Sound Of A Melody

"'Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness, who seek the LORD: look to the rock from which you were hewn and to the quarry from which you were dug. Look to Abraham your father and to Sarah who gave birth to you in pain: when he was but one I called him, then I blessed him and multiplied him.' Indeed, the LORD will comfort Zion; He will comfort all her waste places. And her wilderness He will make like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the LORD; joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving and sound of a melody." Isaiah 51:1-3


Are you in need of comfort? Do you feel like there are places in your life that are barren or dry? Places void of hope? I have experienced those places. At different points in my life I face these dry places; these places where I cannot see hope on the horizon, only dust as far as the eye can see. 


I visited The Return last Friday night, at His House in Spring Hill, TN. It is a time of worship, prayer and waiting. It was just what I needed. I have been in an odd place the last couple of weeks. In some respects I am still there. It is a place that is hard to explain. I'm confident of the love of God for me, as much as I can be. I am not hopeless. That is to say, I am not completely devoid of hope. However, I see an area in my life that needs water. It really needs an oasis. 


Okay, it needs a tidal wave. 


This is what brought me to The Return. I love the name! It's just what I needed. It's one thing to live each day knowing you are loved by God. That is wonderful, truly. But it is an entirely different thing to live each day hearing straight from His lips that He loves you. It would be like my kids living each day in my house but we never talk, and they hear from other people that I love them but they never come to me and let me tell them to their face. After a while, they might start to wonder if that love was really true. I don't know how long they would be able to go without hearing that from me. Maybe they could, but they certainly would not walk in confidence. Anyway, that is what I was missing: my time with Him. I'm not talking about a religious duty of (insert deep dramatic voice here) "spending time in the word". I'm talking about having a conversation with the One who loves me and knows me perfectly; letting Him wash over me with His words of grace and encouragement. I had a little bit here and there but not enough. I just needed some time with my Love. 


So, I went and had a wonderful time of just resting in His presence and letting Him speak the words that I desperately needed to hear. I worshiped and sang. I danced. I prayed. I waited...It seemed to be a night where God was speaking healing and restoration through each song; through each prayer. I closed my eyes and saw Isaiah 51. I had no idea what it was so I turned to it and began to read.


Wow.


What a promise. What encouragement.


There are a couple of things that struck me. One thing is that He called Abraham when he was but one, and He blessed him and multiplied him. This is what He wants us to look at. He is the One that brings the increase. Listen, Abraham did what he could do (many times throughout their marriage, I sure) but what he could do was not good enough. It took God to bring the increase. If you are trusting in what you can do to produce what you are hoping for, you will most likely be very disappointed and certainly tired. I am here to tell you that God WANTS to bless you. He is eager to give you every good thing. Trust me, we are not better parents than Him. It gives me great joy to bless my children with things they need and with things they want. It makes me ecstatic. How much more the Father of the universe who gave what was most important to Him? If He didn't withhold His own Son, He will not withhold the money, job, relationship, healing, that you need. Look to what He has already done and know that He's not tired. He is still multiplying! If you have a hard time trusting and believing that it is His will to bless you with that thing, go back and ask Him to tell you the truth. Go to Him and ask Him to tell you how much He loves you in that area one more time. He is so willing.


The other thing that stuck out to me was the fact that He turns our wilderness into a garden like Eden. Eden was full of life. Everything they needed was there; no lack. In that garden, they ate from the Tree of Life. This was what sustained them. It's the reason that God had to have angels stand guard at the entrance when He kicked them out. If they had access to the Tree of Life, they would have lived forever. Today we have access to that Tree. His name is Jesus. When He comes in to our wilderness, He brings life. Verse three says that in that place we will find joy, gladness, thanksgiving and sound of a melody. 


Sound of a melody. 


I'm listening.


If you need hope; if you need comfort, look to the Tree of Life. Listen for His melody. 

