God. 

For only what we have done in the body for Jesus Christ is what will survive the fires of Truth. 

"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

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

Where I Am He Is Also

Where I Am He Is Also 

by David Brenneman 

"O Lord, You have searched me and known me. You know when I sit down and when I rise up; You understand my thought from afar. You scrutinize my path and my lying down, And are intimately acquainted with all my ways. Even before there is a word on my tongue, Behold, O Lord, You know it all. You have enclosed me behind and before, And laid Your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; It is too high, I cannot attain to it. Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend to heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there. If I take the wings of the dawn, If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea, Even there Your hand will lead me, And Your right hand will lay hold of me. If I say, “Surely the darkness will overwhelm me, And the light around me will be night,” Even the darkness is not dark to You, And the night is as bright as the day. Darkness and light are alike to You. For You formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother’s womb. I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Wonderful are Your works, And my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret, And skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth; Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; And in Your book were all written The days that were ordained for me, When as yet there was not one of them. How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How vast is the sum of them! If I should count them, they would outnumber the sand. When I awake, I am still with You. O that You would slay the wicked, O God; Depart from me, therefore, men of bloodshed. For they speak against You wickedly, And Your enemies take Your name in vain. Do I not hate those who hate You, O Lord? And do I not loathe those who rise up against You? I hate them with the utmost hatred; They have become my enemies. Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me and know my anxious thoughts; And see if there be any hurtful way in me, And lead me in the everlasting way." Psalms 139:1-24.

"The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters. He restores my soul; He guides me in the paths of righteousness For His name’s sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You have anointed my head with oil; My cup overflows. Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life, And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever." Psalms 23:1-6.

Never alone. I have had a few people in my life attempt to tell me that should I go down some path they don't agree with that I would be alone. What's more surprising is those were Believer's telling me this. However the truth is here in the Scriptures. We're never alone. 

Why Psalms 23 with Psalms 139? Why not? I see overtones of each chapter within the other.   

When getting ready to take on Goliath, David told Saul that this uncircumcised Philistine would be no different than the lion and the bear that the Lord was with David to defeat.  

You see, David learned early on in life that he and his God were an unbeatable combination. He was never alone no matter who he faced.  

We too are never alone. Once the Spirit has set His seal upon us for having come to Christ for salvation...we're inseparable. Not by our hand or anyone else's. 

Satan's schemes involve getting people who are indeed in Christ to believe that the silence they experience is a sign that the Father left them, that the Lord Jesus abandoned them, that the Spirit walked out on them. 

Let's cut to the chase. 

"Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Just as it is written, “For Your sake we are being put to death all day long; We were considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 8:35-39.

Anyone who tells you that in the path you are taking, that you know has been shown to you is the direction the Lord wants you to go, is going to lead to you being alone....don't believe them.   

Add to our Scriptures this morning the one where Jesus Himself says that He will never leave us or forsake us. Therefore anyone saying such things to you or I are not speaking for God.

"For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God." Colossians 3:3.

In our desires, an maybe in theirs, is to see a resolution to a situation that in truthfulness might not be what God wants or where He wants us to be. We read the other day of how Jesus knowingly sent His Disciples into a storm knowing there was no other way for truth to be realized by the Disciples but in that way. They would NEED to go through it to grow in Christ in the way that the Father knew they needed.  

Quite literally we are either growing in Christ to be more like Jesus or we're conforming to the world. A person leaves civilian life to become a soldier. He or she will never achieve becoming the best soldier he or she can or will be if they're not focused on becoming the best.  

Jesus, through the Spirit, teaches us all things and will bring to remembrance all that He commanded only if we're intent on and focused on learning to be whom He wants us to be...even if those around us don't understand. 

We are going to individually stand before Jesus to give an account of our lives. Not as a group. Not speaking for someone else.  

People in our lives may or may not see what God is doing in our lives because quite frankly they do not have all the facts. They do not know where you are in your sanctification. They see a sliver and think they have the whole portrait.  

Proverbs 3:5-6 says "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.". While people in your life might have insight in some similar areas...we are still to trust in the Lord with all our heart. Remember 3 of 4 of Job's friends weren't giving right advice to Job. Job's own Wife didn't.  

We read this morning that in every intimate detail our Savior and Lord knows us. From before we were born and every single second since. He chose us. He will return one day for us.  

Be encouraged to know that you and Jesus are a majority in any situation. While it's grand to have other Believers in Christ alongside of you...Scriptures say that sometimes that might not be the case.  

