Hope | Confessions of a Preacher's Wife, Robin Bryce

Tag Archive - hope

Little Made Much

November 13, 2009 in Confessions of a Preacher's Wife with 0 Comments

I sat in the crowd watching this grown man crumble in sobs. Every mark of strength and manhood couldn’t stop his emotion. Captivated by his experience, I and the other 13,000 watching people joined him with wet eyes.

The Moment
Watch this 18-minute video to see if you can resist. The man’s testimony begins around the third minute and consists of a child, now grown man, whose life was changed because someone gave up a few things to make a difference in the world of another. Be sure to watch it to the end so you won’t miss the surprise. It’s worth every second.

Catalyst 2009 Compassion Moment from Catalyst on Vimeo.

Child Sponsored by Compassion International: A Catalyst Conference Moment.

Will you give up a few things to make a huge difference in a child’s world?
Would you sponsor a child?

Christmas Idea:
Instead of Christmas presents to people who already have too much, last year we gave gifts to charities. Read the funny story at The Best Christmas Heifer! One was a Compassion International sponsorship, a gift that gives back all year by giving relationship, letters, and prayers.

May we make a difference in the lives of others like this man.

MOPS University Heights Baptist

October 20, 2009 in Scheduled Events with 0 Comments

Where is your brother?

September 24, 2009 in Confessions of a Preacher's Wife with 0 Comments

Yesterday’s entry in Streams in the Desert had a stirring poem by Archbishop William Alexander. The poem moved me as it spoke to my heart’s passion. Listen to this…

“If I have eaten my morsel alone,”
The patriarch spoke with scorn;
What would he think of the Church were he shown
Heathendom—huge, forlorn,
Godless, Christless, with soul unfed,
While the Church’s ailment is fullness of bread,
Eating her morsel alone?

“Freely you have received, so give,”
He says, who has given us all.
How will the soul in us longer live
Deaf to their starving call,
For whom the blood of the Lord was shed,
And His body broken to give them bread,
If we eat our morsel alone!

Oh Church, I confess to being a glutton, but I can no longer fully enjoy our feasts, the meetings of shared faith. My heart longs to take the abundance of life to those who hunger, those who cry out, those who have no hope.

To those who wait, “I don’t know how to get to you, but I’m coming. Hold on a little longer while I find my way and learn. I want to bring you a bite of hope, a bit of love and acceptance. I’m a coming. Don’t give up.”

To God, “Help me bring the answer to their cries. Show me how to do this. What is your way? Fill me with your amazing love and let it pour over them. Here am I.”

“Where is your brother Abel?” (Genesis 4:9)

MOPS Good Shepherd UMC Cypress

September 3, 2009 in Scheduled Events with 0 Comments

The MOPS meeting is 10:00 to 11:00 in Cypress, TX at the Good Shepherd UMC. Join us.

Called Away

August 31, 2009 in Confessions of a Preacher's Wife with 0 Comments

Solitude. Even the word sounds lonely. I admit that sometimes I want to be alone, but never do I want to be lonely. A restricted solitude, like solitary confinement, would be extra brutal. No touch, no interaction, no…nothing from anybody. How can the will to survive remain? Could severe solitude be good?

Some examples in Christian history bear witness that solitude is very fruitful, and possibly more effective than the busyness of Christian ministry or doing good.

For instance, when Paul was imprisoned from his missionary travels and confined from the masses he desired to speak to, he wrote letters of teaching and exhortation to those he’d met along life’s journey. Much of the New Testament’s writing comes from Paul’s solitude and has delivered the hope of God to people for two thousand years.

Another example was a preacher named John Bunyon. While he was in confinement in a dark dungeon, he wrote Pilgrim’s Progress. It’s a story about coming to Christ and learning to live as a Christian, and is still read generations later making a difference in the lives of many.

Even Jesus withdrew to solitary places (Mark 1:35).

These examples show that when forced into solitude and limited interaction with people, many turned to God to fill the void. The resulting closeness to God made them more effective than if they’d remained in freedom and busyness. God used them to create works of great influence that lasts.

