Brute Beast

 

Brute beast 

 

In the comics and the 80’s Tv show Robert David Bruce Banner was always attempting to separate himself from the Incredible Hulk.  At times he was actually able to purge himself from his raging alter ego.  In He-Man Revelations there is a moment where Prince Adam separates himself from He-Man and just becomes this savage beast.  If we let our emotions get the best of us, we become no different.  We function on instinct and stupidity.  It’s those times especially when we are emotionally messed up that we need to seek God and reconnect.  If you’re confused by this comparison, I’m making I’m about to show you in scripture why I connected with it in the way I did.  My brain goes to comics and cartoons but these verses will make sense in a moment why I mentioned the Hulk and Savage He-Man and it’s because there are so many facets to us as humans.  

 

Psalm 73:21-28

 

“When my heart was grieved and my spirit embittered, I was senseless and ignorant; I was a brute beast before you.  Yet I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand.  You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will take me into glory.  Whom have I in Heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you.  My flesh and my heart may fail but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.  Those who are far from you will perish; you destroy all who are unfaithful to you.  But as for me, it is good to be near God.  I have made the sovereign Lord my refuge; I will tell of all your deeds.”  

 

The Psalmist Asaph described us when consumed by emotions to be like a brute beast.  It’s like the Hulk separated from Banner.  Recently my dog got an ear infection and I’ve been having my mom as well as a friend of mine try to help me with giving Arisia ear drops.  Dogs don’t like it at all and they become like a brute beast.  I basically have to pin her down to be able to have someone else give her the ear drops.  Sometimes when we’re emotionally messed up God has to go to the extreme to get us to pay attention to Him.  I love how this whole passage ends though because once we stop fighting and pay attention God is right there trying to teach us. 

 

Who am I by Point of Grace 

At your feet by Casting Crowns  

 

In Families

 In families 

 

Back in October two horrible things happened to me.  I was kicked off my work site and ended up having to leave that job.  Something else happened I am not at Liberty to speak of.  I’ve since gone through a lot of depression.  I want to share with you something that has happened around that timeframe.  I kept telling myself I needed to be around other Christian people.  One morning I had a day off so I went up to New Life Church on Airline.  I explained to the receptionist that I worked nights and didn’t have Sunday off because of 12 hours shifts so I couldn’t make it to Sunday morning services.  To some of you that literally doesn’t make sense I know.  On Saturday and Sunday, I work 7pm to 7am when I get home and you can ask my dog Arisia I simply eat, shower and head back to bed for the next shift.  I like my job, but those nights wear me out.  Anywho speaking of Shrimp Scampi.  So, I tell the receptionist I’m looking for a small group Bible study in the middle of the week at night that I could go to.  She gives me a pamphlet and shows me the men’s groups.  Before I had walked in the building, I had seen this man and woman in an suv parked next to me.  He got out and walked up to the building, then came back and then leaves again.  He kept looking at me.  As a security guard that caught my attention.  My spider sense was tingling as Spider-Man would say.  Then I noticed the lady looking at me.  A few minutes later I left.  I got home and got out of the car and being someone with hearing aids I often have trouble with the directions of voices especially when the wind is blowing.  I heard this lady yelling trying to get my attention.  So I finally located her.  Same lady that had been in the suv next to me at the church.  But wait, it gets weirder.  She followed me home and God had told her to follow me and see if there was anything she could pray with me about.  So there on my front lawn I’m telling this lady all I had been through. Her name was Katie and her and her husband are related to the pastor at New Life.  So, after all that which was only a thing God could make happen I was sitting at home going through that pamphlet I had been given.  I took a chance and texted two of the group leaders and later I got a response from one of them.  The first time I showed up I got to talk to these 3 guys Carlos, John and Fino and just poured out my heart.  Now on Tuesday when I get enough rest I go meet with this group.  We have been out to eat a few times and we text and encourage each other.  I mentioned last week that my friend Hope had told me people need to hear your story of how you recover.  I’m still a mess but I tell you all this to share something in Psalms.  One day I will share more.  

 

Psalms 68:4-6

 

“Sing to God, sing praise to his name, extol him who rides on the clouds— his name is the Lord.  A father to the fatherless, defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling.  God sets the lonely in families, he leads forth the prisoners with singing; but the rebellious live in a sun scorched land.”

 

By being part of this small group Bible study I, someone who is extremely lonely, have been placed in a new family by God.  I’ve also had a friend who came to my house and bought me lunch and David and I just sat and talked for a long time.  I don’t know what battle you’re going through but I’m urging you to seek God.  

