BrandonM.B’s BodyBlog

I feel like such a selfish JERK, because I forgot to do this blog today, too busy with my broken heart and hurting inside.  But what does that matter?…. Amysuds is doing her first comp this weekend! And she has worked like a pro at this, just check out her progress pics, doesn’t she look totally phenomenal!? WOW..OK, unless you live under a rock you probably know about Amy’s comp, and have already wished her all the best, but what the heck, I’ll say this anyway: Go wish her all the best and pump her up for the amazing performance she will have, she has been kind and supportive to so many so it’s the least we can do!  
Thanks and God bless y’all:)

Sometimes in life all we have is God…things fall apart, every door is slammed shut and all we can do is pray and worship. To some this may see like a disaster, but I know it is a blessing…

I remember that first month of being baptized, I had NO money, NO job, all I did was train, worship, pray and tell others about the Lord Jesus and His plan of salvation…every day was a new possibility, and it was WONDERFUL! Granted, I like knowing that I can buy groceries, aside from that life has become too complicated.

I am ANGRY at myself because this weeks training was not what it could have been, angry that I let myself be distracted from the prize…

But I will train harder than ever, if I can get that weight for an extra 1 or 2 I’m going to do it, EVERY lift, not just some. I will practice my posing every day until I get it right! I will read the Scripture with new fervor, I will spend more time in prayer, I will praise God more…I will do better at my job to glorify Him. When all you have is your work and the Lord, it’s best to make the most of it, no point in thinking about anything else.

God bless

  I’m thinking about a conversation I had at work with a young woman named Katy, a cute red-head with bright blue eyes. I saw her pull out some rolling papers, and as a former pot head, I know what those were for! Anyway, I mention that I was four months sober, and that I had wanted to quit because I was tired of feeling blah all the time. I mentioned that not matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t, because part of me still liked it and wanted to do it…but then I got baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, and still smoked it for another week; then one day, POOF…I simply stopped; that powerful desire was gone! She actually listened, interested in hearing my testimony…

She mentioned that she was raised baptist, and thought that it was cool that I wanted to do more with my life and start putting the Lord first…she also used to lift weights and we talked about weight training/bodybuilding as well. We also talked about church and worship, but when I asked about her going to church she said something that kinda stuck

‘’I'm not really looking for religion right now, I can always come back to God later."

Some thoughts I have are, a) we are all seeking something

and b) you can only walk a fence so long before you fall!

You see, marijuana WAS my religion, when I was depressed or angry, I would get high to numb myself, when I was happy, I would get high to celebrate…I had low self-esteem, so I would sleep w/ girls who weren’t neccesarily good for me…all this was a religion. Even bodybuilding; I started out when I was still using, thinking that big muscles would improve my self-esteem…the problem was that I was depending on all these things for my joy and self worth!

In life, we all have a religion! But let us not base our faith in things that pass away and bring only temporary happiness at best; but let your religion be based on faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was God in the flesh and gave that flesh as a sacrifice for our salvation. God is love, God never fails, and God knows us better than ourselves and He knows what we need!

If any of my brothers and sisters read this, please pray for Katy that she may run back to God before it is too late! God bless you all.

   There is no doubt, we are all searching for something, we all have this whole inside that needs to be filled. But God puts this hole there for a reason…it is meant for Him and Him alone!

We try to fill it up with so many things, sex, drugs, relationships, possesions,  some even do it with good works! But whether it be selfish or noble things, nothing can fill a God sized whole except God. Something happened, many decided that because we have knowledge of the Word of God, that we don’t need God anymore; that we are too smart for God now…if you take a look at what has happened to public schools over the last 60 years for example, we can conclude that this is WRONG(before prayer was banned from schools, the worst disciplinary problems were chewing gum and talking in class, after the fact it became kids getting shot and using drugs on campus,ect)  If anything, we need Jesus more than ever!

