Author Archives: brontebrown2

I Corinthians 10:13 No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.

I have learned life consequences can take you beyond your emotional ability to handle, especially if it involves family and their decisions that cost so much. Grief and sadness are natural and break the heart in two. Tears well up, and loss overwhelms and hopes dashed. These emotions are overwhelming and indisputable, know that. But also know that God’s heart for you is real.

God intends me to place my faith in His Word and not in the caboose of my emotions. The engine is God’s Word, and my faith is like coal that I put in the engine. Faith in God’s Word is putting your trust in Him, not your feelings.

I said to a friend one day, if I were writing the Bible, I would leave out a bunch of David’s sins or wiping out nations, but then I would not have seen the depth of David’s torment, his hurt —his return to God and a relationship restored.

Now that is a wow! God loved David and He loves me too, even when I doubt.

In Romans 5 describes a sequence of growth. Tribulations brings about perseverance, and perseverance, proven character and proven character, hope: and hope does not disappoint because the love of God has been poured out within our hears through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

“Will, I created you with a free will to know Me or not,” say God.

“It is my choice,” says Will.

Yes.

 I can choose.

Truth weathers time with no variation. You can trust it.

How can I be sure?

I created time for you to know Me.

Why free will?

During your time here, you have with-in you the capacity to love or hate; to experience joy and peace, not to stir discord; to develop patience and grit as you overcome anger and idleness; to show kindness, not intolerance or selfishness; to have a heart filled with goodness, not meanness; to have a gentleness of speech with others; and to grow in discipline and self-control as you hone your mind. 

I created all that’s within you.

I have all that inside me, cool.

YES.

Hello, God, I’m Will. 

I savor each season.

I savor the changing season from melting snow to flowers peeking through the warming ground, a splash in the pool on a hot summer day, the colors of autumn and a harvest moon, and the stillness of winter.

I savor the changing season of life. Reaching eighteen took an eternity, and yet, the rest of my life seems like a blink of the eye. I savor the moments with my husband, the busyness of raising my children, and the pleasure of being a grandparent.

I savor my church, lessons learn, friends made, and lives touch. I savor giving back and volunteering for my community. I savor the lives I’ve touched as a teacher.

I savor God’s Word that is it forever true and is a plumb line for this world.

Life has seasons, each to be savored for the blessings they bring.

Hope hurts! So, how does one live beyond the hurt and maintain hope?
Hurtful words dash across the heart. Dreams unrealized by the busy cares of the day lie in waste. When children refuse to talk to their parents, hope for restoration dims when the years roll into another. When the future seems clouded by nefarious purposes, we pray for a turn of events. Sadness and regret fill a life once lived. Hope lost in the darkness cries of despair. We cry.
Yet, we still hope. Why?
Hope lies beyond our regrets and missed opportunities. Hope restores the heart and clears the way for renewed dreams. Hope rests on the foundational Truth of Christ Jesus. When love seems lost and we’ve lost our way, hope shines a light. It dispels the darkness of despair. The heart responds. Hope carries the vital healing power of frankincense and myrrh. Its soothing components restore our faith and love.
Hope heals!
This post is part of the weekly Five Minute Friday link-up!http://fiveminutefriday.com/linkup/

Warmer days melt away a rare 15-inch snow from the previous week. The air still cold is clean and crisp, the sun warms the ground. I walk to my flower bed hoping my pansies made it through the snow. The pansies survived and seem to love the chilly air and the warming sun. But that’s not all. The green of early bulbs are beginning to poke through. What a thrill to see the hope of spring, days warming and a break from the bleak. I don’t mean winter. Winter has a beauty of its own. Flowers and trees sleep, rest as they wait to burst forth in spring array. Their sleep is their rest.

Bleak state of affairs is man’s heart to control man. Freedom cannot sleep. We cannot let it die. Freedom is our spring.

Last fall I planted bulbs in anticipation of spring. Many hours of toil, back ache, covering the ground with netting to keep the squirrel from stealing the bulbs. Today, my back hurts from racking dead leaves, pruning bushes and trees. So to our founding fathers planted the seed of freedom for mankind in the Constitution…with God’s guiding hand.

Colossians 2:8 See to it that no takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ. (Marxism, Humanism)

James 1 Consider all joy my brothers when you encounter various trails, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance and let endurance have its perfect result…if you lack wisdom, let him ask God….without doubting. v.6 The one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind.

Romans 12: 2 Spring into the renewing of your mind that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.