If God in human form needs solitude, I can’t imagine how much more I need it. But It’s against my nature to seek it intentionally. And I don’t like being alone. I pace the floor and become listless, feeling un…usable? It’s a feeling like I’m wasted or unworthy or something. Then doubt becomes a close friend.

I understand that in order to be effective I need solitude more than I need an audience. If my purpose is to make a difference, I must be different. I need to make peace with being alone. I’m called away.

Taken aside by Jesus,
To feel the touch of His hand;
To rest for a while in the shadow
Of the Rock in a wary land.

Taken aside by Jesus,
In the loneliness dark and drear,
Where no other comfort may reach me,
Than His voice to my heart so dear.

Taken aside by Jesus,
To be quite alone with Him,
To hear His wonderful tones of love
‘Mid the silence and shadows dim.

Taken aside by Jesus,
Shall I resist to desert place,
When I hear as I never heard before,
And see Him “face to face”? ~Streams, p. 329.

There’s a delicate balance between solitude and interaction. Sorry Facebookers, twitterers, and bloggers. Friends of all kinds. I’m not unsociable, but at times, I need to be called away.

Less than Rosy and Cheery

August 11, 2009 in Confessions of a Preacher's Wife with 2 Comments

Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior. (Habakkuk 3:17-18)

Things aren’t always rosy and cheery, BUT things can always be good in God. It’s a perspective. A matter of where you place your hope, of what to surrender and to whom. If everything fails, God will not.

Clearer Vision

June 8, 2009 in Confessions of a Preacher's Wife with 4 Comments

I’m feeling a little down today. Tired. Dirty contacts messing with my vision. Girls gone to camp. Feeling alone…

Too much to do. Too much strain in my faith (that God would use me). My turn to whine.

Girlfriend calls. Wants me to fix lasagna for the fellowship tomorrow night. I want to stay home in pj’s.

Writing? How can I do that when I need to call every women’s ministry contact in God’s creation on behalf of Capture ME! ~ iGETitLIFE 2009 Women’s Event. At least I’m not laid up in the hospital with a spinal leak like the iGETitLIFE coordinator. She just had a baby and the epidural caused spinal fluid leakage (pray for Jamie). And I want to whine!

(sigh)
Look. It’s like this. I obey God and still I have troubles.

Clearer Vision Robin Bryce readjusts her vision (pic from gizmodo.com)

(picture from gizmodo.com)

I’m trying to not be despondent. I know God’s in control. I’m doing what he asked, but I just don’t see his hand at this time. My faith doesn’t require sight, but my sense of security sure likes it.

"If you will…firmly exhibit your faith at the precise moment, you can sometimes actually snatch victory from the very jaws of defeat… lifting your heart to God in a moment of genuine faith in Him can quickly alter your circumstances…He can turn defeat into victory in a split second, if we will only trust Him." ~Streams in the Desert

Going to cleanse my contacts for Firmer Faith and Clearer Vision.

Ready To Win with Thelma Wells

May 1, 2009 in Confessions of a Preacher's Wife with 0 Comments

Ready to win? We have opportunity to gain the encouragement we need to rise above, get over the hump, and get out of the slump. We’ll find inspiration to take charge of our lives. And it’s FREE! Let’s go, girlfriends.

Robin & Thelma Wells at CBE On May 22-23, 2009, join Thelma Wells at her Ready To Win Conference in Garland, TX (Dallas area). It’s free! Register for your free tickets and get more information at ThelmaWells.com.

Thelma’s the real deal, an authentic Christ follower that’s been in the slump, at the bottom of the hump, and in need of rising up. She knows how to win in difficult situations. Come join in, if you’re Ready To Win. You’ll be blessed.

I’ll be there. Tweet me @RobinBryce, and we can have a Tweet-up for fun. if you’re unsure what Twitter is click Twittering Church? for links of explanation. Look forward to seeing you there.

Continuous Authenticity! Prayer? (Acts 1:13-15)

April 29, 2008 in Acts Forum with 2 Comments

Let’s be real. Amongst us, who is continuously authentic at anything? I’m the chief mess up; the worst I know. The only real thing I can be is a mess. Hiding my mess is my natural response. There now. I’ve confessed I am not perfect nor good enough to even get close, and I’ve been around enough other people to understand the same is true of them as well. We are all a mess, every last one of us. Even God agrees, “For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard” (Romans 3:23, NLT).

