It Takes Time

"After Job had prayed for his friends, the Lord made him prosperous again and gave him twice as much as he had before." Job 42:10

That's the happy ending we all want right? We read books about it, watch movies and TV shows about happy endings here on earth. This happy ending is in the Bible. As I was reading this morning I realized that I have always looked over this piece: it took time!

We all know the struggle took time, our struggles today take time. What I haven't paid attention to is that the blessing takes time. In this story a man named Job looses ALL of his wealth, chidden, flocks, money and even his health. The bulk of the story is the process of mourning and staying faithful to God and believing He has a plan even when we can't see what it is. At the very end is an epilogue of God blessing Job with TWICE as much as he had before. In verse 10 of chapter 42 (above) we see that the Lord made him prosperous again. This man's prosperity was children (they take time), flocks and herds (they take time) and even money takes time to accumulate! You can hit the lottery and win all the money in the world but you still have to wait for it to get to you!!

I think as Christians we can get through the struggle just to give up before the blessing.

What I mean is that we are fully aware when hard times are against us. Everything hits all at once! Then the storm subsides and our lives still don't look blessed and glorious like we think it should. I mean God just got us through a major storm so shouldn't we be looking on the up & up and all glommed out for Jesus?!

Think about when a physical storm hits the land. There's things that get messed up. Even when the storm is over and gone there's still rubble and debris left everywhere. The sun is out and shining and all it's shining on is the mess! People have to start the clean up process, put things back in order.

It's the same way spiritually. When we face a battle damage is done. The battle may be won but there are still things that have to be cleaned up before everything looks neat and tidy again.

Today, if you're in the middle of the battle or the battle is already over, hold tight and stand firm that God is still with you and making everything perfect!! Don't give up before your blessing! It takes time!

~Awaken Us~

Brenna Stanford

Despite Their Fear

EZR 3:3 NIV Despite their fear of the peoples around them, they built the altar on its foundation and sacrificed burnt offerings on it to the Lord , both the morning and evening sacrifices.

How many times do we withhold because we're afraid of what people may think?

These Isrealites have just gone through generations upon generations of leaders who couldn't make up their mind what god they wanted to follow. Very few of them since King Soloman (maybe 3) chose to follow God, the rest kept turning away from Him.

Because they did not love the Lord, and they kept sacrificing to idols, they were sent into Babylon to exile. At this point in time God has moved the heart of the King of Babylon to let the Isrealites return to Jerusalem in order to rebuild the altar of the Lord. ~That is what I call devine intervention!~

Have you ever seen the show Intervention on TV? Pretty much what happens is there is a person who has made a mess of their life and the people who love them gather around to give them a choice; continue the way that you're going and end up worse or let us help you amd have a better life.

This is what God has done with the Isrealites time and time again, in this story they chose to accept it. But they were still fearful. People were watching them! What if they messed up again? Where they even worthy of this chance at freedom?

For us it is often the same thing, and we let that fear hold us back. When the reality is God called you out of that exile to show you true freedom. All you have to do is accept it and trust in Him!

The story isn't over yet, verse 4

"THEN in accordance with what is written, THEY CELEBRATED..."

They pushed on through their fear, built the altar and at that point they were able to celebrate with God! Because of God's faithfulness and their willingness, they were able to celebrate with the Savior!

What will you choose today?!

~Awaken Us~
Brenna Stanford

I'm Going Crazy!!

I'm going Crazy!!

I'm sure as Christians we have all thought this at least a million times!! Haha no but I am willing to bet that we have all thought this at least once. Think about any time you've heard from God on anything, it probably sounded a little crazy.

My first time to experience this was when I was a Senior in high school. I remember very vividly setting on my folded out futon in a room that was all red and black. I was probably listening to The Message on Sirius XM Radio while reading my Bible and praying. My favorite books in the Bible at this point were 1 & 2 Corinthians.

I remember suddenly feeling like I was loosing my mind!! While feeling this I was simultaneously feeling like God was calling me into the ministry. But I had been a Christian for 4 months at max, how could God be calling me into the ministry?! Is that even possible?! There was a whirlwind of thoughts going on and I was having issues filtering them. i had been attending Life Church for since August, I got saved in September and quickly got involved wit our youth group but I didn't have anyone's phone number. I was just this loud, exuberant, red headed teenager that pretty well jumped right in no matter what the other people thought. Luckily I was accepted!! :) So I got on my phone and found our church's website and emailed our youth pastor. He probably thought that I was insane also. My email babbled on with a mixture of apologies, the thoughts of insanity, feeling "called" and uncertainty. We ended up meeting and I have had favor from God like I could never imagine! At 17 years of age I got to team up with my youth pastor to pioneer an internship that is still running 4 1/2 years later. At 19 my pastors took what I would imagine being a HUGE step of faith and offered me a job! Almost 4 years later I have been blessed enough to work with just about every ministry we have and even pioneer a few discipleship groups!

