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.

A Life of Submission, Not Work

Galatians 1:15-16
…who called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son to me…

When Paul was writing and speaking to the Galatians, he made it clear that he was on a completely different path in life when He was touched by the hand of God.  Paul emphasized that it was God that changed him and not him who changed himself.

Because of our sin nature, we all begin our lives on a path covered by darkness.  Until Our Heavenly Father opens our eyes, we can not see the way, the truth and the life that is in Jesus Christ.  Only when our new path has been made visible to us by the light of the Holy Spirit, can we receive the precious gift of salvation. 

Upon accepting our salvation, we begin yet another journey – the journey to work out our salvation.  Just as salvation is not a work of our own hand, neither is the working out of our salvation.  The Holy Spirit within us molds our hearts so that we can submit to Jesus as Our Lord, Our Master and Our King.  It is the work of the Holy Spirit to guide us to full submission to Our Savior so that God can do the work in us that is pleasing to Him.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for Your loving kindness, Your mercy and Your grace that is expressed to us through the gift of our salvation.  We praise You for taking us from the darkness of our lives in the flesh into the light of Your Holy Spirit.  We rejoice in being guided into full submission to Our Lord, Our Master and Our King, Jesus Christ.  We pray, Father, that You will strengthen us and regenerate us as we strive to overcome the world in order to live our new lives in Christ.


Choosing to Live in the Light

Romans 5:19
For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.

When we say that man is born with a sin nature, we are confirming that without the indwelling of Jesus Christ in our lives we will put ourselves first in all things.  Our nature without Christ is to put ourselves before God when we are making decisions.

“I am the Lord thy God, have no false Gods before me,” is the first commandment.  It is the first commandment that condemns us to eternal death.  There is no escape or recovery from this sin except through the redemption provided through Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Sin is a thing that we are born with.  We cannot remove it on our own.  Only God removes sin.  God only removes sin in one way – through the shed blood of His Son which cleanses us.

It is important to understand that God does not hold us responsible for inheriting sin.  He will not condemn anyone because of the sin that was inherited.  He will condemn those that refuse to accept Jesus as the only measure of deliverance from sin.  He will condemn those who choose to live in darkness rather than in the Light.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we ask forgiveness for the sin in our lives.  We pray that You will reveal to us all the places in our lives where we are living in darkness, instead of in the Light.  We ask You, Lord, for the grace to be able to repent of all the sin that remains in our lives.  We thank Your, Father, that through Your mercy You have made a way for us to be delivered from the condemnation that we deserve.  We praise Your name, Father God, because through Your perfect love we have been given an eternal inheritance that we did not and cannot earn on our own.  We bless the name of Jesus who now dwells within us.  We pray that we may become Light to the darkness in world around us through His presence.

Prepared to be His Saints in Heaven

1 Corinthians 1:2
To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours:

When Paul addressed the Corinthians, he emphasized their sanctification through Jesus Christ.  He confirmed that they would be among all the saints in heaven who had also called on the name of Our Lord as their Savior. 
Our Heavenly Father’s hand never leaves us as He prepares us to be His saints.  The supernatural power of the Holy Spirit is always at work in our lives.  God also brings commonplace people and commonplace events into our lives to teach us, to encourage us and to confirm the plans that He has for us.  

Sometimes the commonplace people and events are meant to challenge us.  The challengers are there to test us.  Through the aid of the Holy Spirit, we come through the challenges built-up in our character and strengthened in our will to follow God’s plans for our lives.  

By the grace of God, we are all called to be heirs to His kingdom.  It is His will that none shall perish, that all will come to repentance.  He puts a God-size hole in all of our hearts that can only be filled by His Son.  It is according to His perfect plan that He provides His Son as Our Redeemer.  It is for His good pleasure and for His glory that He provides His Holy Spirit to prepare us to be His saints.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for Your perfect plan to have us join You in heaven for all eternity.  We bless the name of Jesus for His shed blood that washes us clean and makes it possible for us to enter into Your presence.  We pray, Lord, that You will release many teachers, encouragers and confirmers into our lives.  We ask for ears to hear them and the wisdom to follow their counsel.  We pray that we may also become teachers, encouragers and confirmers in the lives of others on their journeys to sainthood.