God knows all things. Nothing is hidden from him. Our every thought is known by him. Therefore, we ought to pray to him confessing all that is within us, the good, the bad, and the ugly. Especially since he already knows, and we can’t hide it. God has said he loves us even with our shortcomings. John 3:16 says he loved us even before we recognized our need for his love. “For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him” (NLT). His love caused him to die for us that we might have purpose in our life. Believers ought to always pray openly and in an intimate manner.

God asks believers to gather together and it seems from this passage, verse 14, the main purpose for gathering is to lay aside self, focus on God, and worship him in prayer. Could it be the reason the church of today struggles with petty discord is that we don’t gather together to authentically pray? We don’t humble ourselves before God either personally or in our corporate prayer. We don’t really pray.

I heard a statement about marriage and prayer. The couple who prays together stays together. This is true if their prayer is authentic opening of themselves before God and each other, confessing wrongs and asking forgiveness. This doesn’t work if the only prayer request is for the likes of Aunt Edna’s ailing knee, a sort of shopping list prayer. God isn’t a heavenly department store clerk to pass out blessings requested from a list. No, he honors genuine seeking him in prayer.

Please don’t think I am saying praying for a list of sick ones, and such is wrong. What I am saying is the most effective prayer is meeting with God, being humbled in his presence, confessing unworthiness, and asking as one in complete dependence for genuine felt needs. Does the church today really pray?

I have experienced this kind of genuine, heartfelt, humbling encouraging group prayer. A gathering where each one prayed from the depths of their heart, confessing sinful attitudes and behaviors, and the desire to live in the manner causing God to smile in approval. I’ve come to understand more clearly the heart of others as together the group prayed corporately in this manner. Real prayer brings real unity. Authentic living.

For further reading on unity in prayer, examine Hebrews 10:25 (gather together), 1 Thes. 5:17 (pray continuously), Ephesians 5:21 (submit to one another).

Why don’t believers pray?

The Peace Prince

December 30, 2007 in Confessions of a Preacher's Wife with 0 Comments

I’ve got tell you about my God. This is what happens when sickness keeps me from my regular speaking about the greatness of my God. I type it and get it out this way. It is too great to keep inside and must come out some way or another.

My God, He is the Prince of Peace. He came to bring peace, not as the world gives. His peace is unexplainably different. It surpasses comprehension and makes little sense. It is outside of our realm or other worldly. Yet, He came to bring His peace to us in our world.

“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.” Luke 2:14 records the Christmas angels heralding peace and good will. The angels spoke of the coming of Jesus Christ into our world and of the good news and good will for the people of our world.

But we’ve been around the block enough times to know world peace isn’t here, nor is it just around the corner. Strife and struggles permeate our lives to the point of breaking us. Problems with families, neighbors, and war. Issues with health, wealth, and loved one’s death. Peace in this turmoil? How can it be? The world offers a peace that is absent of dissention, opposition and affliction. If one can catch a moment of the world’s peace, it is a rare and fleeting chance. Life is tough and full of rocky, hard places.

So how can God’s peace have been given but not realized? God has given us peace, but we must accept it, seek it and find it personally for ourselves. In order to realize this other-world kind of peace in the midst of life’s hardships, we must believe the good news of the glad tidings with an invincible faith. A faith that seeks Jesus with everything we have, giving ourselves over to the passion of finding more of Him in every moment of living breath. When we apprehend our Lord as truly ours, we attain the invincible faith that maintains the divine kind of peace no matter what our circumstances may be. This is the kind of faith the saints of old had when horrible tortures of lions, burnings, and atrocities took their lives as God’s peace kept their faith. The same faith and peace Cassie Bernall showed when facing a gunman in Colorado.

The world’s peace is a vapor, but God’s peace has staying power. It is ours for the seeking, ours for the having, ours for the sharing. That is the good news. God came to bring us peace, and we can own it. No one can take it away from us. Peace in my heart. Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

My God rules!