Me In A Nutshell

Hi friends! Sorry that it's been a while since I've posted on here. I thought I would take the opportunity to tell you a little about me (assuming you don't know me from Adam, lol). I am a wifey of one, Dave Nelson. Someday I'll tell you our story. He is my knight in shining armor. My BFF. The most amazing Daddy to our kiddos. And a really good kisser. ;) I am also a mommie to three beautiful babies. Sophie is 5, Micah is 3 and Noah is almost 17 months. They never cease to amaze me.

I am not a supermom. There are many things I need to work on and I don't hide that fact. You will hear nothing but the realness on this blog. For example, I don't enjoy cleaning, and therefore I rarely do it. If you come to my house, you will experience this. LOL. There are days that I really enjoy staying at home with my tribe and other days I'm pulling my hair out desperate to fly away on a magic cloud that takes me anywhere but here. Writing a blog like this should probably take less than an hour but it will probably take me the rest of the day because in between sentences I am pulled away for, "I need some juice", "Mommie, let's do a fun craft", "Whaaaaa!!! Hold you!!!" (That one is happening right now, actually.) But even with all the lack of sleep, the puffy eyes, the "mom hair" (you know what I'm talking about), and the, "Mom! Micah hit me!", I love being a mommie to my little people.

I have many hats that I wear. I think women do that often. I am a singer, an actor, and a freelance makeup and hair artist. It has been a while since I have been able to use my acting skills but I will always love and appreciate that art. I try to help out my favorite theater company, the Tennessee Women's Theater Project, when I can. I started doing freelance makeup and hair for weddings and photoshoots about three years ago, though I've been a makeup artist for about 12 years now. It has been a wonderful way to get out of the house and be creative and make a little money as well; a true blessing from the Lord. If I had to choose one creative outlet to focus on for the rest of my life, it would have to be music. I don't claim to know everything about music. I'm only just learning to play the guitar. I can read music but very very slowly. I love to write songs but I can only write them in my head and then pray that an instrumentalist can hear my vision when I sing it for them. But I love to sing. Singing is like breathing for me. It comes naturally. And I am fully aware that it is a gift from God. I will be forever grateful. I'm not sure what the Lord wants to do with my voice in the long run but right now I use it to bless Him by leading worship at my church and I just finished my first EP. The greatest joy for me would be to worship with angels in Heaven. Oh, what a glory; what a song!

I grew up in the church. My dad was a pastor. I'm learning to change the way I speak about that. It is too easy to say, "Yeah, I was a PK. We're the worst, you know. That's why I was so rebellious." And maybe that's true, but what is also true is that I got wonderful teaching about the Bible and about Jesus and that teaching ignited a love for the Lord and a longing to know more about Him. I have a wealth of the Word in my spirit and the Lord used my father to put it there. I am so thankful for that.

In the last year the Lord has blessed me beyond words with revelation of His love and acceptance. The Holy Spirit has done what only He can do and that is to unveil the loveliness of Jesus and His finished work on the cross. I'm living in the truth of grace; in His abounding love. It has changed everything (and continues to change me). The more I look at Jesus, the more I see myself like Him. In this blog you will hopefully read words that are filtered through grace: the unmerited favor of God through Jesus and His finished work. I have been set free from the law and I no longer wish to return. My prayer for the one who reads this blog is that you would be filled with all wisdom and understanding in the knowledge of Christ and that you would truly know how high, how deep and how wide is the love of God for you. Thank you for taking this journey with me. The ride might be bumpy at times but it will be fun!

Speak The Truth In Love

"Speaking the truth in love is NOT telling someone their shortcomings as nicely as possible. It may be true but it's not the truth. The truth is that they're dead, in Christ, and all that bad stuff is done away with!"~ Graham Cooke

I just had to share this quote with you that I saw on facebook by one of my favorite pastors, Graham Cooke. The reason I love it so much is because I have been living in this reality for almost a year now....Well, I say I've been living in this reality but maybe it would be more accurate to say that I've been learning this reality. It is a learning process; a constant state of allowing God to renew my mind to think as He does. 


To see as He does....WOW, what a vision.


If we could only see ourselves as He sees us. The beauty that He sees. How differently would we live our lives? If we lived in the reality of Heaven (where we are seated, by the way) how would we walk this earth? 


