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.

For the Two Cannot Abide Together

Hebrews 13:20-21
Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.
Upon receiving Jesus Christ as Our Savior, the Holy Spirit begins to show us what sanctification means. The job of the Holy Spirit is to show us what is pleasing in the sight of Our Savior.  As a result of this process, everything that we do that is displeasing to the Lord also comes to light. Thus begins the struggle of the old man versus the new man.
Jesus became man so that He could die for our sins.  When He comes to dwell within us, there is no room for the sins of the old man.  We must allow our old selves to die as we assume our new life in Christ.  The two cannot abide together.  To try and hold on to our old lives once Jesus has arrived is to enter into a struggle that is filled with endless pain. The new life of joy is found only in the death of our old lives.

As we work toward a life that is well pleasing in the sight of Jesus, we must recognize that the work of grace is necessary.  Without the good work of grace, we are not capable of overcoming the nature of the old man within us.  But be certain, the work of grace is not the work of man.  It is the work of God alone.  It is an internal work done in the heart of men by Him.  It is a gradual and progressive work.  It will not be perfected until we stand before Him.  But indeed, when we stand before Him all the displeasing things in us will be gone forever and all the pleasing things in His sight will shine brightly for all eternity.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for giving us Your Holy Word that defines the things that please you.  We praise You for revealing to us all the things in our lives that displease you.  We bless the name of Jesus for giving us victory over the sins that try to defeat us.  We pray, Lord, that the Holy Spirit will strengthen us in our struggles to overcome the torments of our flesh and the attacks of the enemy.  May the Holy Spirit enlighten us in the areas that the world tries to redefine as acceptable when You have already defined it as sin. May all that we do be acceptable in Your eyes. May it all be for Your glory.  We ask all these things in the name of the Captain of Our Salvation, Jesus Christ.

The Beatitudes Are About Relationship, Not Behavior

Matthew 5:3
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus taught about the good behavior that was required to earn the treasures of heaven and the rewards of the earth.  These teachings became known as The Beatitudes.  

All in all, for most people, The Beatitudes seem to offer rewards that do not seem reachable and require behavior that seems out of touch with what the world has to offer.  Our difficulty in understanding the Beatitudes lies in our frame of reference.  The Beatitudes become much clearer when we realize that The Beatitudes are not about our behavior, but all about our relationship with Jesus Christ and how it impacts our lives.   

It becomes even easier to understand The Beatitudes when we break them down into two sections and analyze them accordingly.  The first four Beatitudes specifically address our relationship with Jesus.  The remainder of the Beatitudes address how our lives will change when we accept Our Savior.
“Blessed are the poor in spirit” speaks to how far we fall short of the glory of God without His Son’s redemption.   “Blessed are those that mourn” speaks to our need to express our sorrow for our sinful ways.  “Blessed are the meek” speaks to our need to humble ourselves before Our Savior and accept the salvation that He offers us.  “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness” speaks to our need to become new men and women in Christ.
When we have responded to the teachings of the first four Beatitudes by accepting Jesus as Our Savior, the character and actions in our lives become a reflection of the rest of the teachings in the Sermon on the Mount.  With Christ indwelling in us, we are able to be merciful, be pure of heart and be peacemakers.  As a result, we will receive the rewards of this earth as promised by Jesus, but we will also be persecuted for our righteousness in Christ.  When all these things have happened to us and for us, we can rejoice and be glad for our reward will be great in the kingdom of God.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for revealing to us our great need in Our Savior, Jesus.  We exalt the name of Jesus for it is through Him that we are given the kingdom of heaven.  We pray, Lord, for the humility to recognize our filthy and condemned nature without the saving grace of the Cross.  We ask that Your Holy Spirit will come along side of us and help us so that we will allow the power of the presence of Your Son in our lives to change how we serve You.  We pray that we receive the fullness of the blessings that are promised in the Beatitudes.  We ask all these things in the name of Our Rewarder, Jesus Christ.

