As I entered the church yesterday, I noticed that it was just as cold inside as it was outside. I knew the heat had been set on fifty degrees, but it was freezing. I felt the vents and they were only pushing out cold air, but the thermostat was set correctly. After checking the furnace and realizing that it wasn’t hot, I looked for a reset button. My wife Jess and I looked all over for it, but there was only a flashing red light in the shape of a cross on a screen. Making a long story short, after much trial and error (including buying and installing a new thermostat) Jess suggested searching Google for where the reset button would be located. We immediately found an 18-second video that showed the reset button was the flashing light. It was a touch screen. All of that to discover that the thing that was flashing in front of us all this time was the very thing that would light the fire again. Why do they not just label it “reset” like they did on my Nintendo? (I wore that thing out).
Sometimes in life we feel a need to hit the reset button. When we’re down and out and life has us going through another trial it would be nice to have a “do over”. David was in need of that when he sinned with Bathsheba. The man after God’s own heart felt like God was miles away. In Psalm 51:12 he cried out, Restore unto my the joy of my salvation. In other words, “I need a reset button”. Are you feeling like that now? Are you feeling like the fire has gone out? The answer is right in front of us, but we just have to reach out and touch Him. The cross is available. The light of the world is there for us all to see. What do we need to do to hit the reset? Instead of trial and error, instead of going to Google, let’s find the answers in His Word. Let me show you what David did in Psalm 51: 1. Asked God for mercy Psalm 51:1 - Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions. 2. He asked God to cleanse him Psalm 51:7 - Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Psalm 51:10 - Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. 3. He filled his ears with things of God Psalm 51:8 - Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice. 4. Asked God to fill Him with His Holy Spirit Psalm 51:11 - Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me. Often times we begin to grow cold in our spiritual walk and do not even realize it. Take time today to evaluate your spiritual walk and hit the reset button. Parents, talk to your children about how they feel in their spiritual walk and encourage them to hit the reset button. Identify the things that have brought us to this season and ask God to have mercy on us and cleanse us again. Begin to fill your ears with things of God and not things of this world. Ask God to fill you with His presence. Just as he was the pillar of fire to the Israelites, the fire of His Spirit can burn inside of you again. And remember, keep your eyes upon Jesus. Let Him be your reset button! Hebrews 12:2 - Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. Then, we will be able to complete the Great Commission and reach others like David said in the next verse: Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee (Psalm 51:13).
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The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. (Psalm 14:1)
"When a man calls himself an atheist, he is not attacking God; he is attacking his own conscience." - Michael Pearl There are many who call themselves atheists. Is it that they truly do not believe in God or is it that they don't WANT to believe? You see, if you truly believe that God is real, then you are required to live like it. Just believing is not enough. You have to live out your faith. Many people do not WANT to believe because they know that if is going to require them to give up some things, it will come with conviction, and it will require change. Just as disturbing as those who call themselves atheists are those who call themselves Christians, but do not live the life that God has instructed us to in His Word. In the second chapter of James, James says that faith without works is dead and that even demons believe and tremble. It is not enough to just believe. We have to live out this faith. The world needs to see people who are not ashamed to live out what they believe. Please do not call yourself a Christian (meaning Christ-like) if you are participating in the ways of this world. You are hurting the image of Christ. Repent of your sins, walk in newness of life, and don’t just believe, LIVE IT!! For my “atheist” friends, I want to apologize for the example that some of us Christians have been. I want to say that I am sorry for how the church has hurt you in the past. I’m sorry for how Christian people around you have not lived the life they should have and showed you the proper way. I want to tell you that regardless of what everyone else has done to you, God still loves you!! Stop spending your life hating a God that you say doesn’t exist because you really just hate the representation of Him by people that call themselves Christians. There is a God that is full of compassion, grace, and mercy for you. Allow Him to accept you just the way you are and help you to change your lifestyle. You haven’t chased him away, He’s still running after you with the love of a Father! In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth (Gen. 1:1). That’s where it all began. Everything that is formed starts with God. He is the Creator. Then you get to the second verse: And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. (Gen. 2:2). This verse used to really bother me. “God, why would You ever make something that didn’t have any form or lacking details? Why would You ever make something that is in darkness? Why not just make it all at one time and put everything in it? Why wait until day six? What could be Your reasoning behind this?” Could it be that God wants to show us what He desires to do in our own lives? How did we start out? We all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23) and our righteousness is as filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6). We were made in the image of God, but spiritually we were without form and void of His glory. We were spiritually lifeless and living in spiritual death (Romans 6:23). There was nothing that we could do to create life within ourselves because there is only one Creator. God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit must work in us to create new life. The second part of verse two says that the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. In other words, He hovered over the waters. The Holy Spirit was active in creation. Then God said, “Let there be light” (Gen. 1:3). John 1 tells us that Jesus is the Word and the Light. So, God the Son was active in creation as well and without Him nothing was made (John 1:3). He is the Word and nothing came into existence unless God spoke it. This is not like you speaking it, its God speaking it. He doesn’t have to “do”, He just has to speak. The first thing that was created was the light. It’s