Troy A. Brewer's Blog, page 251

IS THERE A MESSAGE IN A MIRACLE?

TODAY’S PROPHETIC THOUGHT

God’s plans are good and His timing is perfect. He is still in control when things seem out of control. Life doesn’t always work out the way you think it should but you can trust that His hand is in everything that concerns you.

FLIGHT 191

It was a family’s darkest nightmare.

On the television screen was a smoking ruins of a plane on the runway at DFW Airport. Delta Flight 191. We had waiting all day for my little sister, Missy’s plane to bring her home. 

Now, I was 18 years old and bulletproof, so it hadn’t struck me that anything bad would happen to me or my family. But the video on the news was real. The smoking debris and burned bodies here scattered and thrown.

Though the pilot was one of the best and most capable and the plane was in good working order, a chance meeting with a Texas microburst, a weather event so unpredictable and extreme, shattered the lives of 136 of the 167 passengers that day. Their plane was literally driven into the ground by an invisible force some would call an “act of God.” 

Let’s get this straight – God doesn’t do that kind of thing. Those winds were part of a diabolical series of events driven by the devil and cloaked in natural phenomenon.

While a cousin who worked at the airport rushed out into the flaming heap to look for my sister, we at home worried and prayed. The Lord was way ahead of us.

Missy was about to turn 14 when she was invited to go to Bermuda on vacation with a girl from school. It was obvious that mom and dad didn’t want to bother with the inconvenience of being a parent, so Missy was brought along to entertain their daughter. These people didn’t know it at the time, and likely still don’t today, but their lives – maybe even eternity – depended on my sister being with them on the trip.

The mom had a problem with anger and alcohol. The night before they were to catch their plane, she made Missy the target of her miserable life. She called my sister horrible names and belittled her, making her pack her bag that night to have it ready. The mom made sure Missy’s birth certificate was right on top so she didn’t have to dig for it in the morning.

Letting Missy fend for herself through customs, Missy opened the suitcase to get the birth certificate and, to her complete horror, it wasn’t there. How could that be? She’d double checked it in Bermuda. Frantically, she tore through her clothes looking for the piece of paper. 

To make a long story short, several people when through that suitcase looking for the birth certificate. It was not there. The crazed mom screamed, yelled and threatened my sister. Missy said it was terrible. She decided to look one last time. 

When she turned to her suitcase, which had been laying open on a customer table, she could see the piece of paper sitting right on top where it was in the first place – in plain view but miraculously unseen by all until this moment.

They all rushed to the gate where flight 191 was sitting. It had finished boarding.

“We have not missed it! It is still sitting there! Let us on!” the woman ranted and raved at an airline employee who refused to let them on. The doomed flight left without them. They caught another flight, one that would get them home safely and not send that woman and her hen-pecked husband to hell that day.

It was a miracle they were not on that plane. Missy would grow up, get saved and for several years, work with her husband as a children’s pastor before becoming a nurse. Literally, thousands of lives have been touched by her service and ministry because Jesus blinded the eyes of everyone in customs to that piece of paper.

So what happened to that bully of a woman? I bet you think she saw the light when she saw the flames and apologized. Well, she didn’t. She continued her tirade all the way to my mom’s front door where she was promptly handed her hat and sent off in angry, self-serving disgrace. Yep, my mom threw her clean off the property!

So what is the message in the miracle? Just because God does a miracle for you, doesn’t mean you are smart enough to recognize it. That woman wasn’t.

TODAY IS A GOOD DAY TO THANK GOD FOR THE MIRACLES YOU’VE WITNESSED. DON’T KNOW OF ANY? ASK GOD TO REVEAL ONE TO YOU. CHANCES ARE, YOU MISSED IT!

FROM MY BOOK MIRACLES WITH A MESSAGE

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WE’RE COUNTING ON YOU

TODAY’S PROPHETIC THOUGHT

You are an important piece of My plan. When My body is working together, I can accomplish so much more. Acts 2:1 says, “When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place.” I need you in the Church. Your gifts and calling are yours alone.

WE’RE COUNTING ON YOU

Following Jesus is a two part commitment. You are called to love Him and join His body of worshippers – the church. I call that “relationship” with God and “fellowship” with the church, and it’s a wonderful thing, except for when it’s not. 

It is the relationship with other Christians that isn’t always wonderful. 

