Bottom of the Ninth

Good morning and happy Friday. It's the bottom of the ninth and the game is tied.  Your best hitter is up with just one out. The crowd, the other team and even the people who don't like baseball, know this guy is swinging away and hopefully get a sacrifice fly to win the game. The coach, who also knows this, calls for a bunt. No one will expect it. The hitter gets the signal to bunt and can't believe it. I'm a hitter not a bunter. He's also on a team and it's not about him. He lays down a good bunt and the game is won. Sometimes in this game of life we get asked to do the unexpected. It's up to us to make the choice to do it. We're not being asked to do something we can't do, it just requires us to step out in faith that the "Coach" knows what's best for the team. Take great delight in the fact you're the one He chooses to use today. In love always. <>< 

The Little Things

Good morning and happy Thursday.  How many of us like it when little things are done for us?  Some little thing that would, for the most part, go unnoticed. It makes me feel good knowing that at least for a moment, I was thought of. It feels good all the down to the soul. It doesn't take much either for most of us. The simple things God does for us are too numerous to count. And you're always on His mind. The sunrise of a new day is my favorite. The sunset of a good day is second. The smell of cut grass and flowers in the spring, the coolness and beauty of the fall. He is amazing in His thoughtfulness of us. He gives to us all the time and only wants some of our time in return. I love to do for those who have done for me too. Why aren't I doing more for God who does for me all the time?  I feel like He becomes a second thought, an oh yeah thought in my head. And that is the problem. It's in my head and not my heart. That's where love and compassion are because that's where the Holy Spirit is dwelling. Thank you God for the little things you do in my life. In love always. <><

Love

Good morning and happy Wednesday. I love you. I really do. I can honestly say that no matter who is reading this at this moment, I love you. There was a time that wasn't possible to say because I didn't.  The change in my life is evidence to the fact only God changes us. I fought it myself and when finally to a point of realization, I surrendered. I am by no means that great of a person, but what I feel is the Holy Spirit moving me closer and closer to God. Why would I not want to share that and help others, like me, who are lost, find this? To really love others because They are in the image of God, the one I'm pursuing. To love others because God created them. So really hear this, I love you very much. You are my brother and sister in Christ. There is nothing greater than love. And the greatest love is God's for us. In love always <><

Who's Winning?

Good morning and happy Tuesday. In most things in life there is a winner and loser. Wether we are in a competition  or not, we will make it one within ourselves. And of course we always want to win. I've done that my whole life. Now I sit and wonder why we wait so long to grow up and finally see it. The game of real life is kinda the same but opposite. We are to help others win and we cross the line behind them. I have this picture in my head of Christians helping others out of a hole in the ground. Lifting them to a life of salvation. But the cut away shows that under those Christians, in the ground below, is Jesus helping them up to the hands that are reaching down. It's no longer about winning or losing, but about loving and caring. We need to be in the hole helping to lift up instead of putting ourselves above others and reaching down. Get in the hole with Jesus and start lifting some people up. In love always.  <>< 

Do You Believe?

Good morning and happy Monday. Do you believe in God?  Do you believe the Bible to be Gods word? Do you believe Jesus is God's son and died for your sins?  The answers to those questions are all the same; either yes or no. If no, you can stop reading now. But if it's yes, what are you gonna do today for God's glory? Just because the Bible is published and on our coffee tables doesn't mean the story ended. Everything that happened in it is still happening now. Lives brought together from years and miles apart to be there for each others help is still a miracle. We use the word coincidence too much and not see God working. If you can't see Him working in your life, then it's doubtful you're giving Him the glory for it. Good or bad, God is using us to further His Kingdom. It's theme repeated over and over but we just don't seem to get it. Jesus was walking among the people of the day and they didn't get it either. It's time to open the ears of our hearts and listen to God move us. To allow His will to be done, not just repeat it in a prayer and not live it. It's time for a revival of our nation and a stronger effort on the part of Christians. God is alive and working in us all. We have to respond to that. In love always. <><

