She left me better….

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.

Podcast highlights:

  • Last week, a dear friend of mine, Mother Brenda Lee Elliott passed away.
  • While my heart is sad, I am grateful for the blessings she deposited into me.
  • Our relationships are important and should be treated as a blessing.
  • All of our conversations should leave people better than we found them.

Mother Brenda Lee Elliott | January 1954-February 2022

While my heart grieves at the loss of Mother Elliott, I give God praise for the almost 25-year friendship we shared. Every time we talked, including our last conversation, she loved on me and encouraged my heart. She left me better than when she found me. We never know if the last time we speak to someone may be the last time.

BCU Fam, please don’t start walking in fear about who may be departing from this life next–that’s not the intended point behind this post. Rather, as you interact with spouses, significant others, children, family members, friends, enemies or strangers, ask the Lord to give you the words to speak that will be a blessing to the hearer.  Colossians 4:6 says, to let our speech be always with grace and seasoned with salt that we know how to answer every one. Even if we disagree or have to confront (in a godly way), or correct someone, we can still speak “seasoned” and all the while glorifying God.

James 4:14 says we don’t know what shall happen tomorrow–our life is like a vapor. When you think about fog or a cloud of steam, it’s visible one moment and disappears the next. Vapor does make an impact while it is around, so with the help of the Lord, let’s say and do things that “add value” to whoever  we’re speaking with. We want to leave people better than you found them. Amen? 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, Twitter 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 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

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Back to business as usual?

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!

Podcast highlights:

  • After a LONG HIATUS we are FINALLY back, thank God!
  • Since our last time together,  our whole world changed with the onset of COVID-19.
  • Even with our churches being shut-down, we’ve learned viable, alternative ways to worship and praise God together as well as separately, devoted more time to study, deepened our relationships with God— and the church (The Body of Christ–that’s us) has not just survived, but thank God, we have thrived. 
  • As we are starting to reopen the country (that’s a whole other discussion) and ESPECIALLY our churches, should The Body of Christ really be going back to “business as usual”?

Scripture references:

Luke 18:1

And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint;

Proverbs 3:5-6

Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.

In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

Acts 5:29

Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men.

Colossians 2:8 

Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.

BCU Fam, Hebrews 10:25 tells us to not forsake the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching. We NEED to get together on a regular basis. My question is, as we assemble, what is the motive? Is the purpose to glorify God? Ensure souls are saved? Is there an alter call? Tarry service?

In theory, there is nothing wrong, or any sin in anniversary celebrations, revivals, meetings, or chicken dinners, but what is the purpose of the assembly? To net an offering?  If so, did God “authorize” the service? Are we having certain services because we “always” do? Are we allowing enough time for the congregation to be a witness to others besides other saints at church? Do we “have time” to witness, rest, be with our families? Or are we too caught up in services that are more of a roll call?

God is always looking at the purpose and motive of what we are doing. Can we comfortably (myself included) stand before God to answer for the motives and intent of what we were involved in? These are serious questions we need to pray and act on with God’s help going forward. In fact, as we acknowledge the Lord in all our ways, He will direct our paths (Proverbs 3:6).  If we find He is directing us away from something, with His help, we need to be obedient to Him, rather than man (Acts 5:29), or tradition (Colossians 2:8).

This is a TOUGH ONE for me BCU Fam, but something God laid on my heart to consider. How about you? Was any this content a surprise to you? 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

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Singles chalkboard: Haste, waste or wait.

Hey there BCU Family!

As usual, you have the option of listening to our podcast (click the BCU avatar below to listen), reading the notes or BOTH. In any case, we pray the podcast blesses you. If so, please thumbs up or leave a comment! Thank you and enjoy your study!

Years ago, I was talking with a lady who has gotten married for the first time in her 40’s! Like how awesome is that?! When speaking about her hubby, I expected to hear all the wonderful (ok…and maybe some trying) things that happen in a new marriage, but with a positive overall outlook. Instead, my heart wept as she recounted some troubling issues and wondered aloud about the hasty decision-making process leading up to the nuptials. Eventually the union ended up in a nasty divorce.