Here is food for thought. You become like what you behold. When you look in the mirror, do you see Jesus? I used to hear people ask this and I would think, "No, I don't see Jesus. I see someone who's really messed up. I guess I need to get those things fixed before I'll be able to see Jesus in me, let alone for anyone else to see Jesus in me." 


I now understand that Jesus was there inside me all along, but I was focusing on my shortcomings instead of Him. If you become like what you behold and all you ever see is your crap, it's all you will ever continue to see. Try focusing on the truth. Jesus said He will never leave you and He will never forsake you (Hebrews 13:5). He's not going anywhere. Start looking at Him. The truth is that if you have trusted Jesus to take away your sin and give you everlasting life in Him, then His Spirit abides in you.  You are now dead to that sin. D.E.A.D. Romans 6:11 says to reckon yourself DEAD to sin and ALIVE to God in Christ Jesus....No really, reckon yourself that way! See yourself that way! It is the truth. 


Start seeing Him in you and you in Him. The more you behold His goodness, His faithfulness, His mercy, His grace, His strength, His glory, His righteousness, His           , the more you will see yourself looking like Him.


What do you see when you look at your sister/brother in Christ? Do you see their failings? Do you see their faults? Is that how you are going to define them? Is that the "truth" you are going to speak over them? What if God says that's not who they are in Christ? Well, Lord, who are they in You?

In You they are more than a conqueror (Romans 8:37). In You, they do not struggle with that sin because in You there is no sin. In You, they are an heir of the kingdom (James 2:5). In You, they have everything they need for life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3). What would the church look like if we chose to tell each other the truth of who we are in Christ? If we started calling out the life instead of focusing on the death that has already been dealt with at the cross? 


But Brittany, they really are struggling with this sin. Really? Is that what they're struggling with? Or are they struggling to see who they really are in Christ and what He accomplished for them? I would submit to you that every issue that you are facing right now, be it anger, pride, addiction, you name it, is simply an area where you need more of a revelation of the love of the Father. It is an area where you need His perspective on who you really are in Him. 


I have some friends who have modeled this in my life. I would come to them and say, "I'm seeing this in my life," and they would respond with who I really am in Christ. Then they would pray and ask God to give me a revelation of His love and acceptance in that area and to share His truth and freedom with me. It truly is for freedom that He has set us free, Beloved. You are free. But you will only manifest that freedom to the degree that you believe it.


Another pastor whom I love dearly put it this way. If I owe my friend, Suzy, $100,000 and there is no way I'm going to be able to pay it, I would probably spend my life avoiding her because of the shame. But let's say one day Jane went to the bank and paid $1,000,000 into Suzy's account to cover my debt. And then let's say that I didn't know about it, or maybe someone told me that but it seemed too good to be true so I didn't believe it. My debt would be cleared but I would still be avoiding Suzy and living in shame. The truth is, Beloved of God, that your sin debt has been OVER paid by Christ. For you to try and continue to pay for your sin or for you to continue to point out someone else's sin, is to say that what He did was not enough. And if what He did was not enough then there is no hope for humanity. 

Let's choose to spend our days telling people that their debt has been paid. Let's choose to point them to freedom; to all they are in Christ. Let's choose to tell them the truth in love! (Ephesians 4:15)

Issues: Party of One!

Psalm 62:8 "Trust in Him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before Him; God is a refuge for us."

I waited quietly for Him Friday night in the floor of my hotel room. Well, to be more specific, I was in the little "hallway" between the closet and the sink in my hotel room. It was midnight, after all, and my husband was getting some much needed rest in the other side of the room. It was the night before The Pearl Event II, the women's event that I was to lead worship for (and that my husband was videoing). Two hundred and fifty women all looking at me to lead them in worship. I knew I could not do it without Him. I also knew I had not decided on how much to sell my little album that I had worked so hard to put together for the conference. I was waiting on Him but I could not seem to get a clear answer.