Fast forwarding 4 years, I am married and expecting our second child in december. God has made me promises about several things concerning my family. One of which is my children. Before my husband and I found out we were expecting our first child God gave me a few dreams, one was a ministry and another was my children. So a few months (maybe 3 months, probably closer to 2 lol) we found out that we were expecting! Neither my husband nor I were planning or even thought that we were ready to have a child! Needless to say we made it through. Our son is now 15 months old and the most amazing thing that has happened to us. 

My husband and I once more had put together a plan to wait a certain amount of time before we had another one. Let's just say God's plans will always happen!!! :) You see if we would've waiting on our timing then the dream God gave me of our children wouldn't have come to pass. Once I found out I was unexpectedly (at least by us) expecting AGAIN I was very tempted to freak out! I started to then God reminded me "before the birth of our next son", this was part of a prayer that I prayed for my family several months back. He then reminded me of the dream about our children. So for 4 months now I have stood in faith on those little nuggets from God. Let me tell you, for 4 months Hell has come at my family non-stop and vigorously!! But we stand!

About a month ago we were getting ready to have our ultrasound to reveal our gender and I remember feeling that "I'm going crazy" feeling again!! What if we aren't really having a boot? I've told everyone in certainty that we are in fact having another boy. When asked how I know or told that I can't know my response was always God has already shown me my children! As those thoughts of doubt and I have to be crazy started flooding my mind, God took me back to the very first time I felt like I was going crazy. At that there was peace! 

The thing I want to encourage you with today is that when you are in conversation with God and in that spiritual place others who aren't won't understand. By the worlds standard you may be crazy but that's okay!! 1 Corinthians 2:12-14 says this, "We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us. This is what we speak, not in words taught by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words. The man without the Spirit does not accept the thing that come from the Spirit, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned."

Be strong in your faith!! Mark 11:24 says, "Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours." It's okay to feel like your going crazy, stand strong in God through it all and you WILL see the reward!!

~Awaken Us~

Brenna Stanford

Get Back In Your Toddler Bed

I write this post at 2am because my son has started to develop bad sleeping habits. As a parent you know that at any age that effacts you as well, especially when your child is a 15 month old toddler. We are expecting our second son in just 3 short months. So our first has been in transition out of the nursery into his big boy room. He has a toddler bed that he has been sleeping in just fine, until the ladt week or 2. He has figured out that he can get out of his bed whenever he wants.

I decided that if letting him "cry it out" worked in the crib then it may be worth a shot in his big boy room. We have a monitor and anything hazardous like his night light is in full view so we know he is safe. Tonight I shut the door when we put him in bed and after 2 times of crying at his door for less then 2 minutes he put himself in bed and pulled his covers up over himself. SUCESS!!!

The night progresses, we get up with him 2 or 3 times and began playing the same game... Finally, I told my husband that I needed him to trust me. Our son's bedroom door was closed so I decided to let him cry it out. He cried then went and put himself in bed. He did this twice and he is now sleeping. SUCCESS!!!

As I was watching the monitor and waiting God showed me that often times this is what we do.

We are just like my toddler. We may be going through something that we don't like or even understand. We have gotten out of out safe place with God, out toddler bed, and we're at the bedroom door just crying!! Like my toddler who had no idea mommy was watching and very alert to his needs, we feel alone and are wondering where our Heavenly Father is and why is he not opening the door to pick us up and us back in bed?!

It is hard listening to your child cry, even for God. Maybe God is not answering our cry because He's eaiting for us to go climb back up in bed ourselves. A wise pastor once told me, "God will not do for you what you can do for yourself." Take this trial like Paul teaches us, with thanksgiving and praise!

Whatever your hurt is today, remember to give it to God! Stand strong in faith and be alert to the tasks God may need you to do on your own!

~Awaken Us~
Brenna Stanford

What Are You Counting?

While I was reading in 1 Chronicles, which seems to be a re-cap of everything I just read in 1 & 2 Samuel and 1 & 2 Kings, I was struck with curiosity. Why was it such a big deal when King David took a census (a count) of all of his warriors?! (1 Chronicles 21) Joab was all puffy about having to do this because it was evil and then God punishes David for it. What's wrong with counting people?

So I did a little bit of reading on this matter and then it was all obvious. You see King David is the same little boy who killed the giant name Goliath. He is the same boy who was a shepherd. The same boy who was taken from his father's home to play the harp for King Saul so Saul wouldn't be tormented. David was the same warrior that fled from King Saul who was trying to kill him. This same man went on to become a "man after God's own heart" and one of the most famous Kings of Israel.

