Jimmy D. Brown, Author at Finish Line Faith

He Opened His Mouth And Taught Them

Nov 13, 2021

“And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying…” – Matthew 5:2

When Jesus makes promises, you can count on them to come true. When Jesus gives commandments, you can count on Him to help you. When Jesus transforms hearts, you can count on it changing what you do. The Beatitudes are not a suggestion for how should you live in order to earn your way into His kingdom, but rather a description of how you will live if you have already entered His kingdom. By grace, through faith, producing good works, with love, in power, for joy, to the glory of God. You can have assurance that you are on the right path if there is evidence that you are walking with Jesus on it.

Blessed Are Those Who Are Persecuted For Righteous …

Nov 12, 2021

“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” – Matthew 5:10

When we pursue God’s way instead of the world’s way, we will find people in our way. Opposition. Persecution. Separation. There will be those who push back and push away because of our allegiance to Jesus. But we can rejoice! For no matter what it costs us now, we will gain infinitely more in the end with the coming of His kingdom of eternal rewards for those who love Him and remain faithful to Him. By His grace, let us keep doing right, keep doing good and keep doing the things that honor our Savior. If others are going to be offended by us, may it be because of our righteous acts and not our sinful ones.

Blessed Are The Peacemakers

Nov 11, 2021

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.” – Matthew 5:9

To be a peace-maker, we must first be a peace-experiencer. When we put our faith in Jesus, we immediately experience peace with God and increasingly experience the peace of God. With our sin no longer separating us from Him, we are empowered by His grace and His Spirit to be instruments of peace in the lives of other sinners around us. We do this by proclaiming the gospel message and reminding those in conflict of the precious promises made to those who let His peace rule in their hearts instead of being ruled by their sin. Today, let us strive to bring people together with each other and people together with God.

Blessed Are The Pure In Heart

Nov 10, 2021

“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” – Matthew 5:8

Attraction. Affection. Admiration. Adoration. This is the progression of pleasure for those whose hearts have been purified by God through faith in Jesus, and who are pursuing God by faith with all of their hearts. What starts as interest in Him soon blossoms into love for Him which leads to enjoyment of Him and climaxes with worship to Him. We like how we feel in His presence … how we feel about Him, how we feel about ourselves, how we feel about our lives, how we feel about our futures. So, let us strive to remove those things that keep us from seeing and savoring God for Who He truly is. We will be truly satisfied when we do.

Prioritize Pleasing God

Nov 9, 2021

The paths will divide. The objectives will conflict. The plans will differ. The desires will compete. The advice will disagree. We will often find ourselves having to choose sides for who we will listen to, go with and live to the satisfaction of … God or people. We simply cannot be and do what will make Him happy and others happy at the same time, all the time. Rather than compromising to satisfy the crowd, let us show others the better path, the better objective, the better plan, the better desire and the better advice found in the good news of Jesus. Today, by grace, let us prioritize pleasing God over pleasing people.

To Gain All

Nov 8, 2021

We go to great measures to gain treasures in this world. But trophies, trips, triumphs, titles, toys, things and time spent on earthly pursuits and pleasures with no regard for eternity will undo us in the end. It’s not that these things are inherently wrong, evil or unprofitable; it’s that we often ignore God to pursue them and value them more than we do Him. God has given us all things richly to enjoy, but the point of that enjoyment is to point us to Jesus. To gain all that the world has to offer yet not have Jesus is to have nothing at all. To gain all that Jesus has to offer yet not have the world is to have everything.

The Prayer That Never Fails

Nov 7, 2021

There are many things that are true about prayer. One of them is this: prayer involves seeking what we need to do what God wants. We don’t talk to God in order to secure what we need to build our own kingdoms; we talk to God to request what we need to live for His kingdom. Prayer is not a hotline to heaven we use to override His will so He will give us what we think will make us happy; it is a lifeline to heaven we use to ask Him to show us His will and make us happy with what He gives us. This is the prayer that never fails: Your will be done in my life as it is in heaven.

The Son Will Shine His Light

Nov 6, 2021

Darkness isn’t just the time between dusk and dawn; it’s also any time you are facing the unknown. This is especially true of those seasons of suffering when the light at the end of your tunnel is nowhere to be seen. It is during those times that you must not give up hope. For even on those dark days when you can’t see what is up next, what step to take next or how anything good will come next, hope remains. Jesus is still there and Jesus still cares! Ask Him to give you the faith and inner strength that is needed to endure. And though the outer darkness may yet linger, the Son will rise and shine His light in your heart.

It Will Not Be Wasted

Nov 5, 2021

Satan wants to convince us that our doing good isn’t actually doing much good. He will skew the facts, point to the wrong metric, and mislabel our actions as failures. But God doesn’t measure our success by social media likes, comments and shares. God sees us quietly toiling behind the scenes loving Him by loving others and measures our success not by our fruitfulness or fanfare, but our faithfulness. What’s even more encouraging is this: God is working through us in ways that are unknown to us. So… keep on faithfully serving King Jesus because it all counts. Nothing you do for His kingdom will ever be wasted.

Like A Puzzle

Nov 4, 2021

Like a one-thousand-piece puzzle, your life will often look like a jumble of disjointed and disconnected fragments that don’t seem to fit together very well. But God is putting everything into place exactly where He wants it so you can be who you were made to be and do what you were made to do. He has a good reason for and a good result from everything He allows to come into your life. Someday all will make sense, all will be made right, and all will be made new when He completes the good work He has started in you. Take heart! When the last puzzle piece is put into place, you will see what God has been seeing all along.

