Special: Invite and encouragement

Hey BCU family,

As usual, you may enjoy the blog post in it’s condensed version by clicking on the icon below, read through the notes, or both! Be encouraged and hope to “see” you soon.

So allow me to explain what’s going on outside of BlenCouragesU.com. Due to the urging and encouragement of a few of my dear family and friends,  last month we started an online Bible study in real time! Yes, indeed!! And all of you under the sound of my voice (and any of your friends and family who are not currently listening) are invited to participate! Yes, the study is open to ANYONE who wants to study the Word of God, as our goal at BCU.com is to help encourage all the people of God to stay on the wall!

For all interested in the study, you’ll need a mobile device (telephone, tablet, etc.) and to download an free app called “Periscope”, then follow BlenCouragesU. When the study starts, you will get a notification–just click the “ok” or affirmative answer and voila, you’ll see and hear the study live! If you’d like to communicate with me, you’d type your question/comment on your screen and I’ll respond verbally with God’s help. Right now, we are meeting on Thursday evenings at 8:00pm EST, and the study runs until 9pm or so. Again all are welcome!

Our current study the Lord blessed us with is entitled “The called according to His purpose” and is based from Romans 8 and I Peter 2. For the last couple of weeks (February 4 & 11, 2016) , we’ve talked about who GOD SAYS we are. For example, we are no longer condemned, HIS children,  we are loved by Him, we suffer, but we are more than conquerors. It is important to KNOW in our hearts WHO GOD says we are, so when the winds of suffering blow, we can stay rooted in the what GOD says and continue to what? Yes..stay on the wall for whatever God has called us to do.

That brings us to the poem and the verse that inspired it. Romans 8:28 reminds us that “we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose.”  This verse is sometimes easier to quote when things are going well in our lives, and harder to remember and walk in when the dark days (and Romans 8:18 assures us we will have some) come and stay for a while.  My very wise cousin, Tanyel once explained once that the individual ingredients of a let’s say a cookie–the  eggs, flour, salt, sugar, oatmeal, etc., do not taste good separately at all. But putting the ingredients all together and baking them, the final outcome is delicious!  We need to have some of the mountain highs, valley lows, joy, sadness, trials and triumph all mixed together and baked or tried in the fiery furnace, for the purpose that God choses in His infinite wisdom for His beloved “The called”.  We may find out the purpose right away, later on, or maybe never, but we trust God know what He is doing and in spite of whatever is going on, He is with and loves us.  Here is the introduction and the poem courtesy of *Southwood Presbyterian Church’s site:

The Weaving

One of my favorite pictures of God’s working in our lives, especially during hard times, is the picture of God weaving a beautiful tapestry together with both light and dark colors (joyful and sorrowful times). On this side of heaven, though, we stand behind the tapestry and usually see only the knotted ends and frayed edges of what God is doing. If we could get “on the other side” of the tapestry, we could see God doing something beautiful, but we live on the underside with painful circumstances and God’s purposes unclear.

image

This image comes from a poem of unknown origin that was popularized by Corrie Ten Boom (author of The Hiding Place). 

My life is but a weaving
between my Lord and me,
I cannot choose the colors
He worketh steadily.

Oft times He weaveth sorrow
And I, in foolish pride,
Forget He sees the upper,
And I the under side.

Not til the loom is silent
And the shuttles cease to fly,
Shall God unroll the canvas
And explain the reason why.

The dark threads are as needful
In the Weaver’s skillful hand,
As the threads of gold and silver
In the pattern He has planned.

He knows, He loves, He cares, nothing this truth can dim. He gives His very best to those who leave the choice with Him.

Beautifully said, right BCU Family? Yes indeed. I pray this blessed your heart and encourages you through the storm you may be facing or, may offer some “explanation” if you are wondering why you went through rough times in the past. God is a present help and will bring you through it or  if your trial has finished Hw brought your through it–victoriously. After all, God said we are more than conquerors through Him that loves us (Romans 8:31).