The Lost Sheep

Good morning and happy Friday. Sunday is 9/11. Millions will be praying in churches all over the world for the people affected by that day. We can't forget the ones who will probably get no prayer. When a Shepard loses a sheep, he will leave the 99 to go find the one. The one that is lost is who needs our prayers. We, as a people, are so quick with our anger and so slow, if any, with our forgiveness. The people on the planes, I hope, were saved. If so there is a plane loads of people in heaven. But the ones that got them there probably are not. It's those people that need our prayer. The lost sheep of this world. Satan will use these kinds of things to steal away souls for eternity. We have to find peace, love and forgiveness in this world. It's the only tools we need to defeat evil. God was there. He was with them all, with a hand of forgiveness and tears of sadness. We never know when our time is and we must be ready too. We don't know if the person next to us is either, no matter the nationality, but we need to help them too. Anger and revenge only last for a while then fade away. Love and forgiveness never die and heal nations in the process. Pray for the lost sheep. Pray they will be found and that they choose to go back with the Shepard. Please understand I am not discounting the tragedy, but we have to move on in the right way or we are hijacked too. Satan is a very smart player, but he has been defeated. Lift up the lost, known and unknown, and forgive the hurt. It's never too late. The thief on the cross knew that. In love always. <><

I'm Sorry

Good morning and happy Thursday. How far does an apology go?  How much does it help the parties involved? What is it that brings us to the point of apologizing? Usually our conscience is the culprit. But isn't our conscience the Holy Spirit in us really?  God is all about forgiveness and restoration. An apology to God is simply our confession of sin. And unlike the people we've hurt, He's quick to forgive. To even ask for that forgiveness is tough in itself sometimes. But when your relationship with God is what should be, then it's all a little easier. Fewer sins and less confession lies ahead. Not an easier road, but a great companion to walk the walk with you. Make your days a walk and talk with God. It puts a smile on His face. Be quick to mend fences with others and let them see what Jesus came and did for us in His forgiveness. In love always. <><

Milestones of Life

Good morning and happy Wednesday. As 9/11 approaches, people begin recalling that day and where they were, how they felt and who they were with; stuff like that. Especially since it's now been 10 yrs. A big milestone. Lives have been changed in that amount of time because of those acts that day. Some good; some bad. It's about the decisions made along the way and how we decided to look at what happened. God uses the events in your life to change lives too. It's in how we choose to use them that make the difference. 9/11 is on a global scale while ours is on a personal scale. Both are needed in His kingdom, but I think the personal one has the longest effect because it reaches somebody right where they are. God had nothing to do with the bad choices we and those hijackers made and make. But He is the only one who can take that bad and make it good. Trust God in the place you are and take in what He is showing you so that one day, maybe even today, your trials are someone else's window to salvation and a relationship with Jesus and God the Father. In love always. <><

The KIds We Are

Good morning and happy Tuesday. I hope you had a great Labor Day. Oh to be a parent. God gave kids to us so we would understand what it is we do to Him and how we make Him feel. One day they make you feel so good inside with they way they are doing things and living. The next, you can't believe they're your kids. How easily they can move in and out of good and bad. Truth is, it doesn't change when we're older either, unless. Unless a conscience decision is made to do it better all the time. We've given them the tools to make the right choices. We've been given those same tools too. We've shown them the place to find the answers if they don't come to us. God wrote us a book if we don't go to Him. The choices are ours to make. We have what we need to make it. We've been given the tools and the knowledge, it's up to us to use it for good or evil, and for the betterment of our lives. God's heart breaks just like ours for our own kids. Sometimes we just need to be quiet and sit still, and listen. He will lead us in the right direction and better way to live. He loves us but He cant help you if you don't ask. And if ask, follow the directions. He's the best dad ever and He's never wrong. Thank you Father for your love and your faithfulness. In love always. <><

The Pruning in Life

Good morning and happy Friday. Well the groups are reset and back to an easier way of posting. It's really been an eye opener to go through this little time of refreshing. The groups are fewer and less people to text. I wonder if I was bugging people and just didn't realize it. Is this how it is when you take the Word to other places? But do you stop?  No, obviously not. I simply can't make this about me but about what God shows me in His crazy little way he does things. When you know it's Him, you have to tell it. Someone may truly be hearing a message He has for them and no one else. God talks with us all, all the time. Sometimes you can't help but hear and others it's so quietly spoken because He needs you to lean in close. Our relationship with Him is very personal. Who else knows everything you've done and thought about doing? It's an intimacy that can't be described. So when He prunes us a little, it's really for the good of the body. So He has pruned me some and got me to step back a little. Who knows what He has in store for us next?  How else will He shape and mold the lump of clay we are?  I'm just glad He cares enough to do it. In love always. <><

