BRANDON J. SUTTON
  • Home
  • About Brandon
  • Professional Experience
  • Redemption Blog
  • Books
  • Contact

Overcoming Adversity

5/30/2019

4 Comments

 
Picture
“And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.” 1 Peter 5:10
 
Two days after my 33rd Birthday I was arrested for a crime I did not commit. I spent two and a half days in county jail, placed on indefinite house arrest, lost my daughter for two weeks, lost my job, health insurance and financial security. Anxiety, fear, worry and depression overtook me. I began to question my existence and felt embarrassed, worthless and forgotten by God. Yet, though He slay me, still will I hope in Him. For I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.
 
You may be battling a situation that feels hopeless and think God has abandoned you, but consider it pure joy whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. Overcoming adversity will require you to have faith, be thankful and change.
 
Faith: When facing adversity, we often take refuge into our own carnality – into things that give us temporary satisfaction (food, sex, clothes, alcohol, drugs, gossip, etc.). Those things only pre-long our suffering. To overcome adversity, we must place our faith in God. For we know that He causes all things (good and bad) to work together for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose for them. God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble. It may take longer than you expect but have faith that God will provide and take care of you. Those who trust in the LORD will find new strength. They will soar high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint.
 
Thankfulness: In times of great adversity, seek, praise and thank God. Your thankfulness is pleasing to God and will confuse the enemy. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God and thank Him for all He has done. So, thank God when you get the job and praise God if you lose it. Thank God for the new relationship and praise God if it ends. Thank God in the delivery room and praise God at the gravesite. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.
 
Change: Overcoming adversity will require you to change. Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect. Your adversity is an opportunity to grow closer to God. Use tough and difficult times as an opportunity to transform your thinking and way of life so you’re prepared when God elevates you. What you suffer now is nothing compared to the glory He will reveal to you later.  
 
My hardships were good for me, for they taught me to pay attention to God’s decrees. I’ve learned that God isn’t in the titles, money and material goods we value, but He reveals himself in the simple things of life – in the prayers of a mother, smile of a child and kindness of a friend.
 
Overcoming adversity, lost, hurt and disappointment isn’t a onetime occurrence - it’s something you’re going to have to manage daily. Some days you will feel like you are more than a conqueror while other days you may struggle to get out of bed. Our job is to remain faithful to God while His job is to prosper us. David proclaimed, “Once I was young, and now I am old. Yet I have never seen the godly forsaken…”. I am going to make it and so are you!
4 Comments

Who’s the Chicken? by Shaquana Thompson

5/23/2019

0 Comments

 
Picture
“Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.” – James 1:17
 
Which came first: the chicken or the egg? This centuries old causality dilemma is a metaphoric adjective describing situations where it is not clear which of two events should be considered the cause and which should be considered the effect. As Christians, maybe the question we should be asking is, who’s the chicken?
 
“Who’s the chicken?” plays off the adage, don’t put all your eggs in one basket. This popular business idiom informs investors not to concentrate all their prospects or resources in one thing or place at the risk of losing everything.
 
The egg represents our spiritual gifts; a God given ability distributed to you by the Holy Spirit, and the basket signifies life’s opportunities. So, who is the chicken that provide the eggs? We are, and God is our farmer. He provides all the care and nourishment we need to be successful, so when it is time for us to produce we can produce an abundant harvest which in turn honors God and gives Him the glory.
 
God’s plan for us is to be fruitful and multiply, but He also knows that we do not all produce at the same time, frequency or age. We all have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. So, we must not be so eager to produce that we allow ourselves to place our eggs in the wrong baskets (people, jobs, opportunities and mindsets).
 
Now, even if you put your eggs into the wrong basket take comfort in knowing that God still loves you, believes in you and has forgiven you. He will never leave nor forsake you. Ask the Lord to go before you and make your crooked path straight and to order your steps so that you will not be led astray by the things of this world. Remember, it is God who provides for you and allows you to produce as many eggs as you need to accomplish your purpose in Him. He knows your situation and circumstances and He know the plans He has for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
0 Comments

Rooted

5/16/2019

1 Comment

 
Picture
They are like trees planted along the riverbank, bearing fruit each season. Their leaves never wither, and they prosper in all they do. -Psalm 1:3
 
It is said that in life you are either heading into a storm, going through a storm or coming out of a storm. Storms are a part of life, it is how you withstand the storm that matters most.
 
When facing a storm, how do you respond? Do you allow the winds of life to break and uproot you? Or do you endure the failures, disappointments and setbacks - bending but never breaking? When you plant yourself in God’s word and is rooted in Him, He will give you the strength to survive any storm.
 
You must root yourself in God and His word if you are to stand firm during a storm. Yes, the loss hurt, and the failure may have been disappointing and embarrassing but stand strong in your faith and believe what God says about you. You are more than a conqueror and no weapon formed against you shall prosper.  So be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid and do not panic. For the LORD your God will personally go ahead of you. He will neither fail you nor abandon you.
 
Everything will not always go as planned. The dream job may turn into a nightmare, the relationship may end in separation and the loved one may leave you prematurely. We may throw the dice, but the LORD determines the outcome. During the storms of life, you must remain flexible and trust God and His process. If not, you will break from the weight of the disappointment. My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts, says the LORD. And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine.

