Author: Charlie Brignac

I am forever a student of the Word and a disciple of Jesus Christ, finding life applications in Scripture. I write about Christian themes, including bringing others to Christ, the matchless name of Jesus and various spiritual concepts like a penitent heart and overcoming darkness. I focus on Christian teachings, personal faith and reliance on the Holy Spirit. I invite you to read through my daily writings. Think them out for yourself through your study of God's Holy Word. Pray on the meaning of the message. Then let the message come alive in your life.

The Greater Harvest is Ahead

Habakkuk 2:3

For still the vision awaits its appointed time; it hastens to the end—it will not lie. If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay.

As we wait to see the providence of God in answers to our prayers, we must be careful not to become impatient with God.  His ways are greater than our ways.  His timing is perfect.  He has the perfect appointment set for the resolution of our prayerful solicitations.

The prophet, Habakkuk, was frustrated that God was not dealing with the iniquities that he saw in the world around him.  He was impatient because those that he prophesied to were not responding to the Word of God.  In this scripture, the Lord reminds Habakkuk that he must be patient because the visions and promises that God gives are sure to come.

We probably have not had a vision like Habakkuk had.  But if we have been diligent in seeking the Lord’s hand in our lives, we are likely to have found some type of confirmation of God’s providence through His Word, through urgings of His Holy Spirit or through the progress we see in our own lives or in the lives of those that we have been praying for.  Let us be joyful.  The things that we pray for in the will of God and in accordance with His promises will come to us.  Though the fruit of our prayers may be deferred for a time, whether long or short our wait may be, the fruit will come at last.  And, hallelujah, the longer wait usually means a greater harvest.

Let us pray in confidence and wait with faith for the perfect answer to our prayers. Let us rejoice for Almighty God hears and answers ever single prayer – perfectly.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You for Your providence in our lives.  We exalt the name of Jesus who has insured that the favor of Your promises will never be withheld from us.  We pray, Lord, that Your Holy Spirit will teach us how to rest on Your Word and that He will strengthen us when the promise of the Word is long in coming. May we persevere to the end through the graces that You provide.  We ask all these things in the name of the Alpha and the Omega, Jesus Christ.

Rebuilding the Walls of Our Lives

Nehemiah 2:20
I answered them by saying, “The God of heaven will give us success. We his servants will start rebuilding, but as for you, you have no share in Jerusalem or any claim or historic right to it.”

Nehemiah was inspired by God to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem which were in ruin. Because God was with Him, Nehemiah was given complete authority and financial support to rebuild the walls by King Artaxerxes of Persia. When Nehemiah reached Jerusalem to begin the work, He encountered much resistance from the likes of Sanballat, Tobiah and Geshem. Nehemiah quickly put them in their place and moved forward rebuilding the walls.

We have to be like Nehemiah when we rebuild the walls of our lives which are in ruin due to the sin in our lives. We can be assured that Satan will come to discourage us. We need to let Satan know that he has no claim nor historic right to interfere with the rebuilding of our lives as temples of Jesus Christ.

Further we need to stand firm not only for ourselves, but also for those around us. Knowing that we are in the favor of God who promises to complete the good work in us, we must seek to intercede not only for ourselves but also for our loved ones. The God of heaven will prosper all of us, protect all of us and insure that we all succeed in what He has called us to do.

Let us move forward depending of the God of our promises. Let us have no concern over what the enemy can bring against us. Let us press on confidently, knowing that no man can defeat us as we rebuild our lives and our families. The victory is ours through Jesus Christ.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for Your promise to complete Your good work in us. We bless the name of Jesus whose death on the Cross gives us victory over all evil. We rejoice in knowing that You will give us success in all that we do in Your name. We pray, Father, that Your Holy Spirit will strengthen us to stand firm against the enemy who comes to destroy us and our families. May our hearts be prepared to live in dependence upon You as we rebuild our lives as temples of the Living God. We ask all these things in the name of the One that dwells within us, Jesus Christ.

Best Search Engine Available to All

James 1:5
If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.

What is the first thing that you do when you are puzzled by something or want to know how something works? Most of us go immediately to our favorite internet browser. We are amazed at what we can find and delighted in how the search process often yields the exact information that we are looking for. There is absolutely nothing wrong with this process, if used appropriately. It provides us with knowledge that we do not have…fast.

As amazing and effective as internet search can be, there is a much faster source of knowledge that is instantly available to us without the aid of any man-made device. Our Heavenly Father teaches us that all we have to do is ask and He will give us wisdom.

The internet can provide knowledge, but does not provide wisdom. Wisdom is far superior to knowledge alone. Wisdom provides insight into how we should use the knowledge that we have accumulated. Wisdom from God deepens our insight into how we should apply our skills and our knowledge in ways that are pleasing to Him.

