RTTBROS

The Power of Patience #RTTBROS #Nightlight"Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass." — Psalm 37:7You know, I came across a story recently that stopped me in my tracks. It's about a man named George Washington Carver, and I think it'll speak to something we all struggle with.Now, most of us know Carver as the brilliant scientist who revolutionized agriculture in the South. But here's what most people don't know: when Carver applied to Highland College in Kansas, he was accepted based on his exceptional academic record. But when he showed up to enroll, they took one look at him and turned him away because he was Black. Can you imagine? You've worked so hard, you've been accepted, and then the door slams in your face.But here's where the story gets interesting. Carver didn't give up. He didn't get bitter. He waited. He worked odd jobs. He kept learning. Years later, Iowa State University not only accepted him, they made him their first Black student. And it was there that he developed his groundbreaking agricultural research.But wait, there's more to this story. Remember that college that rejected him? Highland College? Years later, they realized their mistake and tried to make amends. But by then, Carver had become so accomplished that he graciously declined their belated offer. God's timing had proven perfect.I've been thinking about this because we live in such an instant world. We want the microwave answer, the overnight success, the immediate breakthrough. But God, He works on a different timetable. And I'm too soon old and too late smart on this one, but I've learned that His delays are not His denials.The psalmist tells us to "rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him." Notice those words: rest and wait. They're not passive words, they're trust words. When you're resting in God, you're not fretting, you're not scheming, you're not trying to force doors open that God has closed for your protection.Carver could have become bitter. He could have given up on education altogether. But he kept his hands open and his heart soft, and God used that rejection to position him exactly where he needed to be to change the world.Maybe you're facing a closed door today. Maybe you've been waiting so long you're starting to wonder if God's forgotten about you. He hasn't. Sometimes He's protecting you from something that looks good but isn't best. Sometimes He's preparing you for something bigger than you can imagine. And sometimes, like with Carver, He's proving that His plans are always better than ours.History is just HIS story, friend, and you're an important part of it. Trust His timing.**Let's pray:** Father, help us to rest in You when doors close and dreams get delayed. Teach us to wait patiently, knowing that Your timing is perfect and Your plans are always good. Give us the faith to trust You, even when we can't see what You're doing. In Jesus' name, Amen.#Faith #Trust #GodsTimimg #ChristianLiving #DailyDevotion #Patience #BiblicalWisdom #SpiritualGrowth #RTTBROS #NightlightBe sure to Like, Share, Follow and subscribe it helps get the word out.https://linktr.ee/rttbros

Hue and Cry #RTTBROS #NightlightEphesians 5:11 - "And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them."In twelfth century England, they didn't have police departments like we do today. When a crime was committed, the whole community was responsible for dealing with it. If you witnessed a robbery or an assault, you couldn't just walk away and mind your own business. The law required you to raise what they called "hue and cry.""Hue" comes from the Old French word meaning "to shout out," and that's exactly what you were supposed to do. You'd yell and make as much noise as possible to alert everyone in the area that something was wrong. Then the whole community would come running to help catch the criminal and deal with the situation. It was their early warning system, and it only worked if people were willing to speak up when they saw evil happening.Now, I know we live in different times, and we've got law enforcement to handle most of these situations today. But I can't help thinking about how this old medieval law applies to our spiritual lives. As Christians, we're part of a community, and we have a responsibility to each other when we see spiritual danger approaching.Too often, we see a brother or sister heading down a destructive path, and we just stay quiet. We don't want to be judgmental, we don't want to interfere, we don't want to make waves. But Paul tells us we're not supposed to have fellowship with works of darkness, we're supposed to reprove them. Sometimes love requires us to raise a holy "hue and cry."Now, I'm not talking about being self-righteous or gossipy. I'm not talking about pointing fingers at every little fault we notice in others. But when someone we care about is in real spiritual danger, when they're making choices that could destroy their testimony or their family or their walk with God, sometimes the most loving thing we can do is raise our voice.It takes courage to speak up. It's risky to get involved. But in medieval England, if you saw a crime and didn't raise hue and cry, you could be held partly responsible for the consequences. Friend, I wonder if the same principle applies to us when we see spiritual crime taking place and stay silent.The goal isn't to embarrass anyone or tear them down. The goal is to alert the community so help can come, so restoration can happen, so the damage can be stopped before it spreads.Prayer: Lord, give me wisdom to know when to speak up and courage to do it in love when I see spiritual danger threatening those I care about. Amen#Faith #Wisdom #ChristianLiving #DailyDevotion #Learning #BiblicalWisdom #SpiritualGrowth #RTTBROS #NightlightBe sure to Like, Share, Follow and subscribe it helps get the word out.https://linktr.ee/rttbros