The Awesome Convergence of Salvation and Sanctification

Romans 12:2
Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
Every born again believer stands in the same place.  We are not what we ought to be, but we are not what we use to be either.  This is the awesome convergence of salvation and sanctification.  We are at once saved when when we accept Jesus Christ as Our Savior.  From that moment on, we enter into the process of letting go of who we used to be in order to become who we will be in Christ.
Jesus loves us just as we are, but He loves us so much that He cannot allow us to stay where we are.  With His indwelling, we find ourselves in the constant battle of our old man (flesh) and our new man (our new spirit in Christ).  We must let go of everything old – guilt, anger, bitterness, unforgiveness, addiction, depression, despair, fear.  These are the things of the flesh.  These are the things that hinder us in our process of sanctification.  These are the things that Jesus Christ freed us from when He died on the Cross. 
The progress of sanctification, dying to sin more and more, and living to righteousness more and more, is the work of the renewal of our minds.  This work will continue until the day we stand before Almighty God as He sees us in the image of His Son. 
Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for providing Your Son to die for our sins so that we may be free from the corruption of our flesh.  We praise You for giving us the Holy Spirit to help us live as new men in Christ instead of men and women of the world.  Help us, Lord, to let go of everything in the old man that is hindering our relationship with You.  We pray that You strengthen us so that we may cling to Your grace as we continue in our journey of sanctification.  We ask all these things in the name of Our Refiner and Our Purifier, Jesus Christ. 

Crushed by Our Trials

Matthew 13:32
It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.
The mustard seed is very small.  To look at it, one might assume that this seed could never be anything significant.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  When the mustard seed germinates from the tiniest of beginnings, it blossoms into one of the largest plants in any garden.  But more impressive than its growth is its utility.  As a tree, it provides food and shelter for the birds that it attracts.  But it is as an herb that it provides its greater value as a savory delight for man.  Is it not interesting to note that the true value of the mustard seed is seen only after it has been crushed?
The mustard seed parable was taught by Jesus in order to illustrate the growth, development and power of our faith.  Our faith starts out as a seed planted in our hearts by the Holy Spirit.  It starts out small at first, but when properly nourished grows into something so large that it changes how we live and how we serve God.  In the early stages of our development as disciples of Jesus Christ, it is likely that we will draw others to us for peace and comfort.  But our greater value to them will come later as we mature in Christ.  When we have been pressed by our trials, perhaps even crushed by them, the best that we have to offer to anyone will be released.  It will be then that those who have been drawn to us will receive the full power of who we are in Christ.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for planting a seed of love within our hearts.  Thank You for the nurturing care of the Holy Spirit in our lives that that stirs our hearts and feeds our faith   We pray that the Holy Spirit will help us to nourish and care for the seed of eternal love within us.  We pray for the grace and the strength that we need to endure the trials in our lives which will press the best from us as we mature in our relationship with Our Savior.  May the world be drawn to us to savor the fullness of Christ within us.  We ask all these things in the name of the Lamb Slain, Jesus Christ.

Obey and Wait to Hear from God

Acts 9:6
But rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.”
Paul’s writings provide the foundational truths upon which our faith in Jesus Christ is built.  But as great as Paul’s writings were, his living testimony may have provided even more valuable teachings to those who are seeking to be disciples of Our Savior.   

In Acts, we read that before Paul was given any responsibility, before he was given any spiritual task, he was simply asked to “rise and enter the city.”  If Paul had failed to be obedient in following this simple command, we would not have all the writings of Paul in the Bible.  Some other obedient man would be there in his place.  But Paul was obedient in this first dramatic calling and to all the others that the Lord issued to Him, so he became one of the greatest men in all of the Bible.  His teachings have been a blessing to generations of people throughout the ages.  His legacy continues to live on today.
The other thing that we learn about Paul is that he never sought the favor he received. He only sought the one who called Him.  So it is with us.  We will receive favor from the Lord, not because we seek favor but because we seek Him.  Let us be mindful of Paul’s example.  All the good things that we receive from the Lord here on earth and in heaven will be because we sought the Lord and we were obedient to his calling.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for calling us to Yourself.  We seek You, Lord.  We humbly come before You and ask forgiveness for all the times that we have fallen short in our obedience to You.  We pray that You will strike us down like You did Paul, so that we may see how we have offended You and so that we may turn our lives toward the path that You direct us.  May the Holy Spirit guide us, inspire us and provide our strength to overcome the torments of our flesh and the attacks of the enemy.  May we learn to be slaves to Jesus Christ and not slaves to this world.  May Your grace be with us always.  We ask all these things in the name of Our Lord, Our Master and Our King, Jesus Christ.   