Empowered Through Prayer

Mark 9:29 
And he said to them, “This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer.”

Jesus taught us, “And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.”  He emphasized that this was the greatest commandment.  It is the highest order in the kingdom.  Our number one purpose on earth and in heaven is to love God, to praise Him and to bring glory to His name.

When we are engaged in work that we consider to be the work of the Lord, we can lose sight of the fact that the work is being done out of the loving relationship that we have with Our Lord.  If we let our relationship with God slip, He will withdraw the power that He gives us to do His good work.  He is far more interested in our relationship with Him than He is in the result of our work.  

We may be able to manipulate some things in the flesh, but all the things that provide real kingdom value will not endure under the burden of broken fellowship with the Father.  Through regular prayer, we build on our relationship with Our Father and we insure that we are empowered to do the work that He has called us to do.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for Your perfect love in our lives.  We thank You for allowing us the privilege of returning our love, our praise and our worship to You through our prayers.  We bless the name of Jesus, who dwells within us, for making it possible for us to be vessels of His perfect love.  Father, we pray that all that we do is born out of the intimacy of our relationship with You.  We humbly ask for the grace to stay in constant fellowship with You.  May it all be for Your glory.

















Living in the Father’s House

Luke15:17
But when he came to himself, he said, “How many of my father’s hired servants have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger!”

The prodigal son left home thinking he could conquer the world on his own.  His journey turned out much different than he had imagined.  It did not take him long to exhaust the resources that he had.  It then became painfully obvious to him that all that he ever needed was available to him at his father’s house.

We all experience a journey similar to the prodigal son when we try to take on the world on our own.  We set up ourselves for failure and frustration when we try to make our way independent of the resources that Our Heavenly Father has set aside for us.  Our skepticism of God’s plan results in us landing in a places of humiliation.

With each failure and with each moment of mounting frustration and humiliation, Our Father in heaven awaits our turning to Him.  All of heaven prepares to celebrate our return.  When we realize the foolishness of living our lives in the flesh instead of under the divine hand of Almighty God and return to the riches of Our Father,  He calls for a celebration on our behalf.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for the inheritance that You have prepared for us.  We rejoice in knowing that Your abundant riches await us when we join You in our permanent home.  We ask forgiveness for living our lives in the foolish arrogance of our flesh.  We pray, Father, that the Holy Spirit will guide us in repenting of all of the things in our lives that are displeasing to You.  May we live our lives in the fullness of the way, the truth and the life that is ours through Your Son, Jesus.




Living in the Presence of Our Savior

Mark 9:2
And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them.

Jesus took Peter, James and John up the mountain so that they could experience the fullness of His glory.  Jesus wanted His disciples to be prepared for the bitter agony that was ahead.  He wanted them to have the strength of the promise of the kingdom experience to carry them through the suffering that they would also experience in the future.  

Each of us will experience moments in the presence of God.  It may be through a vision, a dream, a visitation or perhaps a quiet word whispered in our spirit when we are in prayer or worshiping Him.  Each such moment is meant to lift us from our day-to-day lives in the flesh to our eternal lives in the kingdom of God.

Just as the disciples were not allowed to remain in the presence of the glorified Christ, neither are we allowed to stay in the precious moments of Our Lord’s visitation.  The Lord simply uses these precious moments to show us the unimaginable promise of our futures in His kingdom and to give us the strength to endure the suffering we will encounter as we prepare to be with Him for all eternity.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for the treasured moments that You grant us in Your presence.  We praise You for those times that You become so real to us.  We exalt Your name for the grace that You provide during these intimate exchanges that are beyond our normal earthly expectations.  We pray, Father, that Your Holy Spirit will stand by us as we leave the high mountain of Your presence and return to the valley where we struggle in our ways of the flesh. May Our Comforter help us keep the fullness of the joy and the hope of Your presence with us always.  May the world know that we are living in the fullness of the presence of Our Savior.

Comfort Abounds Through Jesus Christ

2 Corinthians 1:5
For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ.

In the Bible, we are taught that we should rejoice in our trials because they are the building blocks of character in our lives.  They certainly do build character and perseverance in our lives if we turn to the Lord to get us through the challenges we face.

