We're all searching

From the time I was a child, I know I have been seeking for love to fill my life and heart. I looked everywhere....my parents, school, my brother. I knew there was something out there that could make me FEEL good. There was a void in my life. Later on, I sought for it in relationships, business, money, bars, alcohol, pretty much everywhere. I looked into new age religions....still nothing.

You see, everywhere I looked, my life still felt so empty. It was just a feeling....my life was empty. I was trying to fill this void in my heart and life with everything else. I remember one day, it happened! I finally found it!!!!! However, I didn't find anything.....it was Jesus, and HE found me! The entire time, I was looking and searching, HE was chasing me. How cool is our Lord? While I was searching everywhere else, He was waiting and paving the road directly to HIM.

I can't describe the feelings I had when I was saved. It was truly amazing. One quick story....my mom left this world during this past summer. My mom loved shopping. I mean, really loved shopping. I don't think I have ever met anyone who enjoyed as much as she did. While Jesus wants us to enjoy things on this earth....they don't make us who we are. She had quite a bit of fun shopping over the years, which is really great. However, do you think she misses any of that stuff? Please don't misunderstand me, I think it's cool to enjoy things in life. However, there truly is only that ONE thing that matters. It's our relationship with Jesus Christ. You see, my mom is spending eternity in Heaven. Things of this earth are very short lived, while our relationship with Jesus is eternal.

Good things in, good things out

Have you ever noticed when we you put put good things in, good things generally come out? When bad things go in, bad things generally come out? It doesn't matter if it is your car, your home, relationships, body or mind. If I eat junk all the time, I become fat and don't feel good physically or about myself. If I put bad gas into my car or don't properly maintain it, it will fall apart. If I mistreat others, or am not nice to them, they in turn will not be nice to me. This all seems like common sense right?

Why do we constantly put negative and bad things into our minds by selling out to the rest of the world? The stuff on TV today is mostly junk. Please understand I am not saying everything is bad. There are some great shows and wonderful info on the web. However, I know how easy it is to say "it's ok, because it is only entertainment". But is it really? Think about shows like Desperate Housewives. I have never seen it, nor will I ever. But seriously, is this show going to teach you how to be a better wife or husband? I can't imagine it would. So much of the television and internet is nothing other than glorifying others, money, sex, drugs, and other things we shouldn't want anything to do with. If God isn't in it, satan is. Life always seems to become tougher when we allow satan to come into our lives. So if we continue to allow these things into our minds, we won't become the people Jesus called us to be.

I would like to challenge you to keep from watching such bad TV, listening to negative music, and staying away from impure things on the web. Let's see how different things will become if you avoid it for 3 weeks. You can do anything for 3 weeks! Let's see how different your mind starts viewing the world. I believe you will be pleasantly surprised.

God bless,
Brandon

Love is...

Love is amazing. Love does not brag nor does it boast. It is perfect. Love is patient and kind. It has no concept of what is yours and what is mine. It is everlasting. It never fades. It never falters or waivers. It is steady and strong.

Love is truly amazing. I love my wife with all of my heart and soul. She means everything to me. I could never put into words the way I feel for her. The most beautiful words would not come close to describing my love for her. When we got married, we became one. One heart, one love. Everything I do, I do while thinking of her.

Knowing how much I love my wife astounds me. Why?? Because Jesus loves us more. He gave His life for us. He died for our sins so we could spend eternity with him. Do you realize how amazing this is? He knew that we could not do enough "right" things to get to heaven, so He paid the price for all of us. He died on the cross. He only asked one thing in return....to call Him Lord and Savior of our lives.

Pretty cool huh?

God bless,
Brandon

That one thing...

What would you say if everything you were searching for is searching you? I know, it sounds a bid strange huh? I have had so many times in my life when I was seaching for love. I remember growing up constantly searching for love and approval. I would do anything to get my parents attention.

Later in life I was searching for that one thing. I looked for it in the bars and clubs, relationships, women, alcohol, drugs, money. I kept searching for something that would fill the void in my heart. The problem was the fact that I had no idea what I was searching for. Looking back, it was absolutely impossible to find that thing that was needed to fill the void when I had no clue what it was! Think about that for a second... what if I dropped you off in the desert and said go find ______ and left you there? You probably would be screaming "come back, what do you want me to find??!!" You would never know if you found it or not.

So what's the one thing? Jesus. The coolest thing is that He was chasing me my entire life while I was searching. No matter where I was looking, He was there waiting for me. For those of us who know Him, it wasn't us who found Him, He found us! He chose us. How amazing is that? His love is so awesome and so amazing that it was everything I was looking for and more. My life had a whole new meaning.

God bless,
Brandon

Judging Others

Have you ever judged others? I know I have....sometimes it seems like it's a daily occurence. I find myself saying this person shouldn't be doing this or can you believe this person did that? I mean, I wouldn't have done it THAT way! The list goes on and on.
Jesus talked about how we're worried about the speck in someone else's eye when we have a plank in our own eye. How true this is. I am the furthest thing from perfect....all you have to do is ask my wife. Seriously, I am not perfect. None of us are. So what gives? Why am I constantly judging others when I should be focused on my mistakes? Does it make me feel better to say, "I can't believe they are doing that"? Does this one thing make me feel like my shortcomings are ok? Maybe.
The day will come when Jesus will judge us by the same measure we judged others... I need to make a change today!! It's time to get focused on what I need to be doing differently and not so worried about everyone else in the world. How much better would we all be if we were able to focus on our own issues and not everyone else's? Can you imagine how happy we would all be?