 

Strong God by Meredith Andrews 

God is faithful by Sheila Walsh  

O, Calvary’s lamb bySandi Patty

Moments

Moments 

 

 

Recently I was watching the online service for First Baptist Corpus and they had a recap of the year.  One thing that hit me is they talked a lot about the small moments and interactions we have with people and how simple things mean so much to someone else.  It really made me think.  I have a lot of friends who are former wait staff. We would not be friends had I not stopped and treated them like a person who mattered.  Been praying a lot lately for God to give me a sense of purpose in my life.  I just feel like I work and pay bills, breathe, and eat and sleep.  I want to cause people to have moments and know they matter to someone else.  If it’s a kind word or gift, I want to be that person.  Compliment your server.  I saw so much on Facebook about being nice to retail workers at Christmas but why only then? 

 

We need to be better at our interactions.  

 

Ephesians 4:32

 

“Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.”  

 

Ephesians 5:19-20 

 

“Speak to one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs.  Sing and make music in your hearts to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”  

 

I want to be different in my moments and interactions.   

 

2 Corinthians 1:3-4

 

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.”  

 

My friend Hope recently reminded me that other people watch our struggles and need to know how we made it through and that’s why sharing what God has done in us matters so much.  I’ve been going through a lot of emotional issues lately and I was very honest with my men’s group that I meet with and told them with all I’ve been through lately there are times I look at the sky and say.  “Lord, if you can hold all this together, I believe you can heal my heart.”  I also told them that one of the hardest things for me some days is just to listen a devotional on Youversion or pick up my Bible and read it but I know it’s the only way I can heal with God’s help.  

 

I don’t know what you struggle with but seek God and treat others better this year.  

 

More than anything by Point of Grace 

Friends by Michael W Smith

Circle of Friends by Point of Grace and Kenny Rogers

Live to Tell by Geoff Moore and the Distance 

Dare 2 B Different by DeGarmo and Key

Simple but so difficult

 

Simple but so difficult 

 

I haven’t worked on a blog in a while as some may have noticed.  Things in my life as I have mentioned before are falling apart rapidly.  If you see me in person, I could use a hug and prayer more than you could ever know.  I’m not really talking about what’s going on.  I keep coming back to these certain verses in Psalm 42 and 43.  They are simple but so difficult to apply.  Lately I walk through my days praying asking God for some sense of purpose because I feel like I have none.  My life changed drastically in October.  The changes have shaken me to the very core of my being.  I struggle with day-to-day things and the mundane a lot.  At the end of Psalm 42 and 43 they have the exact same verses that say this.

 

“Why am I discouraged? Why is my heart so sad?  I will put my hope in God!  I will praise him again— my Savior and my God!”  

 

There will come times in your life when things just fall apart, and circumstances are just so far from any sense of control.  You have to choose where to turn.  Daily I have to choose to seek God.  I don’t always get it right.  The sad and discouraging part in these verses I can relate to so much lately.  

 

This is something else you and I need to remember.

 

Psalm 46:1-3

 

“God is our refuge and strength, 

Always ready to help in times of trouble.

So we will not fear when earthquakes come and the mountains crumble into the sea.  

Let the oceans roar and foam.  Let the mountains tremble as the waters surge!”

 

There are days I just have to remind myself that God is still in control.  If I don’t I lose my sanity.  I don’t know what battle you may be mentally and emotionally facing but you need to remember that.  This is a blog geared for Hope and I struggle with needing it myself.  

 

 

Hurricane by Natalie Grant 

Whole world in his hands by Christy Nockels 

 

Need

 

Need

 

Sometimes God keeps bringing my attention to certain verses and my heart has needed these verses immensely.  Twice I have opened my Bible and looked at Psalm 33 and at some point I marked with a pen to highlight three verses.

 

Psalm 33:20-22 

 

“We put our hope in the Lord.  He is our help and our shield.  In him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in his holy name.  Let your unfailing love surround us, Lord, for our hope is in you alone.”  

 

Now I could write a long drawn-out blog to go with this but I’m instead going to pull a play out of the playbook of Pastor Adrian Rogers.  

 

“Point people to scripture and then get out of the way.”  See those verses I just shared we all need.  I can’t apply them for you.  Only you personally can put your Hope in God and whether you want to admit it or not like me you need to do so.  As they say in the pro wrestling business that’s your go home line.  Put your Hope in God!  