Stay in the Word of God. Stay in prayer. Set your mind on the things that are above and not on the things that are of this world. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul and spirit.  

Alone? For those in Christ? Never.

"And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose." Romans 8:28. Doesn't say that others will understand it.

For those who are in Christ are in a personal relationship with Jesus. Sometimes what's shared or learned between you and Jesus is just for between you and Jesus.  

Your relationship with Jesus is beyond even what we understand of what 'personal' means.  

Nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus.

Therefore we are never alone.

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

Sent into the Storm

Sent into the Storm 

by David Brenneman 

"Immediately He made the disciples get into the boat and go ahead of Him to the other side, while He sent the crowds away." Matthew 14:22.

     After Jesus miraculously fed five thousand people from a few loaves and fishes, He sent the disciples on a journey that would ultimately take them into a storm. The implication in the passage is that they didn't want to go, but Jesus insisted. Soon enough, the winds and waves began to batter their ship. 

     At best, the disciples might have thought they were going to be off course or late in their arrival. At worst, they may have feared death. But Jesus knew they needed to learn the important lesson that He is not only the Sovereign over the wind and sea but also the

omnipotent Lord of their lives.

     The same is true for you. Jesus has a plan for bringing you through the storms you are experiencing. He also has a specific timetable. His purposes are perfect, even when you don't understand them or they impinge on your personal goals. But be assure that Jesus is with you in the tempests, regardless of their nature or origin, and that He has a divine plan for getting you through. And just as the disciples arrived exactly where they needed to be righ when they were supposed to be there, so will you.

Jesus, teach me to trust You completely in this storm. Amen

- Trusting God with Today, Dr. Charles Stanley. 

I wonder if you ever caught that my Dear Reader? That Jesus instructed them to get in the boat and to leave Him there and go.

He knew full well what was coming...a lesson or two on belief and faith. We can see that they knew nothing going into it. We know nothing going into the many places that the Spirit leads us. I knew nothing of what storm I stepped into on June 12th, 2025. I was as likewise stunned and breathless from what had just come upon me. Like someone landing a hit right to my chest. 

I do thank my Savior Jesus Christ that my first thoughts weren't towards panicking. Looking back I can see where He was leading my thoughts and conversations. 

By ever accounting that storm was as real to me as what these Disciples were living. Probably in your life you can give testimony about yours as well.

And right there it is. The crux of it all. The real central thought to glean from. 

We are going to go through storms that are as unique as they aren't. We will either lean on our living Lord and Savior Jesus Christ or we won't. We will eventually have an irrefutable testimony to share and show of the love of God for us through these times. The Disciples sure did. They had lived a lesson that 11 of them wouldn't soon forget.  

When we are lead into the storm realize that Jesus is right there in the midst. He saw them...from the shoreline...and knew exactly what they were facing.  

When your storm comes, and it will, you have to choose to look to your Savior. God is GOING to be glorified through our struggles and storms, but just how much He will is on each of us.  

"And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose." Romans 8:28.

Jesus, at the Father’s direction, caused this storm to come upon His Disciples.  

Jesus, knows how we learn. I have heard it from several people over the years to learn how you learn and go with that. Jesus knows ahead of time what the results of our storm will be. Question is whether we will need to repeat it to glean the lesson of it.

Our storms also are there to grow us in Christ. If you have no storms you should question that. A life without them will be like a big oak tree that easily fell when the first real storm comes upon it. No firm roots to anchor it. Storms cause all trees everywhere to seek to go deeper. Look at what the Lord shows us in nature. Old big tall trees are only still there because of the storms it went through. 

Daniel faced many kinds of storms yet he always kept to his schedule of prayer 3x a day no matter what was called upon him to do. His life with the Lord was more important and he was considered greatly esteemed for it.

My current storm is likely coming to an end. A wonderful song and video by Mark Lowry "This Too Shall Pass" is one I gravitate to in times of storm. It's based on a Scripture passage "...it came to pass...". As he says in the video...it came to pass...it didn't come to stay. What we face in this life that's ours to go through isn't here permanently. We are GOING to grow in Christ if we indeed have come to Christ for salvation. The question is how well we will embrace it and share our experiences with others. 

He leads us into storms and will lead us out of them. The other end of that story shows us that. Joseph was sold into slavery by his own family. His storm ended with saving them all by how mightily he was used of God. 

