Troy A. Brewer's Blog, page 346
December 21, 2016
A sign of the times
I double dog dare you to get connected to a thriving church that is being the hands and feet of Jesus. You will experience a feeling that you used to pay good money to feel and it is all free. The joy you will experience serving someone and making them feel like kings and queens will bring you such great satisfaction and erase the problems that were hindering you. Mark 10:45 says, “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His as a ransom for many.”
A SIGN OF THE TIMES
There is a carnal part of us that does not want to be joined to the body of Christ. In these last days, the Bible is clear that there will be a larger and larger group of “separatists” within the church.
These are people who become religious in trying not to be religious. It is sad that the very people who have this problem usually refuse to admit that their carnal nature keeps them separated from the church – not their long list of excuses.
The half brother of Jesus, Jude, spoke of these folks in his incredible book.
They said to you, “In the last times there well be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires.” These are the men who will divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit.
– Jude 1:18-19
The King James says “they who separate themselves.” I see it a lot. The spirit of this generation has become greater than the Spirit of the Lord in these mavericks.
Let’s be honest, the reason so many so-called Christians do not want to be committed to a group of sold-out Christians is simply because they are not kingdom-minded people looking to help, bless and save others from hell.
I knew a woman who always had an excuse for not coming to church – any church, not just mine. The music was too loud, the people weren’t friendly, her schedule didn’t fit, she already knew everything the preacher was talking about so she just didn’t get anything out of it. She reasoned that praying, listening to Christian music in the car and, on occasion, the Bible Answer Man on the radio, was a better fit for her.
“God knows me and works with me how I am,” she said. Wow! The Lord was her personal Genie in a bottle that she believed came running at her beck and call, existing to make her comfortable.
Separatists are wrapped up in themselves and their own little world. That mindset demands all of their attention. They may see need, but they point people to the church for help or say, “I’ll pray for you,” as they speed away to their next nail appointment or to work out a the gym.
But, that’s not you!
TODAY IS A GOOD DAY TO TAKE YOUR ATTENTION OFF OF YOURSELF. LOOK FOR WAYS YOU CAN SERVE OTHERS IN YOUR DAILY LIFE (YOUR MISSION) AND THROUGH COMMITMENT TO YOUR CHURCH (YOUR MINISTRY).From my book: SOUL INVASION
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December 20, 2016
God is love
God so loved the world that He gave his Son to die so that we might have life everlasting (John 3:16). God is always available for us to ask our Heavenly Father to forgive us. Just remember, our sins are never too big or wrong for God to forgive us. We must learn to forgive others so God can forgive us. We must be willing to consecrate our lives to God. Isn't it great to know that our creator loves us so much? All we have to do is call upon Him because He is always reaching out to us. We just have to take hold of His hand and never let go!
A NEW REVELATION
God is not mad at you. He’s not. If you’ve ever thought that God is mad at you, punishing you or just indifferent to your suffering, my question to you is, who told you that?
Somehow, people have gotten the impression that God is the mean old man in the sky waiting to spit in our Cheerios if we mess up.
Lost job? Crumbling marriage or rebellious child? God must be punishing me for something I did. Financial problems, health issues, natural disaster? God is judging me. I must have messed up when I….
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. You see, Satan hates it when we know and understand how good God truly is. It shines a very bright spotlight on how evil and demented he is. He hates to be reminded 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. That’s not who He is or how He deals with us. He does let us have the natural, or earthly consequences of our actions, but that is on us alone – not Him.
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. - John 3:16
There is a beautiful scenes at the end of “The Agony and the Ecstasy,” Irving Berlin’s historical novel about Michelangelo that illustrates my point today.
An aging Pope Julius II visits the nearly completed ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. Michelangelo has to help him up the last few rungs of the ladder. The pope looks up at the now-famous depiction of God, about to impart the gift of life to Adam.
