Author Archives: brontebrown2

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.

Enable means give (someone or something) the authority or means to do something.

Acts 1:8 …you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you. The Holy Spirit enables us to understand God’s Word, to trust God in time of difficulty, and to get on our knees and pray.

Enable carries with it a true authority or means to do something. Police have the authority to enforce laws. Parents have the authority to discipline and guide their children. Teachers have classroom authority. When a person is enable with true authority a right mind-set develops and understanding takes hold. Men are biologically men and women are biologically women; not every man is burly and brisk and not every woman is soft and dainty. But we are recognizable as God’s design.

The term “enabler” generally describes someone whose behavior allows a loved one to continue self-destructive patterns of behavior. Maybe that’s why teaching became so difficult because I didn’t believe in enabling a kid to fail. If you refused to do the work, get your zero. My principal told me once that central office called about a particular group of kids failing my class but after they looked their grade and the zeros earned by students for not turning in their work. (She told me the story later.) I didn’t play favorites and I got flack for that.

Hard times have hit many people losing their livelihoods, homes, savings but that is not the same as a major inconveniences. If you were able to get water and food and had enough gas to drive and get there. Whether devastating times or a major inconvenience, enable a spirit —

–of gratitude for those willing to help those who are struggling.

–of service by getting out and helping.

— of thankfulness by saying it may be tough but I’m thankful for the help.

–to hold your tongue from uttering harsh words because of inconvenience.

–to spread God’s love with a word of kindness or an outstretched hand.

— to kindly apply a word of truth.

Discipline, guidance, correction kindly applied produces good fruit to those willing to receive it, — enable God’s Spirit to work through you.

America feels as though she is in the darkness of night. A kind of darkness that you cannot not see your own hand. A darkness that envelopes the soul. It was like the evening began to set in the sixties, trying to encroach on fundamental freedom to worship. God is dead, love the sinner, not the sin, it’s a love affair, live together and try marriage out first, God doesn’t care who you marry, it would be better not to bring a child into this world, etc…

And we sit dumbfounded by today’s hateful rhetoric.

But it is always darkest before the dawn. Think of the pilgrims going through that first winter when so many died. Think of George Washington battling alongside our fathers and mothers because they knew tyranny. Think of Andrew Jackson, who refused to start the Federal Reserve Bank, and President Kennedy, who tried to shut it down and keep the gold standard. Both were shot. Think of President Trump, whom many tried to silence but could not.

This first sliver of light on the horizon breaking dawn is like a bird’s first-morning song. It rings out for all to hear, shattering the languid tones of despair and dispelling the cloak of darkness. Jesus’ song rings in one’s heart and brings a deep breath of God’s Spirit.

Psalm 18: 33 He makes my feet like hinds’ feet, and sets me upon my high places. He trains my hands for battle, so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze. Thou hast given me a shield of Thy salvation, and Thy right hand upholds me. And Thy gentleness, makes me great. Thou dost enlarge my steps under me, and my feet have not slipped.

Ps 51:12 Restore to me the joy of Thy salvation and sustain me with a willing spirit.

Ps: 121: I will lift up my eyes to the mountains from whence shall my help come? My help comes from the Lord who made heaven and earth. He will not allow your foot to slip.

God established Israel for his love for man. America was established on man’s love for God. The 10 commandments are the basis for our laws. The Constitution was written not to be fixed but to ensure the progression of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness for all men. ‘Men’ as a term is a generic term for humanity. To say we need to fix our nation is incorrect, we are a nation becoming…. God transforms man’s heart, and the nation is healed.

It is such a simple fix but so hard to grasp when a heart is set against God.

Not so simple to fix when a nation’s heart is set against God.