 

You alone by Kim Hill

All in all by Charmaine 

Show Up

 

Show up

 

I like to read it’s something my parents instilled in me at a young age.  Bible, comics, novels, graphic novels all kinds of things.  I picked up a book at CVS earlier this year not realizing how much I would need it in the coming months.  But I had a 40% off coupon and had been wanting to read it for a while.  It’s okay not to be okay by Sheila Walsh.  Sometimes it’s a book deemed more for women but men and women both can learn from it.  Recently I found something in it that hit me in a unique way.  For about 11 years I’ve been doing this Bible study blog thing in one form or another.  Starting with meeting people at Denny’s at midnight and changing to something online.  In her book Mrs. Walsh talks about the fear Christians deal with in sharing our faith and how God has still called all of us to do so.  I have mentioned many times my passion and that is for just one person to draw closer to God by something I shared and find hope.  I’m going to share with you something Mrs. Walsh wrote because if you share Christ in some form or another you will come to her realization as well.  

 

Her words not mine.

 

“I have a whole new understanding about what you and I are called to do.  We are called to show up!  It’ll never be about us getting anything perfect, but when we are present God can do what only he can do.”  

 

I’ve talked a bit lately about my new dog Arisia and when my sister and niece took me to the humane society to pick out a dog emotionally, I didn’t want to.  My sister described perfectly what kind of dog I needed to the employee.  “He needs a dog he can roughhouse and wrestle with because he’s a WWE fan.”  My mom keeps saying she is rescuing me, and I am rescuing her.  We play and fight and just have fun.  I truly believe when I walked by her kennel and saw her laying on a cot looking back at me that God had a plan by me showing up and seeing her.  

 

A promise I have held onto all these years of doing this blog thing is found in Isaiah 55:8-11

 

“‘My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,’ says the Lord.  ‘And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine.  For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.  The rain and snow come down from the heavens and stay on the ground and water the earth, they cause the grain to grow, producing food for the farmer and bread for the hungry.  It is the same with my Word.  I send it out, and it always produces fruit.  It will accomplish all I want it to, and it will prosper everywhere I send it.”  

 

You see if feeble Zac shows up and shares God’s Word, I can trust that God will use it to change lives because it’s not about me but about God accomplishing what he set out for His Word to do and he’s already promised to do that.  Me showing up that day at the humane society for Arisia was part of the plan God had for her and for me.  But like Mrs. Walsh was saying you have to show up and be willing to be used by God.  I share a blog via email and as a Facebook live video.  It doesn’t make any sense, but I trust God to use it to reach that one person.  

 

Luke 12:11-12 

 

“And when you are brought to trial in the synagogues and before rulers and authorities, don’t worry about how to defend yourself or what to say, for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what needs to be said.”  

 

I show up and I am willing to share what God lays on my heart and some days I feel like it just flopped but I trust God to do what only he can do because it’s not about Zac.  I had a life group leader named Kathy a few years back that taught me something.  In the Old Testament, God is referred to as being I Am.  He is not a God who was or is but he is I Am.  He has always existed and always will.  Ms. Kathy said “I am not, but I know I Am.”  Meaning we as humans we’re flawed but we serve the great I Am.  We serve God and we show up willing and trust Him to do what we cannot.  

 

 

God is Faithful by Sheila Walsh

You are I am by Mercy  Me

Tell me again by Geoff Moore and the Distance 

Place of Safety

 

Place of safety 

 

Twice in Psalm 18 in the New Living Translation there is mention of a place of safety.  That’s very much what I’m searching for lately when I pray.  Little by little things are falling apart in my life and I find myself trying to seek God more.  I’m finding comfort in parts of Psalm 18.  I keep coming back to verses 1-2.

 

Psalm 18:1-2

 

“I love you, Lord;

You are my strength.  

The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my savior.  

My God is my rock in whom I find protection. 

He is my shield, the power that saves me, and the place of my safety.”

 

In verse 19 it once again mentions that place of safety.  If anyone has ever gotten an email from me my signature has that verse in it.  

 

“He led me to a place of safety; he rescued me because he delights in me.”

 

Early Sunday morning I had something happen at work that caused me to pray a lot.  As guards we have to do something called fire watch where we check for smoke or anything burning that may start a building on fire.  I drove the golf cart to this building, and I had been there multiple times that night.  But this time around 3:50 am I went to the back of the building, and I smelled cigarette smoke.  Twice I drove around and couldn’t find the source of it.  When I went for a walkthrough of the building, I turned my music off and gave everything my full attention and started praying.  The air felt completely wrong.  Something just felt evil!  Spider-Man is referred to in the comics as having the ability to sense danger.  I felt that way for moments because something was not right.  I was praying for a place of safety.  God was bigger than whatever was happening in that building.  I knew if a fire broke out, I was not very prepared or trained for it.  We need to seek God in prayer because there is so much in life we can’t handle.  There have been places I have worked over the last few years that when I went to work it felt like I was in the middle of spiritual warfare just being there.  If you find yourself there call on God.  

 

 

Strong tower by Newsboys 

God is bigger by Veggie Tales

Made me glad by Sandi Patty 

Sacred hideaway by 4Him