I'm Getting Older - But Should I Look Back or Forward?

Yes, I did have a birthday. It was on October the 23rd. I am now 23 years old. Many of you just rolled your eyes and muttered to yourself something about twenty-three not being old. I suppose you'd be right. I just feel like I'm still supposed to be sword fighting with a hockey stick in the backyard with my little brother.

I wrote once before about time being like a vapor. (The link is here) That is certainly beginning to feel true for me. It seems like yesterday, I was playing high school soccer, and today I'm 23, working a full-time job, and married! What on earth happened?

I'm not going to act like I'm distraught over it because I'm not. I love the fact that today is a new day filled with new experiences. Yesterday is the past, and I cannot change it nor would I. That brings me to my topic.

The past and the future. According to an article published in October 2010, people are more likely to react with more intensity when presented with situations effecting the future rather than the past - link. What exactly does that mean? Let me illustrate. Let's say that you were talking to someone and they told you that a friend of yours was cheated on by her husband last week, but you are in a foreign country and are unable to speak with her to let her know how sorry you are. You tried to call her but you got no answer. You would probably hurt for her for a few hours to a day and then forget about it until you got home.

Now let's take the same scenario and reverse it. Let's say that you somehow know that in one week your friend's husband is going to cheat on her, but you are in a foreign country. You tried to call her but you got no answer. I'd be willing to bet you'd do everything in your power to get a message to her. You might even pay a little extra and have your return flight tickets bumped forward a few days since you couldn't reach her by phone. It wouldn't be something that could wait. Why?

I'm not necessarily talking about adultery and its effect on people. I'm talking about the measures you would take to ensure you got a message to her. Cheating is cheating. So why in one instance do you wait till you get home, yet in the other, you do everything you can to get home? Because the past is over and you can't change it, but the future is uncertain and you feel like you can make a difference in it.

What's the point? Why do we as Christians gawk in awe at men and women of the past who made a difference, but hold no hope for the future? People spend their lives studying famous and infamous men and women of the past. That's not wrong, but we cannot effect the past personally. You can however effect the future. People are dying and going to Hell. Some people died and went to Hell yesterday. That's a terrible thing, but if we asked them I guarantee they would rather we tried to witness to others rather than live in pity for those who are already gone. (Luke 16:19-31)

Is someone's eternal future important enough for us to be a little inconvenienced? Just a thought.

Keep thinking friends,

Simeon Brazzell - I Tim. 1:12

Insignificant or Important?

Wow! So much has happened since I last wrote a blog post! I got married to the Love of my life, he whisked me off to Spain for an amazing honeymoon, and now we are settling into our daily routines together. . . yes, we've been pretty busy! But in the business of life, we have made time to seek God as a couple, praying together and studying God's Word. I'd like to share with you something God laid on my heart the other day. . .

I can't take all the credit for this blog post. Some of the inspiration came from a sermon I was listening to by Dr. Tom Farrell, but God took the seed planted by his message and has been developing it in my heart.

There are many things in life we deem important and many things we pass off as insignificant. It is amazing how God repeatedly used seemingly insignificant things in a very important way! I have listed several examples from Scripture of this very truth!

1. The Mustard Seed
Matthew 17:20 " And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you."
While some seeds have unique shapes, colors, patters, or sizes, the mustard seed is not one of those! Ranging in size from 1-2mm in diameter, you would probably not even see it if it was lying in front of you. Yet, God chose to use this plain, little seed to make a word picture for us. He said that if we have as much faith as a mustard seed, we could move mountains! So, does God see this small seed as insignificant or important? Important!

2. A Staff
Exodus 7:8-10 "And the LORD spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying, When Pharaoh shall speak unto you, saying, Shew a miracle for you: then thou shalt say unto Aaron, Take thy rod, and cast it before Pharaoh, and it shall become a serpent. And Moses and Aaron went in unto Pharaoh, and they did so as the LORD had commanded: and Aaron cast down his rod before Pharaoh, and before his servants, and it became a serpent."