Impossible to Contain What Has Been Given

Romans 1:14
I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish.
Paul was inspired by his view that Jesus Christ was his spiritual creditor.  He was constantly driven to impart all that he had received from Jesus to the world around him.  It was impossible for him to contain what he had been given through grace.  So it should be with us.

Redeemed by the blood, and converted by the grace of the Lord Jesus, we are altogether His.  For His sake we are debtors to all men.  To serve all men is our duty.  We should readily impart to others what God has trusted to us.  We should rejoice to make others joyful.  We should take pleasure in communing with those who believe the same things with us. 

We cannot contain what has been poured out upon us.  We should prepare ourselves to be founts of living water.  We must let the love of Our Savior spill out from us to the world.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You providing Your Son, Jesus, to cleanse us of our sin debt for all eternity.  Inspire us, Lord, to understand that through the gift of salvation we have become debtors to all men.   Show us how to repay that debt through the services that You call us to do.  Teach us how to impart the joy that You have given us.  Equip us to share the good news with those who You bring into our lives.  We pray that it may all be done for the honor and glory of the Blessed Trinity.  We ask all these things
in the name of Our Glorious Redeemer, Jesus Christ.

Standing Against Persecution

James 1:4
And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

The new testament is littered with stories of the early Christians enduring in the face of hostility, persecution and even the death of their Lord and Master, Jesus Christ.  But be assured, the early Christians were not superhuman.  One has to look no further than the apostle Peter to see the weakness of his flesh.  As we examine the trials and failures of these early disciples, we find them persevering against their circumstances, not because of their own strength, but because of the overcoming power of Jesus that provided what they lacked.  


As hostility and persecution rises against Christians around the world, let us be encouraged by Peter’s restoration.  He is a model for our hope in Christ.  And as persecution escalates in America, let us prepare to endure against the hostility that is burgeoning all around us.  Be certain that we are no stronger than Peter in our flesh.  Our first reaction to hostility will be to flee.  We cannot.  We must stand boldly on the truths of our faith.  We must turn to Our Savior for the strength and courage that we will need to stand against those who are defying Almighty God.


Thank the Lord for His salvation promise to complete every good work that He starts in us.  He will let nothing in our lives escape His attention.  He will steadfastly stand by us even as we stumble over and over.  Just as He changed Peter from a fleeing coward into the rock of the church, He will do the same for us in our time of need.  We will lack nothing in our time of trial if we are resting on Our Savior.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, blessed be the name of Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Savior.  Thank You for His steadfast work in our lives.  May we completely surrender our lives to the perfect ways of Your Son.  We pray, Lord, for the courage and the strength to defend our faith against those who seek to destroy it.  May we proclaim the way, the truth and the life that is Your Son, Jesus.  As we rise and fall in our frailty, may we rejoice in knowing that Your presence is always with us and You will not leave us before Your perfecting work is done.  The victory is ours through Jesus Christ.  We ask all these things in His precious and holy name.

Aligning Our Vision with God’s Plan for Our Lives

Isaiah 6:1
In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple. 
As we read in this scripture, Isaiah had a vision of the Lord after the death of a major figure in his life, King Uzziah.  We, too, often get visions that are brought on by life changing moments – passing of family members or close friends, brokenness in personal relationships, challenging financial times or significant injury or illness.  It is natural for us to question our direction when these life altering events occur.
Too often we try to rebuild our lives based on our earthly vision of our work, our family or some particular passion (maybe even a ministerial one) that we have for this world.  All is for naught until we realize that there is only one vision of substance and value – the unique vision created by Almighty God that aligns with His will and purpose for our lives.
Only when we cast our visions through His focus, can we become truly fruitful.  We must go to the Throne Room and seek to learn God’s perfect plan for our lives. Until then we are building stacks of stubble and hay.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for allowing events in our lives that force us to seek You first.  Help us, Father, to keep our eyes on Your Throne and Your Glory.  May the trappings of the world never again form the foundations of our visions.   May You alone be our blessed hope and assurance.  We ask all these things in the name of the Strength of Our Lives, Jesus Christ.