We see that God brought David up from a "lowly" position in an average family and through a whole mess of stuff! He used David to do great and mighty things!! Now in the middle of King David's reign when things are going great he decides that he should know just how awesome he is. He measures his awesomeness by how strong his army is.

The issue here is that King David is now becoming prideful. He is probably starting to rely on the strength of his army instead of the strength of God. This is all a heart condition! I believe if David would have went at this with the attitude of "let's take notice of how amazing and faithful God is by measuring the army He has built!", then there wouldn't have been an issue. God loves us and wants us to have great things in life. But, God also knows great things (possessions, stature, relationships, platforms, etc.) are temporary. God would rather us be poor and have humility and love for him then to be wealthy and only have our wealth.

So today I want to challenge you to take a moment and reflect on the priorities in your life. Ask yourself if this is a priority because it is something you're wanting to achieve a higher status for you, or is it a priority because out of this come glory to God? Make the necessary adjustments. God is a faithful and just God. He gives mercy and grace and will help you readjust your priorities!

~Awaken Us~
Brenna Stanford

Torturous Forgiveness

Parable of the Unforgiving Debtor
21 Then Peter came to him and asked, “Lord, how often should I forgive someone who sins against me? Seven times?”

22 “No, not seven times,” Jesus replied, “but seventy times seven!

23 “Therefore, the Kingdom of Heaven can be compared to a king who decided to bring his accounts up to date with servants who had borrowed money from him. 24 In the process, one of his debtors was brought in who owed him millions of dollars. 25 He couldn’t pay, so his master ordered that he be sold—along with his wife, his children, and everything he owned—to pay the debt.

26 “But the man fell down before his master and begged him, ‘Please, be patient with me, and I will pay it all.’27 Then his master was filled with pity for him, and he released him and forgave his debt.

28 “But when the man left the king, he went to a fellow servant who owed him a few thousand dollars. He grabbed him by the throat and demanded instant payment.

29 “His fellow servant fell down before him and begged for a little more time. ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it,’ he pleaded. 30 But his creditor wouldn’t wait. He had the man arrested and put in prison until the debt could be paid in full.

31 “When some of the other servants saw this, they were very upset. They went to the king and told him everything that had happened. 32 Then the king called in the man he had forgiven and said, ‘You evil servant! I forgave you that tremendous debt because you pleaded with me. 33 Shouldn’t you have mercy on your fellow servant, just as I had mercy on you?’ 34 Then the angry king sent the man to prison to be tortured until he had paid his entire debt.
35 “That’s what my heavenly Father will do to you if you refuse to forgive your brothers and sisters from your heart.”

Matthew 18:21-35 NLT

This is a story that completely encompasses the TORTURE of forgiveness. 

If you're like me you have struggled at least once with forgiveness. I had never really had any friends. The friends I did have I categorized as "friendlies", we were more than acquaintances but not really friends. Then I had met someone who became a great friend! Stuff happened and I felt betrayed. I knew I had to forgive this person, but I couldn't! How dare they betray me like this?! To this day I still struggle with forgiving this person.

If you look closely in verse 34, after the king found out about the servant sending the other guy to prison, he sent him to be TORTURED until he had paid his debt. The catch here is really in verse 35 when Jesus tells us that that's what God will do to us, TORTURE, if we don't forgive others.

If you have ever struggled with forgiving someone then you know that in the process of holding that grudge you become bitter and angry. You start to hate. It feels like that person is torturing you!! 

This scripture proves that this is how God set it up. Why would he do that?!

Take a  moment right here. Stop. Close your eyes. Think. Think about all of the bad things or not great things you have done. Think about the mistakes you have made. Think about the times where you've done anything that did not bring glory to God. Every time you've fibbed or bent the truth. Every time you took even a penny that didn't belong to you. Every time you've laughed at a joke that made fun of a person. Every time you've done anything less than perfect. 

That's a lot, right?

Well God not only forgave you, he had EVERYTHING you've ever done, not done or thought about put on His son. When his son, Jesus, carried all of that God turned his back on him, because God hates sin and cannot look at it! ~If you are a parent think about how hard it would be for you to turn your back on your child... There was a woman on the news this morning who was in trouble with the law for harboring a fugitive, her son...~ Then Jesus died because of your sin & mine. Ultimately Jesus defeated death, hell and the grave. He is alive and in heaven with God again.

It's because God put his son in our place that we are free to be forgiven. Make sure you're catching that God didn't just forgive us, he gave EVERYTHING so that we can be forgiven.

So if he is willing to go through all of that and forgive us, why shouldn't we forgive someone else - no matter what they did. No one could ever hurt us the way we have hurt our God and yet we are forgiven every time we ask.

So don't let yourself be tortured. Jesus already went through it for you. Forgive that person. Every day forgive them until you aren't upset anymore.

~Awaken Us~

Brenna Stanford

Forget the "Act Right"

Matthew 9: 9 As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at his tax collector's booth. "Follow me and be my disciple," Jesus said to him. So Matthew got up and followed him.

