Story time |Getting(re)acquainted with BCU

Hey there BCU Fam!

For this post, once again I recorded the content via video! The audio link on the BCU avatar below is a brief explanation that the podcast is on YouTube this week. Please tune into the podcast video (click here), and refer to the written post for the highlights. We pray the post blesses and encourages you. If so, please thumbs up AND leave a comment! Thank you and enjoy the post!

Podcast highlights:

  • With the grace of God, we are in the first full work week of 2024 and we thank God for His mercy and grace!
  • Last time we were together, I shared two lessons from 2023…and I promised to share one more with you.
  • For this podcast, since we have so many new to the BCUFam, I share a bit about me, and, then, I tell you about an important reminder from God—and I share it via video! Please click here and I’ll see you there!

Scripture references

Exodus 14:13-28

13 And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will shew to you to day: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen to day, ye shall see them again no more for ever.

14 The Lord shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace.

15 And the Lord said unto Moses, Wherefore criest thou unto me? speak unto the children of Israel, that they go forward:

16 But lift thou up thy rod, and stretch out thine hand over the sea, and divide it: and the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea.

17 And I, behold, I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians, and they shall follow them: and I will get me honour upon Pharaoh, and upon all his host, upon his chariots, and upon his horsemen.

18 And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I have gotten me honour upon Pharaoh, upon his chariots, and upon his horsemen.

19 And the angel of God, which went before the camp of Israel, removed and went behind them; and the pillar of the cloud went from before their face, and stood behind them:

20 And it came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel; and it was a cloud and darkness to them, but it gave light by night to these: so that the one came not near the other all the night.

21 And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the Lord caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided.

22 And the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea upon the dry ground: and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left.

23 And the Egyptians pursued, and went in after them to the midst of the sea, even all Pharaoh’s horses, his chariots, and his horsemen.

24 And it came to pass, that in the morning watch the Lord looked unto the host of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and of the cloud, and troubled the host of the Egyptians,

25 And took off their chariot wheels, that they drave them heavily: so that the Egyptians said, Let us flee from the face of Israel; for the Lord fighteth for them against the Egyptians.

26 And the Lord said unto Moses, Stretch out thine hand over the sea, that the waters may come again upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots, and upon their horsemen.

27 And Moses stretched forth his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to his strength when the morning appeared; and the Egyptians fled against it; and the Lord overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea.

28 And the waters returned, and covered the chariots, and the horsemen, and all the host of Pharaoh that came into the sea after them; there remained not so much as one of them.

Exodus 15:1-2

 Then sang Moses and the children of Israel this song unto the Lord, and spake, saying, I will sing unto the Lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously: the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea.

2 The Lord is my strength and song, and he is become my salvation: he is my God, and I will prepare him an habitation; my father’s God, and I will exalt him.

BCU Fam, with the grace of God, I am looking forward to sharing this year with you! Let’s do what we can to be a blessing to everyone we come in contact with, and to give God praise for everything. Amen? Amen!

Father, in the name of Jesus, as we come before You today, we thank You for allowing us to see a new year! Great is Your faithfulness, and we thank You for Your lovingkindness toward us! It is my prayer that You will bless each person who is tuned in to the podcast video today, and You will meet whatever need they have, be it emotionally, spiritually, mentally, physically or financially. We thank You Lord for healing, delivering, saving and setting people free in the name of Jesus. We thank You, Jesus, for making a way out of NO way and taking care of all our impossible situations! We thank You for helping us to hear Your voice, Jesus, and for helping us to do things Your way, so that we are pleasing to You. We ask that You strengthen and keep us, and we will be careful to give You all the glory, honor and praise, that belongs to You, in Jesus name, we pray, Amen!

As a reminder, if you have not subscribed to BlenCouragesU.com, please do so! It’s free and a good place to get the encouragement, inspiration and information based the Word of God! Additionally, you can also see what we are up to on Facebook, X, and Instagram.

Also, if you so inclined, join us for our Thursday Night Bible Study––we are LIVE on YouTube 8:05EST/7:05CST. You can also listen in and subscribe to the podcast on Amazon Music, AnchorFm, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, iHeart Radio, Spotify, and many of your favorite podcast platforms!

Thank you SO much for stopping by! May God bless, keep and make His face to shine upon you as you #StayOnTheWall!

Love,

BCU

BlenCouragesULeave a comment

Story time | Lessons from 2023

Hey there BCU Fam!