Miss you Mom

If someone would have told me that 5 years ago, I would be here writing this I would have told them they're crazy. It seems like yesterday that I would run into my mom's bed when I had a bad dream. I can remember falling down on my skateboard and busting my legs up and mom could make everything better. She was the one that would always make everything better. She didn't always tell me what I wanted to hear, but I couldn't be where I am today without her.

Growing up in the insurance business, we had talked about the day when one of us wouldn't be here anymore. I never thought at 56 she would pass away. She died from lung cancer....a disease that is killing more people than ever before. Please quit if you smoke! Don't do this to your loved ones. I spent the weekend with here before she passed and it was the best visit in a very long time. We talked about the Lord, the future, how my brother and I married two great women, how blessed I was to have a great stepdad, how that everything she was trying to teach me growing up was coming to be. I was lucky enough to be able to talk to her twice the day she passed. I thank God everyday for that. I know she is in heaven waiting on her loved ones to come...

If you have someone in your life that you need to say something to...say it NOW! You truly never know the last time you'll speak to them. If you don't know whether you are going to heaven or not...please turn your life over to Jesus. I cannot tell you what a wonderful thing it is to know I will be able to spend eternity in heaven with Him.

So mom, I miss you every day that passes. I'll keep you in my heart until we meet again in heaven. You visit me in my sleep every now and then....you've still got that great smile. However, there is one big difference...you can breathe! It brings a smile and tears to my eyes when I see you running in my sleep. There aren't anymore days struggling to get to the kitchen or up the stairs. You are able to so many things you haven't been able to do in quite some time. I know that these aren't just my dreams...but your life in heaven.

I will remember everything you ever taught me....even things you didn't know you were doing. You made a very large impression on my life, and I hope that I am able to bring smiles to people's faces the way you did. Until next time....I love you mom.

Something to think about

What would you do in the next 24 hours if you knew you were going to die? I have asked myself this question dozens of times over the years. Really, what would you do? At first, I thought I might want to go skydiving (for those of you who know me.... know that isn't me), or I would want to go drive my dream car, spend time with my wife, and the list goes on. However when I really think about it... I would tell everyone about Jesus.

Guess what? We are dying. When we are born, our bodies are beginning to die. I know that's a little crazy to think about, but it's true. Who knows when our time on this earth is up? God does. If you would have told me 7 years ago that my mother would die of lung cancer on June 20, 2007, I would have told you that you you were crazy. Jesus knew. He knew that was the day that he wanted to bring my mother to home with Him forever. Everything she accomplished in her life came to a closing on that day. Everything except eternal things. It will for all of us. Try to think about living to 100 years old...seems old huh? Try comparing that to a zillion years. You didn't come close to eternity. Comparing 100 years to eternity is impossible. The key here is simple. If we thought we were going to die tomorrow...would we waste our precious time on things that were short lived or would we pour ourselves into something that would have eternal value? I'd like to take the eternal values. What a crazy thing to really think about huh?

God Bless,
Brandon

Trusting myself or trusting the Lord?

Do I put more trust into myself than Jesus? I would like to say no way! I would like to think that all Christians put MUCH more trust into Jesus than we do ourselves....however I know better. I run a business that I am constantly asking myself, what do I need to do to improve this or improve that? What if this happens? What if revenue is only this? What if, what if, what if?!?!?!?!

Sometimes I forget that God is in complete control. I know bad things happen, but I know Satan was put here to rule and reign until Jesus returns. I also know that Satan is on God's leash and he can only cause so much harm. I cannot forget that the Lord knows exactly what is going on and is NEVER going to let me down. He will never falter. He will never fall short of absolute perfection. How crazy am I to ever question what He is doing. It's absurd to think that I "know" how things should happen.

Are you having financial trouble? Let me ask you another question....if I gave you $10 million tax free right now, would your worries go away?

If yes, you said the thing most of us would say....we have more trust in the cash than our savior, Jesus Christ. How insane is that? He promised us our needs would be met. My goal is to place all my trust and faith in Him and know in my soul that He will never let me down.

God bless,
Brandon

Was Jesus the Son of God?

Was Jesus the Son of God? It's a question that I know so many people have asked themselves for many years. In fact, it was a question I asked for a period of time. I searched through every religion under the sun looking for the answer.

I first had to ask myself....do I believe Jesus actually existed? The answer was yes. I know it has been proven by many historians that Jesus from Nazareth was a real man and did in fact walk this earth. I think most of us have generally have always believed in his existence.

Do you believe Jesus was a great teacher? Most everyone would agree that He was a very kind, humble, gentle, honest, and moral teacher. That brings us to the question if Jesus was the Son of God.... either he was in fact who he said he was, or he was the craziest man that has ever lived!!!!!!! Think about this for a moment. What if someone came around today and claimed to be the Son of God? He would be thrown into the looney bin! Not only was He claiming to be the Son of God, but He was healing the sick, raising the dead, and walking on water. He even had the audacity to say in John 14:6 "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes through the Father except through Me".

I guess this brings us to the crossroads where you need to decide if Jesus is who He said He was, or was a raving lunatic.