Learning from Life's Classroom #RTTBROS #Nightlight"A wise man will hear, and will increase learning; and a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels." — Proverbs 1:5You know, I've been thinking about something Will Rogers once said. That old cowboy philosopher had a knack for seeing truth in simple ways, and one thing he loved to point out was that he'd never met a man he couldn't learn something from. Now, that's a pretty remarkable statement when you think about it. Every person, a teacher. Every encounter, a classroom.I was visiting with a friend the I made today, and we got to talking about mistakes, those hard teachers we all seem to meet along life's journey. She said something that really stuck with me: "If you're smart, you learn from your own mistakes. But if you're wise, you learn from other people's mistakes." That's when it hit me, wisdom isn't just about collecting your own scars and learning from them. It's about paying attention to the scars of those around you and letting their experiences compound your understanding.The Bible has a lot to say about this. Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived, wrote in Proverbs 13:20, "He that walketh with wise men shall be wise: but a companion of fools shall be destroyed." See, wisdom is contagious. So is foolishness. The people we surround ourselves with, the stories we listen to, the experiences we pay attention to, they all shape how we navigate this life.Now, I'm too soon old and too late smart on this one, but I spent a lot of years thinking I had to figure everything out on my own. I had to touch the hot stove myself before I'd believe it was hot. But somewhere along the way, I realized that God puts people in our lives for a reason. Their victories can encourage us. Their mistakes can warn us. Their wisdom can guide us.Think about it this way: if you only learned from your own mistakes, you'd have to live ten thousand lifetimes to gain the wisdom that's available to you right now by simply paying attention to the lives of others. That's why the older folks in the church matter so much. They've been down roads we haven't traveled yet. They've made mistakes we can avoid. They've found paths through dark valleys that we're just now entering.But here's the thing, you have to be humble enough to listen. You have to be wise enough to recognize that everybody you meet knows something you don't. That grumpy old timer at church? He might know something about perseverance that could change your life. That young person full of questions? They might see something fresh about God's Word that you've overlooked for years.History is just HIS story, and God has been teaching His people through each other since the beginning. When we learn from one another, we're participating in something beautiful, we're letting God's wisdom flow through the Body of Christ, from generation to generation, from experience to experience.So let me ask you: who's God put in your path that you might be overlooking as a teacher? What lessons are available to you right now if you'd just open your ears and humble your heart? Because wisdom, real wisdom, doesn't just come from the school of hard knocks. It comes from paying attention to everyone who's been there before you.Let's pray: Father, give us humble hearts to learn from those You've placed in our lives. Help us see that every person we meet can teach us something if we're wise enough to listen. Thank You for the gift of wisdom that comes through Your people. In Jesus' name, Amen.#Faith #Wisdom #ChristianLiving #DailyDevotion #Learning #BiblicalWisdom #SpiritualGrowth #RTTBROS #NightlightBe sure to Like, Share, Follow and subscribe it helps get the word out.https://linktr.ee/rttbros