Now, Julius had fought terrible, bloody wars in the name of the church. He had blood on his hands, and he wasn’t really sure if his cause was truly just or successful. However, as he looks at Michelangelo’s picture of God, a smile comes to his cracked lips.
“Do you truly believe God is that benign?” he asks the famous painter.
“Yes, Holy Father,” Michelangelo replies.
Pope Julius says, “I most ardently hope so, since I am going to be standing before Him before long. If He is as you have painted Him, then I shall be forgiven my sins.”
Looking at that painting, the pope saw an image of God unlike the one he had lived his whole life with. It was a revelation to him that God wasn’t killing life, but that God loved to give life. It had never occurred to him what a giver God is even in the face of his sins. That He is good.
That painting, you know the one where the finger of God is reaching out to impart life into a lifeless Adam, actually started a revival that would ruin the Catholic Church’s corner on the market of Christianity. When people saw that image, painted high, as if you were looking into Heaven, a new revelation of God’s goodness spread across Europe and beyond.
God is love. He is light and life. He never brings you hatred, darkness or death. Those things are brought our way by nature, the devil, and by man – oftentimes self-inflicted. God is good, period.
TODAY IS A GOOD DAY TO GET THE REVELATION THAT GOD IS ALWAYS A LIFE-GIVER. HE’S NOT LOOKING TO PUNISH YOU BECAUSE HE KEEPS NO RECORD OF WRONGS IF YOU ARE HIS CHILD. GOD IS GOOD ALL THE TIME!From my book: GOOD OVERCOMES EVIL
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December 19, 2016
You have not, because you ask not
God knows the desires of your heart and it is His good pleasure to give those things to you. Nothing is too great or too small for you to go to your Father with. Seek Him and you will find Him. If it’s important to you, it’s important to Him.
MR. FIX IT
For years before OpenDoor Food Bank became a reality, my family and I would pick up food from Bread Basket Ministries and hit the road every Saturday. We had a route through the backroads and byways of Johnson County and would take food to over 70 needy seniors.
These people were so grateful and happy to see us, they would hug my kids nearly to death. They would invite us in for lemonade or to visit on the porch. However, there was one woman who always met us at the gate. She would only let me hand her the bags over the chain link fence.
I could tell she was uneasy about letting us into her home. Now, I’m a big ugly guy so at first, I thought it was me. After a while, it became apparent it was something else. Something deeply shameful.
Me being as subtle as a meat cleaver, finally asked what the problem was. She turned beet red and said she was too embarrassed to have anyone in her home because her roof had leaked badly for over 20 years. It had caused her floors and walls to rot.
While I wanted to tell her I could round up some guys to come in and fix the problem, I knew better. I didn’t want to promise something I couldn’t deliver, despite the plan forming in my head to raise the money, buy the supplies and pull together a team of construction volunteers. Instead I asked her if we could pray for God to do a miracle.
She said she felt silly asking God to fix her roof when so many other people needed bigger or more important things. Hmmmm.
She was a really sweet old lady with good intentions, but that line of thinking had kept her from being blessed for a very long time. I told her she needed to get over that feeling and ask God to provide, and pray we did.
That week, I made arrangements for manpower and supplies and was excited to tell her about my plan to fix her roof. Saturday rolled around and as we pulled up to her house, my eyes nearly bugged out. It was an entirely new house!
She came running out the gate to hug me, excited and full of life. She was so grateful to God for answering her prayer
She said the city was putting up a new telephone pole a few days after I left. It crashed through her roof and damaged the walls and floors. Being an election year, the mayor didn’t want the bad press of making a sweet old lady homeless. By Friday she had new framework, floors, walls and a new roof.
For the first time, I saw the inside of her house – the house God built. We blessed her and the house with prayer.
When I look back on that miracle, it seem stop me that God had been waiting for years to give that woman a new roof. It never occurred to her to ask because she underestimated God. She thought he would see her roof as trivial. How it must have hurt our Father to know she assumed He considered her unimportant. She was wrong on both counts.
Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives, and he who seeks, finds and to him who knocks it will be opened. Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, He will give him a serpent? If you then, being evil, know who to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in Heaven give good things to those who ask Him!”
–Matthew 7:17-12
When the Good Book says, “you have not because you ask not,” God’s not kidding. He wants to provide and He’ll do it in some crazy cool ways.
TODAY IS A GOOD DAY TO ASK. YOU KNOW WHAT FOR. TRUST THAT GOD IS GOOD AND WANTS TO PROVIDE ALL YOUR NEEDS.From my book: MIRACLES WITH A MESSAGE
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December 18, 2016
Renew your passion for fellowship
You are a very important piece to God's plan. He has called the church the body of Christ. I don't know about you but I sure like my whole body operating the way it is supposed to with no pain, soreness or my foot falling asleep. It sure makes it more difficult for me to get around. But when the whole 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.” So the church was born.
A KINGDOM-PURPOSED MINDSET
When you became a Christian, you were called into a relationship with God (1 Corinthians 1:9) and it’s a wonderful thing. 1 John 1:3 also makes is clear that we enter a fellowship that goes two ways – with God and with other Christians.
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!
TODAY IS A GOOD DAY TO RENEW YOUR PASSION FOR FELLOWSHIP. MAKE CHURCH A PRIORITY AND MOVE INTO SERVICE. DON’T LET ANYTHING OR ANYONE KEEP YOU FROM YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH JESUS.From my book: SOUL INVASION
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December 17, 2016
Focus on Jesus
We all like looking at other people to make ourselves feel better by saying, “Well at least I am not as bad as Sister Susie Rottenheart.” But the reality is we have all sinned and fall short of the Glory of God. So the playing field is always level at the foot of the cross. Let the blood of Jesus cleanse your stinking thinking. Create in me a clean heart oh God. And focus on how Jesus can work in your life and then Sister Susie is not so bad.
BLAME THE HYPOCRITES
The most used excuse for not attending church, or even failing to believe in God, is because “Christians are such hypocrites!” Really?
While it is true, there is not a Christian alive whose talk matches their walk perfectly, think about this: there is not a person, Christian or not, who has never acted out of character or stepped out of line. Yes, we are all hypocrites.
The truth is, churches are filled with people. Though they want to follow God and do the right thing every time, they are going to fail. People, in church or out, are going to hurt you and disappoint you, so why would you let that keep you from a solid relationship with God?
There is no such thing as the perfect church. If you find it, don’t go there because you’ll mess it up!
Likewise, there is no such thing as perfect people.
As Christians, we try to live differently and be better than we used to be. Unfortunately, when we wear the mantle of Christ follower, those who aren’t, judge us more harshly because we dared to step up and proclaim that we want to live by a higher standard. They then use that as an excuse to reject not only church, but Jesus Himself.
For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.
Romans 12:3-5
Don’t let that be you! Understand that churches are full of fallen people just like you. Even elders, deacons and pastors mess up and hurt people. It is our mistakes that should bring us together and our willingness to strive for the heart of Jesus that should keep us that way.
Let your eyes look directly forward, and your gaze be straight before you. Ponder the path of your feet; then all your ways will be sure. Do not swerve to the right or to the left; turn your foot away from evil.
- Proverbs 4:25-27
From my book: SOUL INVASION
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December 16, 2016
Be victorious over your enemies
“For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him.” (2 Chronicles 16:9) Are you facing a problem that you have said, “Only a miracle from God can help me now?” God wants you to know He sees you and is ready to work in your behalf. He will cause you to be victorious over all your enemies!
DESPERATE TIMES, DESPERATE MEASURES
Just so you know the truth, miracles are not God’s best for His people. Miracles are there for God’s people when miracle is required.
The fertile ground that bears the fruit of a miraculous move of God is typically a dangerous place to stand. You don’t see miracles when there is money in the bank and a 7-11 on the corner. You don’t hear of the miracle healing of a skin disorder when all you have to do is apply the cream your insurance paid your doctor for.
