Isaiah 1: 16-17 3/26/2019*

“Wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight; stop doing wrong. Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow.”

The verse we like to quote out of the book of Isaiah is 1:18 “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow” … but we sometimes miss these two verses that come right before that.

God is telling His children to stop sinning. To turn from their duplicity and do what is right.  Hypocrisy in your life is like a blemish on your nose…it is easy for others to see, but hard to see yourself…In this chapter, God tells us to get a mirror.  He wants change…and His Son died to give you the ability to change.

God doesn’t need your money, your rituals, or your sacrifices. In verse 11 He says that He has more than enough burnt offerings and has no pleasure in empty gifts.

God wants your heart.  Stop making excuses. God wants you to live differently. Obedience is better than sacrifice. If you are doing something that is separating you from God. Stop.

“Stop doing wrong. Learn to do right” is a hard statement, but it is not complicated and the only way to accomplish it is to get started. 

Decide to follow God today - and then take the first step. Whether its lust, anger, pride, worldliness…whatever…stop giving your sin authority it no longer has.

If you’re afraid you can’t give up that sin permanently, then stop for a day…or for an hour…or a minute.  Then commit to seek His strength minute by minute, and you will discover a freedom you have never known.

We are soldiers of the cross, and soldiers fight.  God said you would be victorious. He said if you resist the devil, he will flee from you (James 4:7). So, get in the battle…We are promised victory, but you cannot win a war that you refuse to fight…. Your fight for freedom begins today.

“When all is said and done, the life of faith is nothing if not an unending struggle of the spirit with every available weapon against the flesh.”
― Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Psalms 5:3 3/19/2019*25*

“In the morning, Lord, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait expectantly.”

It took a while for me to apply this verse in my life. I was too busy, and felt I had to “hit the ground running” each morning to accomplish my “to do” list for the day.

But someone told me two things that impacted me:

1. You should tune the instrument before the concert.
2. God’s not in a hurry…Joshua 10:13 “So the sun stood still…”

First, I need to set my mind on the eternal. I need to flush the trash the world puts in my heart and begin each day focused on what matters.

Second, God is not worried about me running out of time since He controls it…He can add hours to my day.

The realization of these two facts changed my approach from “I have too much to do to spend time with God this morning” – to “I have too much to do to neglect spending time with God this morning”.

The psalmist understands the concept and even adds a final ingredient.  He “waits expectantly” … and that is the last piece of the puzzle because it addresses my focus.

The first thing I need to do each morning is get my marching orders…  Consult with God and re-set my priorities to His. I can then begin to do the things I need to accomplish but my anticipation lies in what He will do.  

What God will do is what the day is about, not the trivial things I will accomplish and forget. 

When we get in a hurry and lose focus, we are in danger of missing the point. We run the risk of letting the urgent overpower the important.

So, let me challenge you to start your day with God. That is what you were created for and is the reason you exist.  Your relationship with your Heavenly Father is the only purpose for living that won’t disappoint you.

So, decide why you get out of bed in the morning.  What is your reason for living?  If you have discovered the truth, the first thing you will do each day is let God hear your voice.

“I have so much to do that I shall spend the first three hours in prayer.”  ― Martin Luther

Job 26:14 3/12/2019*27*

“Behold, these are but the outskirts of his ways, and how small a whisper do we hear of him! But the thunder of his power who can understand?”

God is bigger than you think He is.

Job recorded some pretty astounding miracles before writing this verse ... and yet states that this is just a hint of what God can do.

We limit God with our capacity to understand. Like Peter walking on water and being startled by a wave, we forget whom we serve.  We allow temporary problems to disrupt peace that is based on eternal promises and power.

Since the God of peace is your protector. Whom shall you fear?  If God is for you who can be against you?... The truth is, it is laughable for any person or problem to oppose you considering who stands guard over you.

The reason I know God is bigger than we think He is… is because He is bigger than we are capable of thinking He is…

We don’t have the aptitude to comprehend that kind of supremacy. We are astounded when we get a glimpse, but we’re only seeing a shadow.

The creation of the universe, the parting of the Red Sea, raising Lazarus from the dead …all that was a whisper…the outskirts of an inconceivable force.

And when that same power loves and protects you…whom shall you fear?

The day will come when every knee will bow…. Scripture says the Lord will return with a Shout… But until then, rest in His whisper…the immense power of that still small voice provides assurance that is permanent.

Rest in that peace. Run in that freedom, and no matter how blown away you are by God’s response to your faith, no matter how amazed you are by His power…just know that you don’t even know.

 “God is looking for those with whom He can do the impossible - what a pity that we plan only the things that we can do by ourselves.”

-      A.W. Tozer

Esther 9:27 3/5/2019*28*

”... the Jews took it on themselves to establish the custom that they and their descendants and all who join them should without fail observe these two days every year, in the way prescribed and at the time appointed”

What dates do you celebrate the great things God has done in your life?

If you’re like me the answer is none.

In the book of Esther, the Jews are delivered from Haman’s scheme to destroy them and they “took it on themselves” to set up a custom to celebrate this rescue every year.

We should do the same…. Hallmark has no patent on holidays and there is no excuse not to habitually recall and celebrate the times God has blessed you.

My new goal is to establish a Brigman family custom where on certain dates throughout the year we get together and say, “do you remember when God…?”

Like the children of Israel, I have the ability to pass through a God-parted ocean and the next day become anxious over trivial matters. I am naturally adept at worrying … but must train myself to trust. This custom of regularly rejoicing over God’s blessings will help set my mind on God’s incredible dependability.

Revelation 2:4 says “But I have this against you, that you have left your first love.” … maybe we do that because we forget all that He has done for us.  

So, look through your journal, talk to your family and recall the times that God has moved in your life…then get your calendar and set up a reoccurring reminder to remember and celebrate His Grace.

From now on watch for His hand …when you see His blessings “take it on yourself” to build a monument, set a holiday, or do whatever it takes to never let His provision in your life be forgotten.

“We do our Lord an injustice when we suppose that He wrought all His mighty acts and showed Himself strong for those in the early time, but doth not perform wonders for the saints who are now upon the earth.”

-      Charles Spurgeon.