Forget the "Act Right"!

So many people, Christians or not, have trouble understanding this. I recently had a conversation with someone who has been raised in church their whole life. They informed me that for the next 60 days they were going to try what they called "clean living" to see if anything changed. I asked them if they were just going to try to act right or if they were going to try a relationship with Jesus.

They were baffled, there was a difference, a separation? I went on to share this scripture and told them that if they just try to act right then they will end up bitter and resentful and it probably won't work. You see they wanted to set these super high goals that restricted the of things that they enjoy to see if that made them happier. That's a set up for failure.

Instead they need to be trying to build a relationship with Jesus, take their 60 days and talk to, listen to and let Jesus love them without worrying about what they are or are not doing. Or what Jesus might tell them they can or can't do. In the scripture (the Bible - our way of getting to know God, Jesus & the Holy Spirit) Jesus tells Matthew - a tax collector, who in biblical times meant a crook! - to follow him. That was it!! Jesus didn't tell Matthew  he had to quit robing people or that he had to sell everything and pay back all the people he took from. No, he simply said follow me, in other words be my friend.

When we form a friendship with Jesus we are getting to know him, through that we fall in love with him. Because of our loving Jesus and wanting to please him changes in our life do occur. That's why scripture says that we are known by our fruit - our actions. But NO WHERE in scripture does it say that we must act right to follow Jesus. Verse 11 -13 goes on to tell how the religious people were ticked off because Jesus was with people who didn't act right. Then Jesus responded to them by saying that he wasn't here for the people who think that they act right, but for the ones who now they don't.

So today & everyday after, FORGET THE ACT RIGHT!!! Just love Jesus!!

~Awaken Us~
Brenna Stanford

Get to Know Jesus

Recently I had a conversation with someone about Jesus. In this conversation they had mentioned that they don't know anything about it. The only answer I could give this person was that it's just like getting to know a best friend. You guys talk to each other and spend time with each other.

Today if you feel like this person, you don't know anything about God, Jesus or the Holy Spirit, then be encouraged. It is just like getting to know a best friend. He's waiting on you! 

~Awaken Us~

Brenna Stanford

Child Arguments

When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me.

1 Corinthians 13:11 

Have you ever had an argument with a little child? You are both so insistent because that child really believes that the sky is green and you know that the sky is blue! So there you are, standing there going back and forth with a 3 year old about wether or not the sky is blue or green.

If you've ever felt Satan come against you it can feel like you're arguing with a child. I woke up the other morning to a heartbreaking text. Immediately I felt myself go into this "pleading the blood of Jesus", "rebuking Satan in the name of Jesus" argument.

I was quickly reminded that doing that was neither necessary or helpful. We are told in Romans 12:19 Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. You see Jesus has already came and one the war. He spoke on the cross that it is finished. All we have to do is stand firm in confidence that Jesus has already won the war, this battle is already finished. We need only to be still. 

Just as arguing with a little child is useless and time consuming, so is arguing with Satan and trying to defeat him. We are too busy trying to take care of more important things. We do not need to waste our time arguing with Satan. We know the sky is blue, the war is won, we don't need to try to convince him of it. He already knows. If he can keep you tied up arguing with him, then you might miss an opportunity to help someone else.

Today, no matter the argument, hush up, get on with your day in confidence knowing it's already taken care of. Pray continuously. That is done in your spirit always. Be confident.

Hebrews 11:1Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

~Awaken Us~

Brenna Stanford

Your DNA

Some of you may be familiar with the mid 90s movie titled The Nutty Professor. If you're not it's basically about a man who is obese and geta tired of dealing with the struggles. So, because he's a professor, he creates this syrum that makes him skinny. Sounds pretty smart right? There's a few things he didn't account for...

As the story goes he hooks himself up to his lab equipment and drinks the syrum. He goes through the dramatic process. At the end his monitor flashes the words DNA Reconstruction Complete.

Now he begins going through his life as Buddy Love. All the while dealing with the fact that his true self always comes out. It's a constant battle.

Often times we feel unworthy and useless as our true selves. We're not popular or thin. We don't have the gorgeous, voluptuous, and silky hair. We aren't built the way everyone else is. So we start to try to change who we are because we want others to like us or we want to be like everyone else. We create our own form of Buddy Love.

What we don't realize is that we're trying to change our DNA. When scripture says that God created us with a plan and a purpose for our lives. (Jeremiah 29:11) God created us as a masterpiece!! He loves us and created us in His image!! So when we try to change who we are, we're telling God he didn't do a good enough job and that He's a liar.

Catch what I'm saying here. I'm talking about changing WHO we ARE not WHAT we DO, there's a difference. We do things and make choices that are mistakes all the time. We can change our actions from minute to minute. When we change WHO we are in order to appease anyone other than God we end up with a Buddy Love.