Now, I have good friends that are kingdom-minded Christians and they maintain healthy Christian relationships without going to church very often. They stay connected to the body through service or ministries. These few people are the exception to the rule.

Most Christians need to attend church even if they don’t believe they do!

The New Testament never divides Christians into church members and non-church members. All the way through, it assumes that everybody participates in the local assembly. It gives no examples of Christians who belong to the “universal church,” but have no link to the local church.

Any idea of enjoying salvation and being a Christian in isolation is just plain foreign to the New Testament. Christians met regularly. Any time Paul made new converts, he immediately organized them into a little church. The next thing he did was ordain pastors not only to feed and lead those congregations, but put them in order.

For this reason I left you in Crete, that you should set in order the things that are lacking, and appoint elders in every city as I commanded you. – Titus 1:5

The reason for this is because the church must work together to carry out God’s purposes. It’s not a hard thing to understand, but so many Christians miss this! They fool themselves into thinking that salvation is the end of things, when it’s the beginning!

Renew your passion for fellowship. Know that we need you in the Body of Christ. You have a purpose I don’t. Come fulfill it! We’re counting on you.

FROM MY SERMON SERIES JESUS UNVEILED

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Episode 8 – An interview with Paul Young author of “The Shack”

Listen in as Pastor Troy interviews the author of “The Shack” Mr. William Paul Young

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WHO TOLD YOU THAT?

TODAY’S PROPHETIC THOUGHT

God is giving you blueprints of strategies for success in your area of lack. Receive it today, speak it out, and move forward in it.

IF IT’S OF GOD, IT WILL HAPPEN – WHO TOLD YOU THAT?

You would never go into a court room without a plan and a strategy for success, especially if your freedom, or your life, was on the line. Not having a plan is a messed up way to think.

In the same way, it’s messed up to think, “If this is of God, it will happen.” My question to you is this: who told you that?

Lots of times, Christians go into marriage, parenting, a career or ministry without a strategy or any kind of plan. They do this truly believing that “If it’s God’s will, I will succeed. If it’s not, I won’t.”

If this is you, you need a serious Soul Invasion to set you free from crazy way of thinking.

First of all, God doesn’t say “if” He wants you to prosper you will. That’s crazy! God wants everyone to prosper. God hates for anyone to fail or fall.

The Lord does not delay, as though He were unable to act, and is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you not wishing any to perish but for all to come to repentance. – 2 Peter 3:9

The truth is, nobody deals with more disappointment than God Almighty! There have been billions of people He has set up for success who were never able to grab hold of it. This breaks His heart!

It reminds me of the time Jesus stood on the Mount of Olives. Knowing the people there not only rejected Him, but the gift of salvation and blessings He offered, tears streamed down His face as He said:

“Oh, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing.” – Matthew 23:37

What He was saying is this: “I wanted to do such great things with you, and for you, but you just wouldn’t let me.”

You see, the way it works is not“IF” God wants something to happen, it will. The rule is, if God wants it to happen, AND YOU GET WITH HIS PROGRAM, it will happen. You don’t prosper and have success just because God wants you to. You prosper and have success because you’re committed to the plan God has for you.

TODAY IS A GOOD DAY TO BE DILIGENT, DETERMINED AND DECISIVE. IT IS ALWAYS GOD’S WILL FOR YOU TO PROSPER. GET WITH HIS PROGRAM FOR YOUR LIFE AND STOP LEAVING YOUR FUTURE UP TO BLIND CHANCE!

FROM MY BOOK SOUL INVASION

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WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?

TODAY’S PROPHETIC THOUGHT

I left you My Word as instruction, as an example. Read it. Study it. Learn of My ways, seek after My heart and fear not. I will guide and direct you. 

WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?

I know so many believers who were crazy excited when they met Christ! They ran around telling everyone about the goodness of God. They couldn’t get enough of His Word, worship, or Bible study. All they wanted was to learn and grow. Then, at some point, that fire subsided. 

While we tend to think of that as maturing, God sees it as something else entirely.

“To the angel [we know that the angel is symbolic of the pastor] of the church in Ephesus write: These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven lampstands. I know your deeds, your hard work, and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked people, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary. Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first. Consider how far you have fallen! Repent (change the way you think) and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place.” – Revelation 2:1-5

Real life stepped in and they got busy. Some were distracted by the all mighty dollar. Others by friends, family, hobbies or entertainment. For some, it might be surviving the week. 

