Dealing With The Stuff

by Bruce Brady

So be careful how you live. Don’t live like fools, but like those who are wise. 16 Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days. Ephesians 5:15-16

Those of us who are business minded will read these verses and focus on seizing every income producing opportunity. And there’s nothing wrong with that, if we keep our focus on God. However, many of us will ignore the spiritual opportunities and only see the promised earthly rewards.

 

Now I’m not going to tell you that everything on earth is evil. In fact, things are neutral, neither good nor evil. Things are just things. They’re only evil if we allow them to steal our focus. To me, the greatest danger of things is in the accumulation of them. The more we own, the more time we have to spend maintaining them. They are great robbers of time.

I love stories that teach or make me feel good and gadgets that make life easier. I’ve accumulated a lot of books, DVDs and various “time-saving” widgets. Now I’m faced with what to do with my things.

I’ve spent countless hours working to get them, accumulating them, using them, cleaning them, storing them, rearranging them. Once again I find myself planning the best way to store and organize them, and deciding what to keep and what to give away. Wondering if I really need them, the Spirit gave me a glimpse of how much more time I’ll spend on these things in the future.

Then the Holy Spirit showed me the real problem. Every minute I spend in thought and action with regards to my things, I’m robbing myself of time with God. Time that could be so much more valuable to me. That’s when I realized that the time spent on the maintenance of things is one of Satan’s greatest tools. The Devil loves it when I’m focused on my “stuff.” And he uses this tool with great subtlety.

So, I’ve decided a major cleaning out is in order. I know it’ll take more of my time but I’ll realize a great time savings in the future, time I can spend with my Creator. And time spent with our Creator is always time well spent.

If you find yourself dealing with a lot of stuff, physical or emotional, it’s time for a “deep cleaning.” Give away anything you haven’t used in a while and give all your mental stuff to God who’ll deal with it much more efficiently. Then, you can seize the opportunity to spend time with the Lord and enjoy the peace and comfort that comes with relaxing in His love.

True Happiness

by Bruce Brady

In Luke 6:45 (NLT), God tells us, "A good person produces good deeds from a good heart, and an evil person produces evil deeds from an evil heart. Whatever is in your heart determines what you say." This tells us that our actions and words reveal who we really are. And that we best relate to others by being open and honest.

As a writer, I know people can tell if I'm being honest by the words I use. They know if my statements are coming from my heart or from a world view that says, "Tell them what they want to hear, then you'll gain wealth and popularity." However, doing anything just for the sake or earthly rewards will never provide true joy and peace. The only sure way to happiness is to follow the heart God gives us, without regard for material rewards.

It's true that some evil people will experience worldly success. But they will not truly be happy because they have to spend their lives worrying about how to keep what they have from others. And, in the end, they will be placed in a box, dropped into a hole and covered with dirt. All their stuff will be left behind to be divided up by the very people whom they spent their lives trying to keep it from. So what have they really accomplished?

For true happiness, follow God's lead and be true to the heart He gives you. It's your choice. Lovingly share His message to you with the world. Serve Him by serving others in a way that will enrich their lives. Then you will know the joy and peace that surpasses all understanding. And you will have true riches.

House on Fire? Go Visit a Friend.

by Bruce Brady

Matthew 6:33 tells us,” But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you.” Does this mean we needn’t worry about earthly matters? Yes. It doesn’t mean we don’t have to deal with them, it simply means we shouldn’t be anxious about them.


However, we often spend our time fretting over the things of the world. If we measure the amount of time we spend with our Lord as compared to the time we spend on daily tasks and concerns, we will discover God gets little, if any, of our daily time. I’ve often heard it said, “If you want to know what your priorities are, look at your check register.” The implication is that the things we spend the most money on are the things that are most important to us. While I may not completely agree with this analogy, I do think it applies to our “time-allotment” checkbook.

I know that I spend more time with God than I ever have but I spend very little time with Him when compared to what I do with the rest of my time. And I’m not always faithful about my “Time with God” schedule. While I try to start each day with the Lord, I frequently allow circumstances to dictate how I spend my time. I forget the message of Matthew 6:33.


I selected the title for this post because this contrast indicates how God often works in my life. If the world is demanding my attention for something that seems urgent, God usually counters by leading me to do something that seems completely unrelated to the urgent matter. Frequently, following Him doesn’t make sense to me at the time. However, after a while, He shows me how my following Him was the correct response to the situation because it put my attention on the important instead of the urgent.