The internet will always provide an answer to the question that we asked. The answers are predetermined by the search engine programming. God will not always answer the question we asked. Omnisciently, He will answer the question that we should have asked. He will uniquely tailor His response to our real needs and to His will and plan for our lives.

Let us learn to trust in the one who is the source of all knowledge and wisdom. Let us trust in the one who holds a perfect plan for our lives in His hands, Almighty God.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You that You have inspired and equipped others to provide us with knowledge to help us through our daily activities. We come to You to seek wisdom, so that we may use our knowledge in ways that are pleasing to You and in ways that are used to bear fruit for Your kingdom and bring honor and glory to Your name. We pray that the Holy Spirit will inspire us to always turn to You first when we are seeking answers. May the world know us and be drawn to Your Son through the wisdom that You provide. We ask these things in the the name of Our Wonderful Counselor, Jesus Christ.

Taking Our Brokenness Before the Lord

John 16:32
Behold, the hour is coming, indeed it has come, when you will be scattered, each to his own home, and will leave me alone. Yet I am not alone because the Father is with me.

The apostles and disciples of Jesus scattered as He began His journey to the Cross. They returned to their homes and their old jobs. Their faith was real, but without the Holy Spirit they were not strong enough to stand against those that were persecuting their Master. They left Jesus to stand alone. Fortunately for us, Jesus did not stand alone as the Father remained with Him and provided Him with all He needed to accept His place on the Cross.

Jesus calls us from different times and places in our lives, just as the apostles were called. At some point in time, we will all be called to stand up for our faith. In today’s anti-Christian environment, this challenge is more real than any of us could have ever imagined that it could be. Will we scatter to our old lives when the trials of persecution, the trials of trouble or perhaps the trials of political correctness challenge us? Or will we surrender all to Our Savior?

The answer lies in Jesus Christ and has nothing to do with our own strength, capability nor merit. We must recognize our weakness. If we think we can stand against the world, especially against the enemy, we will certainly fall. We must recognize how weak we are and take our brokenness – all our wounds, all our frailties, all our fears – to Our Savior. We must allow His goodness, His love, His mercy and His kindness to become the essence of our lives. If we accept His free gift of love and life and surrender to Him, we will never stand alone against what the world tosses our way.

Let us stand our ground as the world tries to get us to accept changes that are directly against the Word of God. Let us call on the Holy Spirit to provide the strength that we need. Let us rejoice for we never stand alone.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You that we have been called to follow Your Son. We exalt the name of Jesus who gained victory over all sin and all evil on our behalf. We praise His precious name as He stands forever by our sides. We pray, Father, that we may have the wisdom and the strength to recognize and face our brokenness. We ask that the Holy Spirit guide us in surrendering everything to Jesus. As we are challenged by the darkness of the world, my we call on the name of Jesus to stand up for our beliefs. We beseech You, Lord, to complete Your work in us so that we have the courage and the faith to choose Your Kingdom and defend it against the world. We ask all these things in the name of the One who gives grace to the humble, Jesus Christ.

An Endless Spring of Love

1 John 4:16
So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.

God is love. His love is unconditional and without end. His love for us is expressed explicitly through the sacrifice of His Son, Jesus. His love for us is reinforced daily by the counsel of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

Through His love, Almighty God gives us an unfailing hope for our future. Let us not lose sight of the truth that our hope for our future is so much more than how we feel about our future or what the world tells us about our future. Our hope rests upon a very special love gift from God. Our hope is built upon the Good News of God for the world that He loves us so much that He gave us His Son so that we may have eternal life.

Through His love, Almighty God also gives us His Holy Spirit to stand by us, to give us the strength to bear all things that come against us and the spiritual maturity to endure all the tribulations that make up life on this earth. His grace is poured out on us in this manner so that we may overcome the world.

Most importantly, Almighty God created a spot in our hearts so that we could receive His love and return it to Him. He gave us the capacity to share His love with the world around us. He gave us the Holy Spirit so that our love could be an endless spring. When we are living in accordance with the Holy Spirit within us, we are capable of extraordinary service to those around us. By returning our love to the Father through our service to those around us, we become living testimonies of His perfect love.

Let us prepare our hearts to become vessels of God’s perfect love and forgiveness. Let us show the world His love through our compassionate sharing of the love He has given us.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for loving us unconditionally. We thank You that Your love flows to us endlessly. Prepare our hearts, Lord, so that we may become vessels of Your perfect love. Cleanse us, Lord, of anything in our hearts that would restrict the flow of Your love in our lives. May we bear much fruit for Your kingdom through the spontaneous release of Your love to the world around us. We pray, Father, that the world will be drawn to Your Son when they see Your love at work in us. We ask all these things in the name of the One who delights in our steadfast love, Jesus Christ.

