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