Troy A. Brewer's Blog, page 319
September 14, 2017
THE SMELL OF SMOKE
You are the righteousness of Christ. When shame is heaped on you, give it to Jesus. He is glad to take it away because He already paid for it – it’s His! Know that you don’t smell like smoke, not one little bit!
THE SMELL OF SMOKE
I have a deep respect for firemen. While they pull people out of all kinds of dangerous situations, it’s their willingness to run into a burning building for the sake of a stranger that blows my mind. It takes a special person to do that. It was true in Jesus’ day as well.
Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die.
– Romans 5:7
The Bible tells us it takes a rare person to lay down their life for the righteous or good. Who would lay down their lives for the down and out, dirty, desperate and despicable? Liars, cheats, adulterers, murderers and thieves?
But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
– Romans 5:8
The Bible tells us Jesus healed all who came to Him. That means all. He healed hands that he knew would be used to steal and to destroy, eyes that would lust and feet that would run away from Him. Jesus healed with no string attached because the book says “He had compassion on them.”
It’s the same with the brutal beating and death on the cross. He died for all sinners – gossips and mass murderers alike. All means all because He has compassion on us all.
However, there is a string attached, but it’s not attached to deny us something. It’s attached to give us something we don’t deserve – eternal life in heaven as a member of God’s family – joint heirs with our brother Jesus.
When it comes to saving you and me, Jesus is not afraid of the fire. Remember, in Daniel chapter 3 one “like a son of God” joined Meshach, Shadrach and Abednego in Nebuchadnezzar’s fiery furnace.
While the strong men who tied their hands behind their backs and threw them in were incinerated, Jesus walked in the fire with these three Hebrew slaves. They not only emerged with the ropes of bondage burned off, they didn’t even smell like smoke!
It’s my hope that we demonstrate the heart of Jesus and become Holy Ghost firefighters. Run into the flames of people’s burning lives and drag them to Jesus! He will burn away the things that bind. Just so they won’t feel shamed, He even makes sure they don’t smell like smoke!
“This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you. “Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.
– John 15:12-13
TODAY IS A GOOD DAY TO RUN INTO THE BURNING MESS OF A LOST PERSON’S LIFE. OFFER THEM A SAVIOR AND BE THE HERO GOD MADE YOU TO BE! AND GOD BLESS YOU FIREFIGHTERS!
From my book: Good Overcomes Evil
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September 13, 2017
PARTIAL EYESIGHT
The Lord is working through you to become who He intends you to be. Cooperation is necessary to maintain a posture of integrity and move into your next upgrade.
PARTIAL EYESIGHT
When you are blessed by God and begins to prosper in business, ministry, relationships, school or whatever endeavor you choose to glorify Him through, you will have haters. People will be jealous and want what you have.
Know this: they have only partial eyesight. They can’t see that, for all your blessings, you’ve had to go through a lot of hell to get what you have. They see your glory, but they don’t see your story.
Here is a great rule of thumb when it comes to being suspicious or envious of those who seem to be better off or more blessed: If the grass looks greener on the other side of the fence, you can be sure their water bill is higher than yours.
This is true in the natural, as well as the spiritual. There is no such thing as a great man or woman of God without great affliction.
Look in the Bible. You don’t find a single awesome person of God who didn’t have a major malfunction to deal with every day. When cursed people see blessed people, they don’t see the price they had to pay each and every day to maintain that blessing.
An overweight person might dislike someone who is fit and in shape, but they don’t consider the choices that skinny person makes every day to look like that. It’s really this simple! If you want what someone else has, be willing to pay the price they paid to get it. If not, change what you want to what you’re willing to pay for.
Want what God has for you. It’s better than what He has for me because it’s something uniquely tailored for your life. If your haters don’t understand this principle and they attack your character and calling, continue to be a purpose-driven person and know you’re in good company. The world hated Jesus and it hates us as Christians because we bear a family resemblance.
Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.