Sound familiar? The word says in Matthew 6:33, to seek first God’s Kingdom and righteousness and “all these things shall be added unto you.” When you keep your first love and don’t let life and its pleasures distract you, Jesus can give you all those things in addition to a personal relationship with Him. 

If you’ve misplaced Him, put God first in your life. Don’t be like the infamous church of Ephesus. Do those things you did when you first fell in love with Jesus and your light will shine! 

FROM MY SERMON SERIES PRAY FOR RAIN – ALIGNMENT

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LEAVE A LEGACY

TODAY’S PROPHETIC THOUGHT

I have a name for you that no one else knows. That name is rich with identity, purpose, and your ultimate destiny. Do you want it? Search for Me in the secret place so I can reveal who you really are to Me and to My Kingdom. 

LEAVE A LEGACY

This is one of the most beloved verses in the Bible because it’s filled with such hope and certainty. you can just hear the Lord proclaiming it over you. I know I can.

“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.” – Jeremiah 29:11

Did you know the word “thoughts” is interchangeable with the word “plans”? God is saying He has an actual plan for who you are supposed to be, what you are to accomplish for Him, and just how you are to accomplish His vision for your life. 

God wants you to expect and have great hope for where your life will end up. Not just for Him showing up in your life where you’re at right now. Problem is, many people are happy – even comfortable – with where they’re at right now.

People who are dirt poor only wonder about how they will survive. People who are doing OK often stay right there believing, “I’m not dirt poor, so I’m not in survival mode.” I have news for you, comfort and standing still is survival mode. 

You see, while paupers and those “getting by with a little left over” are busy keeping up, rich people and kings worry about their legacy. I’m not talking about money. I’m talking about identity. If you are a king, you are supposed to constantly consider your bloodline and your legacy. The kingdom should be better off because you are trusted with it.

Do you live like a king or a pauper when it comes to your identity? Are you searching out what the King of Kings says about you, claiming it, and standing upon His promises? If you’re not, you should be. Believing you are a King and acting on that identity is the only way to find your purpose and destiny. Leave a legacy. It’s that simple. 

FROM MY SERMON SERIES EPIC

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FREEDOM IS A CALLING

TODAY’S PROPHETIC THOUGHT

I love you. I want you to live free! I could have made you to love Me, but I needed it to be your choice. Choose life. 

FREEDOM IS A CALLING

Do not give up your liberty. Live life until your spirit, mind, and heart get lined up with what God says. That’s what it means to stick with Jesus.

“For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.” – Galatians 5:13

Freedom is a calling. A calling has to be heeded and developed. The Bible says the gifts and callings are without repentance. If God Almighty called you as a child to do something for Him, He hasn’t taken away that calling. It’s up to you whether you walk in it or not. 

It’s up to you whether you conform your life to it. It’s not up to anybody else. You are free to do anything, though not everything is beneficial for you. 

All things are lawful for me, but not all things are helpful; all things are lawful for me, but all things edify not. – 1 Corinthians 10:23

If you like pork ribs, there’s nothing wrong with that unless it offends the person you’re having lunch with. You need to come to an understanding “it’s not always about you.” You are called to a ministry of reconciliation – to bring others to a right relationship with Christ no matter how it affects your flesh. 

Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ and has given us the ministry of reconciliation. – 2 Corinthians 5:18

Just because you have freedom, friend, doesn’t make it okay to live all willy nilly. You can live for Christ without giving up your freedom. If you renew your mind like Romans 12:2 tells you to, you will want what He wants – His will on earth as it is in Heaven. 

FROM MY SERMON SERIES PRAY FOR RAIN – NEWNESS

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OBEDIENCE IS KEY

TODAY’S PROPHETIC THOUGHT

I Am the Alpha and Omega. I have seen the big picture. Trust Me. I know My plans for you. I will work all things together for your good because you love me. I have called to according to My purposes.

OBEDIENCE IS KEY

Success is not success in itself. Success is in the fruit. It’s that you obeyed the Lord. Here’s what religion won’t tell you: God has not called you to be successful in all things. He’s called you to be fruitful in all things. 

The reason you need to know that, is so you can believe you’re not going to get into trouble when you fail. There are great women and men of God in the Muslim world who are having to lay down their life for their faith in Jesus. Were they successful in reaching their city? No. Were they successful in saving their families? No. Does the Lord Jesus call them a failure? No. 

