Encouragement for Today with Pastor Brandon Shanks
How to Make Marriage Work:
Stop trying to change people and allow God to change you. It makes all the difference in the world. It is futile when we spend our time, energy, and effort trying to change someone else. We don’t have control of what someone else does. However, we can allow God to change us!
We don’t have the power to control, but we always have the power to surrender.
A few years ago I went back to the house where I lived as a small child. I was in the area for a family reunion and wanted to show my wife the house that I grew up in. It was a mansion in my mind. I remembered it to be so big. Much to my surprise it was not as big as I remembered it to be. The house was the same size. What was the difference? I had grown up. However, my memories had not. I was still seeing that house in my mind from a 4 year-old’s perspective.
Memories must be managed.
If we always let our mind run wild and live in the past we will miss the future that God has prepared for our lives.
One of the reasons the Children of Israel missed out on The Promised Land is because they did not manage their memories. Shortly after being delivered from Egypt and crossing the the Red Sea they said this:
The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died by the LORD’s hand in Egypt! There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death.” (Exodus 16:3)
They remembred Egypt incorrectly. They remembered the food that they ate but conveniently forgot one very important detail about Egypt: They were slaves!
It is so easy for us to do this with people; especially those we are closest to. We build mansions in our mind of the past mistakes of others instead of choosing grattitude.
Paul said to the people of the Philippian Church, “Every time I THINK of you, I give thanks to my God.” (Philippians 1:3)
There were a lot of things he could have focused on. His assignment at Philipi was a very difficult one with a lot of pain. However he refused to focus on the memories of the pain and rather chose to be grateful for the people in his life.
He chose to remember the best and give God the rest.
Who do you need to say thank you to today?
What painful memories do you need to give to God today?
There is something about the perfect song played at the perfect moment. Certain songs serve as bridges that take me back to moments from the past. The right song can bring tears to your eyes and hope to your heart.
Just look at Paul and Silas in Acts 16. They were in prison and the time was nearing midnight. In the middle of this dark moment Paul and Silas begin to sing. We don’t know what song they were singing but as they sang a miracle and the clock struck midnight; the foundations of the prison were shaken, all of the doors to the prison were open, and not only they were loosed, but every prisoner was set free. Talk about the perfect song, sang at the perfect moment.
I believe we’re in an uncertain prison-moment as a planet. Everyone is imprisoned together and the night is dark.
We need a midnight miracle, and I believe it’s on the way! Here are some thoughts about how Paul & Silas experienced their miracle.
Can you imagine what the scene would be if Paul and Silas couldn’t agree on the song to sing that night? What would it have been like if Paul decided to sing one song and Silas decided to sing another? Not only would they have confused the other prisoners, I believe there would have been no midnight miracle.
That begs the question: What song are you singing right now?
A divided world needs a united Church. Our world needs hope; the hope that we have in Christ! This is our song. The temptation is to sing a song about the inconvenience of the prison or the darkness of the night. But these kind of songs cannot shake foundations and break chains. However, when we sing about Jesus together our world begins to change. People find hope, jailers are saved, churches are started. Hope is given!
Our song is “Jesus!”
They sang so loud that the prisoners heard them!
You have a captive audience right now. We’re all in this same prison of 2020 and it’s time to sing the song of “JESUS” so loud that prisoners her it. This is not the time to be quiet. This is not the time to be timid! You have a song that can shake foundations! Let’s get loud!
Let’s sing “Jesus”
Let’s post about “Jesus”
Let’s tell our neighbors about “Jesus”
What would it look like if we just flooded the prison with the song all about Jesus?
I’m not very good at harmonizing when I sing. It is something I really have to work at! My wife, on the other hand, is so great at it! She makes me sound good when I sing! Her harmony is beautiful.
A few years ago I asked her how she harmonizes. She told me the following:
To harmonize you have to listen. To harmonize you have to know your part. To harmonize you have to appreciate the beauty of someone else’s voice. To harmonize you can’t overpower. To harmonize you have to seek to complement the other person’s voice and not compete with their voice.