– Matthew 5:16
TODAY IS A GOOD DAY TO CALL YOURSELF BLESSED BECAUSE THE WORLD HATES YOUR SUCCESS. IT FIRST HATED JESUS AND HE CHANGED THE COURSE OF MANKIND. CONTINUE TO GO AFTER YOUR PURPOSE IN THE FACE OF PERSECUTION AND GLORIFY GOD.
From my book: Soul Invasion
The post PARTIAL EYESIGHT appeared first on Troy Brewer Ministries.
September 12, 2017
WHY SIT WE HERE UNTIL WE DIE?
Your Father has a plan for you and it is good! He’s inviting you to transform to the image of that plan. He is awaiting your “Yes and Amen!”
WHY SIT HERE UNTIL WE DIE?
Change is the only constant. If this old saying is true, and it is, why do you and I resist change so frequently and fervently? Heck, many of us just plain fear change.
That’s not a Kingdom way of thinking. I don’t want to stay the same and neither should you. If you’ve been walking with Jesus for any amount of time you should have an insatiable thirst for moving forward, increase and upgrade in your life.
I love this verse and it sums up why we need to embrace change and move forward.
“Why sit we here until we die?”
– 2 Kings 7:3
This guy has the right idea. Sitting around, resisting change because you fear the future brings nothing but death! Choose to live a powerful life. Choose serving others, bringing heaven to earth and going after upgrade in your relationship with your King.
How about you? Has a fear of change kept you from moving forward? Comfort is the enemy of upgrade, so get up, follow Jesus and let Him lead you into some cool places where you can make an eternal difference.
Remember, Father God sees us for all that we can be, not what we are! Be constantly changing for the better as God moves you forward into bigger and better things.
TODAY IS A GREAT DAY TO REPENT OF SITTING ON THE SIDELINES. THROW COMFORT ASIDE FOR GREATNESS AND KNOWING GOD’S WILL FOR YOUR LIFE!
From my book: Living Life /Forward
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September 11, 2017
A VIEW FROM ABOVE
God is giving you revelation and knowledge. Stand firm on the Rock and see things from His perspective.
A VIEW FROM ABOVE
You may be aware of the time Jesus asked His disciples what the word on the street was about Him. Read it very carefully and see if God can show you something new – something you may have overlooked or not understood until now.
When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?” So they said, “Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”
– Matthew 16:13-19
Many people have falsely speculated that Jesus is saying Peter is the rock that the church will be built upon. That is not the case. No, Peter had stepped on the rock that the church would be built on. The rock Jesus is talking about is revelation knowledge.
Read it again carefully. Jesus is saying that Peter’s ability to know something straight from the Father – to have a holy revelation – is the bedrock of the church. Jesus Christ is understood by revelation knowledge, and this spiritual download is essential to every human being who calls themselves a Christian.
Revelation knowledge is knowing or seeing something the way God knows or sees something. This is fundamental. It is the rock where the church starts or “the view from above.”
The next time your heart is overwhelmed and our mind is freaked out, the next time you are at the end of your rope, let God show you your situation the way He sees it. Consent to the leading of the Holy Spirit concerning your understanding of whatever is causing your anxiety.
Say, “Lord, lead me to the Rock that is higher than I.” In other words, “Show me how to see this the way you see it. Show me how to know my circumstances the way you know them.”
Submit your mind to the mind of Christ. When you get a real download of revelation knowledge and you see your situation the way God sees it, it is like climbing up to a higher place where things come into perspective and make sense.
From that perspective, you can loose yourself and bind the enemy. That’s a rock worth climbing.
TODAY IS A GOOD DAY TO ASK THE FATHER FOR THE VIEW FROM ABOVE. CLIMB THE ROCK THAT IS HIGHER THAN YOU AND ASK FOR REVELATION TO LOOSE YOURSELF FROM CIRCUMSTANCES AND BIND THE ENEMY!
From my book: Soul Invasion
The post A VIEW FROM ABOVE appeared first on Troy Brewer Ministries.