He Doesn't Stop #RTTBROS #Nightlight

The Joy Dealer #RTTBROS #Nightlight"A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones." — Proverbs 17:22You know, I got an email the other day that hit me right between the eyes. It said something I needed to hear: "Your wife doesn't need another burden to manage. She needs a joy dealer." And friend, I sat there staring at that line because it convicted me in the best possible way.See, somewhere along the journey, a lot of us Christian men got this idea that maturity means being serious all the time. Heavy. Intense. Always grinding, always stressed, always carrying the weight of the world on our shoulders. We think if we're not worried, we're not responsible. If we're not intense, we're not spiritual.But that's not leadership, and it's not biblical manhood. That's just exhaustion with a spiritual veneer on it.Think about Jesus for a minute. He was the strongest leader who ever walked this earth, yet people were drawn to Him. Children ran to Him. His disciples followed Him for years, and they didn't just endure His presence, they enjoyed it. He didn't repel people with heaviness. He attracted them with life.I love what Nehemiah said: "The joy of the Lord is your strength" (Nehemiah 8:10). Did you catch that? Joy isn't some optional add-on to the Christian life. Joy IS strength. When God is first in your life, when your order is right, joy flows naturally because your peace doesn't depend on circumstances.Here's what I'm learning, and I'm too soon old and too late smart on this one: rigid men repel, but joyful men attract. If your wife isn't drawn to you, if your kids seem to avoid you, maybe it's time to check your energy. Are you fun to be around? Do you bring life into the room, or do you suck it out with stress and intensity?Paul tells us in Galatians 5:22 that joy is a fruit of the Spirit. It's not something we manufacture, it's something that flows when we're walking with God. A man filled with the Spirit doesn't need substances to relax or entertainment to unwind. He's enjoyable because God's joy lives in him.Your family doesn't need another manager. They need a joy dealer. Someone who brings life, not drains it. Someone who's strong AND joyful. That's not weakness, friend. That's what it looks like when a man is anchored in the presence of God.Let's pray: Father, forgive us for being exhausting instead of life-giving. Help us to find our joy in You so we can be joy dealers in our homes. Teach us that maturity isn't misery, and that following You should make us more enjoyable, not less. In Jesus' name, Amen.#Faith #ChristianLiving #BiblicalManhood #Joy #Marriage #Family #DailyDevotion #SpiritualGrowth #RTTBROS #NightlightBe sure to Like, Share, Follow and subscribe it helps get the word out. https://linktr.ee/rttbros

Adapt and Overcome #RTTBROS #Nightlight"And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose." — Romans 8:28I remember my old boss telling me something he learned during his military career. Three simple words that became his motto for life: Adapt and overcome. At first, I thought it was just another one of those tough-guy military sayings, you know? But the more I sat with it, the more I realized how deeply biblical that concept really is.Life has this habit of not going according to our plans. The car breaks down when you can't afford the repair. The job you thought was secure disappears. And we're left standing there wondering what just happened.Here's what I've learned: God isn't nearly as concerned with our comfort as He is with our character. He's not shocked when things go sideways. In fact, He's already working on Plan B while we're still trying to figure out what happened to Plan A.Think about the Apostle Paul in Acts 16. He had big plans to preach the gospel, but he kept running into closed doors. The Spirit wouldn't let him preach in Asia. He couldn't go into Bithynia. But then he had a vision of a man from Macedonia saying, "Come over and help us." Paul adapted, changed direction, and ended up bringing the gospel to Europe for the first time. That one adaptation changed the entire course of Christian history.Adapt and overcome isn't just about toughing it out. It's about trusting that God is redirecting, not rejecting. It's about being flexible enough to follow where He leads, even when it's not where we planned to go.The military teaches adapt and overcome because in battle, nothing ever goes exactly according to plan. Well, friend, we're in a spiritual battle, and our enemy isn't going to make things easy. But here's the good news: we serve a God who specializes in taking our messes and making them into messages, our tests into testimonies, our trials into triumphs.Romans 8:28 reminds us that all things work together for good to them that love God. Notice it doesn't say all things ARE good. It says they work together FOR good. That's adaptation. That's overcoming.So whatever you're facing today, whatever has gone wrong, remember: God's not done yet. He's teaching you to adapt and overcome. And when you do, you'll look back and see that history really is just HIS story, and He was writing a better chapter than you could have imagined.Let's pray: Father, when our plans fall apart, help us trust that You're not surprised. Give us the strength to adapt to what You're doing and the faith to overcome what stands in our way. In Jesus' name, Amen.#Faith #Resilience #ChristianLiving #DailyDevotion #TrustGod #BiblicalWisdom #SpiritualGrowth #OvercomingObstacles #RTTBROS #NightlightBe sure to Like, Share, Follow and subscribe it helps get the word out.https://linktr.ee/rttbros