interesting that he didn’t create the sun and moon until day four, but there is light on day one. Why? You can’t have the Word of God and not have the Light, because the Word is the Light (John 1:4-5; Psalm 119:105). God does not want to leave you without form and void, so He sent His Spirit to move upon you. He sent His Spirit to hover over you. He cared enough about you to send His Spirit to convict you of your sins. He shows you how filthy and without form or life that you are not to abuse you, but in hopes that you will desire to change. No good parent will just discipline their children without showing them an alternative to their actions. The Spirit of God does not hover over you just to make you feel condemned. He wants to point you toward the light. When God speaks over you, real change comes. When you allow the true Light to come into your life, you will no longer be in darkness. Darkness will no longer be on your face, but the Light will reside in you. There is no other Light, but Him. You can search in so many other things, but you are only moving into other forms of darkness. You will only find light in Him. Are you feeling like your life does not have meaning? Are you looking for God to really transform you in 2017? Are you tired of living the same old way? Let God speak to you and create new life in you. Let the Father shine His Light in you. Let the Spirit of God do the work in you that He wants to do. In 2017, let God reveal things in you that He wants to change and walk in new life. In 2017, let’s walk in the light of Jesus Christ and allow the Spirit of God to lead us so that we can help pull others out of darkness. Let’s let our words speak life as we walk in the power of the Word, Light, and Spirit of God. As God changes us, let’s let him use us to change the world. Pastor John Bradshaw Redeeming Grace Church Just look around. There are people all around you who seem to be all stressed out. You can see the frustration on their faces. You can see the anxiety building up to the point where they look like they could explode. People’s lives become overwhelmed because of many different things. Their jobs are demanding more from them. They are trying to balance too many responsibilities. Things are not going well in their relationships. Financial troubles keep plaguing them. They may have physical or mental issues that they are dealing with and doctors do not have an answer. We see these people, we recognize it, and we say to ourselves “That’s life! They’ll get past it and one day look back on this time of their lives and laugh at how stressed they were in the moment.”
But, what if they don’t? What if they never seem to get over these issues on their own? What if they live in their stress-filled world the rest of their lives? We see those people in town, at church, and maybe even in our homes. We see the lady who is frantically running through Wal-Mart to get the last minute things to make sure she is on time to get to the NEXT place. There is always something to do. She never can keep up with it all. We see the fellow church member who is always struggling with keeping their sanity in the middle of their crisis. We see the family member who can’t seem to handle the pressures of life. But, wait! What about the others that we do not recognize. What about the teenager who seems to be too cool to let anything ever stress them out, but is secretly cutting themselves because the pressure to fit in is way too much to handle? What about the new mother who seems so happy in public, but is really so weighed down by her new responsibility that she could just have a nervous breakdown at any moment or worse? What about the man who does not reveal the struggles he is going through because he does not want to reveal his weaknesses? Jesus said that peace has been provided for us. John 14:27 says, Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. As believers, God has given us the peace that passes all understanding that will guard our hearts and minds (Phil. 4:7). This peace that we have should be impacting others, but all too often we just let people live their lives in hopes that they will get over it and never take the time to encourage them. I once heard a preacher stand up to receive the offering at camp meeting. Before the ushers passed the plates he said, “We have all the money we need for the rest of camp meeting….. The problem is that the money is in your wallet.” As believers, the world has all the peace they need. The problem is that the church is holding on to it. When we see people who are hurting or stressed we need to reach out them, pray for them (out loud so they can hear), show acts of kindness, assist them with their responsibilities, and show the love of Christ. But, do not wait for people to show signs of anxiety before you go to their side to help them. The people who are hurting the most are the people that are the best at hiding it. Be Christ to everyone! You never know who might really need the peace of God in their lives at that moment. Your outstretched hand and your act of kindness could literally save a life today. Don’t hoard all the peace for yourself, share it with others. God did not give you all He has given you just for you. He gave you the joy, peace, love, and other blessings so that you would share it. You’re not really being a Christian unless you are being “Christ-like”. Don’t just BE like Christ, SHOW Christ to others. God has given you a peace of mind, now spread peace to those around you so their hearts will not be troubled either. If you are the one that is struggling today with all the pressures of the world I want you to know that there is a God that loves you and is concerned about you. There are also people all around you who would like to help you. It may seem like they do not care, but it may be because they do not know the severity of your issue. Would you please reach out to someone today? You do not have to live in this torment and there is someone who would love to help you if you would just allow yourself to open up. You are not weak. You are human. We all struggle sometimes and need someone to lean on. I pray that God’s love and peace will envelope you today. Will you give peace a chance today? In the multitude of my thoughts within me thy comforts delight my soul. (Psalm 94:19) John Bradshaw Pastor Redeeming Grace Church This was my first day back to work in 3 months. Most teachers know that means I have to spend much of the next week in long meetings, unpacking boxes, posting things on bulletin boards, and decorating my classroom all over again. As I was going through materials this morning and pulling out school supplies from my filing cabinet, I was bombarded with memories. There is a plaque that was given to me from a parent who was totally appreciative for the change in her son’s academic performance. There are letters and posters made by students who wanted to show their gratefulness to a teacher who cared. My classroom is not just full of stuff, but I have now been teaching long enough that my classroom is filled with memories.
