Brian's Blog

Trusting God through the Circumstances.

// October 21st, 2009 // No Comments » // Slovakia, Study Thoughts

James 1:2-8 (NKJV) My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.
If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind.

The Greek word for joy here means, “A calm delight.” We should remain happy and calm when we are faced with tough circumstances.

Jesus always calms the storms of life. The storm is not the situation you are facing; it is a distraction from the enemy to keep our focus off of God. We can “delight” in knowing that God is control, delight leads to expectancy, an excitement to see God’s answer.

“The testing of your faith produces patience.” Patience is cheerful or hopeful endurance, constancy.

Every difficult situation holds the possibility of increased endurance in our life. Endurance is the ability to remain strong in adversity, every trip through adversity adds to the solid foundation of faith in our lives.

“Let patience have its perfect work that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.”

Patience is working in us, allowing patience to have control is allowing God to complete His work in us. When I allow patience to work, allowing God to do what He wants, I receive everything I need.

When I am impatient, I am taking control of the situation, not allowing God to do what He wants, but rather doing what I want.

“If any of you lacks wisdom”

Wisdom is the ability to apply knowledge. We have only to ask for wisdom, God loves to give! He gives without reproach, even if you squandered it in the past; God never holds our past against us!

Bottom line: God has a plan for our lives. It doesn’t matter what’s happened in the past, or what others may do to us, God will succeed if we allow him the time and opportunity.

If I want to “lack nothing”, I must be patient, I must wait for God!

Tomorrow

// October 20th, 2009 // No Comments » // Messages, Slovakia, Study Thoughts, Youth Service Messages

I believe that there are 2 ways that tomorrow cripples us…

1. We worry about tomorrow… wondering what will happen, will I have everything I need? Etc…

2. We use tomorrow as a reason to procrastinate, “I can do that tomorrow…”

What does the Word of God say about worrying?

Matthew 6:34 (NLT) “So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.

These are the words of Christ, Jesus is telling us not to get caught up in worrying about what the future brings.  He isn’t telling us not to plan or prepare for the future; it’s just about not worrying.

Worry will do nothing except distract you from today and ruin your health. Worry consumes time that could be better used in meeting the needs of today.  When we really think about it, worry doesn’t add anything of value to our lives.

Philippians 4:6-7 (NLT) Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.

This scripture can be easy to quote but hard to apply to your life when you are facing tough situations.  I am learning right now to really live this passage, I think a key in this scripture is Living in Christ Jesus. We have to keep ourselves in His hands, under His covering.  A friend of mine was recently talking to me about Psalm 91, he said the bottom line of that chapter is this, “God’s got it covered!”  That’s a great thing to recognize, God’s got everything covered, He knows what is best and when it is needed.

We have to apply every step in this scripture for the peace to truly guard our heart and mind.  When I am living in Christ and allowing Him to have control of my life, it is easier to allow Him to hold my worries for me.  When I get outside of Christ and try to make things work on my own, the worry is going to be in my hands.

This doesn’t mean that I sit back and do nothing; it means that I listen for the voice of God and allow Him to direct my actions. If He is directing my actions then I KNOW I am in the right place!

The person that is filled with worry tends to reach for anything in sight. The person filled with peace is able to look at each option and opportunity and decide which ones fit in the vision given them by God.

What about Procrastination?

Proverbs 3:28 (NKJV) Do not say to your neighbor, “Go, and come back, And tomorrow I will give it,” When you have it with you.

We shouldn’t be saying this to God either, “Ok God, I’ll go tomorrow.” God is asking us for our talents today, how can He use us today?  That thing that God has put on your heart is something He wants you to work on today!

Tomorrow is an excuse. Tomorrow is either an excuse for laziness, or it is a cop-out for fear.  If it’s laziness, then the only thing to do is start moving, today!  If it’s fear, then we need to deal with that, the fear is usually of not knowing what to do or say.  Look at what the word of God says about this:

1 Peter 3:15, “Always be ready to give an answer,”

Matthew 10, Jesus sends out the 12, he tells them not to worry about what to say, but that the Holy Spirit will give them the right answers at the right time. This was part of their training, they weren’t complete yet.  If we have the Holy Spirit living inside of us we are always ready!

James 4:13-15 (NKJV) Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit”; whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.”

We don’t really know what tomorrow holds, today may be our only chance to speak into the lives that are around us.

Tomorrow never comes… we tend to keep saying tomorrow and before we know it a year has passed. If the Lord is willing, I will do this in the future, but for today I will do what is in front of me to do.

2 Corinthians 6:2 (NLT) For God says, “At just the right time, I heard you. On the day of salvation, I helped you.” Indeed, the “right time” is now. Today is the day of salvation.

Our God is the God of Today! He gives us what we need for today!  If He doesn’t give it to me today, then I don’t need it today.  If I spend my time worrying about when He is going to give me what I think I need, I won’t be focused on what is in front of me for today.

Today is the day of salvation! God isn’t waiting for a magical moment in the future for us to begin living the way he has called us to… He wants us to start today!

· Today is the day to speak to your neighbor…

· Today is the day to find your place of ministry in the church…

· Today is the day to honor others…

· Today is the day to live the dreams that God has placed in your heart!

