Brian Friedl's Blog, page 8

A Living Sacrifice

Paul has shaped my thinking in so many ways. I admire his zeal for sure, but also his straight-to-the-point way of speaking. He doesn’t sugar coat things.

The expectation here is that you would present your body as a living sacrifice. Not that you would do so begrudgingly, but in worship.

When we think of what God has done for us, the thought of presenting our bodies not only seems reasonable, but also seems too small compared to the gift given to us.

We were dead in our trespasses and He made us alive together in Christ. We were hopeless and helpless and He won our victory at the cross.

He endured the ultimate torture and separation from His Father that we may come into His presence and have a relationship with Him.

He has adopted us into His family permanently. No longer are we on a path to hell and death, but to heaven and life.

Certainly, I freely give my body and all I have to Him who rescued me from darkness and gave me meaning and purpose!

Who’s willing to give it all with me?

#MPWarrior

#LivingSacrifice

#GiveItAll

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Mission Possible: Living A Life That Matters

Lose It To Find It

I was an overachiever. No surprise to anyone who knows me. I excelled in school, work, and whatever I put my hand to. I set goals and would win at all costs.

I felt like I was created to change the world and so I did to the best of my ability. While I piled up awards, accolades and promotions, life still seemed to be missing something.

I was serving in my church and local interdenominational youth group. There would be times where I caught a glimpse of what it was like to carry out my purpose, but it always seemed to fade.

I m an ‘all-in’ kind of person so when I came across this verse it struck me that under all my noble layers of service, I was still ‘all-in’ for me.

I dropped where I was and prayed for the Lord to help me give up my goals and dreams for His. I asked Him to make a way where I could fully live for Him and that’s exactly what He has done.

During the process, I have discovered that everything I’ve given up has been replaced 10-fold with love, joy, and purpose.

I have found life abundantly in the midst of surrender. I wake every morning, knowing who I am supposed to be, where I’m supposed to be, and doing exactly what I’m supposed to be doing.

I have found life in completely surrendering to Jesus and carrying out His mission. It seems crazy that the way to a joy filled life is to surrender everything you want, but I tell you it is the answer!

Pray to your Father in heaven that He would help you surrender it all and give you a vision and passion for His mission.

#MPWarrior

#SurrenderToVictory

#LoseItToFindIt

How Do I truly Find God?

I’ve spent the last 30+ years of my life helping people to seek God. This has prompted a ton of conversations and questions.

I have been asked, “How did you find God?” To that I simply reply, “You have to seek Him like your life depends on it, because it does!”

People often say, “Why can’t I find Him like you?” And “I wish my faith was stronger.” They say these things like they have no choice in the matter.

We choose every day what to seek after and where to place our faith. The problem isn’t our lot in life or our circumstances. It’s our willingness to give up control of our lives and seek after God with our WHOLE heart.

When we trust in Him, God takes us on a journey of building our faith and it only deepens the more we seek to know Him.

The problem isn’t external, you simply need to surrender and seek Him more to experience real relationship and faith.

What does that look like in ‘real life?’

1.) Get a good Study Bible that helps you unpack and understand God’s Word.

2.) Carve time out every day to feast in His word. Dig deep. Look for answers.

3.) Take time with God in prayer throughout the day. Take a walk and talk to Him, talk to Him in a quiet place, or on the ride to work.

4.) Attend a Bible-teaching church. Bring a pen and notebook and take notes.

5.) Apply what you are learning daily and at church to your life.

6.) Spend time with your church family around God’s word.

7.) Keep a journal of How you’re seeing God work and what He is teaching you.

8.) Tell others about what you are learning

9.) Keep seeking until you find what you’re looking for. Don’t give up!

#MPWarrior

#RealFaith

#SeekHimWithYourWholeHeart

Love And Teach Them

Yesterday, I spent some time with this awesome guy! He just turned 12 on Saturday. In the hustle and bustle of his friends coming over to the house for the party, I got sick and wasn’t able to participate much.

Yesterday we were riding in the car and came up with a goofy game flipping a coin and calling out “jinks”, “Double-jinks”, etc. I laughed harder than I had in weeks. What joy in such a simple time spent together.

This opened the door to talk about God and our relationship with Him.

What does this have to do with sacrificing our children to false gods? Often times we are so engrossed in our technology we sacrifice opportunities to invest, love, and train them as God commands us.

We buy them the latest digital babysitter and sacrifice them on the alter for our convenience. This is obviously extreme, but realistically, who of us couldn’t do a better job dropping the phone and picking up your sons and daughters.

This passage convicted me coming out of a busy season and reminded me of our calling to teach our children to observe the commands of our God.

Invest in your family today!

#MPWarrior

#NoFalseGods

#NoSacrificingOurChildren

By Faith Not By Sight

I am a man who is richly blessed. Not blessed because of my own efforts but because of God’s faithfulness to lead me.

Over twenty years ago, Amanda and I began our journey of foster care and adoption. I was an assertive young man seeking to change the world. I thought that would take place through my hard work.

As we know, a man makes his plans but the Lord orders his steps. I desired to be an author and speaker at that time but God had work to do in me first.

There were strongholds of evil that needed to be torn down, lessons of love to learn, and my faith needed to increase as dependence on myself decreased. I needed to learn to surrender.

Some people look at our life and say things like, “The world has enough overachievers.” or What are you trying to prove?” I would answer simply, “All things are possible with God”

We are not equipped in our own strength to raise 22 kids or write a book. We simply placed our faith and trust in God and followed His leading. We now have 17 adults, 5 minors and my Kindle book is available for download today!

I couldn’t see all of this 20 years ago, but I trusted that if I gave the Lord everything, He would give me exactly what I needed, and He has.

I hope this book blesses thousands across the globe to discover their purpose, live for Christ unhindered, and experience the joy God has for them!