The message this Scripture verse has for me and all of us is simple. When we focus our attention on God, especially in times of worldly urgency, He will honor our faithfulness by providing the ideal solution to the urgent matter. Despite my natural human tendency to control every circumstance of my life (and often those of the people around me), His solutions are always better than anything I conceive. His love for us will never put us in true jeopardy. Remembering this will help us turn to Him at all times.


So when your house is on fire and you hear that still, small voice telling you to go visit a neighbor or friend, do it. Even if your house burns to the ground and you lose all your earthly possessions, you’ll gain so much more. Of course it will be painful for a time but He is faithful and will not let you suffer beyond what is beneficial to you. And, imagine how profound an impact your faithful obedience will have on your neighbor or friend, particularly when God restores you to better off than you were before.

We Rarely Have All the Answers Up Front

by Bruce Brady

Just when I thought I wouldn’t do anything with our church’s drama ministry until Christmas, God lead me to turn an old joke into an introduction for this past Sunday’s sermon. It was a relatively simple assignment, or so I thought. It was a short, 3-minute script that could be easily memorized and performed by four adults. And the senior pastor said it could be worked into the schedule.

However, the pastor said that particular Sunday included “Children’s Time;” a time when all the children come down and sit on the stage steps to hear a story. So, he asked if I could have children play the parts instead of adults. Ignoring the fact that many children were gone on vacation, and that I’d never directed a children’s stage production, I said yes. After all, if God wanted me to cast and direct a children’s production, He would take care of the details.

Naturally, God came through. I had four parts, He gave me five kids. Oh boy! I had an understudy. But I only had time for five rehearsals and none of these kids had ever acted before. In addition, Satan tried to make me panic because two of the kids were going on vacation and would miss three rehearsals. I almost gave in. Yet, I knew the Lord had things covered. So I put my faith in Him and asked the parents to help their kids memorize their lines.

This was my third production in less than a year. It was the third time I casted the parts without an audition and no regard for experience. It was the third time I encouraged criticism of my script from the actors, their parents and the church staff. It was the third time I relied completely on the Lord for the results, and was not disappointed.

Through God’s grace, we had three flawless performances and He filled me with a greater love for my little troupe of 10-12 year olds. It was a joy working with and getting to know them better. I know there will be more children’s productions in my future and look forward to them. It’s also a joy to know that God will always provide the perfect people to fill every part, and He will work through them to ensure His message reaches His intended audience.

If God is calling you to do something you’ve never done, listen. Don’t rob yourself of the joy that accompanies answering His call. Remember that no matter how hopeless things might seem at times, He will accomplish His will through you, despite the obstacles. So, follow His lead. Know that He will provide all the answers when they are needed, not before. And enjoy the ride.

A Storm's Silver Lining

A storm is blowing into our neighborhood. As I listen to the wind howling through the trees and the rain pounding on the windows, I’m reminded how much my life used to be like this storm. Before I knew God, I would howl and pound, and manipulate, in an attempt to get my own way. And if I failed, I would storm off, absorbed in an inner rage that would rule over me for a long time, the memory of that failure returning often for several months or years after. No different than anyone’s, my human nature would keep me tied up in emotional knots because I failed to get my own way. You see, human nature makes all of us selfishly competitive which leads to all kinds of negative health issues and sinful thoughts. I can’t count the number of times I injured and killed people, at least in my thoughts, because they prevented me from obtaining my own egocentric desires.

Thankfully God didn’t give up on me. Actually, He doesn’t give up on anybody which is why we are still waiting for Christ’s return. Understanding His patience is difficult at best. However, I am eternally grateful that He is patient because it saved my life and my soul. I’m not saying that I became immediately altruistic. Not even close. My self-centered nature fought long and hard to stay in control. But God is patiently molding me into the humble, charitable, unselfish person He created me to be. When I look at where I came from, I can see He has made enormous changes in me over the past 30 years. Today, more often than not, I prioritize the welfare of others over my own. However, His work is not yet done.

One thing I have learned is how wonderful He makes me feel when I answer His call to help others. I’m no longer helping others to primarily benefit myself. He has transformed me to the point where I can honestly help others with no concern for “what’s in it for me?” The real beauty of this is that when I allow Him to work through me to serve others, He provides much greater joy and rewards than selfishness ever could.

So are you fighting His calling like I did? Are you walking with God but not submitting to His control? Why not take a chance? Let Him lead your every step for a month, a week and see if you don’t find much less stress in your life. Let Him take the lead and enjoy the wonderful peace and joy that He provides. Life can be a wonderful adventure if we’ll just let Him be our guide.