Pressure?? It's Just God Working On Your Dough!! Read Genesis 1: 1&2 and Romans 9 : 19-21

Pressure! Pressure is all around us. We awake everyday into a pressure driven world. Pressure at home. Pressure on our jobs. Pressure at school. Health issuses put alot of pressure on us. Relationships truly can put pressure on us. Our children can but alot of pressure on us. Pressure makes us make choices in our lives.
Genesis 1:2 states:" And the earth (you and I) was without form (shape-direction) and void (empty-hollow); and darkness was upon the face of the deep." Does this remind you of your life at one time or another. There was a time in my life when my life had no form and was empty and hollow. My life was just like a glob of my wife's biscuit dough.
Saturday is brunch day in the Breauxs' house. The one day I think my wife actually love getting up to cook. I think she uses me to test her recipes, and I'm a great lab rat! (smile) You should hear all the noise she makes as she gets the meal together. Pots clanging, mixer mixing,water running, alot of stuff going on in the kitchen!
One day I walked in the kitchen and on the counter was a glob of biscuit dough. It was just sitting there while my wife did other things. I looked at that dough and wondered how biscuits would come out of that mess! I watched as my wife took hold of the dough and begin to work on it. She squeezed and squeezed and squeezed it. She rolled it. She smashed it. She threw it down hard on the counter. She worked and worked on that dough, using all kinds of pressure to get the dough ready to become biscuits. She then took out the rolling pin and applied even more pressure to that dough, it wasn't a glob anymore. It wasn't without form or void. It was ready to become biscuits.
Sometimes it seems like our lives are a big glob of dough, with all the pressures of life bearing down on it from every angle. We walk around like everything is okay, yet in the inside there is a void that we can't fill. It's hard waking up and facing all the pressure but I want you to know this today. Pressure is just God working on your dough!
We are a work in progress! God uses pressure to mold us into the people He wants us to be. Not understanding God's pressure can make us make bad choices. Drugs, alcohol,adultery,bad financial decisions, the list goes on and on. Pressure, pressure, pressure! We must learn to accept pressure as a chance to grow. The truth is if we truly had faith in God there would be no pressure on us. We have to trust Him with our dough! He's trying to take us from glob to biscuit!
The brunch that day was great. The biscuits were light and tasty. My wife put alot of work and love into that dough and the results were amazing! If my wife can do amazing things with dough, think about what God can do with our dough!(lives) Just remember when pressure seems to be consuming your life: Don't worry, don't stress,it's just God working on your dough!
Father, help us to see your powerful hands molding us into the people you want us to be. Help us not to fight the pressure but to roll along with it. Help us to be your light and tasty biscuits in this sin sick world. In the mighty name of Jesus,AMEN

The Gift Of Tragedy - Read St. Matthew 14: 14

Tragedy is something we all must deal with in life. The events in Haiti is a good example to us of God's gift of tragedy. Now you must think I'm insane to make such a statement. How could anyone's pain and suffering be a gift? How could the death and displacement of so many be a gift?
There are three points I want to make about tragedy. First, tragedy humbles us. When something tragic occurs, it shows us just how really powerless we truly are. There was nothing we could do to prevent that earthquake. There was nothing we could do to stop our loved ones from dying. There is nothing we can do to prevent any tragedy. Tragedy gives us the gift of humility. The second thing tragedy does for us is the gift of prayer. Tragedy leads us to pray. We are drawn into a need for God in our lives. We know we are powerless but we believe He has all the power we need. We are lead to pray for people we may not have prayed for otherwise. We may not have anything to give, but we almost always pray! Tragedy almost always brings out the gift of prayer. The third and most important point is LOVE! Tragedy almost always brings out love and compassion. This one should be easy for us to see. Tragic events in our personal lives helps us to relate to the tragic events of others. We know how it feels to be in pain, we know how it feels to suffer. This brings out the best in us, it brings out God's gift of love. Sometimes, we become so caught up in our own stuff, that we forget about the stuff other people are going through. The world gets too busy with it's stuff and forget that countries like Haiti were suffering way before any tragedy took place! We are not humble, not praying, not loving!
Tragedy is a gift from God to help us become more like Him. In reading the passage today it was clear to me what tragedy did to Jesus. The Bible said He was "moved with compassion" and He "healed their sick". The tragedy of those people's lives "stirred" the Lords' spirit and "moved" Him into action! Let us do the same! We don't have to wait until a tragedy to become humble,or to pray and show love to others. We get that chance everyday!!
People have come together from all over the world to help Haiti in this tragedy. Could it be a gift from God?
"Father, help us to see you in everything. Help us to humble ourselves,to pray for, and have love and compassion for others before any tragedy occurs. Father we know that any tragedy can be a gift for us, that it may help us to grow more in your likeness. In Jesus Mighty name, Amen"

Use The Knowledge- Read Hosea 4: 6

We've all heard the saying "knowledge is power". From the time we enter this world until we die we are seeking knowledge. Just as a sponge soaks up water, our brains soak up every bit of knowledge it can get. We soak up both good and bad knowledge, for our brains just want knowledge. The older we get the more knowledge we have received. Also the older we get, the more likely we are to forget that same knowledge.
In today's passage God through Hosea made a statement to His people. Verse 6 states" My people are destroyed for the lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee,". This is one powerful message to us all. It states just how important "knowledge" is to God. The trick was the people had been given the knowledge! They had the Law of God. They had the stories of the Prophets of old. They had all the knowledge they needed! But there was just one problem, the same one we have today. Using the knowledge! How many times have we had knowledge, but just didn't use it? There are times in our lives where we can do what we know is right but we just don't do it. There also are times we should look out for others but we don't. There are times when we should be silent but we talk. There are times we just don't "use the knowledge"
As we start this new year, lets try our best to "use the knowledge". God has given us and continue to give us, all the knowledge we need. It's up to us to use it!
Father, help us to not ignore the knowledge you have given us in life and through your Glorious Word. Help us to "use the knowledge". In the awesome name of Jesus, Amen