We have this hope in Christ Jesus that if it comes to pass it will not stay a second longer than is necessary to accomplish God's will for us in these situations. That too is one of Dr. Charles Stanley's Life Principles. #7.

Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness during these storms. Be careful how you listen during these storms. 

Set your mind on the things that are above during these storms. 

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...in these storms.

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 

No Physical Retirement Plan for Christians

No Physical Retirement Plan for Christians 

by David Brenneman 

Nobody in Christ is in any kind of Spiritual retirement. When we have ran the race, finished the course, and step into eternity, then we shall say that our work on Earth is done. 

We may change what that may look like at the Spirit’s direction, but nobody in Christ ever is to cease from the work in the Father’s fields doing the Father’s business.  

“Therefore be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming. But be sure of this, that if the head of the house had known at what time of the night the thief was coming, he would have been on the alert and would not have allowed his house to be broken into. For this reason you also must be ready; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think He will. Who then is the faithful and sensible slave whom his master put in charge of his household to give them their food at the proper time? Blessed is that slave whom his master finds so doing when he comes. Truly I say to you that he will put him in charge of all his possessions. But if that evil slave says in his heart, ‘My master is not coming for a long time,’ and begins to beat his fellow slaves and eat and drink with drunkards; the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour which he does not know, and will cut him in pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." Matthew 24:42-51.

“Take heed, keep on the alert; for you do not know when the appointed time will come. It is like a man away on a journey, who upon leaving his house and putting his slaves in charge, assigning to each one his task, also commanded the doorkeeper to stay on the alert. Therefore, be on the alert—for you do not know when the master of the house is coming, whether in the evening, at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or in the morning—in case he should come suddenly and find you asleep. What I say to you I say to all, ‘Be on the alert!’ ” Mark 13:33-37.

Is it any plainer than from the Lord Jesus Christ Himself? We are His representatives at all times in all places for His plan and purpose for each of us.  

"But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was. But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does." James 1:22-25.

"Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win. Everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. They then do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. Therefore I run in such a way, as not without aim; I box in such a way, as not beating the air; but I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified." 1 Corinthians 9:24-27.

What are you doing to prepare for the rest of the race set before you?

In the movie "Overcomer" listen carefully to what the Dad says while she runs the race. The words are very applicable to how we are to go through life. Persistence, patience, attacking the hills before us. 

Are you going to actually think to stand before Jesus one day thinking you accomplished all that He set out for you to have done and yet long before your race had finished you had stopped running?

"Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father." Colossians 3:17.

"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." Colossians 3:23-24.

The thing to remember is what we learned of the Pharisees and Sadducees. They had thought greatly of their status as Jews and the religious elite would give them a greater standing before God. 

Do you press on towards the upward call for you in Christ Jesus? Do you persist in your prayer life?

Do you keep pace with Jesus or do you keep telling Him to go on ahead, you'll catch up?

None of the Apostles would ever be seen, known, have a reputation for not having given their all for their ministry in Christ. They didn't teach the new Disciples of Christ for 20 years based on the Old Testament and Jesus's teaching to give anything less than 100%.

It's a lie of Satan to go down the road of going for what we deserve after a long life.  

Run as though you're looking to win is what the Bible says. Getting rid of whatever encumbrances are slowing you down or distracting you.  

All Believers, everywhere, have a part to do, something to accomplish in Christ's plan for us. We have our growth in Christ to be about and we have our part in pointing people to Jesus to be about. Both are non-negotiable aspects of the Christian life.

Do you represent Christ well in your world? Do you watch what you say, how you act?  

We can never do enough for what He's done to save us and to bring us into His family.  

Get in the game, get back on the road, there's a race to be run.

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 

Underestimated, Underutilized?

Underestimated, Underutilized?

by David Brenneman 

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ," Ephesians 1:3.

Have you ever considered your faith in Jesus? Most of us haven't-we vastly under-estimate all Christ has given us. We are like the man who decides to go on a cruise. He makes his reservation and buys buys his tickets. He packs his bags, and, when the day comes, he boards the ship. He goes to the first dinner and takes a look at the long, sumptuous buffet table. Then he sits down, opens a little sack, and pulls out a few crackers and a jar of peanut butter. He doesn't comprehend that all his meals on the ship are covered by the price of his ticket.

     This example may sound silly until you realize that you have

instant access to the God of all creation, and yet you may still fret

about issues that are well within His provision to you. You were

given all the blessings of heaven in Christ, and there's never a time

when you're cut off from His presence or supply. So don't remain

in an anxious or needy state. Thank the Father that He has already

given all you require.