Buddy Love is extreme! He's loud, annoying, and everything but Professor Klump! In the movie he's trying to win over a girl, what he finds out is that the girl loves him as he is! The other people he impresses along the way are phoney and only want to get what they can out of Buddy. The people in his life who love him, and really love him, love him for who he is!

So if you're struggling with loving yourself the way you are, remember that your DNA doesn't need to be reconstructed! God made you who you are for a reason!! He loves you endlessly!!

~Awaken Us~
Brenna Stanford

God's Promises for Me Thousands of Years Ago!

Leviticus 26:3-13 NIV

“ ‘If you follow my decrees and are careful to obey my commands, I will send you rain in its season, and the ground will yield its crops and the trees their fruit. Your threshing will continue until grape harvest and the grape harvest will continue until planting, and you will eat all the food you want and live in safety in your land.   “ ‘I will grant peace in the land, and you will lie down and no one will make you afraid. I will remove wild beasts from the land, and the sword will not pass through your country. You will pursue your enemies, and they will fall by the sword before you. Five of you will chase a hundred, and a hundred of you will chase ten thousand, and your enemies will fall by the sword before you.   “ ‘I will look on you with favor and make you fruitful and increase your numbers, and I will keep my covenant with you. You will still be eating last year’s harvest when you will have to move it out to make room for the new. I will put my dwelling place among you, and I will not abhor you. I will walk among you and be your God, and you will be my people. I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt so that you would no longer be slaves to the Egyptians; I broke the bars of your yoke and enabled you to walk with heads held high."

This is the end of Leviticus. If you've ever read this book you know that it is a book of the Laws. This is after God has brought the people out of their slavery in Egypt and is having to give them laws to govern them. He does this through Moses. These are the laws that, in the new testament, the Pharisees and Jews refer to as the Law of Moses or the Laws of Our Ancestors.

I had a discussion with a wise Pastor yesterday because there have been things that I wonder why it is in the Bible. Why is this necessary for me to know? There are things like the sacrifices they used to have to make, I know it is important for me to understand what had to be done so I can understand what Jesus meant as a sacrifice for me. I can look at how detailed God's instructions to them are and understand that even then God wanted hearts that were willing to do anything and that revered him enough to know he's worth even the tiniest detail. But why do I need to know that they weren't allowed to wear garments made of two different kinds of hair?

The conclusion we came to was that we need to read and understand the strict law that was once there, and without Jesus would still be here today, so we can understand and appreciate the freedom Jesus brings to us! Jesus is the fulfillment of the Law for us. So in Him we are able to be worthy of God!

So when I read the scripture quoted in the beginning of this blog, I read it knowing that with my Faith in Jesus Christ and my attempt everyday to live according to His word and walk next to Him through this life accepting His grace that I am able to receive those promises from God!

Today I want you to read that and read it in context to your life!

“If I (name) follow God's decrees and am careful to obey His commands, He will send me rain in its season, and the ground will yield its crops and the trees their fruit. My work will continue until grape harvest and the grape harvest will continue until planting, and I will eat all the food I want and live in safety in my land(I will have plenty and God will provide everything necessary to live and live safely in my home, at my job). God will grant peace in the land(in my home and at work), and I will lie down and no one will make me afraid. God will remove wild beasts from the land, and the sword will not pass through my country(there will be no one or nothing to terrorize my home or my family or my job). I will pursue my enemies, and they will fall by the sword before me (I have the victory in all of my battles). Five of us will chase a hundred, and a hundred of us will chase ten thousand, and our enemies will fall by the sword before us.  God will look on me with favor and make me fruitful and increase my numbers, and He will keep His covenant with me. I will still be eating last year’s harvest when I will have to move it out to make room for the new (His favor will increase everything I need to the point where I will have MORE THAN ENOUGH). God will put His dwelling place among me, and He will not abhor me. God will walk among us and be our God, and we will be His people. God is the Lord our God, who brought us out of Egypt (our bondage and addiction) so that we would no longer be slaves to the Egyptians; He broke the bars of our yoke and enabled us to walk with heads held high."

BELIEVE it!

~Awaken Us~
Brenna Stanford

Just One of Those Days

Do you ever have just one of those days? I do. Sometimes more often than not...

I want to share with you a couple of things to help turn one of those days into a great day! (Yes, it is possible!! lol)

The first thing you have to do is find a time where you can have a moment and just breathe. For me it's driving to work - I've already left so I'm not having to make sure I remember everything, my son is in the car jibber-jabbering so I'm not having to get him ready, and so on.

One thing I try to do daily, even though sometimes I forget, is to take a big, deep breath in and tell God that I'm breathing in more of him today. As I release my breath slowly I breathe out myself. Reasons: 1. Taking big, deep breaths is calming
2. John 3:30 says "He must become greater; I must become less.”

