Special – Page 17

Lessons from the 2016 Election! 🇱🇷

Hi 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!

With all of the kerfuffle about the 2016 Election in the United States this week, supporters and opponents of the two main candidates took to social media to let anyone who would read know how they felt about the result. While there were some civil comments, many fired back retorts in retailiation, doom, angry words, name calling, jeers and cursing. And sadly, some of those responses were from people who say they are Christian, Holy-Ghost filled, baptized in Jesus name believers.

What does that look like to the people we are trying to win to Christ?

What must God be thinking about the people who are called by His name?

Sigh.

Yes, God is forgiving, understanding and allows us to feel and be emotional about things that are passionate to us–He made us to do so. The issue comes in when we practice letting the emotion CONTROL us to the point where we start walking in the flesh rather than in the Spirit. In fact, Galatians 5 says that the works of the flesh, in part, produce hatred, wrath, and strife–and on TOP of that they that do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God (see Galatians 5:16-21). That should be enough to encourage us to walk in the Spirit! I do know that it can be trying at times–and the Lord knows that too, which is why He gives us His Word to apply.

Matthew 18:7 says offenses will come. In this life, we will either offend someone or or be offended by someone. While we don’t want to be “repeat offenders”, with the help of God, when someone trespasses against us, we are commanded to go to the person to straighten out the matter, as well FORGIVE seventy times seven times–in order words, LOSE COUNT, otherwise WE will not be forgiven. Matthew 18 tells us all about that.

James 1:19 reminds us to be swift to hear, slow to speak and slow to wrath. Why? Because the [deep-seated, retaliating] wrath of man does NOT work the righteousness of God–that holy standard of behavior that is required from us (James 1:20). As we strive to be more like Jesus, we understand that the Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and plenteous in mercy (Psalm 103:8). That means we need to be the same way.

Do we have to get upset about EVERYTHING? No. The discretion of a man defers his anger and it is his glory to pass over a transgression (Proverbs 19:11). Simply put, slow the anger down and learn when to overlook being offended.

Even when we do need to respond to someone, we can do it so God is glorified! Proverbs 15:28 says, the heart of the righteous studies [thinks carefully and with wisdom] about HOW to answer [wisely and appropriately], but the mouth of the wicked pours out EVIL things. When you think of something being poured out, it’s coming quickly, forcefully, and with little to no control or regard to who is around or the effects of the pouring. This is NOT the standard of holy living God has called us to! BCU Fam, NOTHING evil should ever come pouring out of our mouths whether in verbal or written communication. Words are weapons and the scarring can be PERMANENT.

Bottom line: You know, God’s eyes behold and His eyelids try the children of men (Psalms 11:4), so this election and the outcome and our responses were truly a test for many of us, myself included. Depending on how you did on this or a similar test, do know that it will be administered again, not to torment or frustrate us, but to help us to be more like Jesus and be prepared for His coming–it’s nearer than we think and we DO NOT want to miss the rapture! Let’s commit the Word spoken here today to memory and action–and pass this exam with the help of the Lord! Amen? Amen!

Well, BCU family this was a tough yet needful reminder! It’s imperative that we respond to offenses in a way that glorifies God and does not taint our witness.

We have to stop here–but no fear, there are other podcasts for you to enjoy on the BlenCouragesU.com site that are available 24-7! 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 iTunes.

Before you go, we’d LOVE to dialogue with you! We’ll make it easy to comment by asking you to please answer this question:

Which of the points resonated with you the most?

As always, thank you for stopping by and may God bless, keep and make His face to shine upon you! #StayOnTheWall!

Love,

BCU

12 Nov 201612 Nov 2016

BlenCouragesU1 Comment

#ThatMomentWhen–you are attacked on your assignment!

Hey there BCU Family!

Let’s dig into Nehemiah chapter 4!

V1) But it came to pass, that when Sanballat [his name means enemy in secret] heard that we builded the wall, he was wroth, and took great indignation, and mocked the Jews.

Now the work was going fine—everyone building as they should and here comes the enemy. Once again angry from just hearing that the work was being done. Notice how that spirit started off alone in mocking and teasing the Jews.

V2And he spake before his brethren and the army of Samaria, and said, What do these feeble Jews? will they fortify themselves? will they sacrifice? will they make an end in a day? will they revive the stones out of the heaps of the rubbish which are burned?

Then Sanballat speaks in FRONT of his people and a Samaritan army—who knows HOW many people that was! That prideful, angry, distracting spirit needed an audience to help stop the work on the wall. He goes on by name calling, belittling their efforts—like they could not do this alone, questioning their ability to sacrifice, would they be able to do it in a day? How could they get stones out of burnt material?