Jesus, forgive me for underestimating Your blesings. Thank You for taking care of me. Amen.

- Trusting God with Today, Dr. Charles Stanley. 

Before going much further let me preface the post by saying that whenever you find me quoting a segment from one of the devotionals that I have been reading its because it's message struck a chord with me personally and in many cases I included it in my daily journal to remind me of it again.

I know not what my future holds and some may say it's cliche to say that I know who holds my future in His hands...but it's true. Scripture tells us from Jesus Himself concerning the length, breadth, depth and height of our lives. He knew us before we were even born or were able to have a thought of our own. 

It's been a learning experience these 7 months with being unemployed. Learning just how complicated the process now is that never used to be. Learning of the true nature of the people who were and are in my life. The consequences of listening to the Spirit in befriending a fellow brother in Christ that started all of this. 

Learning of a different way of understanding through experience of "give us this day our daily bread".

Learning to stay committed to my times in the Word both in the morning and evening.  

Learning, learning, learning. We who have come to Christ must realize that salvation isn't simply a get out of Hell free gift. It comes with a price that was paid at calvary. We owe our lives to Him who died for us. We begin a journey of transformation towards becoming more like Jesus Christ. 

We go through the lush fields and those valley of the shadow of death times. We are going to suffer at times because He suffered at times. We are going to experience higher highs and lower lows than those outside the Church of Jesus Christ. Jesus said that He gives life and not just life, life more abundant (paraphrasing a few verses together).

He doesn't leave us as He found us. He, through the Spirit, cleans us up and gives us His righteousness to wear.  

But we still have that sin nature to battle. We too, just as the Disciples, can find ourselves fearful of what our eyes see just as they did when the storm hit while Jesus slept in the boat.  

We can and probably will react the same in facing storms ourselves. I still remember the hit below the belt when I was taken off the production floor and accused of things that I knew weren't true and had no way to defend myself nor any avenue to speak on my behalf. Suffice to say that the State cleared me. But I was still without a job. This would be the beginning of a new kind of lessons to be taught to me. It should also be noted that the Bible does say that we are to count ourselves blessed when we suffer for doing what is right in the eyes of God. 

Then comes the eventual storm and it's effects. What do we do? What do I do? Where can help come from? As the Scriptures teach us our help comes from the Lord, the maker of Heaven and Earth. 

Long before this season of life the passage of Proverbs 3:5-6 had been on my mind and indeed still is. "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." The word of God with a promise. Then came another promise Romans 8:28 "And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.".

There is also that promise that those who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus are going to suffer. 2 Timothy 3:12.

Another promise comes with my letting go of what my will is in the matter. Romans 12:19 "Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord.".

The promises keep coming. To be anxious for nothing...Philippians 4:6-7 "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.".

We have the promises of God at our fingertips if we would but claim them then we would see the hands of God. 

We don't need to pack a lunch to get us through a situation when God has prepared for us in ways we can't begin to imagine. 

I used to have it constantly on my mind about projects around the house...in this season He gave me time to get things done. Providing everything to get it done. Changing my outlook on dealing with situations and even people at times.  

Transformation into the likeness of Jesus Christ is the point behind what we go through in life. If there's no situations that challenge your thinking and way of life that require the promises of God...question where you are in Christ. Nobody has arrived while yet breathing the air of this world. Nobody's journey of transformation towards sanctification is complete until they're in Heaven with Jesus. 

My faith history reminds me for certain that He who began a good work in me will continue in it until the day of Christ Jesus. Philippians 1:6 "For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.".

When we look at the storm and not on Our Savior we will be just like they were while Jesus slept in the boat. What Jesus begins He always finishes.  

Look not at your situations look to Him who knows more about it than you do. Don't underestimate what God can do and will do for those whom He loved with an everlasting love. Don't underutilize the promises available in Christ for you. Trust and obey for there's no other way to be happy in Jesus than to trust and obey. 

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's Important to Him Should Be What's Important to Me

What's Important to Him Should Be What's Important to Me

by David Brenneman 

The Worthless Things 

"Turn my eyes from looking at worthless things; and give me life in your ways." Psalms 119:37 ESV

     There are many kinds of worthless things.'The cap and bells of the fool; the laughter of the world, the dance, the music, and the drink of the immoral all of these we know to be worthless. They wear the title clearly.