Don’t I know about making unwise and quick decisions! In some cases, I needed to work a little overtime to cover those decisions, but in other cases, my heart suffered as well as my “spiritual bottom” in getting chastened from the Lord.

As the Lord is blessing me to mature more in Him, I found that running ahead of God’s timing and getting  in His permissive will (versus His divine will) causes unneeded stress, heartache and suffering. David reminds us the steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, (Psalms 37:23 (a) and many times those steps may lead us in a direction of waiting. In this “microwave” society we live in, even as people of God, we often veer off the ordered path in lieu of a shiny-“Mr.-Right-Now” blessing. While God does work suddenly and will guide you to some relationships, in many cases we need time to check him out to see if the “blessing” is a possible curse.

*Sister Lola met brother Mark who claimed salvation and loved to worship in the house of God, yet resorted to unholy and vile name calling when he didn’t get his way. Lola terminated the relationship. When confiding to a friend as to why she cut the relationship off, Friend said, “oh he didn’t mean it, he was just upset. HELLO?! If he’s acting like that NOW, and claims to be Holy Ghost filled, how much more can that escalate later on towards her or possible future children? Physical abuse? Thank God she rejected the unwise counsel from friend and is waiting for whoever God has for her.

What about how he treats his mom or sisters? Rachelle met Erick and it was love almost instantly. She noticed a little, no a LOT of friction between him and his sister, but who doesn’t have a little sibling rivalry, right? Turns out in a fit of anger years prior, Erick hurled an ash tray at his sister’s face, permanently scarring her and she only spoke  with him on an as needed basis.  Even with this knowledge, Rachelle continued in the relationship, only to experience years of mental and physical torment. Rachelle finally got the courage to leave Erick, and repair her brokeness through the healing blood of Jesus Christ and salvation.

Leesa’s relationship with Dean developed after a short friendship. Dean was smart, successful and loved the Lord. As they were getting to know one another, Dean lost some money when the stock market crashed. He was so upset about it, he stopped speaking to Leesa for months. This pattern continued one form or another when there were unexpected bills that came about. As they eventually ended the relationship, Dean angrily commented, “all that money I spent [on you].”

While everyone is at a different place in their spiritual walk and growth must be allowed for, there are some situations God just warns us to stay away from, as they are not His intent for us. However, we are occasionally to lured to AND stay in these relationships thinking we can “help” the person, listening to those well-meaning, but wrong family or church members, or we settling out of fear and worry that no one else will be around for a while or ever. But our God loves us SO much He truly wants to bless us with our hearts’ desires as we delight ourselves in Him (Psalms 37:4) while we wait! WHEW! What an assurance, BCU Family!

“If you go outside of the will of God to get something, you have to stay out of the will of God to keep it.”

Matthew 7:10 reminds us that we, being as evil as we are, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!  We may need to wait it out, but knowing that we’ll get God’s best is ABSOLUTELY worth it! By His grace, let’s stay in God’s divine will–and follow the steps He orders, so we are in position to get His best!

What are you thoughts about waiting? Have you ever run ahead of what God told you to do? How did it work out? Please head down to the comments section to share your thoughts so we can continue our conversation!

In the meantime, 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, 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

*Names have been changed to protect the identities of persons involved.

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Singles Chalkboard: *SIGH* What do I do while I wait?!

Hi there BCU Family!

#TeamBCU is praying in the name of Jesus for all survivors, family and friends who were/will/may be effected by Hurricane Matthew. BCU Family, please pray and as you are led by God, DO what you can to assist those in need. Thanks and God bless you!

sisa-conference
This conference was the place to be, BCU Family! Please find these ladies on the SISA site and follow them STAT! 🙂

We’re back and continuing our lesson on the Singles Chalkboard! To catch you up, the Lord blessed me with the fantastic opportunity to be a speaker at the 2016 She is Set Apart Singles (SISA) Conference last month, and I thought I’d share the audio [it cut out on occasion, but not too badly] with you.

