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.

Focusing on the Solution

2 Corinthians 4:7
But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.

Whenever the trials arise in our lives, the natural response is for us to focus on the problems or the pain they cause.  In doing so, we are taken down a path of looking to our own capabilities to resolve the difficulties of our circumstances.  In many cases, we are woefully incapable of handling or resolving our issues alone.  Often times our efforts even make matters worse. 

As children of God, we have an alternative available to us which is completely different and produces dramatically different results.  When we choose to respond in our spirit instead of in our flesh, we focus on the solution, Jesus Christ, instead of our problems.  We avail ourselves to a supernatural solution.  We avail ourselves to the power and grace of the One who sees the beginning and the end.  We surrender ourselves to His will and plan for our lives.  We bring honor and glory to Almighty God as we allow Him to work in our lives for our good.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for the will and plan that You have for our lives.  We rejoice in knowing that You delight in using Your power to work out all of the things in our lives that trouble us.  We praise You for using each of our trials to shape us into the unique individuals that You created each of us to be.  May all the honor and glory be Yours, Father, as we turn to Your Son for all of our needs.


Living a Life that Speaks to Others

1 John 3:18
Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.

There is an old adage that states that actions speaker louder than words.  Nowhere is the old adage more applicable than in our living testimony.  No one wants to learn about Jesus from us if they have not seen Jesus in our lives.

Our greatest orations will never win a soul without a visible expression in our lives that we are living what we are preaching and teaching.  Let those around us see the gifts of the Holy Spirit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.  When others see these things, they will seek the source.  We will not have to say a word to entice them.

Jesus understood human nature completely.  Thus He labored constantly among the people, showing them His perfect love and forgiveness.  His living testimony drew people to the message that He had come to deliver.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, thank You for providing Your Son as a living example of the way, the truth and the life that You intend for us to accept and to proclaim.  Blessed is the name of Jesus who surrendered all so that we may be drawn to Him, receive Him as Our Savior and allow His presence to flow through us to the world around us.  We pray that our lives will become living testimonies of the One who dwells within us.

Under His Scrutiny

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

As parents, we stood by the side of our children as they learned to ride a bike.  We picked them up and consoled them each time they fell.  We brought attention to the errors of their ways and reminded them of the the right ways to ride.  We went out with them time and again, rejoicing in each moment of progress, until they had mastered the skill of riding.

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.  He will pick us up as many times as we fall, even though He knows that we will never get it completely right on this earth.  He will continue to show us the error in our ways and point out the path that He has set aside for us.  He will continue to pick us up until that glorious day when we stand before Him in the image of His Son and He welcomes us into heaven as good and faithful servants.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, blessed be the name of Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Savior.  Thank You for His steadfast work in our lives.  We pray that we will be quick to see the error in our ways and be even quicker to respond to Your correction.  May we completely surrender our lives to the perfect ways of Your Son.  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.  

With Perfect Love and Forgiveness

Jeremiah 17:9
The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?

We are commanded to love one another as we love ourselves.  How can we be commanded to take on such an impossible task?  Does God not know how incapable our hearts are to fulfill this commandment?

Of course He does.  That is why He gave us His Son, Jesus, to be Our Savior.  Jesus is the expression of the perfect love and forgiveness of Our Heavenly Father.  When we receive Jesus as Our Savior, we receive the capacity to love as God does.  Through our salvation, we are able to free ourselves from our judgmental natures and our cynical hearts.  We are able to free ourselves from demanding of others what they cannot give.  We are able to free ourselves from every disillusioned thought that our deceitful heart contrives against others.  

So, are we able to love one another as we love ourselves?  Of course we are.  When we allow the Holy Spirit to work in our lives, we are able love one another with perfect love and forgiveness just as The Father loves us. 

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for revealing the wickedness in our hearts.  We thank You for providing Your Son, Jesus, so that we have a way to overcome our selfish natures.  We praise You for giving us the capability to share Your perfect love and forgiveness with the world around us.  We pray that the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit will aid us and strengthen us to love others just as You love us.

He Cometh with Clouds

Revelation 1:7
Behold, he cometh with clouds;

It is quite natural to associate the idea of clouds with storm clouds.  When storm clouds are building we are likely to think, “look out.”  

As we grow in our relationship with Jesus Christ, we come to realize when storm clouds begin to build in our lives, we need to think, “look up.”  Just as God used the clouds to guide the Israelites to the promised land, He can use the storm clouds in our lives to turn our focus to Him for guidance.  Through this process, He teaches us dependence on Him for providing the pathway through the storms of our lives.  Paradoxically, without the storm clouds we would have little faith.

The perfect pathway through the storms of life lies in our relationship with Jesus.  When our clouds become the darkest, we can always look up and turn to Jesus for He is the light of the world.  “He cometh with clouds.”

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for providing the Light of the World when darkness surrounds us.  We praise You for the faith that You build in us as Jesus carries us and comforts us through our trials.  We pray that we may learn from the trials that we pass through so that we may comfort others who pass the same way.

Each Precious Moment

Matthew 6:45
Immediately he made his disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd.

The directive was clear to the disciples.  “Get in the boat.  Go to the other side of the lake.  Wait on Me.”  So off they went, obedient to the directive given them.  They probably assumed this would be a relatively easy trip.  Little did they know that their journey would be difficult.  In fact, their journey was described as painful for the wind was strongly against them.  But in the midst of their struggles, Jesus showed up and the winds ceased.  Once again their were reminded of the power and ever presence of the Lord in their lives.  Once again God received the glory. 

