My Big Brother

Hello Friends! As you have noticed, I haven't blogged for a season. I think I was going through a "Blogger Wilderness". I have been trying to decide just why I blog and if it is necessary. I have thought about whether or not to change the nature of my blog. Should it be more personal, etc. There are so many blogs in Bloggerville... would I be missed? Well, I've decided the important thing is that at some point the things I say encourage someone or even inspire them to write a new blog post. As Believers, we are part of one another and any "word" we might speak to benefit someone is of value. I believe the enemy of our souls would want to silence as many of us as he can. However, we need to "let His praises ring". The Scriptures say that if we won't praise His name the very rocks of the ground will praise Him. He WILL be praised! I could write a lot more about praise, however, I would like to share a beautiful revelation our Jesus gave me the other day. I was driving to work and I began to think of my big brother. His birthday is in a few days. My thoughts went back to a time that as a young girl, my brother invited me to go with him and his friends to the movies. Going to the movies on a Friday night was a common practice for me and my brother and sister. All our friends went as well. Most of the time I went with my big sister or was dropped off at the theater by someone. I think I was 11 or 12 years old at the time I went with my brother. I was so proud of him and was honored that he would take me with him. It was important to me that he be proud of me. There was another time when I was a young adult of 19 that he spoke out in front of his own fiance and said, "Doesn't my little sister have pretty eyes?" It just made me beam inside. Now, as the rest of us, my big brother was not and is not perfect. There were times we fought and times he treated me badly and said unkind things to me. I could list them here but I choose to remember things like the big smile on his face when our family watched him graduate from boot camp and when he came home from Viet Nam looking so grown up and handsome. That's the way it is with love. First Corinthians 13:5 says "...love keeps no record of wrongs." There came a time in my life I began to care more about what someone else thought of me. Now to the revelation. During my drive, I did begin to think of a lot of the negative things that happened when I was young. Then the Lord lovingly invaded my thinking with His thoughts. The ideal big brother, in my eyes and some of this I had with my big brother, is one who will put his arm around you and protect you. He would stand up for you no matter what. He would fight for you. He would teach you by his words and his example. (My brother did teach me to stop throwing a baseball "like a girl".) He would listen to your problems and not judge you. He would counsel you for your good. He would forgive you. The list goes on and on. Sound like anyone? Yes, Jesus is the perfect Big Brother. This is yet another aspect of our Lord being ALL in ALL!!!! He will never hurt you... never leave you... always be there... always forgive... always believe in you! John 1:12 "Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God (13) children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God." NIV Jesus is the only begotten Son and we have become His brothers and sisters. I am extremely proud of my Big Brother and my earthly big brother likes to know... I think he is pretty cool as well. "Happy Veteran's Day, Big Brother!"