You are going to survive the storm. What you must decide is if you’re going to survive standing rooted and upright or if you’re going to allow yourself to be uprooted and broken. Rid yourself of those things, people and mindsets that act like a sail and threaten to pull you over. Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness. 

The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, for they are planted in the house of the Lord. They will still bear fruit in old age, they will stay fresh and green. Stand firm during the storms of life knowing that you may bend, but God will not allow you to break.

1 Comment

Shoot Your Shot

5/10/2019

2 Comments

 
Picture
“Commit your way to the LORD; trust in Him, and He will act.” – Psalm 37:5 ESV
 
In basketball, a personal foul is the most common type of foul. It results from contact between two opposing players. If a player receives six personal fouls in one game they are ejected. Your adversary loves to call fouls against you. He wants to condemn you, to make you feel guilty and rejected by God. He knows he will have victory over you if he can get you out of the game. Here is the thing about fouls, your enemy can call them, but he cannot enforce them. He does not have the authority to eject you.
 
And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.” – Matthew 28:18 ESV
 
God knows every intimate detail about you. He knows about the fouls you are going to commit, the free throws you are going to miss and the shots you are going to take.
 
Fouls: Spiritually speaking, a foul is an infraction against God. Fouls are unavoidable. When you commit a foul (sin) and repent, God not only forgives you, but He also forgets the infraction. The Lord declares, “I alone—will blot out your sins for my own sake and will never think of them again (Isaiah 43:25).” Now, if you are committing too many fouls, God will bench you. For those whom He loves He corrects and disciplines (Revelations 3:19), but He will never kick you off the team. So, forgive yourself just as God has forgiven you, and believe that He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion (Philippians 1:6).
 
Missed Free Throws: In basketball, a free throw is an unopposed shot. As Christians, we miss too many free throws. Prayer is a free throw. Worship is a free throw. Reading your bible, going to church, tithing and being kind to others are all free throws. Are you a good free throw shooter? Players improve their free throw percentage through repetition. The more they shoot, the more productive they become. The more you seek God, the better your life will be. Come near to God and He will come near to you (James 4:8). For God love those who love Him and those who seek Him will find mercy, grace and favor (Proverbs 8:17). If you commit to making more free throws you will become a more effective player (Christian).
 
Shot Selection: Lay-ups and dunks are the easiest shots to make and have a higher percentage of being successful. Three-point shots are more difficult and have a lower percentage of being successful (unless you are Steph Curry) but are worth more points. What type of shots are you shooting? Dunks and lay-ups (our plans) are often safe and easy because living in familiarity and contentment does not require much faith.
 
God wants you to shoot the three-point shot, to trust Him for more. So, pursue whatever it is He has put in your heart. Pursue His kingdom, pursue the career, pursue the relationship and pursue the business venture. God wants to bless you beyond measure (2 Corinthians 9-8) but cannot if you do not believe He is able to do immeasurably more than all you can ask or imagine (Ephesians 3:20).
 
In God’s eyes, it does not matter how many shots you take or miss. If you put your trust in Him, you will make the biggest shot of your life. So, stop fouling and practice your free throws because your breakthrough and blessing is one shot away.

2 Comments

Stand Your (Spiritual) Ground

5/2/2019

2 Comments

 
Picture
“For the Lord your God is he who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies, to give you the victory.” – Deuteronomy 20:4

A stand-your-ground law establishes a right by which a person may defend one's self against threats or perceived threats. Such a law typically states that an individual has no duty to retreat from any place where they have a lawful right to be. As Christians, we are under constant mental, physical and spiritual attack. How do you respond to the enemy’s attack? Do you retreat, or do you stand your spiritual ground?

The enemy knows it is easier for us to retreat than it is for us to fight which is why he prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Note, the scripture says your enemy is “like a roaring lion”. He isn’t a lion, he’s pretending to be something he’s not because he wants to intimidate you. He knows if you are afraid, if you are overwhelmed then you will retreat from the plans God has for you.
So, how do you stand your spiritual ground? As believers, we stand our ground by faith!

By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible. And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family.

By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going.

By faith Sarah, who was past childbearing age, was enabled to bear children because she considered him faithful who had made the promise.

By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as on dry land; but when the Egyptians tried to do so, they were drowned.

By faith the walls of Jericho fell, after the army had marched around them for seven days.

And by faith you will overcome the attack of the enemy. By faith you will overcome the loss. By faith you will overcome the layoff. By faith you will overcome the sickness. By faith you will overcome the debt, loneliness, anxiety and depression. Therefore, do not retreat, stand in faith, trust God and remember no weapon that is formed against you will prosper. You will silence every voice raised up to accuse you. These benefits are enjoyed by the servants of the LORD; their vindication will come from me. Declares the Lord!   

I pray right now for whoever is reading this that you stand your spiritual ground during the attack of the enemy. I pray that you have faith that God is fighting on your behalf and that you put your trust in him. I pray you lean not into your own understanding and let God direct your path so that the peace of God, a peace that surpasses all understanding may be upon you. Amen!
2 Comments

    Author

    New blog posted every month.

    ​The views expressed in this blog are my own and does not represent the views of any organization.

    Personal photos are my own.

    ​I do not own the rights to additional images used and no copyright infringement is intended.

    Archives

    November 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    June 2018
    January 2017

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.