Is the Devil Whispering in Your Ear?

Psalm 41:7
All who hate me whisper together about me; they imagine the worst for me.

Is the devil whispering in your ear? He may sound something like this:

  • You are not good enough to minister to others. Let someone else do it.
  • Why are you trying this? You will fail.
  • Why would God have a place for a sinner like you? You will be embarrassed if you do that.

Be on guard. One of the Satan’s favorite tricks is to have his whispers come to us through the voices of those who we know, those who we love and those who we trust.

We must take on the full armor of God when the enemy begins whispering defeat into our lives. Our victory and our anointing in Christ has already been set. We need to seize the anointing on our lives that will break off the yokes of insecurity, inferiority, fear, and unbelief.

When Satan accused Joshua, listen to how Jesus responded, “The LORD rebuke you, Satan! The LORD, who has chosen Jerusalem, rebuke you! Is not this man a burning stick snatched from the fire?” Zechariah 3:2 We need to respond in the same manner every time Satan accuses us. We must learn to recognize his attacks and respond immediately under the authority of Our King, Jesus Christ. Otherwise, we will become comfortable with the lies spoken against us. The victory is ours in the name of the Lord, Jesus. We must learn to claim it.

Let us close our ears to the enemy’s lies. Let us claim our victory in Christ. Let us proclaim the glory of Our King this Easter season.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for the armor that You provide us. We thank You that the enemy cannot lead us astray when we take on the armor of protection that is ours through our Blessed Hope and Assurance, Jesus Christ. Thank You, Jesus, for providing our victory over all evil. Teach us how to live our lives in victory. Prepare the hearts of those around us to be drawn to the life in victory that we display. We ask all these things in the name of the One who is our stronghold in our times of trouble, Jesus Christ.

Sensitive to Intercessory Needs

Isaiah 59:16
He saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no one to intercede; then his own arm brought him salvation, and his righteousness upheld him.

Jesus was sent to earth to be the perfect intercessor for all mankind. He took the mantle that no one else could take. The Son of God came as Son of Man to be Our Redeemer. His Holy Spirit followed Him to be Our Sanctifier and Our Comforter. He stands forever before the Father in righteousness on behalf of all men. No human champion could ever meet the perfect intercessory requirements of the Father.

Though there is not one of us good enough to be true intercessors, Almighty God allows us the privilege to stand in intercessory prayer for others. Our privileges are not earned. They are granted through our relationship with Jesus Christ.

Intercessory prayer is the perfect service for each of us to enter. We communicate with God on behalf of others. We go before the Father in worship and solicitation for His divine assistance. We seek His will for those that we pray for. Through the process, the needs of many or met and our relationship with the Father grows to be like the relationship that the Father has with The Son.

Let us strive to be sensitive to the needs of the people who surround us. Let us learn to listen to the Holy Spirit who will gently urge us to intercede for others that are placed in our lives. Let us boldly proclaim our intercessory prayers in the name of Jesus Christ.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You that You have provided Your Son to stand before Your Throne on our behalf. We pray that You will teach us how to stand before You on the behalf of those that You have placed around us. May You open our eyes and hearts so that we may see their needs and prayerfully respond to them. May You strengthen us so that we will not falter in our prayer life. May our relationship with You become like the relationship that You have with Your Son, Jesus. We ask all of these things in name of the Divine Intercessor, Jesus Christ.

The Spirit of the Lord is Upon Us

Isaiah 11:2
And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD.

In this passage, Isaiah was prophesying of the nature of our coming Savior. The scripture foretold that Jesus would be given extraordinary endowments through the agency of the Holy Spirit. Because we are indwelled by Jesus Christ when we accept Him as Our Savior, we inherit these same wondrous endowments for ourselves. The inheritance that we receive is not temporary or occasional. It is a permanent and enduring influence on our lives.

With our inheritance, we receive three pairs of spiritual influences to assist us in being holy, pure and wise. Each pairing is made up of a spiritual gift and the resulting impact of that gift in our lives:
1) We are provided wisdom from which comes the understanding to perceive moral and intellectual truths.
2) We are provided counsel from which comes the might that gives us the direction and the power that we need to carry out the plans that emerge from our spiritual insight.
3) We are provided knowledge from which comes the fear of the Lord which establishes the foundation of our relationship with the one true God, Our Father in heaven.