My family and I have also been moving this summer. As I packed and unpacked boxes I have found many things that brought back so many good memories for our family as well. I have reminisced about good things while finding old pictures of the kids, wedding albums, and family heirlooms passed down from family members who have moved on to their heavenly home. One thing that I found really made me smile. I found a journal that I had nine years ago. As I was reading the entries, I found one from 5/9/06 that really caught my eye. That was the day that Cherith, my first child, was born. I wrote about how proud I was of Jess and how thankful I was to have such a beautiful, healthy baby girl with a head full of hair. She is still such a blessing to us and always will be our baby girl (She tells me not to call her “baby girl” anymore, but to call her “beautiful girl”). God has been so good to us and I have been reminded of that over and over again as I pack and unpack. There are so many things to be thankful, but it seems that it is so easy to get caught up in the stressors of life. If we’re not careful it becomes a way of life to find reasons to complain. There are so many things in life that will get us so distracted that we forget about all the blessings that God has given us. We are so stressed that we forget that we are blessed. I want to challenge you to unpack the boxes. Don’t store those memories away to never be brought out again. I challenge you to pause for a moment and think about all the blessings in your life, all the prayers answered, and all the things that God has ever done for you. I know as a teacher there are going to be frustrating times for me this year, but in those moments it helps to unpack the boxes of my memories and reminisce about the times where I had a positive impact in my life. I know that as a human being there are going to be times where I will be stressed, but I have to unpack the boxes of all the times that God has brought me out of stressful moments with His peace. Remember that your blessings will always outweigh your hardships and just know that the hardships will only be a memory of the blessings of God that brought you through it. Store the memories away and cherish every one, but do not forget to every now and then unpack the boxes. One morning last week Isaac, my 7-year-old son, was the first of our children to get up. When he saw me and his mother, Jess, in the living room he immediately said, “I had the worst dream”. You could tell that it terrified him and we were very interested in hearing the details. He explained, “I had a dream where I kept waking up , falling back asleep, and the dream just continued.” Don’t you hate that?! I love it when it is a peaceful dream, but it seems to happen more often when it is a bad dream. He told us about some men and their children trying to bomb a house, placing their hands around his neck, and threatening him. He explained many other parts of this dream and gave a very detailed description for a soon to be 2nd grader. This dream was a nightmare! Anyone who knows my wife and I know that we believe that God can speak to us through dreams and visions. The whole time he was telling this dream I was trying to figure out if it had a meaning or just a boy having another fantastical dream. We all know that us boys can have some very strange dreams at times. I can still remember some of the bizarre dreams I had as a kid: the Incredible Hulk knocking down grocery shelves on my head, monsters on the merry-go-round, etc.