No, miracles are powerful moves for very desperate times. It’s an important biblical lesson to learn: It’s better to not need a miracle.
Some of the most mind-bending manifestations of God are born in the midst of chaos and controversy. It was like that when God parted the Red Sea for the children of Israel. It was like that when Jesus fed 500 men (and a lot more women and children) using five rolls and two smoked fish. Against all odds, the hand of God moves.
Understanding that miracles are a dangerous place to stand, know that 1995 was a very dangerous time for Leanna and I. Not because our lives were in peril, but because we were in the infant stages of building what is now OpenDoor Church and so much was on the line.
I want to stop right there and remind you of this: it is always the devil’s plan to snuff out a work of God before it is able to stand.
“…and the dragon stood before the woman who was ready to give birth, to devour her Child as soon as it was born.”
– Revelation 12:4
Satan is a cosmic punk. He is not a brilliant strategist. He is a relentless opportunist! 1 Peter 5:8 tells us he’s like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. He’s really not all that powerful because he needs your permission to devour you! Those who don’t know any better, open the door for him to tear them to pieces. This is lack of trust in God’s power to deliver you!
TODAY IS A GOOD DAY TO KNOW THE DEVIL IS POWERLESS OVER YOU IF YOU DON’T OPEN THE DOOR AND LET HIM IN. TRUST IN GOD’S POWER TO DELIVER YOU FROM HIS ENEMY THROUGH A MIRACLE. DO YOU NEED ONE? CALL ON HIS NAME WITH CONFIDENCE!From my book: MIRACLES WITH THE MESSAGE
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December 15, 2016
Reach for undiscovered
God sees you as a king. It is the glory of God to conceal a matter but the glory of kings to search out a matter (Proverbs 25:2). God is waiting for you to call out to Him about those concealed matters that you’ve never known so He can reveal Himself to you as you seek Him.
SKYWARD
In 1990, NASA deployed the Hubble Space Telescope from the space shuttle Discovery. Scientists were determined to see what had never been seen before.
I think God gets excited anytime somebody does that – reaches for the undiscovered.
At one point, they aimed the telescope toward a very dark, seemingly empty part of space and waited 10 days for the images to be beamed back. They found that what they thought was desolate space, was anything but as millions, even billions of stars were discovered. They counted over 1,500 galaxies, each containing millions of stars.
How patient God is for us to finally discover what He has always had there for us! I don’t know about you, but I’m not like that. It is amazing to me that He is so anxious for us to see some facet of His character or kingdom, and so patient with our ability to find it. He’s just awesome.
But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.
– 2 Peter 3:8
This verse specifically speaks of God’s patience with us. It is how long He will wait for us to come to Him, or to discover something new about Him in our quest for upgrade.
He also loves it when we discover something new about His creation. The Sombrero Galaxy was hanging there in the sky for a very long time before someone looked up and said, “Wow!” The entire North American continent and western world sat silent for a long time before Europe heard of it. El Capitan in Yosemite Valley stood rock solid in pristine condition for eons before the Paiute Indians made their camps there.
It took adventurous people who would not be confined to what was known, to unlock these things for the rest of us. So it is with the things of God.
“This is God’s Message, the God who made earth, made it livable and lasting, known everywhere as God: ‘Call to me and I will answer you. I’ll tell you marvelous and wondrous things that you could never figure out on your own.’”
– Jeremiah 33:3
From my book: LIVING LIFE /FORWARD
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December 14, 2016
Do you have a plan?
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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December 13, 2016
Are you happy to take the next step?
God has given you a telescope of wisdom, knowledge, and discernment. He has a new lens for you to see His love for you.
GOD IN A BOX
The box of the universe gets bigger every day, outrunning our ability to discover the end of it. The design of the universe and all things created causes us to upgrade our telescope if we want to see farther.
Think about how intelligent that design is. If you want to see farther, you have to change to a bigger lens. In other words, if you want to move forward, you have to be willing to change to meet the demands of the next level.