This passage reminds us that life is not about achievements, not even achievements in the areas that God is leading us.  We may have the feeling that God is leading us to a particular end.  He is, but not how we are thinking about it.  The goal of getting to a particular end is simply a by product of the process that God is taking us through.  With God, the process is the end.

All the headwinds that we encounter in life are part of the process of preparing us for our eternal place with the Father.  The process is complete when we seek the will of the Father in every circumstance in our lives.  His purpose is that we call on Him and His power in each moment that we live, regardless of the end that we may be working toward.  It is each precious moment and not the end result that is important to God.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for being ever present with us during the chaos of our lives.  We thank You that we can call on You every single moment of our lives to be our strength when the headwinds of life come against us.  We pray that You teach us how to live every moment of our lives aware of the sanctifying process that You are taking us through.  May our relationships with You mature beyond our expectations as we experience the fullness of Jesus Christ in our lives.  May we savor each moment, knowing that it brings glory to the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. 

More than Conquerors through Jesus Christ

John 16:33
I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.

In this scripture, we read some of the last words spoken by Jesus to His disciples.  He intended for them to be encouraged in the face of the tribulations that they would soon face after He departed.  His tone was one of triumph…victory in the face of trial, peace in the face of turmoil.

Jesus wants us to know that we will face tribulation in this world, but He has overcome anything and everything that comes against us.  He wants us to have the peace of knowing that He going to prepare a place for us in communion with Him in the presence of the Father.  He wants us to know that the various persecutions and afflictions that we endure for His sake will bring glory to His name and many blessings and joy to us.  He wants us to be of good cheer because our sins are forgiven and the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts for all eternity.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for Your promises of peace, courage and victory over all the trials in our lives.  We pray that you will strengthen us to overcome all that the world throws at us, whether it be the temptations of the Satan, the infirmities of our flesh or the persecution we suffer in Your name.  Father, may we know the joy that only You can provide when we are in the midst of the battle.  May it all be for the glory of the One who overcame it all on our behalf.   May we be more than conquerors through Our Lord, Our Master and Our King, Jesus Christ.   

Living a Life that is Pleasing to God

Matthew15:19
For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander.

Found in the core structure of the flesh is sin.  To think otherwise is to contradict the Word of God.  We are firmly bound to sin when we operate outside the guidance of the Holy Spirit.  

We can lead good lives by worldly standards, but we cannot lead Godly lives without the saving grace of Jesus Christ and the filling of the Holy Spirit.  Purity is too deep down for man to get to naturally.  We need the Holy Spirit to guide us in surrendering our lives to Jesus Christ so that we may live in accordance with His unsullied purity.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for giving us Your Son, Jesus, to be the supreme authority over our hearts.  We pray that the Holy Spirit will strengthen us in our battle to live our lives in a manner that is pleasing to You.  By Your loving kindness, Your mercy and Your grace, may we repent of everything in our lives that displeases You.  May we surrender all that we have and all that we are to You.  We rejoice in knowing that we will serve You for all eternity. 

Victory Over Our Old Man

Revelation3:17
For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked.

The teachings of Jesus can seem out of all proportion with our natural way of considering things.  In fact, reading His teachings can lead to astonishing discomfort.  Without the Holy Spirit’s guidance, it may be challenging for us to rationalize the inerrant teaching in the Word.

The corruption of the world has become so commonplace that it is often overlooked and at times completely approved of as acceptable behavior.  The Word of God magnifies the differences between the ways of Our Risen Lord and the ways of the world.  When the Holy Spirit leads us to see the power and joy in the lifestyle of Jesus Christ, we begin the process of gaining victory over our old man.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for sending Your Son to show us the way, the truth and the life that is available to us through our salvation and the daily working of the Holy Spirit in our lives.  We pray that You will shine Your light on the world so that all the darkness is exposed for what it is.  May Your Holy Spirit send laborers into the field to bring in a great harvest of disciples of Jesus.  May we join You in Your good work.

Our Righteousness is in Jesus Christ Alone

Matthew 5:20
For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

No man can make himself pure enough to enter heaven by obeying the laws.  The Pharisees created laws upon laws that were supposedly put in place to prepare them for their way to heaven.  Jesus put to rest the folly in their thinking.

We are born in sin.  There is no possibility for us to enter heaven without being washed clean by the blood of Jesus Christ.  No matter how many good things we do, no matter how many laws we adhere to, we are not worthy for heaven without the cleansing and indwelling of Our Savior.

No one can stand before the eternal light and consummate holiness of Almighty God with the slightest taint of sin.  We are incapable of reaching this pure condition without the remaking of our nature by Our Blessed Hope and Assurance, Jesus Christ.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for making it possible for us to stand in Your presence one day.  We praise You for making The Word flesh so that we could be inheritors of the only bloodline without sin.  We rejoice in knowing that one day our holiness will be complete as we shed our earthly bodies and take on the pure, supernatural bodies that You have set aside for us.  We pray, Lord, that Your Spirit guide us and strengthen us as we learn to shed the corruption of our flesh here on earth in preparation for the time that we go to our full glory in Jesus Christ.