Pastoral prayer: transitions #RTTBROS #nightlight

Stop Running #RTTBROS #Nightlight #Running #Salvation #WalkwithGod

Living Legacy #RTTBROS #Nightlight

Promise Keeping God #RTTBROS #Nightlight

Building New PathwaysThe Power of Practiced Truth #RTTBROS #Nightlight

Taking Thoughts CaptiveThe Story of Martin Luther's Stand #RTTBROS #Nightlight"For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds)." — 2 Corinthians 10:3-4Last night we talked about those automatic negative thoughts, those ANTs that swarm through our minds. Tonight, I want to tell you about a man who understood this battle better than most: Martin Luther.Now, Luther was a monk who struggled terribly with his thoughts. He would spend hours in confession, sometimes confessing the same sins over and over because his mind kept telling him he wasn't truly forgiven, that he wasn't good enough, that God couldn't possibly love someone like him. His superior finally told him to stop coming to confession unless he had committed murder or blasphemy, something real to confess.But here's where Luther's story gets interesting. When he finally discovered the truth of justification by faith, when he understood that we're made right with God through faith in Christ alone, not by our works, everything changed. He realized that those thoughts that kept condemning him were lies. They were real thoughts, yes, but they weren't true thoughts.Luther used to say that you can't keep the birds from flying over your head, but you can keep them from building a nest in your hair. Sound familiar? He understood what Paul was teaching in 2 Corinthians 10, that we have weapons mighty through God for pulling down strongholds, for taking thoughts captive.Here's the thing about taking thoughts captive: you can't do it by just trying harder to think positive. That's not what Paul is talking about. He's talking about confronting those automatic negative thoughts with the truth of God's Word. It's not about pretending the thoughts aren't there or trying to force yourself to feel differently. It's about recognizing a lie when you hear one and standing your ground with truth.When that thought shows up telling you you're worthless, you don't have to argue with it or try to convince yourself otherwise. You just need to know what God says: "But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people" (1 Peter 2:9). That's not positive thinking, that's truth thinking.When that automatic thought tells you you're all alone and nobody cares, you don't have to try to talk yourself out of feeling lonely. You just need to remember what Jesus said: "I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee" (Hebrews 13:5). Again, not positive thinking, truth thinking.Luther learned to fight his ANTs with Scripture. When those condemning thoughts would swarm, he would literally speak truth out loud. He'd say, "I am baptized. I am God's child. Christ died for me." Simple truths that cut through the lies like a sword.You see, you can't control the first thought that pops into your head, but you can control what you do with it. You can take it captive. You can hold it up against God's Word and say, "Does this match what God says about me? Does this match what God says about my situation?" If it doesn't, then it's a lie dressed up as a thought, and it needs to be taken prisoner.Tomorrow night, we'll talk about what to do for the long haul, because this isn't a one-time battle. But tonight, practice taking one thought captive. Just one. When that ANT shows up, grab hold of it with a truth from God's Word and don't let it run wild.Let's pray: Father, give us courage to confront the lies in our minds with Your truth. Help us to be quick to recognize when our thoughts are not lining up with Your Word. Teach us to fight with the weapon of truth. In Jesus' name, Amen

Ants automatic negative thinking

Handling Anger #RTTBROS #Nightlight

The Real Thing #RTTBROS #Nightlight