A common question from singles is “what do I do while I wait?” I used to ask questions like that and the answer I got was “just wait” or “pray”. [This is where the blank stare comes in]. While that is accurate, there is a little more to it than that. I’m glad the Lord blessed me to know better than that–and I’ll share it with you.

What you will hear are the remaining 2.5 of the 5 areas where we singles should do an inventory check on ourselves through the Word of God. This is NOT a “fix-and get-married-quick” list, rather, as we look at these areas through the eyes of God, we start to see where we can become more like Him and move to doing just that. In the process, if it is His will to send us that mate, we’ll be more discerning, choose wisely, and even better equipped to handle the responsibility of a relationship that God is entrusting you do give your best in.

 

We covered 2.5 of these areas in the last podcast:

Spiritual (I Corinthians 5:17, Acts 2:38).

Financial (2 Corinthians 9:7–and not JUST money)

*Emotional (Matthew 20:11)

And we’ll cover these areas this podcast:

Emotional (Matthew 20:11)–*We’ll finish this up

Physical (I Corinthians 6:20)

Mental (Matthew 12:34)

It’s a good idea to have your notebooks handy to jot down the Scriptures, so you can study them and take note of what God tells you. Also, if you’d like more detail in a .PDF format, please send an email to Blen@BlenCouragesU.com or pop me a note in the comments. Click on the icon to listen!

Thank you so much for stopping by! If this was a blessing to you, please comment below and share it with someone–you’ll never know how the Lord may use you to encourage someone else! And if you have not done so, please like BlenCouragesU on Facebook, follow us on Twitter and Instagram!  And PLEASE subscribe to the podcast on Stitcher Radio , Google Play, and iTunes. You’ve already done that? Then tell someone you love AND your enemy–I’m trusting they will soon become your friend! 🙂

Until we are together again, may God bless, keep and make His face to shine upon you and until we are together again— #StayOnTheWall!

Love,

 

BCU

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Treasure hunt…

20131126-105645.jpg
Hey family!

For the second time in as many years, the local and national news (http://www.myfoxtampabay.com/story/24059298/2013/11/25/black-friday-shoppers-already-camped-out) have highlighted “Black Friday” shoppers who are already camped out in parking lots awaiting for all the bargains merchants are offering. While I am certainly NOT against sales, saving money, purchasing things you need or even desire, I wonder a couple of things.

First, what message does this send our families and children? Thanksgiving is traditionally a special day set aside (and in addition to all the other 364 days we give thanks) for families to come together, share a meal and count the blessings God gives us. While I suppose that can be done in a pop-up tent in a parking lot, is the specialness of that time dismissed by rushing the security guard who opens the door? Trampling the lady who steps in front of you? Pouting and cussing the clerk if they sell out of the $200 56 inch flat screen television before you get one? Are we giving God thanks while loading the cart? Are we going into debt trying to lay up our treasures on earth?

Second and more importantly, how does God feel about this? Again, while there is no sin in getting a bargain (we need to be good stewards), are we putting material gain over family time? In 5 years, Lord will, is getting the Wii more important than sitting around the table and recanting stories from when Junebug and Haskell were little? Is there any value left in building relationships, friendships or just enjoying company of other people? What about just thanking God for life, health, strength, food and whatever He gives us richly to enjoy? When I was a child, my siblings were just content to stuff ourselves and take a nap!

Bottom line: Yes, I realize this is America and we can choose to celebrate holidays anyway we choose. If we think about it, every holiday that comes around is focused on the deal of the day, rather than God or even a family aspect, which God created. And if we are not careful, we can get sucked in to believing that happiness is just a purchase away.

“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:19-21).

What we value the most in our hearts comes out of our mouths and actions. As the coming of Christ comes closer, my prayer is that The Lord will be reflected in our speech and actions over the upcoming holidays and all year round!

God bless you and your family this Thanksgiving and always!

Love,

Blen

Pic courtesy of: http://www.monroecommunitychurch.org/blog/uploaded_images/title-and-sermon-755879.jpg

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