     Far more dangerous are those equally worthless things Jesus mentioned in Matthew 13:22- the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth. A person may follow worthless things as truly in the place of business as

in the theater. If he spends his life amassing wealth, he passes his days in a worthless pursuit. Unless we follow Christ and make God the great object of life, we only differ in appearance from the most frivolous. It is clear that there is much need of the first prayer of our text: Turn my eyes from looking

at worthless things.

      And then, Give me life in your ways. The psalmist confesses that he is dull, heavy, crude, all but dead. Perhaps, dear reader, you feel the same way. We are so sluggish that the greatest motives cannot enliven us, apart from the Lord himself. What? Will hell not awaken me? Can I think of sinners dying, and

not be spurred to action? Will heaven not stimulate me? Can I think of the reward that awaits the righteous, and still be cold? Will death not provoke me? Can I think of dying and standing before my God, and still be lazy in my Master's service? Will Christ's love not force me onward? Can I think of fervent zeal? It seems so! 

     No mere thought can bring our zeal to life- God Himself must do that. And so the cry, Give me life in your ways. The psalmist breathes out his whole soul in passionate pleas: his body and his soul unite in prayer. Turn my eyes, says the body. Give me life, cries the soul. This is a proper prayer for every day.

Oh, Lord, hear it in my case this evening

- Morning and Evening, C.H. Spurgeon 

We live in a world where we're immersed in peer pressure from the moment we look cute in a cradle. Parents doing their best to impress upon our young minds their tastes and their prospective. No this is nothing about gender identification. God's Word says plainly male and female He created them and also before we were born in our mother's womb He knew us. This is about wise decisions and seeking first His Kingdom and His righteousness. About removing the things from our lives that aren't helping with those two priorities to growing in Christ. 

The first thing to understand is that which we read in 1 Thessalonians 4:3a. "This is the will of God for us...our sanctification.". Not our worldly success. Not our getting everything we wanted out of life from our perspective. Not money, riches or fame. Not anything this world would offer us. We come to Christ, we begin with a clean slate. We become His workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works that we might walk in them. The Spirit of God, the Helper, the Paraclete, another of the same kind as the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, will teach us all things pertaining to a life in Godliness. None of the things oh so many people grow up with in their lives that they are told they must do or must be like. 

In Romans Paul wrote of the transforming work of God. This is that workmanship of Jesus Christ in us.  

But we're quite often too enamored by what comes our way. The joys of acceptance by other just as fallen in nature.  

Whatever we give our hearts attention to that isn't growing us in Christ will push out what the Spirit is doing at the moment. There can't be two people in the pilot's seat. 

The Bible says that we are not our own that we were bought with a price, the shed blood of Jesus Christ. Jesus said that we should take up our own cross and follow Him. Nobody heading for a crucifixion carried baggage.  

We lay claim to not having enough time in the day to pray with sincerity of heart, yet find the time for streaming, podcasts, digital content, books that aren't beneficial to a life in Christ, events and everything else that's out there that the world offers and we snatch up. 

We lay claim to not having any time to really stop n read God's Word yet fill our time with the same. 

We sometimes don't check those whom we use as teachers for us against what the Word of God says should or shouldn't teach us...and get lead astray.

We will readily commit to others for our time and effort but neglect our first commitment to our Lord Jesus Christ.

Then wonder why we're not becoming more like Jesus Christ. 

The beginning of the Church of Jesus Christ, for 20 years, didn't have the whole Bible we have today. They had only the Old Testament and all that Jesus Himself taught the Disciples.  

We have modern day Pharisees and Sadducees running so-called churches these days. Setting policies for how to deal with people and yet forget what or refusing to agree with what the Bible says about how Jesus would say or do in those situations. 

Today's Church could learn a great deal from the early Church about how to meet the needs of others. There's way too much hypocrisy in many of today's so-called churches.  

We can't hold onto what the world says is right, true and good for us and what the Bible says on that at the same time!

Obey God and leave the consequences to Him. Simple enough yet so many can't do that because it would mean not doing something they love or are preparing for.  

My Dear Reader, IS what's important to God important to you?  

Are you about the Father’s business as Jesus was and had instructed His Disciples to be as well?

Are you committed to growing in Christ or are you not?  

Jesus said in many parables that consequences await all of us for how we lived in the body for Christ. 

All of us will give an account of our lives before Jesus. He said plainly that it's going to go well for some and absolutely not well for others. 

