Today's Walk with the Lord - My Jewish Roots

Good Morning,

 

Yesterday I had the chance to share my testimony with another person who is also Jewish and looking seriously at accepting Christ to be their Lord and Savior.

 

I was pleased to be able to share my history, testimony and what I had to overcome to make the transition to Messianic Jew.

 

My biggest fear was to botch up Christian theology and get my scripture messed up and since we had one of the church’s pastors with us, I expected to get frequent elbows to the ribs or kicks to my shin.

 

The Lord filled me up and I shared my testimony fluently, and shared resources which could help this person make the right decision. I surprised myself on how the Lord used me and the knowledge I shared.

 

Only once did the pastor hint that I shut up, and I needed that so that my head did not explode.

 

I pray that this person accepts Jesus soon, and that the Lord continues to use me to help with His kingdom work.

 

Enjoy!

 

Sanford

 

 

Sanford Berenberg

Sanford@berenberg.net

www.berenberg.net

Today's Walk With the Lord - Preparing for Rain

Good Morning,

 

I read a lot, I have read over 60 books this year, and averaged over 70 for the last four years. Included in this is the daily reading of God’s word, a devotional or two and some theology.

 

Over the last five years, I have spent a lot of effort investing time to read and learn, and every now and then I am asked why.

 

I have found that I am preparing. I am not sure for what, although I know it entails helping others in some fashion or another.

 

My goal is to prepare myself for what the Lord will task me to do.

 

One of my inspirations and a reminder of why I do what I do is a scene from the movie ‘Facing the Giants’.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kN_DKPCFrJ4

 

I hope this reaches you too.

 

Prepare for the rain.

 

Enjoy!

 

Sanford Berenberg

sanford@berenberg.net

www.berenberg.net

 

100% Possibility with God

Good Morning,

One of my daily devotionals is the book 'Blessings and Battlefields'. On Day 300, is the description of Patriot General Nathaniel Greene retreating his southern army from British General Cornwallis. What stuck me was that in this retreat Greene had to cross two different rivers, the Yadkin and the Dan.

The rivers were more than a week's march from each other. At the first river, the Yadkin, Greene was able to get most of his troops and supplies across the river by the time Cornwallis arrived. He lost some baggage carts, but no men.

Cornwallis was going to ford the river in the morning and bring the battle to Greene, but during the night, it rained. Rained hard and the Yadkin swelled and was unpassable for short while, giving Greene and his army a chance to make some distance between him and Cornwallis.

Weeks later as Greene and his army crossed the Dan river, Cornwallis had caught up to him again and was going to ford the river the following morning. Once again it rained hard, and once again, the river became unpassable for a short bit.

What is the likelihood that these two rivers on these two days could both be saturated by heaving rains causing each to swell enough to make them impassable allowing Greene to avoid a costly battle?

If God is with you, then it is a 100% likelihood.

I like those odds!

Enjoy!

Sanford

Sanford@Berenberg.net
www.berenberg.net

Today's Walk With the Lord - The Hiding Place

Good Morning,

 

As I am resting at home after my leg surgery, I have had some additional time to really dive into some reading. One of the books I recently heard about was Corrie ten Boom’s ‘The Hiding Place’. I was not very familiar with it other than people making vague references of a Christian themed version of ‘Diary of Anne Frank’.

 

In reading this book, I was dragged in fast. I simply could not put it down. I read about the ten Boom family and what happened to them during World War I, and then II, and the prison camps, etc. And seeing this all laced with Christ’s love and direction to make something wonderful out of these horrific events just sang to my soul.

 

I have often touted the book ‘Man’s Search for Meaning’ by Viktor Frankl as a Psychologist finds the positive to survive in a concentration camp. This is a very powerful book.

 

With the Hiding Place, I found that Christ is the Victor in the concentration camps. That His love can do so much more than help one survive.

 

In life, I know I can change my attitude to survive better in any environment, but I also know that by relying on God, handing those things too big for me over to God to handle, that I can thrive while fulfilling God’s plan for my life.

 

Lord thank you for allowing me to read this wonderful book, and if you have never read it, please do so.

 

Praise the Lord!

 

Sanford

 

Sanford@berenberg.net

www.berenberg.net

 

 

 

Today's Walk With the Lord - The Lord Brings Us Near

Good Morning,

 

As I was doing my prayer walk this morning, I realized that the Lord drew me nearer to Him over these last few years. Nearer I have come to Him, the more sanctified my life has become. I look forward to further growing closer to the Lord and the life I will lead for Him, through Him and for Him.