They’re filled with the fruit of the Holy Spirit. They’re hanging in there. They’re not bailing. The Lord does not judge success and failure the way man judges does. As soon as you get that, you won’t be afraid to get out there and go after the next thing. 

There will be many times God will ask something of you that doesn’t make sense. When Saul of Tarsus was saved on the road to Damascus and was waiting on Straight Street, you know Ananias was asking God, “You want me to do what?!?” That’s in Acts 9:9-17. 

Nevertheless, Ananias was obedient and did what God told him to do. Later, he baptized Saul as he transitioned into Paul the apostle who went on to write a good portion of the New Testament. 

To obtain that level of trust in God, you must spend time with Him. If my best friend tells me to do something weird, no questions, chances are I’ll do it. If someone I just met tells me to do anything, no questions, they may get a different result. God has only good things for His children. He will not ask something of you without giving you the will to do it. It’s on you to trust Him. 

If you love me, keep my commandments. – John 14:15

FROM MY SERMON SERIES PRAY FOR RAIN – REVIVAL

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EVIL REVEALED

TODAY’S PROPHETIC THOUGHT

“Finally brethren, whatsoever things are true, honest, just, pure, lovely, a good report any virtue, any praise, think on these things” (Phil 4:8). The power of good always overcomes the power of evil. I Am the author and finisher of your faith (Heb 12:2-3).

EVIL REVEALED

On that great and terrible day that the devil is pulled out of his spider hole and revealed to humanity in judgment, we will all be surprised. Isaiah the prophet paints the picture this way:

“Those who see you will gaze at you, and consider you, saying: ’Is this the man who made the earth tremble, Who shook the kingdoms, Who made the world as a wilderness and destroyed its cities, Who did not open the house of his prisoners?’” – Isaiah 14:16-17

There is a gasp in the crowd, which is expecting to see a giant dragon being pulled from the pit. Instead, a pathetic, balding, scrawny, shaking nerd comes climbing out begging for his pathetic life.

What? Are you kidding me? Really? That’s the personification of all things evil? Why, he’s a weakling! He’s no more powerful than the wizard behind the curtain of Oz. 

If the devil is obviously impotent, then where does he get his power?

The answer is just as shocking – from us. His power came from us. His evil had power because we cooperated with it. We held it in reverence. We feared it and, admit it, we even loved it at times. As a result, we propelled and advanced it.

The bottom line is this: the devil isn’t powerful because evil is powerful. The devil is powerful because we are powerful and we tend to work for him. STOP IT!

FROM MY BOOK GOOD OVERCOMES EVIL

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UPGRADE IS NOT JUST FOR KINGS

TODAY’S PROPHETIC THOUGHT

God has so many good things stored up for you. He’s like a kid at Christmas just waiting for you to go after them and open up the gifts he has hidden for you. Remember that when you seek Him, you will find Him when you seek Him with all of your heart (Jeremiah 29:13).

UPGRADE IS NOT JUST FOR KINGS…

“It is the glory of God to conceal a thing: but the honor of kings is to search out a matter.” -Proverbs 25:2

OK, so you don’t have to be a king to have the honor of searching out God’s heart and His crazy cool plan for your life. Remember, upgrade is a good thing and just like the universe itself, God coded your DNA to be attracted to the “next level.” Yes, people are generally happy with anything related to improvement. We’re wired that way.

Just like at the end of each day of creation where the Word (Jesus – John 1:1) spoke the universe into existence, Genesis tells us He announced His pleasure despite it not being finished. 

“…it is good.” -Genesis 1:21

Yes, God Himself says your search for more of Him, for upgrade and a next level relationship with next level responsibilities and rewards, is GOOD despite it being a work in progress! Just think about this – just like the physical universe, your universe is still expanding. It is a good thing to move forward!

God is supernaturally creating wonderful things for you to step into, but He wants you to pursue His heart and partner with Him in His plan for you. He made this one of His highest honors — to be crowned upon those who search out the matter of upgrade in knowing Him.

TODAY IS A GREAT DAY TO SEARCH HIM OUT. TELL HIM YOU WANT MORE OF HIM AND THEN OPEN UP HIS WORD AND LOOK FOR HIM. It is His GLORY to conceal it and your HONOR to go after it!

FROM MY BOOK LIVING LIFE FORWARD

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