Allen Du Shane

1 prayer can change your life

Pray more than you plan

7 things to say to God every morning!

The truth will set you free.

God is good, all the time All the time, God is good

“The Lord will never give you anything you can’t handle” is a lie. He gives everyone things they can’t handle. That’s the whole point. You need Him to make it through everything. There is nothing you can do on your own. You need Him to breathe. Never stop praising the Lord.

Lord Jesus, I thank You so much. It’s been over two years since You found me and saved me. God willing I will never return to my old self. I love You so much! You have completely transformed me. You complete me. Thank You!

If you live by human praise, you will die by human rejection. You only need your affirmation from Above.

Jesus rose from the dead and the first person He went to was His brother who thought He was crazy. Not Peter. Not John. Not the twelve. James. His kid brother. The one who grew up sharing a room with God and didn’t know it. Think about James for a second. His older brother is Jesus. Not “Jesus the Christ.” Not “Jesus the Savior.” Jesus the guy who worked in the carpenter shop and came home smelling like sawdust and sweat. Jesus who snored. Jesus who ate too fast. Jesus who their mother treated different and James never understood why. Because Mary kept her mouth shut. Luke 2:19. She kept all these things and pondered them in her heart. Angels showed up at His birth. Shepherds fell on their faces. Wise men brought gold. And Mary told nobody. She just watched her firstborn grow up in a ghetto in Nazareth and kept the secret in her chest like a coal she couldn’t put down. James didn’t know his brother was God. He knew his brother was weird. He knew his mother looked at Jesus different. He knew Joseph moved the whole family to Egypt when they were little and never fully explained why. He knew that one time his parents lost Jesus at the temple and found Him three days later arguing with rabbis like He owned the place. Twelve years old. Already gone. Then Jesus grew up. Worked the shop. Paid the bills. Because Joseph died — the Bible doesn’t say when but Joseph disappears from the story — and in Jewish custom the eldest son takes over. So Jesus wasn’t posing for paintings in that carpenter shop. He was feeding His family. Putting bread on the table for His mom and His brothers and sisters in a town so poor Nathanael said “can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Then one day He left. Walked away from the shop. Walked away from the family. Left James holding the hammer and the bills and the responsibility for a widowed mother. James was pissed. Mark 3:21. His own family went to collect Him because they said He was out of His mind. That’s James. That’s the brothers. Showing up to bring the crazy one home before He embarrasses the family worse. John 7:5. His brethren did not believe in Him. His own blood. Ate dinner with Him for thirty years. Didn’t believe. Then Wednesday happened. The brother James thought was insane got arrested at night by temple guards. Got beaten until His face swelled shut. Got whipped until His back looked like raw meat. Got nailed to wood and hung up on a garbage hill outside the city. And James had to stand somewhere — maybe in the crowd, maybe at home, maybe hearing it secondhand — and process the fact that the brother he called crazy just died like a criminal. Three days and nights of silence. Three days of James sitting with the guilt of every eye roll. Every argument. Every time he told people “I don’t know what’s wrong with Him.” Every time he showed up to drag Jesus home because He was embarrassing the family name. Then Sunday morning. Jesus rose. Conquered death. Walked out of the tomb. And He went to James. 1 Corinthians 15:7. He appeared to James. Not in a crowd. Not at a distance. He went to His brother. The one who didn’t believe. The one who thought He was crazy. The one who was pissed that He left the family behind. He showed up and let James see the holes in His hands. Matthew 28:10. Go tell my brethren. Not my servants. Not my followers. My brethren. John 20:17. My Father and your Father. My God and your God. He rose to the highest position in the universe and His vocabulary didn’t change. Most men get a promotion and stop returning phone calls. Jesus conquered death and called the brother who doubted Him family. James went from “He’s out of His mind” to leading the church in Jerusalem. James went from trying to drag Jesus home to writing a book of the Bible. James went from skeptic to martyr. They threw him off the temple wall and when he survived the fall they beat him to death with a club. He died for the brother he once thought was insane. That’s what happened when Jesus showed up after the resurrection and said brother. One word changed everything. He’s not calling you servant today. He’s not calling you subject. He’s calling you what He called James. Brother. The same James who didn’t believe. Who rolled his eyes. Who showed up to take Him home. Who sat in the dark for three days choking on regret. He went to THAT guy first. If He went to James, He’ll come to you.

The BEST illustration of the Gospel I have ever heard | Josh Howerton

1 prayer can change your life

Thank you God, for sending Your son, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ to earth. To be born of a virgin, dying on the cross, and rising 3 days later. Washing away our sins, covering us in His blood of righteousness, giving us all the opportunity for the Holy Spirit to live in us.

Read the Bible, until people read you like the Bible. We all need to be walking Gospels.

He is Risen

Thank You Jesus

I’m sorry Jesus. I thank You for what You went through for us. My mind cannot comprehend the pain and suffering You endured. I also can’t imagine the strength it took to do Your Father’s will and not send those legions of angels.

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.

10 ways to share your faith at work | Ryan Leak

Thank You Jesus. I love You. Thank You for everything.

God willing I will live in Tennessee. That was way too arrogant to say I know what tomorrow will bring. It’s always God’s will. Let me be guided by Him.