Brad Powell Online

Brad,

Since my grandmother told me about my heavenly Father and I excepted Him for who he is and with both my real and adopted fathers hate and violance to me I saw what a real father should be and I wanted to be with only Him.

Stephen Beck

I think a lot of believers can relate to the internal question: “has God forgotten about me?” I was recently reading the story about how Barnabas went to Tarsus to get Saul (Paul). Paul had such a great start in Damascus, and then Jerusalem. But he was then sent off to Tarsus for who knows how long. No mention is made of any ministry done by him there. Probably just a working stiff.

But out of the blue God sends Barnabas and the next thing you know Paul is one of the leaders of the believers. God saw Paul all along, just like He sees me when I think that I have been passed by. Indeed “the Lord knows those who are His” (2Timothy 2:19).

If only I could see Him and His loving Hand as clearly as He sees me!! I just have to keep trusting that ” He knows the way that I take; when He has tested me, I will come forth as gold” (in His eyes) Job 23:10

Thanks for the honesty, Brad.

So true is your insight spoken here Brad. Sometimes I think we have a tendency to do this especially when launching new ministries! One might think; as leaders, we don’t have “Lord, look at me” insights & visions, but we do. It’s hard not to when we seek to please God in our tiny human way compared to WHAT He has done for us! At my old church when I was inspired by God to launch Christ Riders motorcycle group, Hands & Feet Outreach, Friendship Ministry, and an educational memorial scholarship for students who might not ever get the chance, I struggled all along with this! You would think that launching all this would satisfy this urge in me to give back to the kingdom for ALL that God has given me but it didn’t totally fulfill that for me. Even with all the praise & support from church family members about the wonders of these ministries, I was still not satisfied that God loves me “just as I am” and I don’t have to impress Him by these kinds of extremes. It’s simply so0o0o hard sometimes when you have come to realize just how much God LOVES US, and has given and has done for us, that we can’t simply pack this urge away and ACCEPT His love unconditionally! The more we understand about God sometimes the more we try to “make-up or please” Him! His GRACE and incredible LOVE for us should satisfy our every need, yet we struggle … For I thank GOD for His grace & mercy for I’m 53yrs old and still struggle with this simple, yet divine concept about the simplicity of this priority #1 message from His Word! So0o0o helpful & encouraging to hear that I am not alone in this battle with finding a way to please the God of the Universe! My Heavenly Father! The One who knows me by name & loves me specifically, and has blessed and given me so0o much over my life thus far! I pray that I may thoroughly accept His love & everlasting life that He has given me, unconditionally, one day soon!!

Brad, I can totally relate to what you’re saying. I have wondered if He see me, knows my name and is pleased with the way I have been living my life/obeying His commands. Sometimes, when nothing is happening in my life the way I think or desire it should be or that I think I deserve, I wonder if He’s forgotten me. But I learned from your excellent talk today, that this really is the “You owe me, God” mentality. I must remember that He owes me nothing and I owe Him everything. Gratefully, I’ve come to discern that He’s present in my life daily – He reminds me He is there “seeing me” in the smallest things i.e. all signs point to Him being involved in my life. I am filled with praise of Him at each of these realizations. He does know best and I just need to trust Him in that truth. I continue to struggle at times with this…but less and less each day as I read His Word.
Lately, what really blew me away is from my study of the Gospel of John this year. In John 17, Jesus prays in front of/in earshot of His disciples, and in John 17:20 says, “My prayer is not for them alone (the disciples), I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message…”. I pictured Jesus with his disciples around Him and then I appeared and was able to witness His prayer too, being right there in His Presence. Awesome! Yes, what wonderful comfort to know that the Creator of the Universe, He Himself, the King of Kings, prayed for me! He already knew of me and my existence, way back then, and prayed for me as one of His Own just before He died on the cross. What an overwhelming feeling of His Intimate Love for me via that picture and realization. I can only say that this was a powerful image and encouragment for me to fully trust Him and His Perfect Plan for me which will fully be revealed to me in His time.
I appreciated your prayer above, Brad. Just for your encouragement, as our Pastor, know that we, your flock, appreciate seeing you and hearing your spectacular talks – every word that that the Holy Spirit breathes through you. God does see you – all the seeds you’ve been planting. Hopefully, you’ll see them come to fruition now, in your lifetime, but they may come in the distant future when you won’t, but God will, see them. I will pray that you will have a deep satsfaction, now, in knowing that God has His Eye/Hand on you and is ever faithful in His Plan for you.
God Bless You, Brad! Thanks for another great post!