As we get ready to close out this post, Lord will, our next Periscope Bible study is on February 18th, 2016, so please follow the above directions, set a reminder on your devices and join us if you can!  Also, look for “The Called” study notes and possible video/more than likely podcast to come out here on BlenCouragesU.com over the next few weeks!

In the meantime thank you for tuning in, sharing, commenting and praying for us!  God bless you and until we are together again #StayOnTheWall.

 

Love you all!

BCU

 

*Source:

http://www.southwood.org/smallgroups/read/god-weaving-a-tapestry-in-your-life

Photo credit: http://www.baildonmethodists.org/wpcontent/uploads/2012/05/WEAVINGS.jpg

 

 

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Visual: #BeEncouraged

BCU Family,

Just be reminded that God is STILL on the throne, ALWAYS in control and KNOWS exactly what He is doing, even we don’t know or always understand. His ways and thoughts will always be higher than ours (Isaiah 55:8-9), and His perfect plans always better than anything we could ever come up with. Ever.

Trust the wait time and occupy, pray, praise God and continue being faithful in all aspects of your life with God’s grace, okay? In due season you will reap if you don’t faint (Galatians 6:9).

God has not forgotten you. #StayOnTheWall!

 

Love,

BCU

 

 

 

 

BlenCouragesU5 Comments

Room A203: Sleep vs stress

Hey family,

Here’s a little something on the lighter post side,  yet VERY important as we need to get things done, yet balance that with getting the proper rest. Yes, we need to take care of the physical body as best we can so we can be equipped to carry out God’s duties, whether it’s ministry, family, work, school, or in many situations, a combination of many or all of the above!

By applying the information in the link below, in addition to praying away anxiety (Philippians 4:6-7 tells you all about that), and casting all your cares on God (after all, He does care for you, I Peter 5:7 says so), you’ll find your stress level lowering and sleep quality rising. 🙂

Click here for more information.

Enjoy and God bless you!

 

BlenCouragesU

 

 

 

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Now and later….Where are you in Christ?

Hey Family,

I had another post in mind, but as the news unfolds about the attacks in Paris, I felt it apropos to speak what the Lord laid on my heart.

As much as we don’t want to think about it, our days are numbered. In fact, Psalms 90:10 says, the days of our years are threescore years and ten, (age 70) and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, (age 80) yet it is their strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off and we fly away.  And we well know some people fly away sooner than those ages, according to God’s divine plan, so unless He specifically tells you, we have no idea when our last earthly moment will be, what it will entail and after that, we have to give an account to God (Romans 14:12). With all the things going on in this present world, it is scary to think about dying, yes. What we want to ensure right now is WHERE we live after we die.

As the Giver of Life, all souls belong to the Lord and whether or not we choose salvation along with how we live here determines if we go to Heaven or Hell. No, the Bible does not support places in between, purgatory, praying and paying for souls to come out of Hell. reincarnation, coming back as a worm, or anything other than Heaven or Hell.

Fact: Luke 16:19-31 tells the story of the rich man and poor man Lazarus. The rich man who apparently did not accept Christ lifted up his tormented eyes in hell, and seeing Lazarus and Abraham afar off, (presumably paradise or Heaven) begged for mercy and water (verses 23-24). Abraham spoke up and told the rich man, in part, there was a great gulf fixed and neither of the could leave where they were (verse 26). Think of the regret the rich man was and is living with. “If I only had known, I would have..” That is not how we want to spend eternity.

Bottom line: Let’s be clear, I DO NOT know where the victims of this hideous and cowardly act of terrorism were in their walk with God–that is now between them and Him.  As my heart weeps and prayers go out to the families and friends who are directly dealing with this unspeakable grief, fear, anger, disbelief and any other emotions, my prayer for anyone who is reading this to make the decision to repent (being godly sorry for all you’ve ever done to sin against God), be baptized in the name of Jesus (there is no other name under Heaven that we can be saved (Acts 4:12) and be filled with the Holy Ghost (everyone needs the Holy Ghost–see Acts 2).  Be advised there is NOTHING you’ve done that JESUS will not pardon! He wants all to come to repentance and be filled with His Spirit! Ask the Lord to help you find a church home that is focused on caring for your soul and teaching you how to live according to what the Bible says. Ensure your place on Heaven today, so you can truly rest in peace when your time comes.