 

What was suprising to me in this realization this morning was that the Lord called to me even though I had lived a life of sin. That I was involved in magical rituals, the occult, Scientology, tarot and other practices which the Lord considers disgusting and sinful.

 

That through all that I was, and what I did, the Lord peered through it and called me to come to Him. And as I journied to Him, my life as a Christian blossomed and sinful nature, activities and behaviors of my past have been dropping away.

 

Again I say, I am not the man I know the Lord wants me to be, but thank God I am not the man I used to be.

 

Praise the Lord!

 

Sanford

 

Sanford Berenberg

sanford@berenberg.net

www.berenberg.net

 

Today's Walk With The Lord - Racing to What End

Good Morning,

 

Over the last four or five years I have felt the need to make up for lost time. This need has been met with going back to college, twice, and with a focus on learning. I read, I listen, I interact and more recently, I pray.

 

This morning as I prayed to the Lord I asked him show me the finish line.

 

I feel like I am charging hard in a race car, moving faster and faster, and with each book read, cd listened to, seminar attended, that my car is stronger, faster and more reliable. The one question I have though, is where am I racing to?

 

What is the end, the finish line the Lord wants me to cross.

 

I know that is presumptuous of me to expect that the Lord will show me where the finish line is, because so long as I live, there will be another challenge, another test, another goal to fulfill.

 

As my faith in Him improves, I know my purpose is to bring glory to Him, to praise Him in all of my actions and endeavors.

 

My focus has been in helping others, through sharing wisdom over the web and via email. I also mentor others when I have the opportunity, when the world does not get so much in the way.

 

For the last year I have felt the calling to some sort of ministry and to share my testimony of the different places I have been in life, so I see a goal ahead. The Lord wants to use me to bring others into His family.

 

Now I have have to obey.

 

As I learn and grow daily, teach and empower others, I must also Do.

 

That is the finish line of this current race I am in.

 

When I get there, I know another race will begin, but I will leave that to another time.

 

Marching orders received.

 

Thank you Lord!

 

Enjoy!

 

Sanford

 

 

Sanford@berenberg.net

www.berenberg.net

 

One Man's Walk With The Lord - He Knows How to Reach Me

Good Morning

 

Songs of praise to the Lord reach us. So do hymns and music. Different styles of music appeal to different people. Like in the movie 'Awakenings' each of the patients had different music which had an impact on them.

 

As I have continued my walk with Jesus, and the sanctification of my life progresses, I have been cleaning house of those things in my life and past which are not Christian or Christ-like in nature. While I have come a long way, I know I still have a long way to go.

 

One challenge for me has been music. I am a headbanger at heart. I love Iron Maiden, Metallica, Rammstein and similar groups, but as I get closer to the Lord, there are some songs which I have trouble even playing now, knowing the words promote something that I just don't believe.

 

I was a bit fearful closing the door on my hard hitting chords and pounding drums, but I would do it if it meant getting closer to Christ.

 

Then, one Saturday morning, my buddy and accountability partner, Justin, had finished having breakfast at a local restaurant and walked to our cars. He pulled out his cell phone and showed me some new music his brother had showed him. It was metal and it was Christian.

 

The name of the group was Skillet, and I chuckled at the name. The music sounded okay, but cell phone speakers just don't do rock justice.

 

So that evening I went onto YouTube and started listening and watching some Skillet songs, and within a week I had purchased my first CD (my car speakers are a bit better than the cell phones). As I was listening to it one day in the car, my daughter asked if that was Skillet and if she can borrow the CD to put some songs on her IPod.

 

I have since become a huge fan of Skillet, purchased a second CD from them and listen intently throughout the week.

 

I praise the Lord for worship music which reaches me. Now don't get me wrong, the songs we sing at Church are very powerful and I enjoy listening to KLove and our local Christian station, WJIE, but when I really want to get into the zone, a good hard hitting metal song is what I need. And the Lord gave us Skillet and other Christian Rock bands.

 

Praise Jesus!

 

Sanford

 

sanford@berenberg.net

www.berenberg.net

 

 

 

One Man's Walk With The Lord - The Lord Almighty is in my heart

Good Morning,

 

Recently my wife, Karen, and I had the opportunity to visit the Billy Graham Library in Charlotte, North Carolina and the Billy Graham Training Center in Asheville, North Carolina.