Surrender all your dreams and plans to the Lord and let Him lead you by faith, not by sight and you too will see His faithfulness and experience His joy!

#MPWarrior

#ByFaithNotBySight

#AllThingsArePossible

Get your copy here:

bit.ly/MissionPossiblePreOrder

I know the link says pre order but it’s ready

Simple Truth We Forget

As humans we know performance. We do it all the time. From grades and allowance to promotions and raises. We are constantly taught to perform.

We may excel in all those areas, but when it comes to our salvation, perfection is required and our performance won’t get us there.

There is only One who is able to perform at this level. His name is Jesus. He was and is able to save you through His finished work at the cross that paid for your sins.

In fact, He lives to make intercession for you! The Christian life is not about performance. Instead, it’s about trusting in Jesus, loving Him and others.

There will be times that we slip back into our old mindset, thinking that we need to be good enough for God. It’s one of the many reasons we need each other on this journey.

Watch out for your friends around you. Are they striving to perform? Remind them of the great rest we have in Jesus today!

#MPWarrior

#JesuIsAlwaysInterceeding

#HeHasDoneItAll

One True King

I marvel in disbelief at myself sometimes as I have forgotten my king. Life takes it’s busy course and my eyes shift from Him and His mission to my own tasks and desires.

Sin will not be content in our lives until it is on the throne. It will produce an insanity in our minds over time to make us crave only ourselves as kings.

Even as a believer, sin will cause us to forget our true King and forge ahead trying to sit in a throne that was never meant for us.

As Jesus stood before pilate, the Jews willingly pledged their allegiance to Caesar and denied their God and His precious Son. This insanity was brought on through prideful hearts filled with sin.

Our True King has always been Jesus, even before the world was formed. We were made through Him, by Him, and for Him.

Let us never forget our one and only King worthy to be on the throne. The One who conquered death and sin for all eternity. May the allegiance of our hearts never waver again!

#MPWarrior

#OurOneTrueKing

#WorthyIsHe

Every Knee Will Bow

Falling on the ground is sort of a strange reaction for the armed men who came to arrest Jesus. He was out numbered and unarmed. Certainly they were way more trained for combat than Peter and the other disciples.

In fact, Jesus has to initiate further conversation to move these arrest forward. He helps remind them why they are there and again that He is who they are seeking.

I believe these men were struck by the majesty of our Lord. When He said “I Am”, I think they were having an “every knee shall bow and every tongue confess” moment. He is the great I AM.

A couple of quick observations:

Jesus was obeying the Father perfectly and fulfilling every prophecy spoken of Him previously that all these events may be done perfectly in truth.

Jesus’ life was not taken from Him, but was freely given by Him. He has the authority to lay it down and take it up again. These events were not outside His control or the Father’s plan.

Jesus went to great lengths for your salvation including enduring mockery, being beaten beyond recognition, death on a cross, and even separation from His Father.

Who else in this life loves you that much to endure all that for you? Who else has a solution to your problem with sin? Who else is always with you and will never leave or forsake you? Who else gives you true meaning and purpose that brings joy?

Spend time today praising our God and thanking Him for the gift of salvation. Thank the Son for His willingness to endure all that He did for us, and the Spirit for the gifts He has given and taking up residence in us to guide us.

#MPWarrior

#TheyDrewBackAndFell

#HeIsLord

Truth And Love

As a Christian I stand for truth and love. My truth comes directly from God’s word which clearly points out we all have sinned and need a Savior. It also tells of a love that is willing to do whatever it takes to reconcile us even to the point of death.

There are several who would like you to believe because of my beliefs, I am a hater. Before you subscribe to that belief, know that I willingly identify that I am included in that category of “sinner” also. I need a Savior as much as anyone; probably more.

I’m not driven to tell you these things because I want to prove I’m right or condemn. On the contrary, I’m driven by the love I received while yet a sinner (see Romans 5:8) and desire others to know this truth.

When the law (10 Commandments) came into being sin became clear. When Jesus came to fulfill the law, sin became even more clear. Men and women were no longer able to justify God’s truth as stories. For they had seen the Living God and all His signs and wonders.

As children of the Living God, our sins our forgiven because of faith in Christ’s finished work at the cross. The text says that He “chose us out of the world”. As a result the word hates us.

The world hating me will not keep me from telling others about sin and what God has done to resolve it, in my life and the lives of many. When we are in sin, and apart from Christ, we are in bondage.

I do not condone or seek to continue in sin, but instead seek To follow Jesus and all His ways.

In a loving manner, I will continue share the truths of the gospel to those around me. Some will receive and some will hate.

#MPWarrior

#TruthAndLove

#SomeWillReceiveSomeWillHate

The Blind See And The Seeing Choose Blindness

This passage comes on the heels of Jesus healing the blind man on the Sabbath. The Pharisees have already grilled Jesus who has tried to explain to them who He was many times.

Prior to the healing He was asked who sinned in regard to the blindness, him or his parents. Jesus clearly states it was neither but so that the works of God my be displayed.

The irony in all of this is that the blind man trusted and received sight. No matter how much evidence Jesus shows to the educated religious leaders, they still chose not to see.

They were trained in the Word. No doubt they have seen all the prophecy regarding the coming Messiah. They have seen more then everyone, yet they refused to believe and choose blindness.

We have God’s word freely available to us 24×7. We see the evidence around us every day in the complexity of design in every species that points to a designer. My own eyes have seen the impossible become possible through prayer.

Let us not be lo like the men who saw and heard but choose to be blind and deaf, but instead as those who were blind and now see. Let our mouths not remain silent of what we have seen of Him.

#MPWarrior

#DontBeBlindAndDeafToTheruth

#TheBlindSeeAndTheDeafHearThroughJesus