Righteously Redeemed

Follower of Christ Friday  by Brandi Bell  I have back surgery in 5 days as I write this.   I have had surgery before, 3 c-sections for my babies, but never anything like this.   Over the past 2 months you know what I have determined?  I don't have any control over this situation.      I can't medicate myself.  I can't exercise to be better.  I have been to different types of health care providers, and unfortunately they can only offer temporary fixes.  No, nothing I can personally do will make my back better. I have to have this surgery.  Before the news that I would need this, I had in my mind if I could do blank, or if they could do that, then I could handle it.  Really what I was saying is that I could CONTROL it!                 When the surgeon said "You have done everything else, surgery is the only option now."    A sense of peace came over me.  I would normall...

 A Follower of Christ Friday Blog Post  As I write this, I find myself in the midst of a storm, one concerning my health with my back.  A dear friend of mine was taking me to my appointment with a Physical Therapist yesterday when I expressed concerns I had about several areas regarding treatments.  Who should I choose as a doctor? What medicines, if any should I take?  How to pay for these services etc?  You know the typical stuff you think about when you are dealing with health stuff.  She then pulls out the verse that I have quoted numerous times while ministering to others.   And my God  shall supply all your needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:19  How many times do we remind ourselves or others of this truth when we are in need of something?   It's definitely a favorite verse of mine, but when she quoted it to me right in the midst of my thought process it flicked a light on in my brain. ...

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...

NOT GUILTY Follower of Christ Friday  By: Guest Blogger, Pastor Doug Bell What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. What can make me whole again? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. Most of us have sung this song yet struggle to earn forgiveness. Most of us have sung this song, yet struggle with grief, guilt and condemnation. We struggle so much living forgiven, that we make others earn our forgiveness. You see, whenever we think we must earn God’s forgiveness, we will force others to earn ours. This is a sure sign we haven’t received forgiveness, but are in a sense making payments on a debt that was cancelled a long time ago. As difficult as it can be to understand, Christ blood washed our 21st century sins away a couple thousand years before they were committed. Some of us struggle to realize the sin stronghold we have today, is therefore, not our sin! 1 Peter 2:24 says it this way, “He himself bore our sins” in his body on the cross...”.  Christ took our sin u...