Let us be mindful of all the gifts that Christ made available for us when He died on the Cross. Let us seek the fullness of the Spirit of the Lord to overwhelm us each day. Let us use our gifts to produce great fruit for the Kingdom of Almighty God and bring honor and glory to Our Savior.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for the wondrous nature that You have given us in Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. We pray that the fullness of the Holy Spirit will rest upon us. We seek Your wisdom so that we may have understanding in all matters. We seek your counsel that we may become mighty warriors for Your kingdom. We ask, Lord, that You inspire us to take the knowledge that we have of You and turn it into a reverent awe that changes how we live every moment of our lives. We ask all these things in the name of the One who gives power to the faint and might to those without strength, Jesus Christ.

Every Person is Worthy to Receive the Good News

Acts 9:17
So Ananias departed and entered the house. And laying hands on him he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road by which you came has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.”

And in an instant, Paul not only received his physical sight, he also received the filling of the Holy Spirit. Thus, he received wisdom, understanding, counsel, might, knowledge of God and a holy reverence for God. All of these gifts came on him at once. His vision of who He was in Christ, along with all of its associated power, served to allow him to replace the evil man that he had become with the new, righteous man that he was to become.

From this passage, we learn that for those of us who have received Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior that we become new men and women in Christ, just as the sinner and prosecutor of the early church, Saul, became the new man Paul. As new men and women in Christ, the Holy Spirit is given to us to reveal the lies of this world. The power of the Holy Spirit within us allows us to become new creatures who proclaim the Good News and serve as conduits of God’s love.

But do not miss the second message of this passage. There would have been no conversion for Paul without the obedience of Ananias to got out and deliver the message of God, even though He questioned the righteousness of the one that he was called to minister to. We must be careful not to withhold the message of hope from anyone because we feel they are not worthy.

Let us make ourselves seekers of the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Let us learn to overcome the world through the power of Our Wonderful Counselor. Let us make ourselves deliverers of the truth to others who God places around us.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for the anointing that we receive as disciples of Jesus Christ. We pray that You will open our eyes to the things of the world that are creating ignorance and pride in our lives so that we may turn away from them. We ask that You release the gifts of the Holy Spirit into our lives so that we may see the vision that You have for our lives and be empowered to go out as messengers of hope in the world that surrounds us. We pray that our hearts are prepared to view every person as worthy to receive the Good News that we possess. We ask all these things in the name of the One who rescues those whose spirits are crushed, Jesus Christ.

Praying Beyond Our Comfort Zone

Romans 8:26
Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.

While intercessory prayer is very rewarding and plays a powerful role in deepening our relationship with Our Heavenly Father, it can sometimes lead us down paths that are challenging, perhaps even frustrating. The Holy Spirit has been placed along side of us to insure that we are not deterred by our frustrations. There are several important areas where the Holy Spirit supports us in our weakness.

First, the Holy Spirit is our perfecter in praying for the true needs of others. We are generally very comfortable seeking the hand of God for protection and provision for ourselves, our families and those close to us. It is natural and easy for us to pray for those that we love. At times, however, we may be at a loss to know what the will of God is in the lives of those that we are praying for. We can be comforted and confident in knowing that our prayers will be perfected before the Father by the Holy Spirit.

Second, the Holy Spirit opens our eyes and softens our hearts toward all mankind. It is not our nature to pray for those we do not feel close to or perhaps even dislike because of their behavior toward us or others. In His ministry, Jesus often argued with the apostles because He wanted to be among those in the most need of His redemptive work, not those that were more socially acceptable. Jesus wants us to intercede for the world around us, whether we feel drawn or repulsed by the ones that we pray for. As we mature in Christ, the Holy Spirit will help build up our sensitivity to and our desire to pray for the needs of all mankind.

Finally, the Holy Spirit has been sent to strengthen us when we are personally overpowered by the things that the world has brought against us. When we are so broken that we do not even know what to pray for, the Holy Spirit is beside us to silence our fears and help us through our discouragements. Most importantly, the Holy Spirit stands with us to make intercession for us before the Father so that the enemy cannot prevail against us.

Let our hearts be softened so that we may extend our intercessory prayers beyond our comfort zone. Let us rely on the Holy Spirit to direct us, strengthen us and support us in our prayers.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You that You have provided Your Holy Spirit to help us pray in accordance with Your will for our lives and the lives of others. We rejoice in knowing that the Holy Spirit will perfect our prayers before You. We pray, Lord, that Your Holy Spirit will prepare our hearts to be intercessors for all of mankind. Be they far or near, be they friend or foe, Father, teach us how to pray for their needs. When we are too weak to pray properly, or even pray at all, may Your Holy Spirit strengthen us and intercede for us. We pray all these things in the name of the mediator between God and men, Jesus Christ.