September 10, 2017
LEAP OF FAITH
When changes come our way we often blame the enemy if it appears not to line up with our vision. There are times when our direction, led of the Spirit, takes us places only He can justify for our good, or the good of others. The God of all time is not in a hurry…
LEAP OF FAITH
The son of a Baptist pastor, Jonathan Briley walked to work on September 11, 2001. Having grown up working on his daddy’s PA system, he was employed as the sound engineer for the famed Windows of the World restaurant.
So many terrible things happened that day that we cannot forget. Some we want to – the image of the jets slamming into the towers, the flames and smoke.
As the estimated 1,000 souls trapped on the 100-107th floors were trying to move away from the inferno about to engulf them, New Yorkers on the street looked up, their hands over their mouths. One of them was photojournalist Richard Drew, who lived nearby.
No stranger to history, Drew had been one of the four photographers present when Bobby Kennedy was assassinated nearly 40 years earlier. Today, at 9:41 a.m., 56 minutes after the ordeal began, Drew pointed his lens upward and caught the infamous shot of a man free falling. In all, he took 13 pictures of Jonathan Briley as he plunged 1,300 feet to Church Street below.
Amazingly, Briley is vertical, almost casual as he dove head first ala Superman – arms by his side, left leg bent at the knee and his white jacked billowing free against black pants. This is one amazing photograph we wish we’d never seen.
An asthmatic, Briley was forced to escape the smoke. He obviously decided to die flying rather than choking. In a place and time where every option had been taken away from him, he mustered the courage to step out of the heat and into the hands of God.
His older sister, Gwendolyn, said, “Let me tell you how much Jonathan loved God. He trusted Him so much, he jumped 105 stories expecting God to catch him.”
There is so much victory in that, and this victory can be ours as well. No matter the terrible thing you’re facing today, it pales in comparison to what Jonathan Briley faced. Whatever tough decision is staring you down, have the courage to trust God when nothing else makes sense.
So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: “Death shall be swallowed up in victory.”
– 1 Corinthians 15:54
TODAY IS A GOOD DAY TO UNDERSTAND THAT YOU MAY FALL, BUT BECAUSE OF YOUR LOVE AND TRUST IN JESUS, YOU WILL RISE AGAIN!
From my book: BEST OF THE BREWER
The post LEAP OF FAITH appeared first on Troy Brewer Ministries.
September 9, 2017
ENDOWED BY OUR CREATOR
God has freed you from bondage. Take heart and love others who are still in bondage. Remember the chains you shed. That is your testimony of Jesus.
ENDOWED BY OUR CREATOR
America needs Christianity because America needs a memory. Understand this reality: if there is no church, there is no America.
The second sentence of the Declaration of Independence – part of the covenant our godly forefathers made – says, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”
These rights exist not because the government decided it, but because God Almighty decreed it. Our founders were in agreement with the Apostle Paul when he wrote, “Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty and freedom.”
This truth will offend nearly everybody. The Muslims don’t believe this, and if they get a greater Muslim voice in this country, we won’t have a country anymore. Atheists don’t believe this. The liberal teachers and college professors running our schools today don’t believe this.
There are people on our Supreme Court who do not believe this. The racists among us don’t believe this.
Christians are the only people in America who believe in what America is all about.
America needs the church to be the church because America needs a conscience. Without the church, there is no conscience.
As the church in general, and the Tribe of OpenDoor Church in specific, do you believe in the freedom Jesus brings? If you do, you’ll be offering it to everyone you meet! If you do, you’ll testify to the love and transformation He brings.
And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.
– Revelation 12:11
If you love your life as an American Christian and a member of the OpenDoor tribe, lose it for Jesus. Serve. Love. Testify. Redeem.
TODAY IS A GOOD DAY TO LOSE YOUR LIFE FOR THE CAUSE OF CHRIST. BE THE CHURCH BY LOVING PEOPLE INTO THE KINGDOM.
From my sermon series I LOVE MY TRIBE
The post ENDOWED BY OUR CREATOR appeared first on Troy Brewer Ministries.