The Demons Within

Good morning and happy Thursday. We studied the demon possessed man last night at church, and the story got me to thinking about what possesses me. It's a dig into the truth of who we really are. Once we can find it we can be set free from it. The demon's name was legion, because there were many of them. How many "demons" do you have hidden away that are keeping you from a closer relationship with Jesus? This is why stories that are in the Bible are there. Written a long time ago to still be relevant today. We have to be on our knees before God and let Him cast out our demons, but we have to name them and claim them in order to be set free. When Legion saw Jesus they immediately knelt before Him. Even the evil spirits know Him and bow before Him. Who are we not to? Find what it is that keeps you from Him and have it cast out of you. Turn loose of your demons. In love always. <><

Are You Ready?

Good morning and happy Wednesday. The week is half over and if I live to be 80 so is my life. Not really a whole lot of time left when you look at that way. All of our lives could be over by the time we're done reading this. The point is, are you ready? Are you really ready to die and stand before God and have judgment of your life on Earth passed? I think that we feel like we have time to get it done and clean up some loose ends just before we go. But we don't know two important things: when we're going to die and when Jesus is coming to get us. I believe very much that we are in the end times here on Earth but it still doesn't make itself known has to when. Eternity is a long time and this life here is so short compared to it. It doesn't even leave a spec on the time line. So which is more important to you? And if it's this life, carry on. If it's eternity, what are you gonna do to ensure your place there? God is waiting on you. He's ready for us to be with Him. We have to decide if we want to be with Him. That relationship is what keeps you going in the right direction. In love always. <><

All The Pretty Things

Good morning and happy Tuesday. I like to look at all the scenery along the road when I'm driving. To see all the pretty things along the way. It's ok when the road is straight and easy, but when it's in the mountains and curvy and stuff; forget about it. But isn't that us with God. All the "pretty" things in life take our eyes off Him. We get distracted by doing too much "good" for others that we forget our time with Him. And I hear you saying, Bryan you've talked about helping others, doing for others and then another day it's time with God. Well which is it? It's both. A balance has to happen. Mary and Martha with Jesus is your example. Some times it's ok to just sit at the feet of Jesus and listen. Work and feeding people have to be done too but it's ok when it's time to. This is not easy this road of Christianity. It requires our time and an effort that does not look normal to the world. Please don't let all the pretty things of life distract you from the One who gave it to you to begin with. In love always. <><

Putting on the Good Front

Good morning and happy Monday. So every things good in your life and you're just workin. Chasing kids from one thing to another, but it's all going good. Sounds like what we say when we run into someone we haven't seen in a while. When really it's not so good, but that's the front we put up to not look as though we aren't making it. FB is full of our good life. Not much in there about the bad stuff unless it could get another job or info towards something we need. Nothing wrong in that, but we are a community of Gods people. He wants us helping each other and in order to do that, sometimes we have to share some stuff that's kinda messy. Being a Christian is being willing to get messy. Homeless moms with kids trying to feed their babies is messy. It's gonna take being involved. But just our regular stuff is a good place to help so that an able body is back on track to help ones in deeper need. We all need our hands out, but not for help. To lend a hand. It's not easy and good intentions sometimes get in the way of the work needing to be done. This is the work Jesus did and others were shocked at what He was doing. Our world today is still shocked by people helping "those" people. Give your time and your love to help others see a Jesus who came and died for them so He could be with them for eternity. In love always. <><

God's in the Small Stuff

Good morning and happy Friday, Friday. A friend was telling me about how good God is to him. He said he really wants to learn to cast a fly fishing rod. In among the crowd of folks hearing him say that is a guy who says, "I'll teach you if you want to". God is in the small stuff too. Most people call it luck others, coincidence, but it's not. It's God. Did the light turn red and stop you while you're in a hurry so that something didn't happen to you down the road? Is God keeping you late because you didn't manage your time well so He wants you to learn something? Really it can and is that simple sometimes. That's what amazes me so much is that He keeps the universe in order and still is present in my life to care about each hair falling off my head. His most powerfully intimate times are those when it is so small of a thing that you don't even know it happened. He was there and you didn't have a clue. That's how He wants us involved in others lives too. So at the end if the day when we sit back and take it in, we see those little spots of help and give God the glory for it because we couldn't have made it without Him. God is good. In love always. <><