Author Archives: brendamesservy

Use Me!

How easy it is for us to trust God when things are going well. Bad luck, hardship, disaster, and trouble, will challenge our faith. We find ourselves asking, “Why me, Lord?” instead of saying, “Use Me, Lord!”

Adversity strengthens our faith by causing believers to dig their roots deeper into God in order to withstand the storms. Dig deep in God by making it a priority to spend time with God. Study the Bible; whether it is 5 minutes or 2 hour. Read the Bible, investigate it, and reflect on it, throughout the day. Make God first each day; whether it is with a one-word prayer of—“Thanks” or “Help” or a few minutes of prayer.

Lord, help us to express our faith in You during the tough times of life. Let us not be fair-weather believers, but let our faith remain rooted and grounded in You. Let us overflow with thankfulness and gratitude as we grow in the truth and knowledge of You, Lord.

Job 1:8-12

Colossians 2:7

Praise, Worship, and Thankfulness…

Praise—our response to God for what He has done, is doing and will do. Praise relates to the acts of God. Praise is what we do when we recognize, appreciate, and express God’s greatness. The more we focus our thoughts on God, the more we are moved to praise Him. The more we read our Bible, the more we get to know Him. We praise God when we can appreciate all He does.

Worship— our response to who God is? Worship relates to God’s character. Worship can be something we do in celebration and quiet dedication to God. Our worship demonstrates our deep devotion to God. True worship doesn’t just take place in a church; rather, true worship is when we discover God’s presence in our life at home, at work, at school, in the game, and at church. God wants to live in our hearts wherever we go, not just when we go to church.

Thankfulness— a grateful acknowledgement of God’s acts and His character! We should be grateful to God for His personal concern, help, and mercy toward us. God not only protects, guides, and forgives us, but His creation provides everything we need. The more we realize how we benefit from knowing God; we are fully able to express our thanks to Him through praise and worship!

I AM with you…

God does not want us to live in fear.  Jesus is always with us.  Paul advised us not to worry or feel anxious about anything. Hard to imagine when there are overdue bills, problems on the job, failing grades in school and perhaps even failing health. We don’t have to face wickedness alone; God is on our side.

Fear, uncertainty, doubt and sin, challenge us each day. The Holy Spirit can restrain us from yielding to them and give us peace if we’d only believe. Pray to God and be thankful. Praise Him because He is King. Tell God about all your concerns. He cares for you. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you succeed; to show you the truth. God hears our prayers; he bends down to listen to our muffled cry. I love the Lord. Will you try Him?

Isaiah 41:10-14

Philippians 4:6-7

1 Peter 5:7

Psalm 10:14

John 14:26-27

Psalm 116:1

Friends…

We are often guilty of using the word “friend” too loosely; referring to them as the number of contacts we have with our social media link.

Friends have a relationship…they know each other. God created us for relationships. He created us to glorify Him. Sin destroyed our relationship with God, so God sent Jesus to die for the payment of our sin that we could once again be in a relationship with Him forever. Sin destroys our relationships with one another too. Jesus wants to reconcile our relationship with each other by teaching us how to be a friend.

Friends make commitments to God; not just each other. When we commit to God’s commands and learning His way, we are can forgive and disagree while still loving each other.   God’s way draws us closer to one another when things are going bad—rather than putting distance between us. Friends are better listeners than a speaker. They care for and offer help when needed. They are never too busy for us. A friend will not hurry you out of grief but will sit and weep in grief, with you. A friend admires you for being fair, for making right choices and for loving without reason. A friend is your friend when you are rich or poor, and strong or weak.

By now you are probably thinking, “That is the kind of friend I want”— Me too. Rather, I ask you to pray and ask God to help you to BE, that kind of friend.

Lord, thank you for showing us what a friend is today. Thanks for reminding us that you created us for relationships. We long for relationships because You created us that way. Today, O Lord, help us to focus on those in need of a friend. Show us someone around us who needs the kind of friend described above. Let our hearts be open to being friends with the lonely person on the street, the materially poor–as we may learn something from them, the unpopular person who is often overlooked. Open our eyes Lord, put us in relationship with the rest of your creation. We were all created in your image that means we all need relationships. Teach us what it means to be a good friend by following Jesus’ examples. Help us to commit to Your Word and to live a life that is pleasing to You. Turn my contacts into friends. Help me to be a friend not just merely a contact.