I am a mom to three beautiful kiddos. Sophie is five, Micah is three and Noah is one. And mommy is busy. I'm sure I'm the only one in the world with this problem but I just have a hard time nailing down that one-on-one time with my Jesus. Oh sure, we have our moments. They usually happen when I'm in the shower or when I'm carting my children somewhere in my van; those times when you're on auto-pilot and you can spare some brain cells to pray and perhaps hear an "I love you" from the Father. I hang on those moments. I'm starting to get better at listening for His voice throughout the day; waiting on His leading before I head in a certain direction. But when it comes down to making a big decision, I've got to hear Him...really hear Him. And, I don't know about you, but I find it hard to hear clearly when the thing I'm asking about is at the forefront of my mind.

Take my pricing dilemma. I know it might seem trivial to some but this was huge to me. Not only is it my first EP so every part of making it is new to me, but also I had to decide how much it was worth; how much I was worth. I had decided on a certain number in the beginning but had a few friends tell me it was way too low. Then I talked to my good friend, Suzy. She came up with the craziest idea. Get ready for this. She suggested I ask Jesus how much to sell it for. What?? Shouldn't I ask some experts or do a poll to see how much people would want to pay? You mean the God of the universe actually cares about how much I sell this little CD for? Yes, He does. He cares about every area of our lives. You see, this wasn't just about putting worth on a CD. It was about Him saying, "I'm going to supply all of your needs according to MY riches in glory." He was reminding me that I'm worth a lot to Him.

So, I really wanted to know what His opinion was but every time I would pray about it I kept getting mixed messages, going back and forth between a price that one person suggested or another price that a different person suggested, and I could never get peace about a certain number. Really, any of them would have been just fine with me but I knew that He wanted to speak to me about this and I really, really, really wanted to know what He had to say. Here's what I'm learning about hearing God's voice clearly. If the issue that you're asking about is bigger in your mind than He is, you are probably not going to hear clearly because His voice has to come through the filter of your issue. I hope I'm making sense here. You see, the issue of how much to sell my CD for had become so big in my mind that when I was asking God about it, I had to wade through the thought of my issue in order to get to God. I just needed that alone time with Him; to focus on all that He is; to gaze upon the loveliness of Jesus; to hear Him reassure me that He has me in the palm of His hand.

So, there I was in the room of the hotel where the event was taking place and I was finally alone with Him. No kiddos. No dishes to clean. No distractions. I took out my journal and wrote a little prayer then I waited. All of a sudden, in my mind I saw "Psalm 62:8". I did not recognize this Psalm so I turned to it and I started reading from the beginning (just because I love the Psalms). The first two verses read, "My soul waits in silence for God only; from Him is my salvation. He only is my rock and my salvation, my stronghold; I shall not be greatly shaken." Wow. I felt such a confirmation that I was indeed in the right place. Then I read verse 8. "Trust in Him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before Him; God is a refuge for us." What a promise. What a truth to hold on to. He is trustworthy. He cares about what we care about. He is a refuge, a safe place. Then I went back to my journal and wrote down everything I heard Him speak to me. None of it was about the CD price but I didn't care. I knew He was back in the place where He belonged: first. I knew He loved me and cared for me and that He was in control.

I went to bed that night with such a beautiful peace. I got some much needed sleep. Heavenly uninterrupted sleep. When I woke up the next morning, before I even opened my eyes, the first picture I saw in my mind was Jesus. He was holding my CD in his hands and He was hugging it dearly showing me that He loved it so much. Then He turned it around and showed me the front. On it was written a price. I had my answer.

God is so good. He really does care about every single moment in your life. There is not one thing that goes unnoticed. There is not one thing that He sees as trivial. If it's important to you, it's important to Him. If you are willing, He can give you an amazing perspective on your situation. But in order to see or hear clearly, I would encourage you to let Him wash over you with the truth of who He is and how much He loves you. It will put Him in first place above every thing you face, whether it be a decision you need to make or a disease that is threatening your body or a bill you don't know how you're going to pay. He really does know what to do about it and He really does care. Let Jesus speak to you today about your situation. Find a moment to get quiet before Him. Focus on all that He is. Tune into the spontaneous thoughts and pictures that come to mind. Start writing them down and more will flow.