Sometimes, in order to go to the next level, you have to be willing to change how you think about and do things. Sometimes, the change is to radical, it takes a special grace and word from God to be able to deal with it. Often, the problem is deeply rooted in your own identity and what you think you owe your allegiance to.
Take the example of Peter. Like Jesus and the other disciples, He was Jewish and Jews have very specific rules about food. God used that area of Peter’s life, unclean food, to teach him a lesson on whom God would love and allow into His Kingdom.
When Peter had a hard time inviting Gentiles, non-Jews, to be part of the body of Christ without adhering to Jewish customs (food, circumcision), the Lord spoke to him about progression through a dream.
In the dream located in Acts chapter 10, there was a tablecloth coming down from heaven for a feast. On the menu was “all kinds of four-footed animals of the earth, wild beasts, creeping things and birds of the air.” The voice of God told Peter to “kill and eat.”
Wanting to stay in “Egypt,” where he had been a slave to dead customs and fierce nationalism, Peter said “By no means, Lord!” You see, it had never entered Peter’s mind that God could call an “unclean” animal “clean,” much less an uncircumcised Roman or a common bacon-loving Texan, saved. As far as Peter knew, Israel was the only nation God was dealing with.
God, who loved Peter very much, was saying something very different from what he’d heard his entire life. Peter had to rethink his allegiance – Jewish customs or the Lord’s love for Gentiles?
Peter got it. He was able to step forward into the next level of thinking.
“You know how unlawful it is for a Jewish man to keep company with or go to one of another nation. But God has shown me that I should not call any man common or unclean.”
– Acts 10:15
In order for Gentile to be saved and accepted, Peter had to receive a life-changing switch. God wanted Peter to be a vital part of the next big step, and Peter had to change his way of thinking to be a part of it.
TODAY IS A GOOD DAY TO KNOW THAT GOD WANTS YOU TO BE A PART OF THE NEXT BIG STEP OF HIS KINGDOM. IS THERE AN OLD ALLEGIANCE TO RULES OR RELIGION THAT HAS BEEN HOLDING YOU BACK? LET GO AND LET GOD MOVE YOU FORWARD!From my book: LIVING LIFE /FORWARD
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Time is a safe place
God is taking you through a process that will take some time. While you are waiting for the next season, stop and smell the roses with God. Though you may want to go through this time quickly, enjoy God where you are at because He wants to spend time with you.
TIME TO MOVE FORWARD
Time is a pretty cool thing. Our heavenly Father lives in eternity where there is no beginning, middle or end. It’s all happening at once. When He made men, He knew that eternity would blow our limited minds, so He created time. See, time is for our protection — so we don’t get overwhelmed. God knew we could only handle life in 24 hour chunks.
“And that was the morning and the evening of the first day.”
-Genesis 1:5
See God even tells us at the end of each day of creation, that He did it in literal 24-hour days, but that’s not the point here.
The point is, for us, time is a reality. For Father God, it’s relative – and that’s a good thing. If you are going after spiritual and relational upgrade, the Bible says “seek and you shall find.” It doesn’t say how long that will take. For some of us who are easily sidetracked, it can take a long time.
But get this: God doesn’t care if it takes a long time for you to find the things you are searching for and the identity He has already put out there for you. He didn’t create it to be found all at once. He loves the time you spend with Him in the process of getting to the next level!
Yes, it’s a process and He made it that way. He gave us time so that everything doesn’t happen at once and freak us out. Time is a safe place for the redemptive work of Jesus where the sins of our present can be buried in the past.
TODAY IS A GREAT DAY TO TAKE THAT NEXT STEP IN RELATIONSHIP WITH HIM. BE DILIGENT TO SET ASIDE TIME TODAY TO ASK YOUR ABBA FATHER FOR MORE OF HIM. Go after it and watch for the results – you’ll be blown away with what you find!From my book: LIVING LIFE /FORWARD
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