Which will you be?  

What is most important to you? Right here right now. 

Is it to live a life well pleasing to the One who saved you or to live a life well pleasing to you?

The Bible reads "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." in Proverbs 3:5-6.

All your heart, not part of it. Not only on certain days or times. Not when we make room for doing so. Not only when a crisis hits. All of our heart. 

Is what's important to Jesus important to you? If not, why not? 

Better get your thoughts straight on that one because I guarantee you that is a question you will need to have an answer for before Jesus. 

Know people in need? Pray about what you can do. Know people struggling in life? Pray about how you can come along side and help. Know of other things that the Spirit has placed in your path to do and you haven't done them? Do them now. Obey God and leave the consequences to Him. Get away from the "go and be warm and filled" while doing nothing mentality. 

That's never what we learn from the Good Samaritan parable. That's not what we learn from how the Father’s view on caring for His children looks like.  

Is what's important to God important to you or is is less than words on a page? 

Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness and all these things will be added to you. Don't and they won't be.

You're either going to obey God without conditions or you'll be a Pharisee type that puts conditions on your obedience so that you're not burdened with what full obedience means. 

You need to decide if you believe that obeying fully what Jesus wants you to do will result in what He says it will. 

Is what's important to God important to you? I can't tell you that answer. You have to examine your own heart and be truthful to you. Being a fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ means never setting standards that He did not.

He laid it upon the hearts of the early Church to do whatever to help whomever and to make growing in Christ their highest priority. To be the Church everyday, everywhere, to fulfill the Great Commission. To attend to the needs of others, the widows and orphans. The Father’s business. 

You need to choose what path before you that you're going to walk. The one in full obedience to what God wants of you or the path where you do what you want when you want.

How well you think on the truth that Christ died for you and how well you view living for Jesus will determine your outlook on life.  

Worthless things are everywhere. 

Worthwhile things are only found in Christ. 

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 

He Who Goes Where We Cannot

He Who Goes Where We Cannot 

by David Brenneman 

"The Lord your God who goes before you will Himself fight on your behalf." Deuteronomy 1:30

     I learned one of my most valuable lessons on prayer when I took a mission trip to a rather remote country, even though a crucial meeting would take place at home in my absence. As I traveled, I

found myself constantly worrying about the outcome. This was

before cell phones, so I couldn't get updates and was very distracted

Although there was an eight-hour time difference, I decided to pray

at the precise time the mecting was held. As I talked to the Lord late into the evening, God spoke clearly to my anxious spirit: Who would you rather attend the meeting, you or Me?" I laughed out loud as God quickly put an end to my fretting.

     This is a principle that is essential for you to grasp. When you pray, you are inviting God to become involved in your circumstances and actively placing the results into His sovereign, capable, willing hands. So today, is there a situation that is out of your

control? Are you anxious because you cannot plead your case or

change your situation? Remember, the Lord can. He is the One

who stands in your place and defends you. Trust Him to be and do what you cannot.

Jesus, thank You that these circumstances are in Your strong

capable, and wise bands, Amen.

-Trusting God with Today, Dr. Charles Stanley 

------------------------------------------

 

Remembering from where you have already come, through all that the Lord has brought you, is imperative to continuing on in your walk with Jesus. 

This devotional from Dr. Stanley was one such reminder to me of past things...and added an element that I had neglected to consider: If it's necessary the Lord will have us involved in the outcome. If it's for Him to do then maybe our fingers don't need to be involved.

I have had many times where the Lord has gone where I could not. Many times where I saw the effects of the Lord dealing with people whom were out of my reach. Some He meted out justice in a way that I would never have considered possible. Others He created a way for a long distance conversation that was otherwise impossible because it took place in a place outside the physical world. I can speak to provisions where we weren't even in the same city and He worked out solutions to our situations that we knew nothing about until it was all over.  

This passage that Dr. Stanley points to is and has been a reality of our lives in Christ. He tells us not to worry about tomorrow for tomorrow has enough trouble of its own. He isn't being cliche, He’s explaining that He knows because He’s always already there.  

Our human nature gets in the way oh so much. We struggle to trust what we cannot see.  

We are so deep into a world of sensory overload that we can't perceive what we ought to about spiritual things for lack of practice.

We hear noise all the time yet don't realize the still small voice of the Spirit is still speaking peace to us, comfort to us.  

