Archives for January 2017

Facing Giant Life

January 30, 2017

Giant Life

Well, let’s face it, life happens. Sometimes it’s great, sometimes awful, and sometimes full of giants. Now, I know that there has been or will be giants in your life. Whether it is a giant mountain you have to climb, a giant illness, giant situations, giant decisions, giant changes, or an actual giant. My point is…giant will happen. This is our Brewing Ground. This is where God’s refining fire and life come together for our good. To refine us like silver and create a beautifully, unique masterpiece; hand forged by God Himself. So, when giant happens what do we need to know? Let’s learn from the story of David and Goliath.

David and Goliath is one of those Bible stories that we learn as children. When I went back and actually read the story, God pointed out several small but very significant details that don’t necessarily get mentioned in the story we hear as children. These details were the ones that God used to whisper his message.

David Enters the Picture

Saul is currently king over Israel. Throughout his reign, he has continually sinned and rejected God. Now, God has rejected him and his line of descendants from being king over Israel any longer. As 1 Samuel 16 begins, God puts His plan into motion to change the reign of Saul’s line as king. God sends Samuel to declare and anoint the new king.

“16 And the Lord said unto Samuel, How long wilt thou mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? fill thine horn with oil, and go, I will send thee to Jesse the Bethlehemite: for I have provided me a king among his sons.” 1 Samuel 16:1 KJV

So, Samuel went and looked at each of the sons and rejected each. He asked if there was any other son. The youngest was in the field with the sheep; Samuel told the father to bring him. This is where David makes his debut in the Bible.

“¹²And he sent, and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, and withal of a beautiful countenance, and goodly to look to. And the Lord said, Arise, anoint him: for this is he. ¹³Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brethren: and the Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward.” 1 Samuel 16:12-13a KJV

God allowed Saul to remain king until his death. God used this time to prepare David to be king.

David’s Wisdom

Now, a war began between Saul’s army, the Israelites, and the Philistines. War strategy then was to have each army send its strongest warrior to fight each other. The Philistines had a giant in their army, Goliath; he was 10 feet tall. The war was at a standstill because no one from the Israelite army would fight him.

David’s brothers were members in the Israelite army while David remained home to tend to the sheep. David’s father sent him to the battle to take food to his brothers and the other troops. Once he arrived, he found out what was going on. David responded,

“…or who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?” 1 Samuel 17:26b KJV

David was the only one who seemed to remember that they were God’s army. He told Saul that he would go and fight the giant. Saul responded by saying that he could not win because he was only a boy. David responds,

“³⁴Thy servant kept his father’s sheep, and there came a lion, and a bear, and took a lamb out of the flock: ³⁵And I went out after him, and smote him, and delivered it out of his mouth: and when he arose against me, I caught him by his beard, and smote him, and slew him. ³⁶Thy servant slew both the lion and the bear: and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, seeing he hath defied the armies of the living God. ³⁷David said moreover, The Lord that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine. And Saul said unto David, Go, and the Lord be with thee.” 1 Samuel 17:34b-37 KJV

David’s Battle

So, Saul tried to lend David his armor and swords; but they were too big for him. David knew they would be the death of him and removed them. David once again used wisdom by going into battle with what he was proficient with, despite the opposition; he took 5 smooth stones and his sling.

After being threatened by Goliath, David responded.

“⁴⁵Then said David to the Philistine, Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied. ⁴⁶This day will the Lord deliver thee into mine hand; and I will smite thee, and take thine head from thee;” 1 Samuel 17:45-46a KJV

And, the battle began. As the giant headed for David,

“⁴⁹And David put his hand in his bag, and took thence a stone, and slang it, and smote the Philistine in his forehead, that the stone sunk into his forehead; and he fell upon his face to the earth. ⁵⁰So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and smote the Philistine, and slew him; but there was no sword in the hand of David. ⁵¹Therefore David ran, and stood upon the Philistine, and took his sword, and drew it out of the sheath thereof, and slew him, and cut off his head therewith. And when the Philistines saw their champion was dead, they fled.

” 1 Samuel 17:49-51 KJV

Well, it was over and before it even began! However, did you catch the fact that the stone actually sunk into Goliath’s forehead? Think about the force and power needed to make a small stone actually crush skull and sink into the bone with a sling shot! Only divine assistance could produce these extreme results.

Facing Giant Life

So, when giant happens – here’s what we need to know?

David KNEW that God was with him so he would not fail. God is with us!
Even though David was young, he knew that God had PREPARED him. You may think the lion and bear are the giants, when in reality, these are only the preparation. Either way, rest assured that God will prepare you.
Even the smallest things can be so powerful and have a huge impact when used by God.