He Doesn’t Need…

Nov 3, 2021

He doesn’t need advice. He doesn’t need instructions. He doesn’t need guidance. God rules and reigns over every location and situation in the universe with absolute certainty. You will not find Him getting confused, getting caught off guard or getting into a place where He second guesses Himself. He always knows just what to do, just how to do it, and just when to do it in order to accomplish the goal of His purpose and the good of His people. This is the One we turn to and trust in! When we struggle to make sense of our lives, let us remember this: Even if we don’t know what it is, God always knows exactly what He’s doing.

He Didn’t Need…

Nov 2, 2021

He didn’t need a blueprint. He didn’t need inspiration. He didn’t need assistance. God created all of the universe without anyone’s ideas, input, ingenuity, innovation or imagination. He just designed it all and made it all out of nothing. When you consider the amazing diversity and creativity and majesty displayed in every corner of the created world that we can see, hear, smell, taste and feel, God’s handiwork is just absolutely stunning. He created angles and dimensions, shapes and textures, colors and flavors, scents and elements, and, well, everything known and unknown to us. Praise Him for He has done great things!

Encourage Others To Look At Him

Nov 1, 2021

The attention of every single consciously awake and aware human being is captured by something at all times. We are either focused on something that nurtures a deeper love for, stronger dependence on, greater obedience to and better enjoyment of Jesus or something that drains that from us. Our aim as Christians should be to interrupt the fixation of others on the world and its ways and shine a spotlight on Him, so they can experience the blessings and benefits of knowing Him and the privilege and pleasure of worshipping Him. Today, let us get people to look at us so we can encourage them to look at Him.

Rewiring How We Think

Oct 31, 2021

Our thoughts have the power to shape how we believe and behave, for better or for worse, so we must let our minds land most often on Jesus. His Good News message is full of life-changing truths and promises that will guide us into a right perspective on every life issue. It will change how we see our past, present and future and produce greater joyful hope, peaceful rest and loving obedience as we experience the power of a deepening understanding and awareness of Who He is, what He does for us and what He says to us. The more we think about Him, the more it will rewire how we think about everything else.

It Is Painful, It Is Wonderful

Oct 30, 2021

It is painful to have our iniquities exposed, our imperfections pointed out and our inabilities made known to us. No one loves to be labeled a sinner. But we can’t get well until we are aware of and acknowledge our sickness, and then go to the Great Physician of Grace to heal us. It is humbling to do so, but God does not belittle us when we come to Him in confession and repentance. Instead… He lifts us up. He makes us whole. He spurs us on. It is wonderful to have Jesus forgive us for our sin, free us from our sin and favor us in spite of our sin. Oh, how we love to be labeled “Redeemed!” Go to Him now. There is grace for you.

Not As They Are, But As They Will Be

Oct 29, 2021

Remember this as you follow Jesus in faith: it’s not what happens to us that is of greatest importance, but rather the result of what happens to us. Things often won’t go as we plan, things often won’t work out like we hope, and things often won’t be as simple or easy or comfy as we would like. But in the hands and plans of God, our struggles are not setbacks. They are stepping stones to the good result He has in mind. So… Don’t stop believing. Don’t stop proceeding. Something good is coming even if you don’t yet see it. Take heart! Things would look much better if we could see them not as they are, but as they will be.

Changes

Oct 28, 2021

One of the ways that God changes us to become like Jesus is through hardships. We struggle to find answers on our own, we worry and doubt and fear often, we fall short over and over again, and we feel like many tasks in front of us are impossible. But, in time we learn to turn to and trust in the wisdom, strength, and grace of God as He transforms us into people of faith through our struggles. Learn this: sometimes God will change the situation; sometimes God will use the situation to change us.

Blessed Are The Merciful

Oct 27, 2021

“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.” – Matthew 5:6

When we are moved by the mercy of God shown to us in Christ, we will move to show it to others. The merciful extend forgiveness for sin and kindness in suffering to the people around them because they have experienced it themselves. They have soft hearts, not hard ones. They have reaching hands, not folded ones. They have loving mouths, not condemning ones. This is only possible when the God of mercy takes our natural inclination to be intolerant or indifferent and supernaturally infuses us with His delight to do good to those who don’t deserve it. Today, let us ask Him to help us deal with others the way He deals with us.

Blessed Are Those Who Hunger And Thirst For Righte …

Oct 26, 2021

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.” – Matthew 5:6

Humans are on a never-ending search to find real satisfaction in this world. But the satisfaction we are looking for and longing for cannot be found in this world for it comes only from God. Apart from Him we will continue snacking on and sipping from what we think will bring contentment, and we will never be filled. We will always find ourselves wanting something more or something else. But if we hunger and thirst to find our way to God and follow the ways of God, we will be satisfied. When we search for contentment in Him, He can be found. When we find Him, our search for contentment can be over.

Blessed Are The Meek

Oct 25, 2021

“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” – Matthew 5:5

Meekness comes from possessing God’s power and using it for God’s purpose as we trust in God’s providence. We are not weak; we are strong. We are not prideful; we are humble. We are not frantic; we are patient. How is this possible? Because of our faith in Jesus, we have the help of God to do all things that He wills as good, and hope in God to work all things out for good. The more we trust in and submit to His will, the less we will feel the need and desire to force our own as we deal rightly with the people and problems in our lives. After all, we have God’s assurance for what is waiting ahead for us.