For this post, I recorded the content via video which is RARE for me! 😆 But it is the end of the year, so why not try something a little different, right? The audio link on the BCU avatar below is a brief explanation that the podcast is on YouTube this week. Please tune into the podcast video (click here), and refer to the written post for the highlights. We pray the post blesses and encourages you. If so, please thumbs up AND leave a comment! Thank you and enjoy the post!

Podcast highlights:

  • With the grace of God, we are at the end of 2023, and we thank God for His mercy and grace!
  • For many of us, this is a time to recount the defining moments we experienced throughout the year.
  • For this podcast, I am sharing a few lessons the Lord taught/reminded me of via video. Please click here and I’ll see you there!

Scripture references

Proverbs 21:9
It is better to dwell in a corner of the housetop, than with a brawling woman in a wide house.

Proverbs 15:1

A soft answer turneth away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger.

Romans 12:18

If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.

James 5:16

Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.

Galatians 6:1

Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.

I Corinthians 13:13

And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.

BCU Fam, this was a blessed AND challenging year for many of us, myself included. In all things, we give God praise for His goodness and mercy toward us. I am so grateful for all of you, and will do what I can with His help to continue to keep encourage your hearts so we can #StayOnTheWall together! Let’s pray!

Father, in the name of Jesus, as we come before You today, we thank You for all of the lessons you have taught us this year. It is our prayer that you help us to know how to speak to, respect and prayerfully approach one another, so that you are glorified, honored, and praised in our speech and actions.

Thank You for helping us to be a safe place for someone to come to when they do have a confession. Help us to prayerfully hear what they are saying without judging unrighteously, and to respond in a way that will correct and restore those who desire to do differently. We thank You for blessing each and every person here according to Your riches in glory, and we will give Your name glory and honor, in Jesus name, we pray, Amen!

As a reminder, if you have not subscribed to BlenCouragesU.com, please do so! It’s free and a good place to get the encouragement, inspiration and information based the Word of God! Additionally, you can also see what we are up to on Facebook, X, and Instagram.

Also, if you so inclined, join us for our Thursday Night Bible Study––we are LIVE on YouTube 8:05EST/7:05CST. You can also listen in and subscribe to the podcast on Amazon Music, AnchorFm, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, iHeart Radio, Spotify, and many of your favorite podcast platforms!

Thank you SO much for stopping by! May God bless, keep and make His face to shine upon you as you #StayOnTheWall!

Love,

BCU

BlenCouragesULeave a comment

A small town named Nazareth..

Hey there BCU Fam!

For this post, because of the informal format, please tune into the podcast recording (click here or on the BCU avatar below) and refer to the written post for the highlights. We pray the post blesses and encourages you. If so, please thumbs up AND leave a comment! Thank you and enjoy the post!

Podcast highlights:

  • As December 25th approaches, many Christians anticipate the celebrating the birth of Jesus.
  • For years, there have been great debates on the “appropriateness” of celebrating—-citing not knowing the date of His birth, the commercialism, and pagan origins of Christmas (all valid points).
  • For those who know Jesus in the pardoning of their sins, we understand and celebrate the biblical and life-changing momentousness of His birth.
  • This post looks at a few of the lesser-studied, yet significant highlights around the birth of Jesus Christ.

Scripture references

Luke 1:26-38

26 And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth,

27 To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary.

28 And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.

29 And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be.

30 And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God.

31 And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name Jesus.

32 He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:

33 And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.

34 Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?

35 And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.

36 And, behold, thy cousin Elisabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her, who was called barren.

37 For with God nothing shall be impossible.

38 And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her.

Luke 2:7-21

7 And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.

8 And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.

9 And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.

10 And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.

12 And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,

14 Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

15 And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us.

16 And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger.

17 And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child.

18 And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds.

19 But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.

20 And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them.

BCUFam, how awesome is that we do not have to come from a long line of fame, fortune, mega-ministries, popular towns, or anything else to be used by the Lord. In fact, I Corinthians 1:26-27 reminds us that, God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; and base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: that no flesh should glory in his presence. So no——-God did not make a mistake in choosing you——-when He works through you, it’s for His glory. For with God, nothing shall be impossible. Amen? Amen! Let’s pray!

Father, in the name of Jesus, we thank You for Your goodness, grace, mercy, power, love, and of course, for today’s study. Thank You for reminding us about certain aspect around Your birth that we may not always pay close attention to, yet, we see You in these important details. We want to thank You, Lord, for sending Your Son, Jesus to save us! And as the song says “Manger-born/ but on a tree/ You died to save humanity” and so we THANK YOU Jesus, for giving us a right to the Tree of Life, we thank You, Jesus for the Comforter—the Holy Ghost down on the inside, that leads and guides us into all truth.

