Posted by: trbccoffeebreak | March 11, 2011

What Mess?

“So then, do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.”  Ephesians 5:17 (NAS)

One day, my four year old son took the liberty of digging out a few movies.  When I came into the room, I howled, “Aidan! Look at all these DVD’s, what a mess!”  He surveyed the damage, and then quipped: “But Mom, it’s not a mess—it’s a STRAIGHT line!”   To my surprise, he was right.  The DVD’s were all lined up in a perfect row.    I had viewed his labor as an irritation, whereas he was proud of his work.  All I needed was a little adjustment on my perspective.

I wonder sometimes if we aren’t that way with God.  When things are “out of line” in our lives, it’s easy to feel like we can’t possibly be in the center of His will.  But being in God’s will doesn’t mean that life will be perfect—God often uses those rocky roads as a way to draw us closer to Him.  We will have trials and tribulations in this life, there’s no doubt about it.  But when they happen, what are we going to do, gripe —or ask God for a new perspective?   That “mess” in our lives is not really a mess!   It’s a straight line that leads right to the Kingdom of Heaven.   And sometimes understanding the will of the Lord is as simple as just submitting to His sovereignty when the road of life gets rough and wearisome.

“Lord, please help us all to see our muddled lives as a straight path into Your perfect will.”

For His Glory

Ruby Sand
TRBC Coffee Break

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Posted in Faith, Spiritual Living

Posted by: trbccoffeebreak | March 10, 2011

Resting In Him

“Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him.” Psalm 37:7 (NKJV)

I love to go home. I live in Virginia,  but my family,  dad, sister,  etc. are all in Kentucky. When I need a pick me up or a long weekend, I like to hit the road and head to Kentucky. It is an eight hour drive from here, and many times I get home and realize I didn’t turn the radio on one time. If you ever see me coming down the road, I am usually singing or talking. I like to talk to God and spend time with Him during my drive. Why? Because it is quiet…there is nothing that distracts me, and I can just listen.

Sometimes we look for God in the wrong places. We assume there has to be a huge choir singing or we look for God in thunder,  lightning, trumpets and billowing smoke. That is not always God’s way. God can speak anyway He chooses, but sometimes He wants us to stop and really listen so He will whisper.  But don’t you find that the hardest thing to do is to be quiet and listen. We don’t like silence. We’d rather be doing anything than sitting still, so we immerse ourselves in noise and activity and wonder why we didn’t hear from God. God should not have to shout to be heard.

King David, who is known as a man after God’s own heart, knew the secret of silence. As a boy, he spent many hours in solitude, listening to God’s voice, while the sheep grazed in the meadows. His advice –  “Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for Him.”  (Psalm 37:7)

“Lord, help me to stay still and listen to what You are trying to tell me.   Thank You for always speaking and leading me in Your path. “

For His Glory

Melissa Tucker
TRBC Coffee Break

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Posted in Spiritual Living, Worship

Posted by: trbccoffeebreak | March 9, 2011

Jars of Clay

“But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.” 2 Corinthians 4:7 (NIV)

I have always loved the analogy of being a piece of clay that has been molded by the potter’s hand (God). He molds us and shapes us into the image that He deems best, which means we are made in all shapes, sizes, and colors. Even though we are made differently, we are all used for His purposes.  Filled with the Spirit of God, we can be poured into the lives of others to do His will.

For this to be successful, we must be completely empty to our selfish desires. A song that portrays this beautifully is “Empty Me” by Chris Sligh. The chorus could be used as a simple prayer to God showing our desire to be emptied out for Him.

Empty me
Of the selfishness inside
Every vain ambition
And the poison of my pride
And any foolish thing my heart holds to
Lord empty me of me
So I can be
Filled with you

“Dear God, Help us to be completely emptied, so we can be vessels used for Your purpose. Fill us with Your spirit and will only.”

For His Glory

Katrina Redman
TRBC Coffee Break

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Posted in Spiritual Living

Posted by: trbccoffeebreak | March 8, 2011

Faithful One

“What I feared has come upon me; what I dreaded has happened to me.”  Job 3:25 (NIV)