How important are your relationships to you? How important is your relationship with Jesus to you? You will spend time, energy and effort to cultivate and keep friends and family here where you see them, touch them but are you the same towards your Savior?

He goes before you yet is with you where you are. He knows your thoughts from afar. He knows every square inch of your heart, mind and soul. Your name is etched into His hands.  

We worry about tomorrow and then tomorrow comes and we learn of what all He’s done but don't realize it was Jesus all along...keeping His word. 

What he speaks to in this devotional is found in one of his Life Principles. Obey God and leave the consequences to Him. Further found in Proverbs 3:5-6 "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." 

It doesn't matter what tomorrow threatens because our undefeated Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is always already dealing with what is trying to come our way. 

Look back over your life. 

Has He ever failed you in anything?

He may not have done what you've had in mind but He’s always done what was best for you.  

Do you meet with Him daily? Do you thank Him for what you have and have gone through? Scripture says to give thanks in everything. The good, the bad and all things in-between.  

Do you take the time that He’s provided to you to read His Word?

Are you seeing things a little differently this morning? I hope so. 

I have been unemployed since June and He’s been providing every day. 

We had a storm hit our house after we were married yet living in another city far from it. The gutters came off and we got a notice they needed fixed. While so far away we were trying to contact people and nothing we did was working out. After a time we learned that there were new gutters on our house. All we could figure out is a repair company fixed the wrong house and we never could track them down. Their logo said "Doing Awesome Jobs for an Awesome God". 

Before worrying about anything take the time to thank Him for everything. Remember that the Lord goes before 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 

What We Really Mean More Than We Say

What We Really Mean More Than We Say

by David Brenneman 

"...got down on his knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as he had done previously." Daniel 6:10

     Short-term commitment is not too hard. It is disciplined consistency that comes harder to us-yet it is a key to spiritual growth.

     The often sporadic nature of our commitment is seen in short-lived exercise programs, Bible memorization, reading plans, and New Year's resolutions. How many of us start something well, only to later abandon it! But equally, you have probably encountered people who are incredibly consistent and disciplined. They walk their dog at the exact same time every day or collect their mail with such precise timing that you could set your

watch by it; and when they set themselves to undertake a task or learn a new skill, they do so with a diligence that leaves you in no doubt that they will complete it.

     Daniel was a man who exhibited such disciplined consistency when it came to prayer. His life was not marked by bursts of enthusiasm followed by chronic inertia. He clearly prayed whether he felt like it or not. There were probably times when he got up from his knees feeling really blessed and other times when he left feeling really flat, but he kept on He prayed and he prayed and he prayed, no matter the circumstances. That's discipline!

     When a crisis hit, it didn't create Daniel's disciplined lifestyle; it revealed it. After King Darius issued an edict that made it illegal to pray to any god or man other than him for thirty days (Daniel 6:7), Daniel could have rationalized obedience to the king rather than to the Lord. He could have reasoned that because he'd stored up such phenomenal credit on the strength of all his years of prayer, he could be let off for a month. Apparenty

though, such thought never even crossed his mind Instead, he continued in prayer just "as he had done previously."

     Surely there was a link between Daniel's life of prayer and the bravery he showed in obeying the God of Israel rather than the most powerful king in the known world.

Lord told us, too, that always to pray and not lose heart" (Luke 18:1). We a are not to close prayer down for a while if we don't feel like it or have little spare time for a season. If we want to live for Jesus when we're under pressure, our prayer lives must be consistent. We must regard prayer as a fundamental element of our faith, not merely a nice supplement. 

     The door is wide open for you to demonstrate the same kind of consistent commitment to prayer as Daniel did. Through regular discipline, prayer can become your natural reaction to every situation in your life. Do you need to set aside a time each day when you will pray and give thanks to your God, come what may? Wherever God takes us, whatever we do, however His plan unfolds, may our prayers be unceasing.  

-Truth for Life Devotional

"For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God. 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 3:14-21.

"Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus." 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18.

It's been becoming more and more apparent that there's yet even more to what my walk with Jesus is to be like, and I highly suspect that since I am being lead to write about this that someone out there must need to read and apply it themselves. 

There's much that some take from the book of Daniel about diets and try to glean out of it by way of prophecies. As a side note that's not intended to distract from this particular post, in reading last night in the first chapter of the book of Acts, Jesus heavily came down on the side of future events as really being a priority of the discipleship teaching that the Apostles were to engage in. Theirs was to stick to the Great Commission. 