"God's Special Place" Read- 2 Timothy 2: 15

Well another Sunday has passed and we have taken our Bibles and put them in their "special places". I think everyone has their "special place" for their Bibles. We take it and place it where we can see it and know where it's at, at all times. Some of us put all sorts of things in our Bible. You see people every Sunday open their Bible and stuff fall out of it! You may have even helped picking their things off the floor. Our Bibles even serves as our secret place to hide things. We put money or papers we deem valuable in our Bibles. It makes us feel secure because no one better mess with our Bibles! Better not touch it! Better not open it up! Better not read it! It's our Bibles, and we put it in it's own "special place" until Sunday. (smile)
Those things we store in our Bibles all have their own places. Just as those things have their own places, the Bible does too. It's a very , very special place that God created for it. That special place is "within us". We are God's special place where He wants to place His very special Word. How do we get His Word in us? 2 Timothy 2:15 gives us the answer. We must study to be approved! We must study to be able to pass the test! We are tested daily, how can we pass these test if we don't study? The answer to every test is in God's Word, but we have to study.
We all have our "special places" for our Bibles, but let us try to put the Bible in the place where God wants it: "within us". A very, very, "special place" to God.
"Father, gives the strength to study your Word so we can pass the tests that come into our lives." In Jesus name,AMEN

There's Nothing Like The Real Thing!- Read Romans 5:1-8

The other day I went to a beauty supply store with my wife. While in the store I saw somethings that disturbed me. There was so much fake stuff that it scared me! You know what I'm talking about. There isn't anything nowadays that can't be made to look real!There is fake jewelry, fake shoes, fake perfume, and my favorite; fake eggs and bacon. Now why would anyone do that to eggs and bacon! The word "imitation" has become almost as important as the word "real". Another word used today is "substitute". We substitute everything, even our teachers!
My wife wanted to bake a cake the other day so we went to H.E.B. to get some vanilla extract. I picked up a bottle but she told she want to use the "real" vanilla. She didn't want any part of her cake to be fake. Shouldn't we want our lives to be the same as Jacqueline"s cake? There's nothing like the real thing! There is nothing like my Jesus! There is No Substitute!
He is our Peace! He is our Strength! He is our Burden Bearer!He is our Joy and our Love! He is..... The Real Thing! No matter how we try to make our lives easier! No matter what we do to make ourselves feel good! No matter how we twist it and turn it, there is no substitute. The blood Jesus shed was real! The cross He died on was real! The love he has for us is real!
Everyday this world is getting faker and faker. It's getting to the point where we can't tell what is real or not real. We need to see through the lie into the truth. Just as Jacqueline wanted the real ingredients in her cake, we should want our lives filled with the love of Jesus! Now that's the "Real Thing"!
Father help us to be "real" to you, as you have been "real" to us.
In Jesus holy name, Amen

There's Still Meat On That Bone!! - Read St. John 5:1-9

Sometimes it's funny how God speaks to us. A few days ago I was sitting in our den indulging in one of my favorite pastimes; eating. I love to eat and I'd just finished cleaning some meat off a pork chop bone. I was about to throw the bone in the trash when I saw there was still meat on that bone. That's when God took over. How many times do we just give up on things? How many times have we given up on God? We take things that we consider useless and cast them aside. We find it's easier to give up, then to try to get all the meat off that bone. We don't want to fight for our marriage so we get a divorce. We don't want to fight for our jobs so we quit. We don't want to fight for our kids so we let the streets raise them. We give up on addicts and the less fortunate. We have no mercy on those bones. I want to tell you today that there's still meat on those bones!! Have faith in God!(Mark 11:22) Don't give up on people or things so easily. In the passage today, this man had been given up on, cast aside like a bone with no meat. But Jesus came and He saw some meat on that bone! He saw a chance to give God the glory! He saw a chance for a miracle! There are going to be times when you want to give up but remember this:"There's still meat on that bone!!
Father help us to see you in everyone and everything.
In Jesus name Amen!

Don't Be Afraid Of The Dark - Matthew 4:12-17

Mankind as a whole has had a fear of the dark. I remember as a kid I slept with a light on. That light stayed on until I over came my fear of darkness. Evil is almost always associated with darkness. Vampires and other creatures can only operate at night. Most crimes are committed at night. Darkness seems to feed our fears.
There are times in our lives when things seem the darkest. Sickness,finances,divorce,relationships with family and friends and death can all bring darkness into our lives. This darkness can cast a heavy shadow on us all, not just affecting us,but also the lives of others. Now come close and let me tell you a secret: "God does some of His best work in the Dark!!"
Genesis 1:2-3 states "And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters."(3)" And God said , let there be light: and there was light." There has to be darkness before there can be light, so don't be afraid of the Dark. Look around you and see what God created in darkness.Simply put, He created a miracle! We can rest assured that in our darkest times, God is there waiting to create a miracle for us as well! We just can't be afraid of the dark. King David may have said it best in Psalms 23:4 "Yea, though I walk through the valley (low spot) of the shadow (darkness) of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
Darkness is coming, that is a fact of life, but we don't have to be afraid because we have a light named JESUS! Don't be afraid of the dark!
May God's Grace And Mercy Be With You Today And Always!