Here we have a simple rod. It was probably not made out of any precious wood, for its purpose was to aid men as they walked. To us, it may not appear to be anything of value, yet God used this rod to show His power before Pharoah's entire court! Insignificant or important? Important!

3. A Scarlet Cord

Joshua 2:21 "And she said, According unto your words, so be it. And she sent them away, and they departed: and she bound the scarlet line in the window."

Joshua 6:25 "And Joshua saved Rahab the harlot alive, and her father's household, and all that she had; and she dwelleth in Israel even unto this day; because she hid the messengers, which Joshua sent to spy out Jericho."

In this story, God chose a scarlet cord to picture His greatest gift to man, salvation! By Rehab hanging that cord from her window, she saved her entire family! Insignificant or important? Important!

I could go on to list the stones David used to slay Goliath, the widow's mite, the five loaves and two fishes of the little boy, and so many more! Or what about not only when God has used "insignificant" things, but when He has used people we might consider insignificant like Esther, Zaccheus, or even Jesus' mother Mary ??

In each case the item or person, in and of itself, was not important. But there is something in common that made each important and that is Jesus Christ! We are all important to God. If we let Him, He will show us He desires to use us in such an important way! You may wonder why God chooses to use 'insignificant' things and people.  He does it so that when the glory is received for what is accomplished, there is no choice but to recognize that it came directly from Him! 

I know this was a lengthy post, but if it encourages one person, it's worth it! So next time you are wondering if you are important, if anything you do matters, remember that you are important to God! What other people think does not matter! Yield your life to Him, and though you may not be seen of men, God will use you in a way you could never have imagined!

So what are you. . . insignificant or important??

All for His glory,

Brettnay Brazzell

Make up your mind

Ok, so it's been a while.

Yes, it's been over a month, and I apologize! I got married to the love of my life on July 12th so cut me a little slack. In case you don't believe me, here is a picture.

Wow she's beautiful!...Now that you believe me, we can get on to the topic of choice.

Make up your mind. People in today's world are indecisive. We all are this way from time to time. My wife asks me what I want to eat and my answer is most always "I don't know". The are some times where it's not a big deal to not know, and there are other times where you need to know. Is it a big deal whether or not I know what I want to eat? Of course not! But there are times where it's important to know what you want.

I took the picture on the left a few days ago while coming home from work. It actually was the inspiration for my article. The top no parking sign is always there, but the bottom temporary sign obviously isn't. So is it temporary or not? Someone should make up their mind.

We all have to make choices in life. Some minor, some major, but all are choices. God created us with the ability to choose things for ourselves. We have to make up our minds about certain things. Adam had an option to choose to sin with Eve or follow God. Abraham had the option to choose whether or not to sacrifice his son. Lot had a choice of which field he would take. We know what results were wrought because of their choices. Listen to what Joshua said in Joshua 24:15

"And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord , choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord."

Do you think it was an easy choice for him to go against the crowd and pick a side? He could have just not made a choice right? Wrong! He had to choose to either follow God or not. God doesn't leave room for a "maybe" answer. You're in or out and there's no middle ground. So why as Christians do we think we can straddle the fence between worldliness and godliness?

We all know people who have left church recently. Teens who decide that they don't want to "play church" anymore, adults who don't have time, families that say they spend Sundays "as a family" rather than attending. Why? Because they finally chose a side.

The barrier between sides is more like a gate than a fence. It's always an option to go from one side to the other. There's a gate and you can either cross the gate and leave it open behind you, or you can close the gate and give the key to Christ to hold. If you leave the gate open behind you, then someday you'll cross back over. If you lock it but don't give the key to Christ, then you'll unlock it someday. But if you give it to Christ then you'll have to steal it back to cross back over.

Make up your mind. Where do you stand? Are you leaving the gate open just in case you want to indulge yourself? Are you holding on to the key to that one thing you won't give to Christ? Or have you given Christ your all?

I don't pretend that I've given everything to Christ. I would like to, but every day he shows me a key I still have in my pocket. Search yourself. Ask Christ to search you for keys you haven't given him. Then chose you this day whom you will serve.