Then, I smile -even if it hurts.

Then I think about Philippians 4:8 - Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. - and I list the truth that is excellent and praiseworthy.
1. I am a child of God!
2. God loves me!
3. Jesus set me free!
4. I am a masterpiece!
5. God has a purpose for me to accomplish THIS day!

So today, if you're having one of those days breathe in God and breathe out you, smile, think on things that are truth and excellent and praiseworthy!!

~Awaken Us~
Brenna Stanford

Beautifully Glorious

This morning I was listening to the Gungor CD Beautiful Things, as the I sang loudly (because I was the only one in the car lol) to the lyrics "You make beautiful things, you make beautiful things out of the dust, you make beautiful things, you make beautiful things out of us" I was reminded of a story I want to share with you.

One day I was in the car with 2 other people, when Everything Glorious by David Crowder Band came on. The lyrics to this song started a short conversation that I haven't thought much about until today. The song says "You make everything glorious, you make everything glorious. You make everything glorious, and I am yours. What does that make me?"

I personally started the conversation by proclaiming how I love that! Little did I know what would follow. One other person agreed, then quickly following the 3rd person in the car stated that they did not like it and that it bothered them. I asked why. There wasn't too much of a response so I went ahead and pointed out the lyrics and how encouraging it is to think that I am glorious because God made me that way!

Side note: When I was a child someone would insult another person, i.e. you're short, tall, skinny, round... and the response was always "God made me that way." So it was nice to be able to proclaim that God made me glorious!!

This person quickly and in a very irritated manner said that's just being conceded!! Because of the atmospheric change we could see there was nothing we were going to say to change their mind. So we ended the conversation.

4 years later I am reminded of it and God shows me that this person did not understand their identity in Christ Jesus. Psalms 139:14 says "I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well." Isaiah 43:1 says But now, this is what the Lord says— he who created you, Jacob, he who formed you, Israel:“Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;
I have summoned you by name; you are mine."

No matter the circumstances in which you were born, you are NOT an accident or mistake. You are on purpose and for a purpose!! Jeremiah 29:11 says "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "Plans to prosper you and not to harm you. Plans to give you a hope and a future."

Today God wants you to know that you are Beautiful! You are Glorious! You are on Purpose! Say it with me: I am Beautiful! I am Glorious! I am on Purpose!

Awaken to your identity today!

~Awaken Us~
Brenna Stanford

Turn

“Friends, why are you doing this? We are merely human beings—just like you! We have come to bring you the Good News that you should turn from these worthless things and turn to the living God, who made heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them." Acts 14:15 NLT

Why do we do such worthless things? We may not be slaughtering animals and throwing flowers and things on people, but we do apend our time making money, spending money, playing Candy Crush or Flappy Birds. We spend our energy on things that don't make much of a difference.

I do this too. Not one of us is innocent. We put our trust in our bank account, our ability to have a job and make money. We put our joy in games - that will be removed from the market or that gets lost when our phones break. We put our self worth and love in people who either walk out on us, let us down or die.

What if we put our financial security, joy, love, hope, identity in the LIVING GOD - Jesus Christ? What if when we lose our job there's peace. What if we have joy in the midst of a life storm? What if we spent our time loving people? What if we let God show us what love really is? What if we listened to who God says we are rather than who the media says we're not?

What if we allow Jesus to live in us? What if we allow Jesus to awaken something extraordinary in us? Let's turn from these worthless things for the good news; that Jesus Christ rose from the grave, defeating death and Hell, and is alive, seated at the right hand of God interceding for us so when God looks at us he doesn't see our mess and our sin, he sees the perfection that Jesus is for us!

Let us awaken to that realization and live it out everyday!

~Awaken Us~
Brenna Stanford

A word of encouragement!

I wanted to share with you all just a little tid bit of inspiration. Lately our luck seems to be running against us, weather it is the consequences of a choice or the daily things that can go wrong. Have you ever heard the saying "When it rains, it pours"? Well that's us.

If you are feeling discouraged today be encouraged and know that God works everything out for the good of those who loves him! Just like Joseph, really crappy things happened to him like being sold by his own brothers then being put in jail for something he didn't even do! In the end God used him to prove the power and faithfulness of God!!

He has worked out some of the things we've faced and they're better than they were before. The other things we're still waiting on. But in God's perfect timing it will work out!!

~Awaken Us~
Brenna Stanford

Count the Cost: Taking Pains

" For we are taking pains to do what is right, not only in the eyes of the Lord but also in the eyes of men." 2 Corinthians 8:21

This was originally posted over a year ago. I have been a dedicated Christian for just over 5 years. It is still hard!! Someone told me once that I "binge Jesus". The statement struck a chord and ticked me off, on days like today I go back to that statement and wonder if it's true...