As he was telling us the last part of his dream, he said something that really got my attention. He told us about these people going to another house and setting it on fire. He said, “Someone put bombs and matches everywhere and set it on fire, but the house didn’t do a total melt down.” What a crazy way to explain it! Jess and I chuckled because it was so cute how he phrased that last sentence. After thinking about that for a moment, I thought, “Isn’t that just like Satan”. He tries everything thing he can to distract us and even destroy us. The Bible says that he walks around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour (I Peter 5:8). He tries to destroy our minds, destroy our bodies, destroy our homes, destroy our families, destroy our churches, and anything that he can do to distract us from our calling. There are so many who are so stressed with life, responsibilities, and situations in their lives that are beyond their control. The fact is that we are under attack. The enemy would love to devour us spiritually by getting our minds focused on so many things besides the things of God. Philippians 3:14 says, “I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus”. The church must, especially in these last days, keep our eyes on the prize. The more we get distracted, the less progress we are making for God and the more likely we are to give up the race. You know why so many people are having meltdowns? They are getting their eyes off of the prize and putting too much emphasis and importance on things that are not eternal. If we are not careful we will start worrying about things so much that we will make these things our gods. There is victory over the attacks of the enemy. When the enemy comes in like a flood, the Spirit of God will lift a standard against him (Isaiah 59:19). We don’t need to keep fighting these battles. Let God handle it! We don’t have to be afraid because the battle is not ours, but the Lords (2 Chronicles 20-:15). Isaac told us one more thing about his dream. He said, “I went in the house after the fire went out and there was a family living in there and nothing in the house was burnt.” I want you to know that Satan can come against you and try to attack you, but God is your protector. From the outside, it looks like you should be having a total meltdown, but don’t be afraid because God’s got this. Others will marvel at how you went through what you went through without losing your mind, but it is possible to have so much trust and faith in the Lord that nothing that the enemy throws at you affects your mind. It’s up to you whether or not there are signs of the fire inside. The only person who can cause you to have a total meltdown is you. Don’t let the fire distract you. The enemy cannot destroy you. It’s just a smokescreen to deter you from your destiny. We are victorious because Christ is victorious! Satan is the one who is guaranteed a total meltdown. Rev. 20:10 says “And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.” Stay focused. Enjoy this life as you walk in a relationship with Christ. Don’t be distracted by the enemy. Above all, live life on purpose. Purposefully live out the purpose that God has designed for your life. Take joy in knowing that we are victorious over the enemy and he will experience the ultimate total meltdown. John Bradshaw Pastor Redeeming Grace Church My two-year old, Moriah, has a blanket that she sleeps with every night. It is a soft, zebra-printed blanket that she chews on every night until she falls asleep. She tries to carry it around with her during the day (which we’re trying really hard to break her from) because it has become her security blanket. What are some things in your life that have become your security blanket? What are some things that you just keep dragging around with you, tripping over, and weighing you down that you just can’t seem to live without? Sometimes the things that we are holding on to the most are the things that we need to let go of the most. People are held back in their walk with Christ by different types of security blankets: hurtful memories, bad relationships, addictions, gossip, jealousy, malice, etc. They cannot seem to imagine life without these things in their minds and hearts. Freedom from these things seems out of reach. The other day, Moriah had to bring her blanket with her to preschool so that she would have it for naptime. To our dismay, it was left at the preschool. We tried to not talk about it with Moriah and hoped that she would forget about it. Sometimes it’s best to ignore the pink elephant (or zebra in this case). Isn’t that what we do all the time. We pretend that we do not have a struggle. If no one notices it and I’m not called out on it, then it doesn’t exist. Some people will live their entire lives struggling inside and never face their problems head on because it’s easier to pretend that they do not exist. Well, Moriah is too young to just pretend that she doesn’t have a problem. While we were cleaning her room, she said “Where my wankie at?” Uh-oh!! The pink elephant has now had a huge spotlight shined on him. We had to address the issue now. “Your wankie is at pre-school.”, Jess (her mother) replied. And then it happened. I heard a phrase come from a 2 year-old that I would love to hear with the same confidence from other adults. Moriah quickly replied back, “Jesus has my wankie.” Why do we carry so many things around that burdens us so much that we are spiritually exhausted, when Jesus is asking for them? He has asked us to cast all our cares upon Him (Psalm 55:22; I Peter 5:7). He wants us to give everything to Him and let him handle it. You don’t have to drag the same struggles around with you. It IS possible to live a life of freedom without them. You don’t need those security blankets to cover you. Let the love, grace, and mercy of God through Jesus Christ cover you. There is nothing more secure than His ETERNAL security. Be free! In the words of a two year-old, “Let Jesus have your wankie.” I just came in from shoveling the snow off my driveway. I couldn’t help but think, “Didn’t I just do this last week?” I guess that’s the way life goes. Just when you think everything is going good and back to normal again something else happens. The snow finally melts from the last storm and then the next day we get several more inches. Just when you seem to get to a comfortable place financially something unexpected happens that sets you back again. As soon as you feel like you have the best job in the world, something happens to get you frustrated