We thank You Lord Jesus, for teaching us how to be a friend. We look forward to the new friends that we will meet today. In Jesus name, we pray. Amen

Proverbs 18:24

1 Samuel 18:1-4

Proverbs 17:17

Jeremiah 9:23-24

John 15:13

Romans 12:1-2

John 3:16

Created to serve…

We were created to serve others!  Just as Christ came to serve us.  How do we serve, has God given us special gifts to use in service?  Indeed!

1 Corinthians 12:8

1) Word of Wisdom

2) Word of Knowledge

3) Faith

4) Gifts of Healing

5) Working of Miracles

6) Prophecy

7) Discerning of Spirits

8) Divers (or different) kinds of Tongues

9) Interpretation of (different) Tongues

Romans 12:6-8

Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.

This week, pray that God reveals the gifts that He’s given to you for service.  I’ll be praying with you!

Sovereign God

To define the Sovereignty of God…simply put, all things are under God’s rule and control, and nothing happens without His direction or permission.  God works all things according to His will.  (Ephesians 1:11)  Nothing takes God by surprise.  God governs all things without exception.

Where is God?—We cry out, when in sorrow and filled with grief. Daniel clearly could have given up after being deported to a foreign land after Judah was conquered.  Instead of giving in or giving up, Daniel held fast to his faith in God, as should we.  Daniel knew that despite the circumstances, God was and is Sovereign.  God is working out His plan.

As we face our trials, we too can expect God to remain present with us through our trials.  I pray that God grant us courage to remain faithful under pressure, just as Daniel did.  Despite news reports, court reports, or personal stress, God is still in control.

I thank God for our faith and changed lives.  I ask God to fill us today with joy, strength, and thankfulness!  I pray that our faith remains in God, who controls everything.

A Prayer for strength…

Father, You are against the proud and arrogant, and You give grace to the humble.   Therefore, I humbly submit myself to You, Lord. In the name of Jesus, I resist the devil, and he will flee from me. I resist the cares of the world, which try to stress me daily.

Lord I come to You today, for I work hard and am weighed down and overburdened, and I know You can give me rest.  You will ease and relieve and refresh my soul daily.  I’m committed to learning how to live my life the way You want me to, Lord Jesus.  Thanks for being gentle and patient with me as I learn.

You will not give me more to handle than I’m capable of dealing with.  You are not harsh with me as I learn what’s right and what’s wrong.  You are even patient with me when I make mistakes.

Today Lord, I give You some of my cares that are weighing too heavily on me.  Will you help me with them?  I thank You for sustaining me.  I thank You that I’m not left alone to deal with these cares on my own.

I am confident in You Lord, that You will help me stand strong even though I’m weak today.  Re-charge me O Lord.  I will accept Your rest as you reset my soul.  Thank You for the rest that I already have in knowing that You will answer my prayer.  I’m going to rest in knowing you are faithful and watchful over your promises too.  You will do what You said You would.  I’m not worried Lord, I’m not afraid, I just needed to turn my cares in and take off my heavy load.  I’ll climb back in the saddle and whistle as I work for You.  You are my God.

In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.

James 4:6-7

Matthew 11:28

Psalm 145:8

1 Corinthians 10:13

1 John 5:14

Jeremiah 1:12

An Invitation…

Welcome Lord Jesus,

Excuse my crippled condition which caused me to take such a long time opening the door.  Forgive me for not offering you a clean place to sit, as my blindness has prohibited me from seeing things clearly, so I have not been very good at cleaning up after myself.  I’d like to offer you a drink, but the pain in my joints cause me great discomfort when I ambulate.  Are you comfortable Lord?  The weeping is uncontrollable Lord, my apologies for that too–my heart is broken over the loss of many friends and family members.

Alas, You are here!  Well, I invited You to stop by today Lord because I am tired of my current condition.  And I was told that you cared about me.  Forgive me for not having invited You sooner.  I was ashamed of my condition.  I was told You have healed the crippled.  I was told that You are familiar with grief too.  I believe I was made blind because of my sin so I have come to accept living in darkness–although, someone said that you could even forgive my sin!