Deep within our souls is a secret place –  the place where no one enters where our hearts are tender and vulnerable.  Uncovered that place reveals the longings of our heart and the fears seeking to overwhelm us.  And it is in that secret place we sense the dread, the caution of the road that lies ahead.  Fear – just four letters tied together – yet powerful enough to impact our decisions and short circuit our joy.  Many navigate this path each waking moment; the undying dread of things to come.  Fear of letting go, fear of familiarity, fear of failure, fear of not hearing God’s voice, fear of hearing yet running away, and fear of losing it all.  It was those words that Job uttered when his fingers were loosed of everything in His life.  Total devastation stood at his doorstep and lingered for more than a day.  And as Job navigated those deep waters swelling well above his own understanding, God saw the deep secret places of his soul.  God knew the place where Job’s heart was tender and as fear overwhelmed him, God proved Himself to be the Faithful One.  What Job had heard and known for years became alive and vibrant before his eyes.  Our lives today are no different; we navigate deep waters, gasping for just a breath of air.  We ride the winds of uncertainty dreading what lies around the next turn.  But when we exchange fear for trust, we realize we are never alone.   Uncovered in that secret place is a soul desperately clinging, forever hoping in her Faithful One!

“Father, when fear assaults us may You find us faithfully trust in You – You are more than enough for all that we need!”

For His Glory

Janet Martin
TRBC Coffee Break

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Posted in Faith, Hope

Posted by: trbccoffeebreak | March 7, 2011

Soul to Soul

“And never stop praying.”  I Thess. 5:17 (CEV)

Is there an ongoing conversation with God throughout your day?  When asked about  your personal prayer life, what comes to mind?  Communication with God is based around our prayer life.  Think about a best friend –  is there daily communication, weekly, monthly with that person?  How about with God?  The more time we spend sharing and talking with someone, the stronger the relationship.  When struggles come, we all have prayer warriors who we call for prayer.  What a blessing it is to be our own prayer warrior or to be the one called.  One word at a time, one sentence –  right now we can whisper it to Him; He is listening.  Prayer doesn’t have to only happen in a quiet still place.  It can be in the car during the commute to work or picking up the kids from school.  It can be while walking down the grocery isle or while waiting in the drive thru for breakfast, lunch, and/or dinner.  God is always there, and He can’t wait to hear about our day good or bad.  He wants to laugh with us and hold us while we cry.  It’s an ongoing conversation that never ends.

“Father thank You for always being available.  Thank You for never screening Your calls.  Teach me to have more consistent conversations with You.

For His Glory

Debbie Struble
TRBC Coffee Break

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Posted in Spiritual Living

Posted by: trbccoffeebreak | March 4, 2011

Lukewarm..

“So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth.” Revelation 3:16 (NIV)

If I’m drinking water it has to be ice cold. I cannot stand lukewarm water, and if I drink it my stomach will complain. Likewise, God doesn’t want us to be lukewarm Christians.  Settling into a comfortable spiritual life, we can find ourselves losing the love and joy of our salvation. It’s very easy to settle into one set routine for our quite time or get settled into one type of Bible study. When we do this, we are in danger of getting bored and not wanting to do anything at all. The other danger is we are missing out on how God wants to grow our spiritual life and how He wants to use us. Rather than be satisfied with the same old same old, we need to seek new excitement each day in our walk with God. The change God has made in our lives was life changing, but it wasn’t just a one time event. It’s a new lifestyle that will constantly change and get even better. We just have to be willing to up our spiritual temperature from lukewarm to hot.

“Dear God, Show us how to increase the temperature of our walk with You. Give us a new desire each day to know You more in a different way.”

For His Glory

Katrina Redman
TRBC Coffee Break

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Posted in Uncategorized

Posted by: trbccoffeebreak | March 3, 2011

Running On Empty

“…put them all aside: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive speech from your mouth.” Colossians 3:8  (NASB)

One day someone did something that made me angry—really angry.  I tried just “getting over it,” but that didn’t work.  I tried talking to my husband, but that was no good.   Invariably, I went right back to my seething.    As the afternoon dragged itself into view, I realized I needed a little help, so I very “humbly” started to pray.

I told God (not very nicely) that if He wanted me to have any patience at all—He would have to give it to me.   After all, my “tank” was empty, the “gas light” was on, and I was running on fumes!  I then took a deep breath, opened my Bible, and started to read.   How uncanny that my fingers flipped right to Colossians 3:8, which told me to put aside my anger and wrath.   How remarkable that vs. 12 told me to put on a heart of kindness, humility, and patience.   And how interesting that vs. 13 said to bear with one another and forgive just as the Lord had forgiven me!

Wow.   God had used His word to soften my heart and gently rebuke me.   My demanding prayer swiftly changed to a more humble one.   I then thanked God for His patience with me.  The next time someone lights a fire in my engine, I will ask the Lord immediately to fill me with grace.  Furthermore, I believe the Lord wants me to start my day with quiet time in His word, so that I can be filled with His Spirit and not “running on empty” before the day has even begun!