 

It was my hope in this trip that I would be able to strengthen my relationship with the Lord.

 

I knew that the problems with our relationship, the one between me and the Lord, were all because of me. I just did not know what barriers I put or allowed others to put there.

 

I prayed a lot and I opened my eyes, my ears and my heart.

 

At the end of this trip I realized the Lord was with me each and every day, on the good days and the bad days. That no matter how large the barrier, He was always right there.

 

All I need to do is to look to Him, to call to Him, to praise Him and to pray to Him. 

 

He is always there. No matter how bad life gets, He is always there waiting for me with open arms.

 

And as I am nothing special, I can assure you, whomever is reading this, that He is waiting there for You too, with open arms.

 

The Lord loves us.

 

Praise Jesus!

 

Sanford

 

sanford@berenberg.net

www.berenberg.net

 

 

 

Getting Right with God

Good Morning,

 

Recently while looking through a Family Christian advertisement, I saw a T-Shirt that said the most powerful message.

 

On the front the shirt says:

 

I’m not the man I ought to be but, 

 

on the back the shirt says:

 

Thank God I’m not the man I used to be.

 

Amen to that!

 

And for those interested in this shirt, you can find it here:

 

http://www.familychristian.com/shop/product.asp?prodID=125473&name=Red+Letter+9+Inc-Thank+God+Tee

 

 

Enjoy!

 

Sanford

 

Sanford@berenberg.net

www.berenberg.net

 

If we can learn from history...

Good Morning,

During the American Revolutionary war, a Methodist preacher in England said the following about the people of England as they engaged in putting down the rebellion in the American colonies:

"In this hour of tremendous danger, it would become us to turn our thoughts to heaven. This is what our brethren in the colonies are doing. From one end of North America to the other, they are fasting and praying. But what are we doing? Shocking thought! We are ridiculing them as fanatics, and scoffing at religion."

and

"If the colonists thong the houses of God, while we throng play-houses, or houses of ill fame; if they crowd their communion-tables, while we crowd the gaming table or the festal board; if they pray, while we curse; if they fast, while we get drunk; and keep the Sabbath, while we pollute it; if they shelter under the protection of heaven, while our chief attention is turned to our troops; we are in danger-in great danger"

And here we are some 234 years later, and the tables have turned. The Americans are now the ones who are forsaking the house of God and ridiculing religion.

As our culture moves away from God and his word, we too can find ourselves on the losing end of an event that we should not have lost.

I take this warning seriously and look to the Lord for guidance, to get back into the house of worship and to get right with him each and every day.

It is my hope you will too.

Sanford

sanford@berenberg.net

Today's Walk With the Lord - Being Christ-Like

Good Morning,

 

In some of my readings over the last few months I have come across a topic which kept speaking to me. This topic is how all Christians are urged to follow a Christ-Like attitude and behavior in how they live their lives, with the caveat that different people have a different veiwpoint of what Christ was like.

 

It appears that there is a range of beliefs of how Christ conducted his life, as there is a range of behaviors which people are displaying in the name of being Christian.

 

I am still relatively new in my walk with the Lord and I have been doing an extensive amount of reading on the subject, as well as talking to various 'professionals' in the field to better understand the incongruities that I have been seeing.

 

To give you an example, I have encountered people who were very strong in their faith who also felt the need to be better than others. I have also encountered people who acted as if being a Christian was an exclusive club where only a few were welcome to join.

 

In the word and in many of the texts that I have read and reviewed, Christ never came across with a 'Holier than Thou' approach to those who were fellow believers. The fact he IS God gave him every right, but he remained humble. The Lord has asked us believers to spread the Gospel to all parts of the world. This does not mean exclusive parts of each part of the world, but to everyone.  In our attempt to be Christ-Like, we might want to make sure that we have a better understanding of who Christ is and what his attributes are.

 

I only hope that I am doing the Lord proud in my walk, where I hope to learn more each and every day. While I have learned a lot, there is so much more to know.

 

Thank you!

 

Sanford Berenberg
sanford@berenberg.net

www.berenberg.net

Today's Walk With the Lord - Opportunity

Good Morning,

 

With all the doom and gloom in the world with disasters and the bad economy, please realize that while there is still GOD, there is still Opportunity.

 

Look to the Lord for help in the most troubling times.

 

Enjoy!

 

Sanford Berenberg

sanford@berenberg.net

www.berenberg.net