Righteously Redeemed

August 28, 2020 Getting a glow stick when I was younger was a rare treat.  There wasn't a dollar tree around the corner.    Amazon and the internet didn't yet exist either.  The only place that I can remember they were readily available was at concert type events or at the local skating rink.   I loved them!  To open the package and know you are about to see it miraculously glow a neon green, pink or blue, was such fun anticipation.   I think everyone knows how to use them, but just in case. You open up the package, break it in 1-2 places and then you shake it up!  It's at this moment, and ONLY then will it light up. Brightly, the light shines and can be seen from across the room.   Y'all, We are glow sticks!  I know that sounds crazy, but it's true.   We, like a glow stick, have great potential to shine our light to the world by reflecting the light of Jesus.  What we don't always or even want to realize is that in order to do...

Whew!  We have tons of things going on right now, don't we?   So many things we need to think about, so many things that are concerning or needing our attention!   Magnify :  make (something) appear larger  The other day, my husband was talking about how we need to magnify our God.  That HE is already big, but we need to make him larger for our own eyes, for our own problems!   I thought to myself—if that’s what it means, then you can magnify anything.    Candidly, I realize I do this with lots of areas in my life. Sometimes the things that I magnify or "make larger" are my problems, my hurts, my insecurities etc.  The fact that I sit and think about them is exactly like putting a magnifying glass on them. Because in all truth, I am making a choice to make them appear larger.  Notice I didn't say make them larger in reality.  No!  I said appear larger.  That's what a magnifying glass does.  It makes th...

Hello, McFly?   Where are you? Have you ever had anyone ask you that that was in the same room with you, and maybe even sitting right next to you.  You seem “distracted" I’ve been there, and I’m sure at some point you have too.  Question? Why is it a measure of success to be able to do three or four things at once? I’ll even go further to ask, Why, is it that it’s almost criminal to only be thinking about what you’re doing right then and NOT on what is coming next ?   Who told us that, that’s what is “normal?”  Well I can’t get it all done if I don’t Brandi? My boss is making me do four or  five things at once.  It’s what is expected of me. It’s what I have to do.  I get the pressures and busyness of life  and the need to add more and more to our already full plate. Is it beneficial though?  Here’s a confession that led me to God’s word for the year: Intentionality.  To be deliberate.   I seriously loathe having...

Follower of Christ Friday  by: Brandi M. Bell  Have you ever went hiking?  When you approached the bottom of a big hill or mountain did you stop  to prepare for it before beginning?  You know what's coming because you just came down the back side of the previous mountain!  Man, that climb!!... you have to start out by first making up your mind to do it!  You start on the trek up with one set of muscles engaged, you get hot, sweaty even.  However, you keep going, not looking back, just continuing to climb.  Higher and higher until eventually you get there.   AH Victory!  You've done it!  You are exhausted, your muscles burn in agony, but you are at the top!   You take a moment to celebrate the view for a few minutes, maybe even seconds, before going down to continue on to the next ascension.   What I want to highlight here without trying to sound too much like a Miley Cyrus song, is we don't appreciate the actual climb...