“Dear Lord, thank You for extending grace to me.  Help me now to extend grace to others.”

For His Glory

Ruby Sand
TRBC Coffee Break

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Posted in Uncategorized

Posted by: trbccoffeebreak | March 2, 2011

Genuine Friends

“Then Jeremiah took another scroll and gave it to Baruch the scribe, the son of Neriah, who wrote on it at the instruction of Jeremiah all the words of the book which Jehoiakim king of Judah had burned in the firs.  And besides, there were added to them many similar words.” Jeremiah 36:32 (NKJV)

I love my friends! I love hanging out with them, laughing with them, and sometimes crying with them. All my friends are different. Not all of them enjoy shopping or sitting around to people watch. But I have a friend who I can always count on to support me as I seek to obey God! Whenever I’m ready to give up or throw in the towel, my friend reminds me of God’s love and His provisions.  Not all of my friends are like this. With some of them, if the cost is too high, their advice is to give up. While reading my devotions (Jeremiah 36:32),  I learned about Jeremiah and his friends. Jeremiah was a prophet who had to tell the King he would be defeated and his family would be killed –  not a fun message to deliver. But Jeremiah had one friend, Baruch, who encouraged him to do what God commanded. Baruch wrote down God’s message to the people of Judah as Jeremiah dictated it. When the king had Baruch’s work destroyed, a lesser of a friend would have given up and encouraged him to give up too, but not Baruch. Jeremiah dictated the letter again, and Baruch wrote it all over again even though he knew his life was at risk for helping Jeremiah.

Do you have a friend like Baruch? Do we appreciate the friend who encourages us to do the right thing? Are we that type of friend?

“Lord, thank You for the friend that You have provided to encourage me and help me when I need it.  But more importantly, Lord, thank YOU for being that friend that is closer than a brother.”

For His Glory

Melissa Tucker
TRBC Coffee Break

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Posted in Uncategorized

Posted by: trbccoffeebreak | March 1, 2011

Share The News

“This is the beginning of the Good News about Jesus Christ, the Son of God as the prophet Isaiah wrote.”  Mark 1:1 (NCV)

John the Baptist was sent before Jesus to share the Good News that was prophesied in the Old Testament.  We are here to share the Good News of what has happened and of what is yet to come when Jesus takes His bride to Heaven.  Those living in Old Testament times probably had a hard time wrapping their minds around Jesus coming to live on earth. They didn’t have a full grasp of the miracles that would be performed or how brutally He would suffer for us.   Likewise, we have a hard time wrapping our minds around Jesus coming on a White Horse from Heaven. Capturing His bride, He will take us as Christians to live forever with Him in Heaven.  We don’t have a full grasp of the mansions and just exactly what streets of gold will look like.  What will it be like to sit at His feet, sing praises and worship Him forever?  What awe this brings to my mind – such beauty and magnificence.  As we truly focus on the things to come it brings such an urgency to share with others.  How can we let our family, friends, neighbors, co-workers miss out?  Why aren’t we shouting off the rooftops of our houses the joy that is to come?  We should be sharing the Good News with all we come in contact with that our Savior is Christ the Lord.  Let’s live our lives differently; let’s shout the joy we have.

“Father, thank You for sending Your Son for me.  Give me the courage to live my life boldly shouting from the rooftops about You.”

For His Glory,

Debbie Struble
TRBC Coffee Break

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Posted in Encouragement, Hope, Spiritual Living

Posted by: trbccoffeebreak | February 25, 2011

Temporary Home

“For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”  2 Corinthians 4:17-18 (NIV)

Have you ever noticed how restless you get with your home after a few months? Suddenly it’s time to change the way the furniture is arranged or maybe paint a room a different color. Sometimes the home that seemed to be the perfect place just doesn’t feel right anymore. As children of God, we are restless for a purpose.  We aren’t home yet, and this is just our temporary place to live until we reach our eternal heavenly home. I love Carrie Underwood’s song “Temporary Home,” because it’s a great reminder that this is just a place we are passing through.

“This is my temporary home. It’s not where I belong. Windows and rooms that I’m passin’ through. This is just a stop, on the way to where I’m going. I’m not afraid because I know this is my Temporary Home.”

Not only is our home temporary, so are the troubles we struggle with on a daily basis. Underneath all the struggles, we are laying the path to eternity. What we are going through now will not last forever, however, time spent with God in heaven will.

“Dear God, Thank You for preparing our eternal home in heaven for us. As the days get weary here on earth, remind us that this is only temporary.”

For His Glory

Katrina Redman
TRBC Coffee Break

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Posted in Encouragement, Hope

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