We do not want to live on Earth and reject Jesus NOW only to find out it we need Him for LATER. Give your life to Jesus today!

God bless you and thank for reading!

Blen

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It’s time to do better…

Hey family!

I was scrolling through my Instagram feed today and saw this quote from Christian comedian Broderick E. Rice: “Early birds get more than just the worm; they get everything the latecomers aren’t willing to sacrifice for.” He lowered the “BOOM”, y’all! 😳

As I pondered that, back in my 20’s, I might have chuckled and kept moving. Fast forward a couple of decades, and I totally agree with what he said. Occasional tardiness, or something that can’t be helped (church service starts at 7pm and you get off work at the same time, you got a flat tire, you were ministering at church, etc..) is one thing, it is the habitual lateness that is the quagmire for most of us. Not only is non-punctuality extremely discourteous, it is stressful (for the offender and the offended) and most of all, it shows lack of stewardship with the precious commodity that God entrusts us with. Many times, we just need to manage our time better.

In doing some quick research, I ran across a post about tardiness written by Brett and Kate McKay–a snippet of the high points are below. While the post was intended to help our male population be on time, I believe this information is just as important for the ladies–I know ALL the points resonated with me. After reading this, let’s ask The Lord to help us to manage the time He so graciously gives us!

God bless you and thanks for reading! I may do a follow-up to this post–I’m excited about implementing habitual timeliness! 😊

BCU

1) Being punctual shows your humility. That bumper sticker maxim: “Always late, but worth the wait” shows that tardiness and an overestimation of one’s worth sometimes go hand in hand. People will be glad to see you when you arrive, but they would have been gladder still had you come on time.

2) Being punctual shows your respect for others. Being late is a selfish act, for it puts your needs above another’s. You want an extra minute to do what you’d like, but in gaining that minute for yourself, you take a minute from another, which is why….

3) Being late is a form of stealing. That’s a tough truth, but it’s a truth nonetheless. When you make others wait for you, you rob minutes from them that they’ll never get back. Time they could have turned into money, or simply used for the things important to them. In coming to meet you at the agreed upon hour, they may have made sacrifices – woken up early, cut short their workout, told their kid they couldn’t read a story together – and your lateness negates those sacrifices. If you wouldn’t think of taking ten dollars from another man’s wallet, you shouldn’t think of stealing ten minutes from him either. Being punctual shows you value time yourself, and thus wouldn’t think of depriving others of this precious, but limited resource.

4) Being late strains your relationships. When you’re late in meeting other people, it makes them feel under-valued, that whatever you couldn’t pull yourself away from was more important or that they didn’t mean enough to you to warrant allotting sufficient time to arrive on schedule. The guest who flies in to see you feels like a dope standing at the airport alone, your date feels awkward sitting at the restaurant by herself, and your child feels abandoned as she waits with her teacher for you to arrive, all the other children having already been picked up from school.

5)Being punctual strengthens and reveals your integrity. If you tell someone that you will meet them at a certain time, you have essentially made them a promise. And if you say you’ll be there at 8:00, and yet arrive at 8:15, you have essentially broken that promise. Being on time shows others that you are a man [woman] of your word.

6) Being late takes a toll on your life. Always running behind simply hurts you in all areas of your life. It results in lost opportunities: missing a plane, missing a meeting, missing an important part of a lecture, missing a wedding. It creates stress and can lead to car accidents and traffic tickets. It results in embarrassment and forces you to come up with excuses for why you’re late, putting a strain on your honesty. Basically, it makes your life more complicated; for men [women] seeking to simplify their lives, cultivating punctuality is an essential part of that path.

Content from: http://www.artofmanliness.com

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