Then I have to remember God's word,  "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers and authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavily realms." (Epheseians 6:12)

"For what do righteousness have in common with wickedness? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?" (2 Corinthians 6:14)

"Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts [anger, defeat, sexual immorality, drama, tv shows, music, books...] which wage war against the soul." (1 Peter 2:11)

It hits you like a brick wall.

Reality

The reality of being a Christian is hard. Jesus tells his disciples more than one that there is a cost to follow him.

Luke 9:57 starts one scene where a man declares that he will follow Jesus wherever he goes! Jesus responds by telling him that foxes have holes and birds have nests but those who follow him have no place to rest their head.

Luke 14:25 starts his next teaching where he tells them your love for your family must look like hate compared to your love for me. A very quoted verse is found in this mix, verse 27 says that a man must take up his cross daily in order to follow Jesus. When we see a cross we see freedom, because of Jesus has done. When Jesus said this a cross looked completely different. A cross meant a very brutal and agonizingly painful death!

He goes on to tell a story of a man who wants to build a tower. He explains how in order for the man to build the tower he has to set down, figure out how much it will cost and then look at himself to see if he has enough to build it. Jesus says the man has to "count the cost." He uses the same story line to tell about a king who wants to go to war...he has to "count the cost."

In verse 33 Jesus says "In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple." He ends this at the end of verse 35 by saying "He who has ears let him hear."

Jesus has been telling us from the get go that being a Christian is not easy!! Jesus says that we must count the cost!! He uses the Parable of the Rich Young Ruler as another example. We have to be willing to give up EVERYTHING, our jobs, our money, our contentment, our friends, our family, even our spouses and children! He tells us, count the cost! He who has ears let him hear --- make sure you really hear me!! COUNT THE COST!!! Do you really want to follow me?! Are you really willing?!

For us it may be the physical of giving up our homes to go live in a foreign place and plant a church or go live an evangelistic life. For the rest of us it might be that God is asking you not to blow up at your spouse for lying to you. Don't leave your spouse because they had an affair or have an addiction to some substance or another, no matter how legal it is! It might be loving your children even though you do not agree with the discussions they're making! You might have to forgive someone who hurt you and let your pride be put to shame! You might have to be laughed at, picked on or talked about. The Bible tells us that there will be a time when Christians will face persecution again.

It is hard to be a Christian. But it is extremely worth it!! No other lifestyle can give you the same peace when your whole world turns up-side-down. No other lifestyle can give you grace enough and strength enough to give others grace. No other lifestyle can free you from you past, from your addictions, from your thoughts!! No other lifestyle can offer you a God who loves you deeply and intimately!! No other lifestyle was wiling to go through Hell and back as an atonement for you!!

So have you counted the cost?!

Psalm 13:5- 6 But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation.
I will sing the Lord’s praise, for he has been good to me.

John 3:16-17  For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.

Life has the opportunity to get rough everyday. But we have the opportunity to get tough everyday. "And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. (but you have to bear it) But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it." 1 Corinthians 10:13

"Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers and authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist,with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints." (Ephesians 6:10-18)

 I am adding Paul's personal request to his brothers and sisters, because it is my personal request to my brothers and sisters. "Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should." (Ephesians 6:19-20)

~Awaken Us~
Brenna Stanford

More Leftovers

In reading the book of Mark I believe that God wants us to really grasp the magnitude of just how powerful his leftovers are!

My post from yesterday was out of Mark chapter 6, Leftovers. This is a reoccurring theme in this book. Mark 7 tells the story of a woman who claims that even the leftovers from Jesus healing all of the Jews is enough to save her daughter! Mark 8 Jesus has another go around with feeding thousands of people from only a few loaves of bread.

In all of these situations there is no hope for us if we keep trying to do things on our own. We go to work and try to make money to pay our bills. We do what we think we need to do in our relationships with spouses, children, family and friends. We make life choices on our own out of our own understanding.

None of it adds up to what Jesus wants to give us and do for us. When we give him everything he gives us even more!! Remember today that God wants you to have the very best!! It just might be some leftovers...

~Awaken Us~
Brenna Stanford

Leftovers

In Mark 6 is the story of how Jesus feeds the 5,000 with a few fish and a few loaves of bread. If you have never read this story I highly recommend you go read it! (Mark 6:35-44)

The gist of the story is that there are a bunch of people that Jesus was teaching and it was dinner time. So he tells his disciples to go gather the bread and the fish that the people had on them and then separate everyone out into groups. So there were multiple groups of 50 - 100 people and all they had was 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish.

Jesus blessed the meal and then began to break it apart and divide the bread and fish up between all of the people. So everyone ate and got full, by everyone I mean about 5,000 men and their wives and children! Afterwards the disciples went around and and picked up all the leftovers...