Can you remember a time when God prepared you for a giant or used something small in a very powerful way? Comment Below!

If this Monday Brew has blessed you please share!

Let Brew in Victory!

Will You Trust or Question?

January 24, 2017

The Question

How can you do everything right and how can everything go so wrong? Welcome to your Brewing Ground! Let’s face it, sometimes this happens in life. This can be the case in any number of situations. Things can go wrong when you do everything right with smaller moments; or, this can happen with major life altering situations or events. Why is this? That is the real question. There could be a number of reasons why things don’t work or go as planned. Let’s explore these ideas a bit.

The Muffins

Let’s begin by looking at a smaller situation. Let’s say that you have decided to make some muffins. You search and find a recipe. Next, you gather all your ingredients. You make sure to follow the instructions in the recipe. Once you pull them from the oven you realize they look nothing like the picture. Well, that doesn’t matter if they taste good. So, on to the taste test. OHHH – They are awful! The question now arrises – What went wrong?

Being perplexed by this situation you go back over the recipe; maybe you missed something. Now, this is where you will see a natural division form. The first group will find that maybe there was an ingredient left out, or the muffins were baked at the wrong temperature, or they didn’t get mixed well, the list goes on. In this instance it may be operator error. Now, for the second group. After checking, all the ingredients are present and accounted for. You even followed the directions exactly. So, what went wrong? Well, sometimes there is just a bad recipe. It happens! Unfortunately, not all recipes are good recipes. Either way, despite our best efforts things went wrong but for different reasons.

The Life Changer

There can also be major life changing situations in which you can do everything right and everything can still go wrong. Job is a perfect example of this. In the Bible, the entire book of Job tells the tragic, yet glorious, story about the life of a man named Job. Job contains 42 chapters. Every chapter’s focus is on one particular life changing event in Job’s life when he did everything right but everything went wrong.

Job’s Story

Job was a Godly man. He had a wife and 10 children. Job was a very prosperous farmer owning thousands of livestock and having many servants. Job had it all, family, friends, wealth, possessions, and prestige; he was the most famous and wealthiest in all the land (Job 1:3). He also built his life on God. It all began in Chapter 1. Satan came to God and claimed that Job only loved and trusted God because he had everything; he said that Job would not feel the same if had nothing. Satan asked God if he could test Job. God’s response,

^“12And the Lord said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand. So Satan went forth from the presence of the Lord.” Job 1:12 KJV

Quick Side Note: Did you catch what this verse is really saying. GOD IS IN CONTROL!!!

Satan tested Job in a very serious way. In one fail swoop Job lost ALL his children, livestock, and servants. Wow! Talk about a bad day!! But, Job still loved and praised God. God allowed Satan to further test Job with extreme physical pain. He still remained faithful! Now, Job’s friends heard of all what happened and came to be with him. All this only takes us through Job 2.

Job 3 begins the discussions between Job and his friends about his situation. These conversations take us all the way through Job 37. You will find a natural division here also. During these conversations Job’s friends question him. His friends believe that all Job’s tragedy was caused by sin; they urged him to confess. However, Job continued to defended his innocence. While his friends questioned that he was missing something, he knew that he had done everything right. Job knew that there was another reason this was all happening to him.

The Visit

Job 38 through 42 tells about Job’s next visitor – God! God finally spoke through a mighty storm. During His conversation, God addressed Job.

“Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said, ²Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge?” Job 38:1-2 KJV

God himself had a conversation with Job – Woah! This conversation actually consisted of questions for Job about the natural world. His point was to demonstrate that we do not even have a full understanding of our natural world. How could we possibly be able to understand why bad things still happen when we do everything right – we can’t. God’s point was that it is more important to trust than understand. We may never be able to fully understand. But, God does heal and restore.

“¹⁰And the Lord turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends: also the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before.” Job 42:10 KJV

God gave Job twice as much as he had before. He also blessed him with more children.

Biblical Truth

Even when we do everything right, things can still go very wrong. That is, wrong in our view. God has a plan and purpose to use these situations for our good. This is the whole reason for our Brewing Ground. Will you question God or trust Him?

Let’s Brew in Trust!

Have you experienced a situation like this in your life? Comment Below!

The Things We Do!