I do want to thank You for my hearing Lord!  It is about all I have.  You see I heard that if I sent you an invitation to come into my life that You would accept it.  I also heard about the many miracles you have performed.  I am not worthy of Your visit today, but I was also told that You love me just the same.  Since You are here, I’d like to ask Your forgiveness for believing that my condition is hopeless.  For Lord, despite my vision loss, I can see clearly now that You love me–You came to see me.  I believe what I heard about you not being afraid to come meet me in my filthy house.  I’ve been trying to clean up my house before inviting You in, but was told that it would not matter to You the condition of my house,  Because You can make me and my house clean.  Yes, my heart is broken, and I miss my friends and family that have passed on. However,  I also heard that you would comfort me, and I am tired of being sad.  The pain in my joints does not bother me much anymore–I’ve learned to deal with it.   A few pills here and there, sometimes will ease my pain.  However, if You are willing, I know You can fix that too.

You know Lord, I am suddenly feeling better now that You are here.  What I heard about You seems right.  Even though I cannot see with my eyes very well, I can see things a little clearer now about my condition.  I no longer feel guilty about the mess around me, because, in my heart, I know that You will help me clean things up.   Although my body may be failing me, I believe You have the power to heal me, besides, I am going to get a new one some day–that is what I heard.  I was also told that you created me in Your likeness and Your image.  Maybe the day is yet to come when I will be like You–I cannot wait until that day arrives!

I am so grateful that You came today Lord.  I thank You for my hearing, because everything, I heard about You, is true.  Thanks again for coming Lord; they said You would if I asked You.  By the way, is there anything You can use me for in Your Kingdom?  They also told me that I was created to glorify You?  I am happy to do whatever You need me to do Lord.  You are a good friend.

Inspired by…
Psalm 34:18
Revelations 3:20
Luke 5:12
Mark 2:1-12
John 9
1 Peter 5:7
Isaiah 53:3
Genesis 1:27
Ephesians 2:10
Psalm 51:10
John 15:15

Dealing with Grief…

How did Jesus deal with Grief:

  1.  Jesus had the experience of receiving unexpected bad news: His dear friend and cousin, John the Baptist had died.  We are not alone in our surprise and grief: our Lord himself lived through grief and sadness. When we are overcome with grief and sadness, Jesus is there with us.
  2.  Jesus needed space and time to process, John’s death.  In Matthew 14:13, “He slipped away by boat to an out-of-the-way place by himself.” Jesus needed time to be alone with the Father.  Seek comfort from the Father today.
  3.  Even while Jesus was grieving He had compassion on others.  Overlooking His own personal needs, the bible said,  “He heard that the crowd followed him on foot from the towns. When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick”.   Whether these people knew or not that Jesus had sought some privacy to grieve, they came to Him anyway.  Most of us would say, “Leave me alone now, I’m too sad to witness to you about Jesus, I’m too sad to pray for you…can’t you see, I’m sad too.” But not Jesus, He had compassion on them and healed their sick.  He didn’t come to earth to be served but to serve others…and He remembered His purpose–even while grieving.  We too should remember our purpose, always.
  4.  Jesus not only had compassion on them and healed their sick…He feed them too.  Wonder why we have food after funerals?  Jesus always modeled how we should live.
  5.  AFTER Jesus healed and fed the crowd, AFTER he took care of their needs–He sought time to be alone.  In His aloneness, He prayed.  He went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. We still need to process grief with the Father…take time to do that.  Take time alone, to process your grief with God.  Don’t let grief overcome you in that you forget your purpose.  God will be there to heal your broken heart and comfort you.

Father, be near to those that grieve the loss of a loved one today, or the loss of a job, or friendship, or whatever they may be grieving the loss of today.  Let us not become consumed in grief that we forget our purpose in serving You.  Rather, bring balance to our time of service and grief.  Help us to process our grief like Jesus, through quiet time and prayer with You.  I pray for them now Lord, Your strength is made perfect in our weakness.  Thank you for understanding our sadness and for giving us time with You to grieve.  Speak to our hearts.