Slovakia trip update/recap 2

// March 22nd, 2009 // 1 Comment » // Slovakia

So much has happened since my last blog update!  It has been an incredible week of ministry.

Monday – March 16th.

We spent the day with our friends here, Ginny was able to spend time with the ladies while I went to a meeting with the guys.  I had the opportunity to share some of the things that have been happening in our church.  In the evening Ginny stayed and rested at the house with Judy, I went to the church with Milan and shared at a leadership meeting where they were receiving new people into leadership.

A couple of the young ladies that were coming into leadership had come to the church through our kids camps that we had done in 2001 and 2002!  I was reminded of the time on one of those trips where I was praying and God told me that we were reaching the future leaders of the church, so it was exciting to see the completion of that word.

We had a powerful time at the leadership meeting, God gave me a word encouraging them to get behind Pastor Milan’s vision for the church.  The time ended with the group gathering around Milan and praying for him, they prayed for about 20 minutes.

Tuesday – March 17th.

We spent the day with Milan, Judy, Mark and Liz.  We travelled to Gyor Hungary where we did some sightseeing and shopping, then back to Komarno, Slovakia for the wooden platter meal. 

In the evening Ginny shared with a home group in Nove Zamky, she was asked to speak about parenting and did a fantastic job of encouraging these young families. 

Wednesday – March 18th.

Mark and I drove Ginny into Vienna, Austria to catch her flight home.  In the evening I shared at the local A.C.E.T. club. A.C.E.T. is an international church based organization that goes into the schools and teaches young people.  I was asked to share about self-worth, nearly half of the students do not attend the church so this was a great opportunity to share God’s love.  I spoke to them about where we get our value from, and got to share with them that God placed so much value on their lives that He sacrificed His Son for them.  We had a great time as it was more of a discussion and they asked lots of questions.

Thursday – March 19th.

Miro and Marta came to Nove Zamky in the morning and picked me up for my final move to Nitra where I will be staying for the rest of the trip.  After some shopping, settling in and dinner, Miro and I went to a suburb of Nitra for a home group.  This is a group of elder saints that have been meeting for over 20 years together.  They have just recently become members of the church in Nitra, God gave me a word of encouragement that they received very well, then I had the privilege of listening to stories of the church during communism.  This will be one of my favorite memories from the trip.

Friday – March 20th.

Friday evening I was back in Nove Zamky for the youth service.  We had a great time of worship, then I shared a short word encouraging them to step out in the giftings of God followed by an incredible prayer time.  Many of them were touched during the prayer time and I believe that God imparted some great gifts to them.

Saturday – March 21st.

Miro and I travelled to the city of Galanta, which is about 1/2 hour drive from Nitra, where we taught a worship seminar for the worship team in the church there.  Once again, God gave me a great word to encourage their worship leading in the church, followed by an incredible time of prayer and impartation.

Sunday – March 22nd.

I shared the Word at the church service here in Nitra, a word encouraging the church to come together and support the vision that God has placed in the hearts of Miro and Marta.  Again, a great response to the word.  The church is now meeting in the Brethren Church building, so they meet over the lunch hour.  It is a beautiful building at the foot of the castle wall, the pastor there approached Miro in January and offered use of the building, an amazing gift from God to fill in the Gap while the church is looking to purchase property.

I have one full day left before I fly home on Tuesday, please pray that all goes well with my travel. 

Thanks… Brian

Slovakia Trip – Update / Recap 1

// March 15th, 2009 // 1 Comment » // Slovakia

We left Portland on Monday at 7:50 AM, flying through Washington DC and into Vienna, Austria.  Our flights all went well, DC was on time and our flight into Vienna was an hour early.  We were able to hire a car to our hotel where we were checked in by 9 am local time.

We picked up passes for the underground and made our way to the old town, where our first stop was the Anker bakery for strudel and Starbucks for a cup of coffee.  Ginny had been fasting sweets for the last month and had decided that the best way to break the fast was with authentic Austrian strudel.

We spent some time walking through the old town of Vienna and even managed to get in a nap, Miro and Marta arrived later in the

evening on Tuesday and we had dinner together before finding our way back to the hotel for the night. 

We spent Wednesday and Thursday walking and seeing the sights of Vienna, even taking a carriage ride through the old town on Thursday with Miro and Marta. 

Friday we traveled to Nitra to begin our ministry schedule. We met with a home group last night where we were asked to share the word, then had the opportunity to pray with them.

We spent friday night at Miro and Marta’s home and then on Saturday we travelled to Nove Zamky, where we are staying with Milan and Judy.

After arriving at Milan and Judy’s, unloading all of our gear and getting settled in, Miro and I went to Nesvady to watch the Church Soccer tournament. We returned to Milan and Judy’s and spent the evening reconnecting with our friends.

On Sunday we ministered in the morning service and at a home group in the evening.  At both we were able to share the word and pray for people in the church.  I believe that God made some powerful connections with people as we prayed for them at the altars.

I have never had as much feedback from a message here as I have from yesterdays.  It’s always great to know that you heard from God and delivered His heart to the people.

Today Ginny will spend time with some of the pastor’s wives while I spend time with the pastors and their kids.  Tonight they have asked me to share a word at the leadership meeting for the church in Nove Zamky.

Thank you for all of your prayers, please remember to keep Ginny in your prayers as she has still been battling sinus problems.