Author: brad.payne

Well, I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving with friends and family.  I was able to spend some time with my family in the mountains of New Mexico and had a wonderful time.  Prior to this trip I was able to spend some time assisting a struggling friend of mine  (physically, emotionally and spiritually) with some contract labor.  He has fallen behind and things just are not going well for him.  I decided to spend four days getting him caught up.  At first he did not like the idea, but he finally agreed to let me work with him, no charge of course.  My goal here was to be able to serve as a spiritual mentor for this man.  I believe he needed to know that someone cares.  We talked about life while painting houses, preparing rentals for new tenants and putting up new fencing.  I learned that alcohol was a real problem for him and that he has had several days where he did not work, which explains how he got so far behind with his bids.  In these four days, I spent time trying to figure out how to best mentor him spiritually.  Although I don’t have all the answers here, I am going to continue to be a mentor for him by listening and waiting for those prompts from the holy spirit to speak through me.

In my devotion time, I am continuing to learn how to grow into the man that God created us to be.  In 2 Timothy 1:6-7 I am reminded that fear is not a natural spirit that we were born with.  Verse 7 states “for God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of POWER, and of LOVE and of SOUND MIND”.  I believe that what this is telling me specifically is that I am made to be powerful in my thought life, finances, relationships.  I will continue to trust the prompts and thoughts since I have the spirit of SOUND MIND given to me by God.  Fear on the other hand just has the opportunity to breed more fear.  I will look at situations differently knowing that I don’t need to be afraid, but rather trust that my sound mind and the powerful nature of God that is in me is enough to go through any situation.

Thank you for reading and God Bless.  Happy Thanksgiving.

Happy Friday blog followers.  This will be my first blog following my first week of sabbatical.  I underestimated the difficulty of resting the mind.  It has taken this much time to let myself escape the daily routines that my subconscious so desperately wants to go.  Through discipline and quiet time I have begun to really enjoy the moments of my daily devotional (in which I have not actively done in many years).  I am focusing on the “man” that God created and how we, as men have drifted far from the plan that God created us for in relationships, work, family, etc.  One of the lessons has dealt with the need for adventure.  This adventure is different for everyone.  For me, it will be the call of the wild.  Tomorrow I am meeting up with my best friend and my dad for a New Mexico Rocky Mountain hunt.  Just us and God’s creation.  It is something that I look forward to each year as a grab my archery gear, food and water and head out.  With my mind in a “sabbatical” mode, it already feels different as if my mission is to concentrate more on the wonderful people who will be around me more than my prey.  I look forward to sending some pictures to show just how beautiful this place is and what it will do for my soul.  Thank you Jesus for the opportunity and the people in my life that allow this experience to happen.  I pray for safety and fellowship conversations directed by you.  Thank you Lord for this time of rest and enjoyment and I pray that with your help, I can be a blessing to all who are around me this week.  Amen