Let me break here and say that the fact that Jesus was able to feed that many people with that little is a miracle in itself!! The fact they they all had plenty is a whole other miracle!! Now, there's leftovers!!

Back to our leftovers, there were 12 baskets full!! How crazy is that?! Jesus' leftovers are so much better than what we have to start with!!

So if you're sitting there today looking at what you have, weather money to pay the bills, food to feed your babies, gas to get to work, whatever it is, know that you can trust God with it. Look to heaven as Jesus did, bless what you have in faith and believe that Jesus can multiply it! When we give our little to God, he uses it for his Kingdom and blesses you with the leftovers!!


Proverbs 28:27 Those who give to the poor will lack nothing, but those who close their eyes to them receive many curses.

Luke 6:38 Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap.For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.

~Awaken Us~

Brenna Stanford

God in the Little Things

Wow so do I have a story to tell you all!!

A few months ago we gave our dog Dixie to some friends. A couple weeks ago I texted the friend and asked how she was doing. When no response came I wrote it off. Well, as the days went by I kept thinking about sweet little, rambunctious Dixie. So yesterday I sent him another text asking if they still had her. I came to find out that she had ran away about a week before I sent him the last message and she hadn't came back.

I get a wild hair and I go down to the county animal shelter and what do you know, Dixie is there!!! The woman working proceeds to tell me that Dixie had just arrived a couple minutes before I got there! What's even more amazing is what she tole our friends when they went and picked Dixie up...

You see our friends live in a small town about 30 minutes from here. The town pound had picked Dixie up the day she ran away. Because 3 weeks had passed and no one came and claimed her Dixie was sent to the county pound to be put down!

I'd like for someone to try to tell me that God wasn't at work here! This is a testament of how much God really does love us and how he cares about even the seemingly small things in our life!

Luke 12:26-28 says 26 Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?

27 “Consider how the wild flowers grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 28 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe you—you of little faith!

So today be encouraged!! God knows every single detail about you and your life, and He loves you anyway!! He cares about the fact that you have a headache, your dog ran away, your baby cried for you when you dropped him off, and everything in between! Don't worry!! He has it all under control!!

~Awaken Us~

Brenna Stanford

For Our Children

Genesis 26:4-5 NLT

I will cause your descendants to become as numerous as the stars of the sky, and I will give them all these lands. And through your descendants all the nations of the earth will be blessed. I will do this because Abraham listened to me and obeyed all my requirements, commands, decrees, and instructions.”

As I was reading this morning a few things jumped out to me. This scripture is the one that stood out most. It put the whole story in a different perspective for me.

If you're not familiar with the story of Abraham please go to Genesis and start reading it! This is a story of God's faithfulness to us. From Abraham descendants will come our savior Jesus! From the very moment God promises him that his baren wife will give birth through the resurrection of Jesus Christ God is faithful!

Any way, when I read the above scripture it clicked. Abraham obeyed God not for the blessings and wealth he'd receive during his life, but for the blessings and promises God has made for his children and their children and their children's children. All the generations to come!

At this point Abraham's son Isaac is getting old and has obeyed God for the sake of his children. As a new mother this makes more sense to me now then ever before!

My parents always told me that my choices effected everyone around me. As a stubborn,  "I'm going to do it my way", "make my own mistakes" teenager I didn't understand that fully. I am learning everyday that my obedience to God not only effects me but also my husband and my son and future sons.

Parents, let's live every detail of today even more for our children than we ever have before! We'll be amazed at the blessings we receive along the way!

~Awaken Us~
Brenna Stanford

Re-Start

"Re-start" is the theme for my local church this year. It is so fitting, not only for our church but for me personally. 2013 brought my husband and me some surprises. I also had to learn a few things, like as a mother you have to adjust every single moment of your days...and nights! Time has a new meaning.

One thing that I've learned is that the Awakening God gave me dreams of applies to my daily life now. At first I thought this was something that I needed to get everyone else to realize and wake up to. I am very well aware that I was not totally correct in my thinking. Yes, this dream is for EVERYONE...including me! 

In this year, after having 7 months to adjust to motherhood and all that comes with it, I am striving to Re-Start. Re-Start my devo times with God, Re-Start in serving in areas of my local church & community, Re-Start with my daily schedules and learning to make time. Re-Start & learn what it is to really walk each day with God. My awakening is opening my eyes to see that when I wash my son's bottles, my family's laundry, dust my house & clean my floors that I am glorifying God! He gave me all of this. Now I get to enjoy it, but take care of it as well!

I challenge you to Re-Start this year. Breathe in & think about all the areas of your life that needs a re-start, then breathe out & let it all go! God isn't mad at you & He wants to help you. He loves you! You are his child with whom he is very concerned about! Let him love you!!

~Awaken Us~
Brenna Stanford