The Cornerstones of Our Faith

Romans 4:16
Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all, 

God’s Word contains literally thousands of promises waiting to be claimed by faith.  Everyone of them are fulfilled in Jesus Christ and everyone of them can be fulfilled in our lives as we come into agreement with Our Savior.
Each of the promises of God are meant for our good.  All of His promises are waiting for us to discover and claim in His Holy Word.  Each promise as we find them, delights us and strengthens us.  Yet within the thousands of promises, we are sure to delight most in the seven promises below which might be regarded as the cornerstones of our faith.
  1. God has promised to supply every need we have. Phillipians 4:19.
  2. God has promised that His grace is sufficient for us. 2 Corinthians 12:9
  3. God has promised that His children will not be overtaken with temptation. 1 Corinthians 10:13
  4. God has promised us victory over death. 1 Corinthians 15:56-57
  5. God has promised that all things work together for good to those who love and serve Him faithfully (Romans 8:28).
  6. God has promised that those who believe in Jesus and are baptized will be saved. Mark 16:16
  7. God has promised His people eternal life. John 10:28

The Body of Christ, resting on the cornerstones of faith, is made alive through all of the promises and power made available through Jesus Christ.  As we cling to Our Savior, all of the promises of heaven pour out on us and we become a living vessel created to deliver on the promises of Almighty God.
When we do not use what God has given us to contribute to the Body of Christ and when we do not reach out to receive from the Body of Christ what God has prepared for us, we miss out on much in our lives.  We end up living below all that has been set aside for us.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You that all of Your promises to us have been secured by Your Son, Jesus.  We ask that the Holy Spirit may inspire us to search Your Holy Word for all the promises that have been set aside for us.  We seek to wield the power of these promises in our lives and in the lives of those around us.  May the Holy Spirit show us how to claim our eternal privileges by proclaiming Your Holy Word.  May the Body of Christ be truly alive because we are alive in Christ.  We ask all these things in the name of the Word of God, Jesus Christ.

Both a Student and a Teacher

Ephesians 4:13
This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ.
Paul teaches that Jesus gave His church these gifts: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and the teachers.  He provided these gifts so that the Body of Christ could be prepared to be His perfect bride.  We are all called to learn from the gifted ministers that are placed in our lives.  At some level, we are also called to express the gifts given to us so that we may fulfill our responsibilities in the Body of Christ.

God in His sovereign rule placed each of us exactly where He wants us.  He did not place us where we are to stand alone.  He placed each of us in a place that is linked perfectly with the world around us for the good of the Body of Christ.
Each one of us is called to be both a receptor of light and a beacon of light.  It is our individual responsibility to let God work in us by seeking out and receiving the ministerial gifts offered by the Body of Christ.  It then becomes our responsibility to let God work through us as we become active vessels of His perfect gifts to build up the Body of Christ .  

We must continually ask ourselves, “Am I building myself up in Christ?   Am I also building up the Body of Christ?  We will be measuring up to the complete and full standard of Our Savior when we are maturing in Christ as both a student and as a teacher.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for placing us among family, friends, neighbors and co-workers who, through Your handiwork, will help perfect us in Christ.  We thank You for giving us the opportunity to help perfect them by following the urgings of the Holy Spirit in our lives.   We praise Your name for giving us this magnificent Body of Christ here on earth so that we can learn to measure up to the full and complete standard of Our Savior.  May we live our lives for Your glory and for the good of Your kingdom. We ask all these things in the name of Our Lord, Our King and Our Master, Jesus Christ.