Blessings on your journey with Him today. Grace to you!

Hope

Welcome to my blog! I'm so excited to share my thoughts with you and to hear your thoughts as well. For my first post I will share a note that I wrote a while back on my facebook page. Feel free to follow me at my new page www.facebook/brittanynelsonmusic.com. Grace to you! ~ Brittany

Do you ever wonder if you're the only one to feel a certain way or experience a certain thing? For instance, am I the only one that gets to a place where I can no longer hear one more word come out of my child's mouth because if I do My brain might actually melt and ooze right out of my ears or possibly explode into tiny little pieces all over my already messy abode? Am I the only one who reaches such a low place that my four year old has more wisdom for my situation than I do? Am I the only one to actually question whether or not I am loved simply because my house seems irreparably dirty or because my children are all having a meltdown at the same time? I'm probably the only one to feel such things. But just in case I'm not, I'll just write a few things that I'm learning that help me when these things happen.

I'm learning that there is hope. Hope, joy and peace are available for me. Hope is the confident expectation of good. Romans 15:13 says that God is the God of hope (the confident expectation of good). "Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace through believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." Where do I get joy and peace? From the God of hope. How do I get this joy and peace? Through believing. Believing what? I'm so glad you asked. Through believing that God is good and that you are righteous in His sight. There is no peace when you see yourself as being full of sin. It does not fill me with peace to focus on my failures. In fact, it fills me with dread, fear, and depression (and hopefully we all know where those things come from. Here's a hint: they are not from God.) Peace and joy comes to the one who sees herself as The Father sees her, which is pure and spotless. Ephesians 1:12 says that when you listened and believed the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation, you were sealed in Christ with the Holy Spirit of promise. It is the Holy Spirit who empowers us to abound in hope (the confident expectation of good).

"But," I hear you ask, "I just yelled at my child and saw the most horrified look on their face. I feel like the worst parent on the planet. Don't I have to go beg God for forgiveness and mercy and promise to do better next time so that maybe He will have mercy on my soul and help me to not completely screw up my kids?" Okay, maybe you didn't ask that, but I sure have. If you have done that in the past, let me ask you, how is that working for you? If the only thing you can do is go "search your heart" for wickedness and ask for forgiveness over and over then what, may I ask, are you focusing on? Your sin. Your self. There is no hope there. Our hope is in Christ Who has covered us forever with His blood. If there was not one thing we could do to earn salvation then there is still not one thing we can do to keep it, or lose it.

So, what do we focus on? I'm so glad you asked. We focus on Jesus and what He did for us. Whenever I need encouragement and I am questioning God's love for me or His provision for me, I go to the cross. It is there that I see a Father Who spared no expense so that I could be with Him. He gave the very best He had, His Son. He didn't have to. He wanted to. Why? Because He loves me. That's it. That settles it for me. God so loved the world that He gave His Son so that whoever keeps the law, goes to church, reads her Bible for an hour each day, fasts once a month, serves in the church and asks for forgiveness each time they screw up might have eternal life. Hmmm. We know that's not right so why do we live like that? Whoever believes in Christ: believes that He was perfect when we could not be, believes that He was our spotless sacrifice so that now we are clean, believes that He has made us righteous. When you focus on that truth you begin to have joy, hope and peace. Why, because suddenly you realize that you are not loved because of what you do and you are not rejected because of what you do (or don't do as the case may be). The more you believe that you are loved, the more you are able to love. Suddenly, you have peace even in the midst of the storm (and oh how stormy those tantrums can be). Suddenly, you realize that angry, depressed, fill in your blank person is not who I am. I am seated with Christ in heavenly places (Ephesians 2:6). I am the righteousness of God in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:21). As Jesus is, so am I in this world (1 John 4:17). This is a picture of abounding in hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.

I am still getting this myself. Lord knows I am not all there yet but every day I am getting closer as I put my focus on Jesus and what He accomplished for me. When I screw up I apologize to my kids and I thank my Daddy in heaven that there is more than enough grace for me to be the mom that He's created me to be.

"Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace through believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit."