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.

Living Below Our Privileges

2 Corinthians 1:20
For as many as are the promises of God, in Him they are yes; therefore also through Him is our Amen to the glory of God through us.

There are over 6000 promises that God makes to us in the Bible.  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.

And notice in the word from Paul that these promises are available through us.  The Body of Christ is alive with all of the promises and power made available through Jesus Christ.  It is through us, the living Body of Christ, that God often delivers on His promises.

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.

Be encouraged by the old hymn Standing on the Promises, written by Russel K. Carter in 1886.

  1. Standing on the promises of Christ my King,
    Through eternal ages let His praises ring,
    Glory in the highest, I will shout and sing,
    Standing on the promises of God.
  2. Standing on the promises that cannot fail,
    When the howling storms of doubt and fear assail,
    By the living Word of God I shall prevail,
    Standing on the promises of God.
  3. Standing on the promises I now can see
    Perfect, present cleansing in the blood for me;
    Standing in the liberty where Christ makes free,
    Standing on the promises of God.
  4. Standing on the promises of Christ the Lord,
    Bound to Him eternally by love’s strong cord,
    Overcoming daily with the Spirit’s sword,
    Standing on the promises of God.
  5. Standing on the promises I cannot fall,
    List’ning every moment to the Spirit’s call,
    Resting in my Savior as my all in all,
    Standing on the promises of God.
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.

The Full and Complete Standard That Is Jesus Christ

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.

God in His sovereign rule has 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 a beacon extending its light 360 degrees.  It is our individual responsibility to let God work through us so that the fullness and abundance of His Son can flow through us to the world that surrounds us.  

We must continually ask ourselves, “Am I building up the Body of Christ or am I looking for my own personal development?”  We are measuring up to the standard of Our Savior when we are seeking to do the work of Our Father in heaven above all else.

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.

That We May Know Him

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

The fruits of our work are the outpouring of the Jesus Christ within us.  Our works are not the proof of our goodness.  They are the proof of our submission to Our Savior in every aspect of our lives.

If our works ever become a way in which we seek to gratify ourselves, they will become a burden that will drag us away from the Cross.  Our works must be an outpouring of our spirit filled love as disciples of Jesus.  Then our works will draw us to the Cross in complete thanksgiving.  Our works will be a comfort to us and to those around us.

Our Christian mindset should not be that there is work to be done and I need to do it.  Our mindsets should be that I am seeking Jesus Christ and His will for me in every single moment of my life.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for the indwelling spirit of Jesus in our lives.  We praise the name of Jesus.  He is Our Lord, Our Master and Our King.  We seek to make Him a part of every single moment of our lives.  May everything that we do in life be an expression of His love.

Continuous Growth Through Service

1 Thessalonians 3:12
and may the Lord cause you to increase and abound in love for one another, and for all people, just as we also do for you;

Life in Jesus Christ is about fullness and growth.  It is never about reduction and decline.  There is no such thing as spiritual retirement.  

God places us where we are just as sovereignly as He rules over every aspect of His kingdom.  He then calls us to serve Him.  He calls us to meet the needs of His kingdom around us.  Subsequent to our obedience, He adds to us and grows us according to His good and perfect will and purpose for our lives.  This process is continuous throughout our lifetimes.  

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for the good and perfect purposes that You have for our lives.  We rejoice in knowing that we will be able to continually serve You, not only on this earth, but also on into eternity.  We pray that You will show us the needs that are around us.  May we never tire of the service that is at hand.  May we grow in Christ daily as we serve You.

Let Not Your Hearts Be Troubled

John 14:27
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.

We are instruments of the good work of Our Creator.  We have been given the gift of peace through Our Savior, Jesus Christ.  We are meant to share our peace with the world around us.

As we work and live in the presence of Almighty God, we are filled with supernatural power.  Through the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives, we are able to share the peace of the Lord with those that come into our lives.

We are also able to live a life without fear because we know that Our God is in control of our circumstances.  We can live a life of power in the kingdom of God.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for the peace that reigns in our lives.  We thank You, Jesus, for the peace that You brought us through Your shed blood.  We praise You, Lord, for providing the supernatural power that we need to live our lives without fear of any man or any circumstance.  We pray that You will equip us, embolden us and strengthen us so that we may be instruments of Your good work and vessels of Your perfect peace.

Making Choices Daily

Psalm 101:2
I will ponder the way that is blameless. Oh when will you come to me? I will walk with integrity of heart within my house;

“My grace is sufficient.  My strength is perfected in your weakness.”  This is God’s promise to us as written in 2 Corinthians 12.  When we accept Jesus as Our Savior, this grace flows freely to us from the Spirit of Jesus Christ within us.  Yet we still must choose who we will serve each day.

Moment by moment, we can choose to submit to the will of Jesus in our lives or we can choose to submit to the desires of our flesh.  The perfect choice is always there for us.  We simply have to receive the perfect gift of grace that we have been given.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for the gift of grace that allows us to overcome the torments of our flesh.  We rejoice in knowing that the Holy Spirit remains with us always to provide the strength we need to overcome the attacks of the enemy.  As we make our choices in life, Father, we pray that our allegiance is always to You.  We pray that we do not waver a moment as we choose to serve You in accordance with Your will and purpose for our lives.

The Way of Holiness

Isaiah 35:8
And a highway will be there; it will be called the Way of Holiness; it will be for those who walk on that Way. The unclean will not journey on it; wicked fools will not go about on it.

As children of God, we are all called to stand up in His will against difficult circumstances, just as Jesus was called to die on the Cross as part of His Father’s purpose for His life.  Jesus was able to meet the final test because He filled His life with continuous abiding in His Father’s will.

Although our flesh will fight us, by the word and Spirit of Christ, we that are spiritually blind can be enlightened.  We that are spiritually deaf to the calls of God can be made to hear them readily.  For those of us who are struggling in service, we can be made active and joyfully productive.  For those of us who find it difficult to speak of God or to God, we can have our lips opened to bring forth His praise.   We will find victory in all things if we make it a life practice to abide in the will of the Father in all matters.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for providing the way, the truth and the life that is in Jesus Christ.  We thank You for loving us first, so that we may love You and abide in Your will for our lives.  We pray that You enlighten us and strengthen us so that we may see and follow the way that You have set aside for us.  May Your grace be upon us so that we may be living founts of Your love and holiness.

The Perfect Vision for Our Lives

Isaiah 35:7
The parched ground will become a pool, and springs of water will satisfy the thirsty land.  Marsh grass and reeds and rushes will flourish where desert jackals once lived.

To have a vision is to see the completed work before it is even started.  Visionaries are able to see the completed work and to devise a plan to reach the desired end.  

God had a vision for each of our lives before we were even born.  He is the only perfect visionary.  He never fails in completing His work.  He always has the perfect plans that come to perfect completion.  He is never in a rush to complete His work – only to perfect His work.  We are His work.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for creating us with perfect plans for our lives.  We thank You for Your patience as You take us through life’s struggles in order to shape us according to Your perfect plans.  We thank You that Your hand never leaves us as we stray away from Your plans for our lives.  We pray, Father, that You will teach us to humbly accept the trials of our lives which are shaping us for our roles in Your kingdom.  We beseech You for the grace that we may have the patience and persistence needed to allow ourselves to be molded by your plans.  May we bring honor and glory to You, Father, by abandoning the folly of our own plans and choosing Your ways instead of our own.


Experiencing The Fullness of God’s Grace

Psalm 37:5
Commit your way to the LORD;
 trust in him, and he will act.

Jesus tells us to give Him our burdens and He will give us rest.  God promises to give us the desires of our hearts if we delight in Him.  The peace and joy of our Christian life will be determined by the constant application of our belief and faith in God’s Holy Word.

If we choose to involve God selectively in our lives, we can expect that the fulfillment of His promises will only be partial.  It is in the full submission to Jesus Christ’s lordship in our lives that we experience the fullness of God’s grace.  It is by putting God first in all things that we experience the joy that the world cannot provide.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for Your loving kindness, Your mercy and Your grace in our lives.  We praise You with every breath because each breath is a gift from You.  We seek to turn over every decision in our lives to You.  We seek to leave every trial and concern at Your throne.  We pray that the Holy Spirit will instruct us in the ways of complete surrender to Our Savior, Jesus.  May the world around us be drawn to You by witnessing the joy in our lives.  

Living Under the Spotlight of the Holy Spirit

Isaiah 6:5
And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips,

When we go into the presence of God, anything that is not pleasing to Him will come to mind.  We cannot get by with a general sense of sinfulness.  The Holy Spirit will not rest until we have been convicted of our particular sin.

When Isaiah came upon the vision of the Lord and saw His holiness, Isaiah immediately proclaimed that he was a man of unclean lips.  Isaiah knew that he would not be able to serve the Lord without cleansing himself from the sin that he had been shown.

God will work the same way with each of us.  Through His Holy Spirit, He will convict us of a single point of iniquity.  Then He will lead us to deeper revelation of the things in our lives that are displeasing to Him until we are properly prepared to serve Him.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for restlessness that the Holy Spirit brings upon us when we are walking in darkness.  We thank You for the absolute focus that You put on our sins, making it impossible for us to take on a vague sense of the sinfulness in our lives.  We pray the Holy Spirit will bring our every iniquity into the light so that we may repent and move forward in obedience to Your calling on our lives.