EVERLASTING GLORY
Your Father loves it when you ask for His advice, guidance and provision. He is so glad that you trust and obey, so continue! Your obedient heart makes Him smile and draws others to Him!
EVERLASTING GLORY
I love it in the Bible where God tells Moses He will grant him one of the desires of his heart with the words “I will do what you ask.” Before you go thinking God is our genie in a bottle to control, let me tell you He most certainly is not. He does, however, reserve the right to reward us, and God was pleased with Moses.
What charges me up isn’t that God made the offer, but that Moses had experienced enough of God’s goodness, spent so much time talking to him as a friend, that he requested something so outrageously cool, it still blows us away today:
“Show me Your glory.”
– Exodus 33:18
I don’t know that I would have thought of that, but Moses did. He had glimpsed something in God’s character that he knew he had to have more of – God’s goodness! His Glory!
I believe glory is when your right relationship with God becomes manifest in your life – real and tangible. Moses so wanted to go from glory to glory. Like him, if you and I go after God’s glory, we’ll move from deep to deeper places in His presence.
That’s why the Bible says in Psalms 42:7 that “Deep calls unto deep…” God takes us into the extraordinary and gives us a glimpse of eternity with Him.
From everlasting to everlasting
– Psalms 41:13
Want to join me in going after God’s glory? The fringe benefits of a deeper and everlasting relationship are yours for the asking – so ask!
TODAY IS A GOOD DAY TO PURSUE THE GLORY OF GOD. LIKE MOSES, COME BEFORE YOUR KING AND ASK FOR A GLIMPSE OF HIS ULTIMATE GOODNESS!
From my book Living Life /Forward
The post EVERLASTING GLORY appeared first on Troy Brewer Ministries.
September 8, 2017
WANT A PURPOSE DRIVEN LIFE?
God has a purpose and a plan for your life. Seek Him to find what your purpose is for this season. It is His desire to make your purpose known to you.
WANT A PURPOSE-DRIVEN LIFE?
When you have a purpose, you can focus without being distracted by your haters. Why? Because if you have a Godly purpose, you will have haters – people who are envious of your calling and want to stop you from fulfilling your destiny.
The first step to handling your haters – those who want what you have, but don’t want to go through the hell you went through to get it – is to be a purpose-driven person. When you’re being persecuted, remain confident in your purpose no matter what!
Jesus was. Despite everything going on around Him, the Bible says He set His face toward Jerusalem and His ultimate purpose.
Now it came to pass, when the time had come for Him to be received up, that He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem
– Luke 9:51
He was going to Jerusalem to die and it didn’t matter if the disciples, the Samaritans, His family or anyone else were on board or not.
You see, when you have a purpose, it doesn’t devastate you when you are not invited out with friends. You know who you are and whose you are, so it doesn’t matter if people understand what you do or how you do it.
When you have a purpose, you’re not going to be confounded when people you thought were loyal, bail because of the influence of others. Your purpose is not defined by what others think of your performance.
Need an example? Church. If you are committed to coming to church, somebody will talk bad about you. So, you need to have some things settled within your spirit. I do.
I don’t come to church to make friends, join clicks, get somebody’s number or because I am lonely. I come to church to teach, learn, serve and worship. I know my purpose and I have been through too much to let anyone keep me from it.
Can you say that about church or other things in your life? What is your purpose? If you don’t know, ask God and keep on asking until your calling is clear.
Just know there are worse things than being criticized or hated. One of those things is missing the good things God has for you.
TODAY IS A GOOD DAY TO IGNORE YOUR HATERS. REMEMBER YOU ARE A MAN ON A MISSION AND WHAT YOU’RE DOING IS CRUCIAL TO THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN.
From my book: Soul Invasion
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September 7, 2017
TEFLON COATED
When the present seems more like the past, it’s time for new beginnings. There is no change in our comfort zone – get out of the zone and get on with the Lord. He will see you through!