January 16, 2017

The Cake

I spent the weekend celebrating my sweet girls’ birthdays. They each have their birthday this week; in fact, their birthdays are just 2 days apart. We had a joint party for them over the weekend. A tradition seemed to form with my first child on her first birthday. The tradition is as follows: I always bake a cake or cupcakes from scratch which I decorate to match the theme of the party. This year we had a science party. I created goody bags which had supplies for birthday themed science experiments for all the children to take home. For this party I also created a molecule cake which included a molecular core

(Sixlets) that spilled out when the cake was cut. This was a 2 tier cake, each tier having 3 layers. The bottom layer was 12 inches and the top layer was 9 inches. I fashioned molecules for the cake topper out of fun straws and large gum balls. A cake this size required me to create a 16 inch cake board to carry it on. Oh, the things we do for our children.

Reality

Now, let’s have a reality check. First off, none of these were completely original ideas of my own. I “beg, borrow, and steal” other people’s great ideas and morph them into my own to fit our needs. Secondly, this was no easy feat. I am not going to lie. It took me hours upon hours to create this cake. However, I willingly spent the time to create something great for my sweet girls. I do this because they love it and it means a lot to them and they mean the world to me. If you have been blessed with children you can probably think of a time when you went above and beyond for them. Maybe it was something very small. Or, maybe it was something huge. Oh, the things we do for our children. As I was standing in my small kitchen working through the night, while everyone else was asleep, I began thinking of all the things God has done for me as His child.

Oh, The Things

Think of all the things that God has done for us; the things He cares enough to do. We are His children; God loves us dearly. Oh, the things that God does for us. Some are so small while some are so big. I’m sure there are lots of things God does for us that we don’t even know about. Some of these things may seem bad at the time; but, they play a great part in God’s plan. And of course, we can not forget the greatest thing He ever did for us.

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3:16 KJV

And there it is. God gave His only son in order to save His other children – us.

So, this week be mindful of the things God does for you. Take time to thank God for all that He has done. Think about things that are happening in your life through this lens. Oh, the things that God does for us.

Lets Brew with Grateful Hearts!

Powerful Moments From Small Gestures

January 9, 2017

Will You Meet Me For Coffee?

Hello sweet friends! Will you meet me for coffee? Let’s chat! Sometimes we forget or underestimate how much power even the smallest things can have. A hug, a kind word, a coffee, a listening ear, a prayer, a note, even just a smile. When used by the Holy Spirit, the smallest of gestures have the potential to impact people in a very powerful way; ways we may never know or could even imagine. These gestures hold great power and potential to have a profound impact on someone’s day or maybe even their life. I’d like to tell you a story about a friend and one of these gestures.

God has truly blessed me. He has given me the privilege of teaching with a great group of Godly individuals. People that I truly enjoy. Not only do I get to work with these lovely people, I also have the privilege of calling them friends. Throughout my years of teaching at this school there have been so many prayers, smiles, hugs, kind words, and so on. This is what we do for each other. Recently, God reminded me of a single powerful sentence that a sweet friend said to me one time. This was one of those small underestimated things that the Holy Spirit used in a powerful way.

A Look Back

I have been in a war on my Brewing Ground for years now. It has been the longest and hardest war I have ever had to fight; and, it’s still not over. Almost 2 years ago, there was an extra intense battle that begun in this war. On a particularly rough day, one of my sweet teaching friends came into my room at the end of the school day. She knew nothing about my situation or what was going on; however, she could tell that something was off. All she did was walk up to me and say, “I’m praying that whatever is falling apart will start falling back together.”

This was a powerful moment for me. My friend may not have realized it, but God used this gesture. To her it was probably just a small thing to let me know that she cared and was praying. However, God used this brief moment. For one, He used this to remind me that He is always with me. He also reminded me that I have the support of friends and family. I also believe this was God’s way a giving me a prayer warrior for my situation; even though she didn’t really know what she was praying for. Since then, I have been reminded of this friend’s sentence a few times. A sentence that held underestimated power. I doubt, at the time, she thought I would still be thinking about this sentence almost 2 years later. In fact, if I were to ask her about it today she may not even remember this. Little did we know at the time, but God was also planting a “revelation” seed in me.

Powerful Revelation

“I’m praying that whatever is falling apart will start falling back together.”

This was the prayer of a friend almost 2 years ago. More recently, my battle has intensified and it has felt like everything is actually falling apart and God brought this prayer to my mind again. THEN…the other day I stumbled upon a quote. There are times when you read a quote and it is just a quote. Then, there are times when you read something and the Holy Spirit grabs your heart and you know that it is much more than a quote – it’s a message. This was one of those times.

“Sometimes when things are falling apart they may actually be falling into place.”