The people of God understand the commercialism and paganism that is around this time of year. While we see it, we choose to celebrate Your birth, Jesus, not just this month, but all year long as we live our lives so that You are glorified, honored and praised, and people will ask, “what must I do to be saved?” Please help us to remember all the things You taught us in this study, and bless each listener in a special way. It’s in the name of Jesus we thank and praise You for all things, Amen!

As a reminder, if you have not subscribed to BlenCouragesU.com, please do so! It’s free and a good place to get the encouragement, inspiration and information based the Word of God! Additionally, you can also see what we are up to on Facebook, X, and Instagram. Also, if you so inclined, join us Thursday nights––we are LIVE on YouTube 8:05EST/7:05CST. You can also listen in and subscribe to the podcast on Apple podcasts, Google podcasts, Pandora, Spotify or whatever podcast platform you like best!

Thank you SO much for stopping by. God bless, keep and make His face to shine upon you as you #StayOnTheWall!

Love,

BCU

BlenCouragesULeave a comment

Racism, love & vengeance? | Part 2

Hey there BCU Family!

Typically, you have the option of listening to our podcast, reading the notes or both. For this post, because of the informal format, please tune into the podcast recording and refer to the written post for the highlights. We pray the post blesses and encourages you. If so, please thumbs up AND leave a comment! Thank you and enjoy the post!

 

BlenCouragesU · BCU Podcast | Racism, love & revenge | Part 2 | (Ep 217)

Podcast highlights

  • Last time we were together,we talked about living in a time of unprecedented and open racism.
  • Hatred and injustice of any kind coming from anyone is NOT of God.
  • As wrong as the perpetrators are, the people of God are STILL and ALWAYS called to reflect Christ in our reactions to people.
  • Of course we are to speak up and defend people as God leads.
  • Vengeance is self-serving, vindictive, never meted out correctly, and is NOT God’s answer to anything.
  • The Lord is the Perfect Avenger.

 

Scripture references:

Matthew 5:43-48

43 Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.

44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;

45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.

46 For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?

47 And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so?

48 Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.

1 John 2:10-11

10 He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him.

11 But he that hateth his brother is in darkness, and walketh in darkness, and knoweth not whither he goeth, because that darkness hath blinded his eyes.

1 John 3:14-15

14 We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death.

15 Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.

1 John 4:19-21

19 We love him, because he first loved us.

20 If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?

21 And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also.

Romans 12:17-19; 21

17 Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men.

18 If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.

19 Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.

21 Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.

Luke 18:6-8

6 And the Lord said, Hear what the unjust judge saith.

7 And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them?

8 I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?

Colossians 3:23-25

23 And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men;

24 Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ.

25 But he that doeth wrong shall receive for the wrong which he hath done: and there is no respect of persons.

Bonus Scriptures:

James 3:9-12

9 Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God.

10 Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be.

11 Doth a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter?

12 Can the fig tree, my brethren, bear olive berries? either a vine, figs? so can no fountain both yield salt water and fresh.

BCUFam, as challenging as it is, we are called to love people and resist vengeful thoughts and actions. Along with the love, with God’s help, if we change our thought patterns to line up with  Philippians 4:8, (thinking on things that are true, honest, just, pure, lovely, of a good report, virtue and praiseworthy), we will find ourselves in a place where we are less agitated and more satiated, knowing God keeps exact records and will reward all of us according to our own works. This is a reminder that we should make sure OUR works are in good standing with Him, right?

The bottom line? It is in our best spiritual interest to trust God to take care of whatever was done incorrectly in His way and in His timing.  In the meantime, let’s just love, bless, do good and pray. (Matthew 5:44). Amen? Amen!

So BCU Fam, what stood out to you? What are your thoughts on revenge? Let’s talk about it in the comments section below!

If you have not already subscribed to BlenCouragesU.com, please do so! It’s free and a good place to get the encouragement, inspiration and information based the Word of God! Additionally, you can also see what we are up to on Facebook, Twitter , and Instagram! You can also listen in and subscribe to the podcast on Stitcher Radio , Google Play, and Apple podcasts!

Thank you SO much for stopping by! God bless, keep and make His face to shine upon you as you #StayOnTheWall!

Love,

BCU

BlenCouragesULeave a comment