But beyond the character building in our trials, there is an entirely different dimension that we benefit from.  We not only gain in character, but we gain more – much more.  We gain life experiences that we are able to share with others who find themselves going through the same thing.  God prepares us to be comforters for others in their time of need.

Our past experiences give us the foundation for offering faith and hope.  It is our obligation to make suitable returns for what we received by comforting others.  It is our duty to join them in prayer, praise and thanksgiving as we seek a good end to our trials through Jesus Christ.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for the consolations and comfort that we find when we turn to Your Son, Jesus, in our times of need.  We bless the name of Jesus for the abundance of all of the fruits of His sufferings that are poured out in a greater amount than our own suffering, providing us relief from our distress and trouble.  Lord, we pray that You build our faith and hope through our trials, so that we may be comforters for those in our lives who are going through their own trials.  May it all be for the glory of Jesus, who suffered so much on our behalf.

Proclaimers of the Good News

1 Corinthians 9:16
For if I preach the gospel, that gives me no ground for boasting. For necessity is laid upon me. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!

In his letter to the Corinthians, the apostle Paul makes it clear that he was called to preach the gospel. It was the calling that was given to him by Jesus.  He was commanded to proclaim the Good News to the gentiles.

Jesus has a similar calling for all of us.  Jesus commands us to “go and make disciples of all nations.” Matthew 28:19 Even though we all have that same calling, we are all called in different ways according to the equipping of the Holy Spirit in our lives.  Most of us will not be called to be preachers, evangelists or missionaries.  Some of us may be.

Most of us will be called in other ways.  We are all likely to be called in some way to provide intercessory prayer, service or financial support to the discipling of all nations.  We are all definitely called to be proclaimers of the Good News by the testimony of our lives in Christ.  Every aspect of our calling will come by the flow of the supernatural drawing in our lives.  If we come into agreement with God’s calling, we will approach our calling with the love and the zeal that the apostle Paul did.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for drawing us into Your service. We bless the name of Jesus for making us worthy to serve You here on earth and in heaven for all eternity.  We rejoice in knowing that we can disciple all nations by applying the gifting that we have received from the Holy Spirit.  We ask Father that You reveal to us the way or ways that You have set aside for us to proclaim the Good News.  May we approach our calling with the love and zeal of Your servant, Paul.

The Journey to Abandonment

Mark 10:21
And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.”

When we reach heaven, we will be fully submitted to Jesus.  We will have released every single remaining carnal desire that we carried on earth.  

What Jesus is looking for from us as His disciples is the constant process of releasing of our carnal desires while we are still in our earthly bodies.  Only Our Lord achieved absolute abandonment to The Father.  Only He could.  

Very few of us have even neared the point of absolute abandonment to Jesus.  But all of us can commit ourselves to unconditional identification with Our Savior.  Through the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives, we can continuously recognize and renounce our earthly desires.  Through the grace of Almighty God and the saving work of Jesus Christ, we can begin shedding all of our shortcomings one by one until we find our place with Jesus for all eternity.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for Your precious love and provision.  We proclaim our love for You and humbly offer to You all that You have given us.  Father, we pray that we be led by the Holy Spirit to surrender all that we have, all that we will every have, all that we are and all that we will ever be to Your Son, Jesus.  May we take hold of the fullness of eternal life as we release our hold on our worldly possessions.


Walking with Him

Luke 9:57
As they were going along the road, someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.”

Every consideration of following Jesus, using logic and forgoing the direction of the Holy Spirit and the inspiration of the Holy Word, will end up in a decision of “no” or “not now.”  Without faith in the Word of God or through the power of the Holy Spirit, we will follow the callings of our flesh which are never ready to be laid down at the feet of Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Praise God that He knows us so well, loves us still, has mercy on us and provides His Son for our salvation.  May we claim all that He has set aside for us because He sees us, not in the flesh, but in the image of His Son.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for accepting us as heirs to Your kingdom.  We rejoice in knowing that You see us only in the image of Your Son who has washed away all of our iniquity with His precious blood.  We pray, Lord, that You open our minds and hearts to the fullness of Your Holy Word.  We ask that You show us how to fully surrender to the direction of the Holy Spirit in our lives.  We beseech You, Father, to give us the grace to fall at the feet of the Cross so that we may walk in the way, the truth and the life that is in Your Son, Jesus.