A powerful moment, a message for me. When I read it, God used it. He immediately brought back to mind that prayer and put the two together with my situation and His word for a powerful revelation. It was almost as if God said, “OK Vanessa, we are now entering ‘Phase 2’ of this battle. It’s time to change your thinking and strategy. You can do this. Everything is actually falling into place. Remember My truths…”

^“7Though I walk in the midst of trouble, thou wilt revive me: thou shalt stretch forth thine hand against the wrath of mine enemies, and thy right hand shall save me. ⁸The Lord will perfect that which concerneth me: thy mercy, O Lord, endureth for ever.” Psalm 138:7-8a KJV

“Next…”

^“28And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” Romans 8:28 KJV

“And…”

^“9Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.” Joshua 1:9 KJV

Powerful! I claim it in Jesus name!

The Ending

Well, I have no idea yet when or how this is going to end. I do know that it’s not going to be easy; I am still in the midst of the battle. There is no way to tell what God is going to do in “Phase 2”. I’m sure it will be something that I never even thought of. But, God already knows the ending! I claim that the pieces are actually falling into place! Whatever the ending is, it will be glorious!

God, thank you for my Brewing Ground, and your refining fire. Thank you that I will emerge from the fire victorious!

So, I challenge you this week to not pass up the opportunity to share those small gestures with those around you. You never know when one might be used by the Holy Spirit and turned into a powerful life changing moment.

Let’s Brew!

Has God ever used a small gesture that someone did for you in a powerful way? Comment below!

New Years Challenge – Will You Accept?

January 2, 2017

Happy New Year

Well, 2017 is here! Each new year always brings with it the excitement and anticipation of the great things that will happen that year (or at least we hope). A chance to start new. An opportunity for change. A chance to do things differently. In anticipation of doing things differently we set New Years resolutions. But, Wait! We are so quick to rush into what’s next that we sometimes fail to reflect on what has been. There is value to be found in 2016! Before we move into 2017, let’s stop and reflect. Where did your Brewing Ground take you? Did you have a great year? Was it a challenge? For some of you, challenging may be the understatement of the century. Regardless of how your year went, I challenge you to find the good in all of it – the good, the bad, and the ugly. It is there!

Finding Value

It is easy to find the good in the good things. But, can you find the good in the challenges?

“²⁸And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” Romans 8:28 KJV

Romans 8:28 reminds us that ALL THINGS (even every trial) will be used for our good. Maybe your good is the fact that you survived! The word surviving will hold different meanings for different people depending on the situation. Regardless of what you survived…Praise God – to Him be the glory! You wouldn’t have made it through without Him.

Surviving the challenges and trials of our Brewing Ground holds great value! Let’s reflect! What did you learn from it? What did you learn about yourself? How did it change you? Did you experience God in a new way? How did it change your relationship with God? Were you able to find the good in your challenges and trials? Reflect UNTIL you find the good in the challenges of 2016. Now, thank God for these blessings. Once you have found the good in the challenging parts of last year, then you are ready to think about 2017.

^“10And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:” Colossians 3:10 KJV

Take the renewed you into 2017 armed with the knowledge that God gave you through surviving 2016.

Brewing Ground

It may be a fantastic year for you or it may be full of challenges. In any case, I believe that whatever you face will be what you allow God to make it. You have to choose whether or not to find the good in your circumstances. This is our Brewing Ground; the place where God uses life and the good and bad we face as his refining fire to brew something special in us and refine us into a beautifully unique masterpiece.

^“19Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.” Isaiah 43:19 KJV

God used this verse to remind me that there is always hope while we are in the midst of our Brewing Ground. He can clear a path through thick forest or mountains and put rivers in the midst of our desert to help make the way easier and provide for our needs. God is always with us using every part of our life for good.

“46 God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. ²Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; ³Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof. Selah. ⁴There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the most High. ⁵God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved: God shall help her, and that right early.” Psalm 46:1-5 KJV

New Years Challenge

So, 2017 holds great potential. We all have goals and plans; things we want to do, things we want to change. Some of you may have plans for new adventures. Some may have plans for transition and change. This is the whole point of New Years resolutions. To set goals and make plans for what we want to change. So, after reflecting on last year, I challenge you enter the new year with prayer! Pray about what God would have you plan and change. What does He want your resolutions to include? Pray about the upcoming year and what lies ahead – your Brewing Ground. Next, pray some more!

New Years Resolutions – I challenge you to reflect on last year. Then, consult God on His resolutions for you. Be very intentional and thoughtful in what you plan for yourself so that it is in line with God’s plan for you. Write them down. If you happen to get off track – it’s ok! Just start again. You DO NOT have to wait until next January. Anytime is a great time for meaningful change!

^“17Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” 2 Corinthians 5:17 KJV