TEFLON COATED
Years ago, I was busy in ministry on the border. We gave away 6,000 pairs of shoes, then fed and loved on the poor and enslaved in the trash dumps of Matamoros.
Because I still had my band at the time, I had a gig in Dallas on Saturday night. Tired and crunched for time, I did what I had never done before. I took a plane home while the rest of the team drove. Yes, there is a story to tell.
During what was supposed to be a short layover in San Antonio, we were evacuated from our plane. Bomb sniffing dogs were released on all 100 passengers and FBI agents combed us, our belongings and the plane for an explosive.
The airport had received several calls about a bomb in the terminal and a Dallas-bound flight. They evacuated the plane, took it to a safe zone and found nothing. We were allowed back on two hours later.
The basics I just told you were on the evening news and in the next day’s newspaper. What was missing from the story is there were no reports of the person they arrested, even though I saw officials take them off the plane.
While the airline handled the situation well, I did not get fully reimbursed for my ruined underwear. I might be an awesome man of God, but I’m also a big fat chicken. God knows this about me. Because of this, I know one thing for certain: He is my protector. He’s yours too.
There is really no telling what all your Heavenly Father is protecting you from. Like the old Amy Grant song “Angels Watching Over Me” says, “A reckless car ran out of gas before it ran my way.” Yes, there are “near misses all around us” and “accidents unknown” that your Abba handles before they get to you, His kiddo.
There is no doubt in my mind He’s eliminating threats the same way you pick up sharp objects to keep your little ones safe. You should be so thankful that He is your Father and a good one at that! Praise you Abba for being the Protector that you are!
“He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the LORD, ‘He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in Him will I trust.’”
– Psalms 91:1-2
TODAY IS A GOOD DAY THANK YOUR ABBA FOR PROTECTING YOU. FROM WHAT? YOU’LL KNOW SOMEDAY. FOR NOW, PRAISE HIS NAME!
From my book: BEST OF THE BREWER
The post TEFLON COATED appeared first on Troy Brewer Ministries.
September 6, 2017
GOD’S FAVORITE CHILD
You are loved by God. Period. He created you, gave you life and hopes the best for you. Run to Him so He can care for you no matter what mess you’ve gotten yourself into. He’s got the blood of Jesus to make you white as snow.
GOD’S FAVORITE CHILD
Has anybody told you God is not mad at you? Know this: He’s not. If you’ve ever thought that God is mad at you, punishing you or just indifferent to your suffering, you’ve swallowed a lie of the devil.
Somehow, people have gotten the impression God is just waiting to punish us if we mess up.
Lost job? Crumbling marriage or rebellious child? You think God must be punishing you for something you did. Financial problems, health issues, natural disaster? You just know God is judging you. You must have messed up when you….
STOP! This is wrong thinking from the pit of Hell! The devil, God’s adversary, wants you to believe this lie so you will doubt your Father’s goodness. Satan hates it when we understand how good God truly is. It shines a very bright spotlight on how evil and demented he is – that he is not God and has already been defeated.
Know this – God is not waiting for you to sin or mess up so He can squash you. He’s just not. He does let us have the natural, or earthly consequences, of our actions, but that is on us alone – not Him. The Bible says God disciplines us just like our earthy fathers, only His discipline is always perfect, just and builds us back up.
For our earthly fathers disciplined us for a few years, doing the best they knew how. But God’s discipline is always good for us, so that we might share in His holiness.
– Hebrews 12:10
Remember discipline is a necessary job of a loving Father. Because it’s meted out by a good daddy who wants us to continue moving forward, it is never punishment. When bad things happen, know you are not being punished. Jesus said, “In this word you will have trouble.” He did and if Jesus couldn’t escape it, neither can you.
TODAY IS A GOOD DAY TO GET THE REVELATION THAT GOD KEEPS NO RECORD OF WRONGS IF YOU ARE HIS CHILD. HE’S NOT PUNISHING YOU. GOD IS GOOD ALL THE TIME!
From my book: Good Overcomes Evil
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