For each of us who are in Christ...ours is to live our lives in Christ in such a way that people see our good works and glorify our Father in Heaven. 

As part of that our prayer life must be as diligent as our time in God's Word. This is where this lesson is not just for you my Dear Reader but for me as well. 

I count it as a necessary thing that diligence towards prayer must matter if we are reading in Daniel that he's commended for his diligence. Regardless of what was going on in his life he committed to and maintained praying 3 times a day.  

In Daniel chapter 9 he is told that he is highly esteemed in the eyes of God. The way we read it, it comes across that indeed Daniel is certainly beloved of God.  

Different circumstances that got them there for sure but to compare lives, Joseph and Daniel certainly appear to be of a kindred spirit and mindset. When in the fullness of time Joseph was ruling in Egypt we find someone who's lead a dedicated, approved, life in the Lord.

What I am personally coming to in my own life is a need for the same commitment towards a better, more consistent, more truthful prayer life than I have had and to be as committed to it as I have been with my Bible studies and morning reading. Perhaps the same can be or should be said of you?

Daniel's prayer life was very intentional and personal. In no way are we looking at what he prayed, that's written there in the book by his name as a pattern to follow other than in its sincerity. Repeating his words alone isn't some magic formula to be good with Jesus. Undoubtedly Daniel wasn't just diligent in prayer he was personal in prayer. 

By way of reminder I was drawn to a story about Ben. Ben was a factory worker who walked all the way to a church to meet with Jesus in prayer every day on his lunch time. His prayer was simple and from the heart. The pastor at this church was at first skeptical of his intentions of being there until he told him his prayer. Then for the first time the Pastor adopted the worker's prayer as his own. 

'I JUST CAME BY TO TELL YOU, LORD, HOW HAPPY I HAVE BEEN,

SINCE WE FOUND EACH OTHERS FRIENDSHIP AND YOU TOOK AWAY MY SIN. DON'T KNOW MUCH OF HOW TO PRAY, BUT I THINK ABOUT YOU EVERYDAY. SO, JESUS, THIS IS BEN, JUST CHECKING IN TODAY.'

Weeks had gone by and like clockwork the worker would show up. A day came when he didn't and it went on for many days. The Pastor checked at the factory n discovered that he had been ill n in the hospital. So he went to visit him. In spite of no others visiting him he found him in a wonderful mood. The nurses couldn't understand, he said, because they didn't know. At the same time he would have been at the church praying he had a visitor at the hospital. 

'I JUST CAME BY TO TELL YOU, BEN, HOW HAPPY I HAVE BEEN,

SINCE WE FOUND THIS FRIENDSHIP, AND I TOOK AWAY YOUR SIN. I THINK ABOUT YOU ALWAYS AND I LOVE TO HEAR YOU PRAY, AND SO BEN, THIS IS JESUS,

JUST CHECKING IN TODAY .'

Daniel's life was lived in dedication to the Lord no matter where he was and it was noticed by His Lord Jesus Christ. This is a far more gem to glean from Daniel than that of a diet that some people believe in that will do this or that for them. 

My prayer life, your prayer life, must be personal and consistent. Must be sincere and from the heart. Jesus condemned the Pharisees and Sadducees for their heartless prayers. Mindless repetition. Ben's prayer might not be much but it was far from mindless. It might not contain much but it certainly isn't heartless. 

Daniel's life exemplified personal prayer time as well as a study of the Word that he somehow had with him.  

In some places in this world we see droves of people on particular days believing that their obedience in repeated prayers that they're not praying with a right heart attitude means something. Whole religions and denominations of people. 

You and I need to find a time in our days to meet with Jesus in prayer in sincere prayer as Ben had...as Daniel had.

"I JUST CAME BY TO TELL YOU, LORD, HOW HAPPY I HAVE BEEN,

SINCE WE FOUND EACH OTHERS FRIENDSHIP AND YOU TOOK AWAY MY SIN. DON'T KNOW MUCH OF HOW TO PRAY, BUT I THINK ABOUT YOU EVERYDAY. SO, JESUS, THIS IS DAVID, JUST CHECKING IN TODAY."

Make your commitment not your intention to meet with Jesus and make sure your prayer is from the heart. Doesn't have to be lengthy or complex. Doesn't need to sound all religious. Needs to be from you.  

Start somewhere. We reveal what we really mean about our relationship with Jesus by what we do more than what we say. Jesus wants doers of the word and not just hearers only who are deluding themselves. 

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