Thanks, for sharing.

Pastor Brad, I totally understand you when you say you want God’s attention, you know you have it, but do you really know how pleased HE is with you? YOU are exactly what he wants to see, you clothe the naked and feed the hungry, you feed HIS sheep.You have done so much for my husband and I you will probably never know how much. I just want to thank you for all you do

I can relate. Oh my goodness can I.

I just started coming to NorthRidge, but have been really drawn in and finally feel that I have found what was missing. Its been life changing. I used to feel so lost, sad, forgotten about, resentful…

When you said this week in your talk that some people reprimanded God, that was me. I was so angry with Him. But the truth of the matter is that I was really angry at myself because I was trying to get his attention and not getting the reaction that I wanted when in reality the reaction was there all along. All I needed to do was stop lashing out and start listening.

He was there all along. It took a life changing experience and an amazing leader (you) to help me to understand that. I still have soooooo much to learn. But thank you for what you do — the blog, tweets, NorthRidge.

It really has changed my life.

A couple of years back I participated in the marriage builders love languages study. I didn’t fit precisely into one of the categories. The best I could figure, I was some sort of combo. Finally I concluded 1,2,3,4…who cares. I just plain like attention — and I have been calling that my love language ever since. God made me to SEE me. Now that’s attention…

Maybe its becuase I just hit my 40′s but I have longed for what direction to go….what does he want me to do….sometimes I have felt maybe not lost track of…but more no direction from him. This post puts me back on the right track…he is here watching he does want me working in his perfect will…and I will be patient and know he has not lost track of me! 6 years at Northrige and always learning something! Thanks Brad!

If only we could remember that. When we don’t try to attract His attention, when we’re flat out down and seemingly out, He Sees Me. What a great thought.

Thank you Pastor. I’m going to make a little label and put that on my visor in my truck. “Hey Dude, He sees you”

I guess I didn’t realize that God does not take his eyes off of me. The elders used to always say “God sees everything” but I think that it was just said to make us paranoid as kids, But saying God never takes his eyes off of you is a great illustration of the scope of this Mighty God we serve. How simplistic and how far reaching. I went to a routine doctors visit and was given one of those “call backs”. Now if you’re auditioning for a movie a call back is a good thing, if you’ve just gone to the doctor, it’s the call you don’t want. I was told that they found some irregular cells and they were pre-cancerous. My best course of action would be to get a total hysterectomy right away. That was on my sisters birthday March 28th and for about a week my mind was racing with all kinds of thoughts; dark thoughts. I have a great husband and an eight year old and the “C” word can make you run the gamut of emotions from clarity to complete insanity-if you let it. My first question was God, I am such a health nut, when did this start?when did fall out of your realm of protection? I have to admit, I was a bit affected – but I have faith and I know that God has always been there for me. But did I really really know? No. I don’t even think we can conceive how God is there. And this blog is just another confirmation that God is so big that he can have his eyes on us all the time. Even as we face challenges. Well, I got a second opinion, and as I wait, I have faith in knowing that the fear I experienced is not of God. God loves me. How many times must God make a way for me before I can stay lifted in his praise? I’m so happy right now to be reminded that God never takes his eyes off of me. We will have challenges, but we are never alone. I am strong and brave right now, Pastor thank you for that reminder…I needed that.

This may sound corny, but when I read you line “God sees me” it made me think of the movie Avatar. In the alien world, when they say “I see you” it means so much more than actual seeing with eyes. It means “I understand you”/”I am connected to you”/”I am one with you”. It makes me feel good knowing that God “sees me”!