again. You clean the kitchen floor and then your child (namely Moriah) spills Oreo crumbs all over it ( I don’t know if I was more disappointed about the mess or the loss of Oreos). Life is full of surprises! Sometimes it seems like we can never get ahead. When things like these happen, we want to find someone to blame. We blame our family. We blame our boss. We get upset with our friends. We get discouraged with ourselves and some even fall into depression. We blame the devil and sometimes we even blame God. This just seems to be human nature. We’ve got to lash out at someone or something. But in reality, IT’S JUST LIFE!! Sometimes life is not fair. We are going to go through things. It’s not because we have done something wrong or not even that someone else has done us wrong. Sometimes it’s just life! Life is a struggle. Even Jesus promised that “in the world ye shall have tribulation” (John 16:33). It’s just a fact. As long as you are still breathing, you will have trouble. Life is a constant up and down cycle. It is just one storm after another. Sometimes everything seems like it is going well and then other times your whole world seems like it is falling apart. Let me ask you a question. How strong would you be right now if you had never faced a storm in life? Difficulties in life are what strengthen our character. What don’t kill you makes you stronger (by the way, this was one of my favorite sayings BEFORE Kelly Clarkson sang it). Did you know that a snowflake starts with a tiny dust or pollen particle? Something that is so insignificant turns into something that is so beautiful. I know it is so hard to do in the moment, but how much more pleasant would life be if we would look at each storm as an opportunity to grow and become a much more beautiful son or daughter of God. God will use these hardships to make us into the man and woman that He has called us to be even when He seems miles away. Those times that we are facing these troubles we need to remember that we do not face them alone. In Mark 6:34-41 Jesus and his disciples were in a boat and a storm came. Jesus was so calm that He was sleeping through the storm. The disciples were in the boat and fearful. When they woke Jesus up he calmed the storm. Remember that you are not alone. You might face life’s troubles, but don’t let them change your character. Be fearless because you know the One who can calm the storm is in it with you. Before you get fearful and let the storm change who God has called you to be, just call on Him and let Him calm it. He might not stop the circumstances, but He will always calm the storm inside you and give you peace. Oh yeah, let me tell you the rest of John 16:33. “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” It’s a done deal! He has already defeated everything that would come against you. He has already won and if you have given your life completely to Him you have too! What’s the forecast? Will we have school tomorrow? Will I be able to get out of my driveway in the morning? These are questions that we seem to hear over and over again this time of year. As I look out my window as I’m typing this, I can see about a foot of snow outside. Wait a minute! Could that really be a foot of snow? I can’t believe it. The weatherman gave the forecast of only 3-5 inches, but we have over 10 inches of snow outside. I could make a ton of weatherman jokes right here, but really they are just humans using technology to make the best prediction about something totally out of their control. Honestly, the reason why we all get so upset at these meteorologists is because they usually are right. We put so much trust in them because they usually hit it right on the money. When they get it wrong, it is so disappointing.
As I think about all of these things, I cannot help but think about all of the times that we put trust in other people’s opinions and predictions (forecasts) about our lives. Everyone seems to know so much more about God’s paths for our lives than we do. People all around us are sharing their predictions about our marriages (They’ll never make it), our children (Wait until their kids are teenagers), our occupations (They will never be able to keep that job), our friends (Look who they are hanging around now), and every other decision that we make in our lives. There are people who are so encouraging, but it seems that the ones that are negative about our decisions are the ones that stick out to us. They seem to be experts in filling us with fear, doubt, and insecurities. If we are not careful, they will cause us to doubt the will of God for our lives. No one knows the will of God for YOUR life more than YOU and God himself. Don’t let people put seeds of doubt in your mind. Like a weatherman, they might have a forecast, but they can’t control the storm. You cannot blame other people for seeing things critically, because everything on their radar points to gloom and doom. When you look at some things from human eyes they do not look like they could ever turn out in your favor, but let me remind you that “all things work together for good to them that love God, to them that are called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28)”. It might not look good now and the forecast might look bleak, but he is working it out. Don’t believe the forecast. Walk by faith, not by sight (2 Cor. 5:7). As followers of Christ, we can’t get caught up on what we can sense with our human senses. We need to be looking at it with our spiritual eyes and hearing from God, not from men and women who are always negative about the will of God for our lives. He would not call you to something that is not going to work for your good. I am sure of this, “that He which begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:6). Stop worrying about the future. We might have obstacles in the way and people in our lives might be obstacles for us, but remember that obstacles can only slow you down. They will not stop you. What God has spoken over you is greater than any other report. So, don’t look to other people for your forecast, but just get on your knees and ask him, “What’s the forecast?” He may not reveal the entire forecast to you, but it will always work out for your best in the end because, unlike your local meteorologist, He is always in control of the storm. Believe it! Hold on to it! Watch it come to pass! John Bradshaw Pastor Redeeming Grace Church |
AuthorJohn Bradshaw is the Pastor of Redeeming Grace Church in McGaheysville, VA Archives
January 2019
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