What is so powerful about believers singing? The beauty is in the harmony. The beauty is that a diverse group of people can come together to sing the same thing but still retain their uniqueness. Everyone comes together from every walk of life to add their voice to the song.
So what’s the power of a song? It is the power to shake the foundations of the prison and set captives free. Let’s sing it today! This is our finest hour Church! We were made for this hour! Let’s sing the song of “Jesus” together at the top of our lungs and watch the doors swing open!
2000 years ago a song in a Philippian jail cell shook the earth. I think it’s time for the earth to shake again! What do you say!?
#InThisTogether
Let’s take a moment to talk about some practical applications from yesterday’s message “The Water Way” 8.24.20
Watch the message from Sunday at www.cityhills.com
I have had a lot of conversations lately that began with someone asking me, “Have you seen the news today?”
We are surrounded by a lot of news lately.
Most of the headlines are written to cause us to have an emotional response.
Fear, dread, anxiety, terror, and hate.
There is a higher reality – a higher news – and the headlines are emotional as well, but different emotions.
Hope, joy, peace, love, and rest!
Have you seen the news today?
It’s good news! Jesus is on the throne and we win!
#GoodNews #WeWin
JesusIsOurMessage
Are you going through a battle right now? A few years ago I heard the story of an American soldier during World War 2 who was having a difficult time in the middle of the battle.
While fighting in the South Pacific he wrote a letter to his father back home in America. In his letter he described the horrors around him, named fallen comrades, and told of daily dangers. He closed his letter with this question, “Dad, please write me back and tell me who is winning the war.”
Isn’t that like us? We are so much in the middle of the battle that we don’t know if we are winning or losing. What do you do when you feel overwhelmed?
Talk to your Father.
Like this soldier reaching out to his Dad, we have access to our Father who sees our battle from a different vantage point.
After this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven. And the voice I had first heard speaking to me like a trumpet said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.”
Revelation 4:1
That door is still open today. When we enter that door through prayer we will see the battle from a new perspective… from heavens point of view.
From heaven’s point of view, your greatest mistakes can be redeemed and become your greatest message. From heaven’s point of view the people that seem to be harming you are actually propelling you to your destiny!
Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy: when I fall, I shall arise; when I sit in darkness, the LORD shall be a light unto me.
– Micah 7:8
I want to encourage someone today, get up again! Trust God again. Take a step of faith again. Get back into the battle. Stay faithful!
We may be in the midst of the battle and forget God’s faithfulness. You may even lose some ground from time to time.
But in the end… WE WIN!
Let’s take a moment to talk about some practical applications from yesterday’s message “When Jesus Said No.” 8.17.20 #MountainsMove
Watch the full message here.
The God of the High Endeavor
Gave me a torch to bear.
I lifted it high above me
In the dark and murky air;
And straightway with loud hosannas
The crowd proclaimed its light
And followed me as I carried my torch
Through the starless night,
Till drunk with people’s praises
And mad with vanity
I forgot ’twas the torch they followed
And fancied they followed me.
Then slowly my arm grew weary
Upholding the shining load
And my tired feet went stumbling
Over the dusty road.
I fell with the torch beneath me.
In a moment the light was out.
When lo! from the throng a stripling
Sprang forth with a mighty shout,
Caught up the torch as it smoldered,
And lifted it high again,
Till fanned by the winds of heaven,
It fired the souls of men.
And as I lay in the darkness
The feet of the trampling crowd
Passed over and far beyond me,
Its paeans proclaimed around,
And I learned in the deepening twilight
This glorious verity,
‘Tis the torch that the people follow,
Whoever the bearer may be.
—Author unknown
The Fall Semester of Small Groups are almost here! Listen in on a conversation that I had this week with Chris Brewer about the launch of our Fall Semester of Small Groups at City Hills. #InThisTogether
Interested in leading a group? Join us for one of the upcoming Fall Small Group Leader Orientations… This Saturday at 10:00am in the Loft at City Hills and also online via Zoom (Meeting ID: 8652912393) No need to sign up, you can just show up.
For More information visit www.cityhills.com/groups