God had that covered when Nehemiah got all his supplies from the king/letters. See..the enemy does not know everything! Nor was it his business to know! He kept pulling out the fiery darts to stop the work of the Lord. We need to recognize the darts for what they are and rather than argue in the flesh about WHY we are called, we need to rest and continue working knowing WHO called us! And EVEN when things on the assignment really start to look impossible–remember OUR God specializes in the impossible! Ask me how I know!

V3Now Tobiah the Ammonite was by him, and he said, even that which they build, if a fox go up, he shall even break down their stone wall.
In ancient times, the walls built around cities were tremendously thick and high–some in Babylon were reported to be 380 feet thick and over 100 feet high. Obviously an animal who averages 4- 31 pounds was NOT going to break the wall down. That comment was a distraction from the enemy. We have guard against being distracted! Those comments/tricks serve two purposes: to delay you from doing God’s work or to destroy you in the process of doing the work. And in either case, the end result is not what God has called us to.

v4Hear, O our God; for we are despised: and turn their reproach upon their own head, and give them for a prey in the land of captivity:

v5And cover not their iniquity, and let not their sin be blotted out from before thee: for they have provoked thee to anger before the builders.
What I LOVE about these verses is that Nehemiah and his folks never answered these people. No justification, no explaining, no running, no getting in feelings, no stopping the work, no hiding—they took it to the Lord! The mothers of the church used to sing “if I hold my peace and let the Lord fight my battles, victory, victory shall be mine!” It is not necessary in every case to get into someone’s face. Let the Lord do the work!

v6 So built we the wall; and all the wall was joined together unto the half thereof: for the people had a mind to work.

This scripture is just speaks to my heart and it where the BCU tagline comes from. In the midst of the attacks, they KEPT working. We keep ministering, we continue serving, being a blessing, preaching, ushering, whatever your job is. You may cry and get hurt—no doubt!! Give it to the Lord and keep working. You’ll be blessed for it.

v7But it came to pass, that when Sanballat, and Tobiah, and the Arabians, and the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites, heard that the walls of Jerusalem were made up, and that the breaches began to be stopped, then they were very wroth,

v8And conspired all of them together to come and to fight against Jerusalem, and to hinder it.

So now the walls were up and and the gaps were being closed, Sanballat and Tobiah — and now the Arabians, Ammonites, Ashdodites are heated!!!!!!!!! So they join forces to fight against and hinder the building process. The more determined you are to do what God says, the more you’ll be fought against. When we recognize these attacks as spiritual rather than personal, we know how to respond PROPERLY.

v9Nevertheless we made our prayer unto our God, and set a watch against them day and night, because of them.

Verse 9 says they prayed and watched. Prayer will not always stop the enemy, but it will strengthen YOU! Are we watching? Not in a creepy, fearful way–using the wisdom and discernment God gives us. Does the enemy come through that co-worker or family member? Through an old, new, smoldering flame? How about creeping up on you with self-destructive behaviors like over-eating or nipping. Perhaps loneliness, fear, people talking about you effects you? Then you respond in angry outbursts, passive-aggressive behavior, slothfulness? The enemy may come in a different vehicle but the operating parts are usually the same. Different package—marked new and improved, but the contents are still the same! WATCH so you KNOW who the enemy is, how he is attacking so you pray and GUARD against it! Amen? Amen!

Well, BCU family we have to stop here, but there is PLENTY more to this challenge for Nehemiah coming up, so, please stay tuned for that! In the meantime, there are other podcasts for you to enjoy–you are welcome to peruse the BlenCouragesU.com site 24-7! 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 iTunes.

Before you go, please comment and tell us what stood out to you in this lesson and how will you apply it?We’d LOVE to hear from you!

In the meantime, thank you for stopping by and may God bless, keep and make His face to shine upon you! #StayOnTheWall!

Love,

BCU

5 Nov 20165 Nov 2016

BlenCouragesU14 Comments

Warning: Do NOT miss YOUR flight!

Hey BCU Fam!

As a person who likes to fly, I am usually very fastidious about printing my boarding pass, getting to the airport early, getting my baggie with the liquids out, checking my gate, etc.

A few years ago, I was connecting to a flight in Chicago and had a 2-hour layover. I checked the gate location a few times and proceeded to it, while getting breakfast and coffee enroute. Once I got to my gate, I had my nourishment and chatted with friends via telephone/text, checked emails, social networked..just doing my thing.

When I saw the plane come in, I waited for the announcement so I could board. When the counter flight attendant started talking about customs forms, I got a little nervous…it turns out that flight was going to Toronto, Ontario—CANADA! Apparently there had been a gate change and I didn’t hear it/check again. Thank God, the new gate wasn’t far away and I made my flight--I was the very last one to board. As I sat down, the Lord spoke to my heart and put my faux paux in a spiritual lesson.

Family, I was so busy with other things, I didn’t pay attention to anything that may have told me that my gate had changed. I didn’t hear an announcement, see that people had left the area or look up to quintuple check my gate information. Many times, we are so caught up with the cares of this life, we don’t hear or heed the small, still voice of God. We don’t double check His word about the things we should be doing (or not). And we let people (rather, the spirit that operates within people) to grieve and vex our spirits, rather than going to God in prayer about it. These actions can cause us to miss the blessings of God. Even more grave, we can miss Heaven or the rapture!

Remember the parable of ten virgins from Matthew 25:1-13? Five were foolish and five were wise. While waiting for the Bridegroom, the foolish ones let their lamps go out rather than keeping them trimmed with oil, as the wise ones did. Consequently, when the bridegroom came, the foolish virgins were scrambling to look for oil from the wise virgins, (who told them NO–go buy some) and were left behind because they were NOT ready! Maybe they were too concerned with the cares of this world to take care of business? Maybe they thought they had plenty of time to get right? Mayhap they were not listening/paying attention to the Lord’s voice and followed someone else’s? Walking in the flesh, rather than the spirit? We’ll never know, but we can learn from their error.

With all the noisome pestilence about us, it’s not always easy to stay Christ-focused, I admit. God has provided ways for us stay on high alert and in tune with us. Along with the baptism (Acts 2:38-39), in Jesus name and the gift of the Holy Ghost–which is our guide on the inside, reading God’s Word daily, committing it to memory and making an effort to practice living it will help us to hear God’s voice clearly. This way, we don’t follow a strange voice, but flee as Jesus said in John 10:5. Strange voices are full of trouble! The more we listen to God and practice following His word, the stranger the voice of the enemy will become.

Bottom line? As we journey on to our Heavenly destination, let us keep in mind that God gives wisdom liberally (James 1:5) and wants us to use it liberally. Some things we do can be recovered from, while others can be life-altering and regrettable. Every word, thought or deed has a consequence and rather than making fleshly decisions that will cause pain, grief and suffering, let us walk in the Spirit so we suffer for the cause of Christ, (rather than for our own foolishness) reap blessings, God be glorified through us and we go back with Him when He comes. Amen? Amen!!!

Thank you so much for stopping by! We LOVE interaction, so tell leaving a comment would be a good thing! To make it easier, think about answering these questions:

B) How do you stay focused on God through your day-to-day activities?

C) When is your favorite time to get with God and fellowship in prayer with Him 1 on 1?

U) Have you ever “skipped over” God’s voice and made a decision that took some time to recover from? (I know I have)! What did you learn?

Thanks for sharing your thoughts! 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 please 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 #StayOnTheWall!

29 Oct 201629 Oct 2016

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Room A203: Interview with Lisa Öhberg from Personal-Planner.com!

Hey there BCU Family!

DISCLAIMER: This is NOT a sponsored post, nor is there any affiliation with this wonderful company. All purchases were made with my own money and opinions expressed are my very own!

Are you NOW caught up in the planner frenzy like me?! Get caught up, I say! 🙂 Last podcast, I did a review on my planner from Personal-Planner.com, AND I posted a video review on YouTube as well. This podcast, I get the privilege of interviewing the marketing manager of this Swedish company, Lisa Öhberg!

Lisa @ Personal-planner.com

Planner de BlenCouragesU

Front page

Back cover

Monthly overview

Weekly view

Listen (click on the BlenCouragesU icon below) to the passion and conviction ooze from Lisa as she talks about this paper planner phenomenon! After you have listened and decided to buy a planner, get 15% off by using code 9-TEAM-BCU1 from September 14-23, 2016. Let us know you got one in the comments below!

Thanks for tuning in! May God bless, keep and make His face to shine upon you! Until we are together again #StayOnTheWall!

Love,

BCU

P.S. 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 and iTunes. You’ve already done that? Thanks! Then tell someone you love AND your enemy–I’m trusting they will soon become your friend! 🙂

14 Sep 201617 Sep 2016

BlenCouragesU2 Comments

Series: Gated community living! Lessons from Nehemiah chapter 3

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!

So…we have gotten a LOT of mileage out of a chapter that looked like it should be skipped! LOLOL! Just when you thought there was NOTHING else to talk about in Nehemiah 3, we have some interesting information here about the gates here.

gates-marked-1 — The ten very important gates of Nehemiah chap 3! Pic courtesy of FreeBibleImages.org

You really need your Bible as we’re going to skip through the chapter and talk through the importance of the gates that we rebuilt. Recall that they were burned by fire (Nehemiah 2:3) and with the wall, they needed replacing. The walls are for safety and protection and the gates keep the good in and the bad out. Let’s explore what these gates were and how they apply to us!

v1Then Eliashib the high priest rose up with his brethren the priests, and they builded the sheep gate; they sanctified it, and set up the doors of it; even unto the tower of Meah they sanctified it, unto the tower of Hananeel.

The sheep gate is where the shepards brought in sheep and lambs that were brought in for sacrifice. Who is our Lamb? Jesus. Are we His people and the sheep of His pasture? (Psalm 100:3). Yes! Is Jesus the good Shepard? Doesn’t Jesus tell us He is the door and if we enter in, we are saved and find pasture? Did nor He lay down His life for the sheep? (Read John chapter 10 for these references). We can see how this gate directly points to Jesus!

v3But the fish gate did the sons of Hassenaah build, who also laid the beams thereof, and set up the doors thereof, the locks thereof, and the bars thereof.

This gate is where the fishermen brought their catches in to be sold. After we have been saved, we are fishers of men (Matthew 4:19). Something to think about here, when one goes fishing, you have to use bait. What bait are we using? The Word of God or our words? Any words at all? More importantly, do our lifestyles line up with the Word of God? Titus 2:12 says we should deny ungodliness, worldly lusts, LIVE soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world. Your consistent Christ-like lifestyle is the “bait” the will draw people to Christ.

v6Moreover the old gate repaired Jehoiada the son of Paseah, and Meshullam the son of Besodeiah; they laid the beams thereof, and set up the doors thereof, and the locks thereof, and the bars thereof.

This represents the “old” or established way of salvation. Jesus made it plain. Repent. Be baptized every one in the name of Jesus and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost (Acts 2:38). Moreover, once we are saved, we should LIVE life as Jesus commands. Where do you start? Luke 10:27 says to love God with all your heart, soul and strength and mind and love your neighbor as yourself. That’s the law in two commandments. If you love the Lord, as you seek to please Him you will not intentionally, willfully and consistently practice sinning. On top of that, if you love your neighbor as yourself, (and yes, you do love yourself–you take time to bathe, eat, etc., that’s love), you won’t practice doing anything wrong to others. The Word of God makes it plain–no loopholes or “new”alternatives for living God’s way. “Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever” (Hebrew 13:8).

v13The valley gate repaired Hanun, and the inhabitants of Zanoah; they built it, and set up the doors thereof, the locks thereof, and the bars thereof, and a thousand cubits on the wall unto the dung gate.

There were several valleys surrounding Jerusalem and that reminds us that we will go through the valleys (tests, trials and tribulation) in this life. How do we conduct ourselves in the valley ? Some of these experiences can last for years. What are we doing in the valley? Who are we reaching? Who are we ministering to? How much prayer vs. complaining are we doing? While the valley experiences press you, the have a lesson (we need to ask God to show us what that is) and a purpose. “But the God of all grace, who has called us unto His eternal glory by Christ Jesus after you have suffered awhile, make you perfect, establish, strengthen and settle you” (I Peter 5:10).

v14But the dung gate repaired Malchiah the son of Rechab, the ruler of part of Beth–haccerem; he built it, and set up the doors thereof, the locks thereof, and the bars thereof.

This gate was where trash was dumped and burned. How does this apply to us? As we come out of the valley, and loading up on the Word, old ,tired, non Christ-like habits, attitudes and actions and thoughts are dumped or purged. Take away the dross from the silver and there shall come forth a vessel for the finer (Proverbs 25:4).

WHEW!!!! As we wrap up this podcast episode, we are reminded that God is awesome enough to speak to us in something as basic as a gate, yet leave us a powerful message and call to action. As we meditate on the Word, let’s work on applying what God said, so we can become more like Him. Amen? Amen!

Lord will, next time we are together, we’ll plan to go through the the remainder of the gates–you do NOT want to miss that!

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 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 #StayOnTheWall!

Love,

BCU