I talked about the power of faith a couple of blogs ago, and faith is the beggining of any relationship. Communication is also critical…and the way to communicate to the Lord Jesus is prayer. But do we only talk to our loved ones to ask for things? Or sometimes do we say thank you, I appreciate you, you are wonderful, I love you?  God is no different!  

One of the best things we can pray for is that His will be done…His will is for us to have life eternal in His Kingdom. Also, what is His will for us individually?  When we open up the lines of communication to the Lord, we are opening up great new possibilities by openly inviting Him into our lives…what Jesus wants for us is always far greater than what we try to reach for and accomplish on our own power alone…and we end up having far more joy than we would have had before. Nothing compares to the promise we have if we beleive in Him and His Word.

Here is some scripture for you, this ties in very strongly with I am trying to say:

Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, ‘Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment.  And the second is like unto it, thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.’  Matthew 22:36-39

Everybody please go support Gymrat0226, aka Jenny!  She has worked SO hard for her first figure comp, so lend her some big time encouragement!!!

Everything has been so wonderful lately, praise the Lord!Hearing back good reports on prayers answered, whether it be winning shows, finding lost objects or healing the sick; all this increases my faith…faith that the God I serve is the one true God, faith that he loves, and faith that he hears and answers my prayers! Faith is where it all begins.

My pastor had a sermon about faith…he asked what the most important quality a person could have in God’s eyes… and the answer was faith! Training hard means nothing if you don’t have faith that you will get results, and prayers are worthless without faith that they will be answered. So far to say, it is IMPOSSIBLE to please God without it.  Imagine a relationship where you didn’t have any faith in the other person, it would be horrible; love could not florish at all! God is like us in many repsects…

I want to share this bit of scripture with everyone, I pray you will understand the message of what is being said

 ’And He said unto His disciples, therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat: neither for the body, what ye shall put on. The life is more than meat and the body is more than rainment. Consider the ravens: for they neither sow nor reap; which neither have storehouse nor barn: and God feedeth them: how much more are ye better than fowls? And which of you taking thought can add to his stature one cubit? If ye then be not able to do that thing which is least, why take ye thought for the rest? Consider the lillies how they grow: they toil not, they spin not, and yet I say unto you, that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. If God then so the grass, whihc is today in the field, adn tomorrow is cast in the oven; how much more will He clothe you, O ye of little faith? And seek not ye what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, neither be ye of doubtful mind. For all these things shall be added unto you. For all these things do the nations of the world seek after; and your Father knoweth that you have need of these things.

But rather seek ye the kingdom of God; and all these things shall be added unto you."  Luke 12:22-31

Lord, I thirst for you

And I long to be in your presence

My soul waits for you

Father draw me nearer, draw me nearer

to the beauty of your holiness

I will wait on you, Almighty God

In the beauty of your holiness

I will worship you, alimighty God

In the beauty of your holiness

Well, I started this bodybuilding adventure about 11 months ago…At home, no equipment save two 25lb dumbells, and a 20lb barbell…doing pullups off the tree in my backyard…lots of pushups, one-legged squats,ect. And I haven’t taken more than three days off at a time since! OK, OK, so I’ve threatened to take time off before, but I haven’t. The time I took off in August was for the Gold’s Gym Games…77 consecutive reps of leg press at 140lbs is not time off,lol! But yes, i am taking one whole week off, after a rough 8 week stretch of all heavy, all to failure training. In short, I’m exhausted.

Hey y’all, Amy Kessler is going out there to get it done this weekend so give a BIG shoutout to this incredible, beautiful femme du bodybuilding!!!

What a weekend!!! Where do I start?

Lately, I was feeling depressed, worn out…sleeping every available second, barely managing to study and train in addition to work. And I only got back to studying after Carla got on me big sister style,lol..thank you Carla:) But, all in all, just feeling stressed out and unhappy, What was going on with me??? I got everything I wanted.

Yea, it’s been hard at work, my co-workers have some FILTHY mouths, and it can be irritating…in addition to the intensive labor and smelling like a sewer after being covered in shrimp guts and a assorted conglomeration of wasted food stuffs. Everything started out OK at work, I quickly learned all the details of my job, and I’ve know most of my co-workers for years; they all gave me over-whelming referrals, which I am grateful for(I try and take their language w/ a grain of salt). I think about when it started turning sour…

There is a beautiful girl at work, and I think I might like her! But, alas no time for that…still….OK here’s how that started. My first day, I’m hustling and bustling, carrying the dishes, and EVERY time I pass by her, she keeps touching me! Not in a inappropiate spot, but she puts a hand on my back, and even around my arm…and I’m feeling a bit guilty, cause I’m liking this attention. Oy vey!

The next time we work together I keep hearing this little voice inside saying ,"Why won’t he talk to me?"  I ignore it a wishful thinking, but later,"It’s not like we’re busy, why won’t he talk to me?"  So I bite…sometimes the Holy Spirit is trying to tell us something…So I walk up to her. She is sorting silverware with her lovely face in intensive concentration, her eyes  glowing blue fire. "Hi, I don’t think I’ve caught your name yet." "I’m Katie, she replies, her autumn mood shifting to summer, Hey, didn’t you play in Kyle’s band? What did you play?" ‘Bass"..and so we chat for a bit, and when I get back to my station, I hear that little voice,"Yeah!!! He FINALLY talked to me, about time:)"  She seemed to exude happiness, and so was I, as tip-toed upon clouds back to the sink…this is when evrything turned into a festering pile of shrimp guts and half-eaten buffalo wings!

I think I made someone mad. I’ll give you a clu; he’s mean, he’s evil, he hates everybody, most especially God. The profanity at work multiplyed, my dishwashing machine would malfunction for no reason, I started thinking that I was un-loved, that I had no friends…I wasn’t making any progress in training, that God had forsaken me because of my sins..on and on and on…I would barely be able to get to church, and when I would sing I would just start crying…He was ruining everything; how could I not see what was happening?  I was so tired and worn-out, I could barely pray. Then came the last straw.

I went to work Saturday with my friend. My ‘friend’ was kinda insulting pastors and men of God..Oh well, I was used to turning the other cheek lately. Though by this point all four were brusied and whipped raw! I was going in and I went into the bathroom needing some serious spiritual encouragment and prayer.  So for the first time in a while, I recite the Shema, the Great commandment, in Hebrew(Hear O’ Israel, Jehova our God is one Jehova, and his name is Jesus. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might) I say a prayer, a "Lord, I am at the very end of me patience and endurance, give me courage, give me strength," kinda prayer. Right away, I am swamped..and I start snapping at bussers for not cleaning off their plates, kitchen workers start cheering me on, what was happening!?? Then the moment of truth. I am putting away some plates, and I feel a force slap my hand into a metal shelf…plates go flying….CRASHH!!! No one had touched me!? It finally occured to me what was going on, and I had had just ENOUGH of fallen angels and their impish little ways. Everythime I was about to explode, I shouted LOUD, "PRAISE YOU LORD JESUS!" "THANK YOU FOR EVERY MOMENT OF LIFE!!!" People must of thought I was an escaped mental patient, but I didn’t care anymore…"PRAISE YOU ALL MIGHTY YESHUA!!!" "THANK YOU FOR THIS JOB, FOR ALL THIS HARD WORK!!!"  Then it came out…"I COMMAND YOU SATAN IN THE NAME OF THE ALMIGHTY JEHOVA YESHUA HAMASEACH TO BE GONE FROM THIS PLACE, BE BOUND TO THE GATES OF HELL, GO IN JESUS’ NAME!!!" Or something to that effect. Then something happened, the profanity decreased by about 80%, people were in a much better mood the rest of the night…Praise the Lord!:)

So, about the feast. Well, I came in today after church and made me a meal of huge chicken strips. A little while later, a chef named Cody asks, "Hey bro you hungry?" "Well, I repled, I already have food, but yea sure, why not?" "What do ya want bro, hey, how about some pasta? You like green peppers, mushrooms, how about some cheese?" Yes, yes and yes! He was so eager to make me pasta…A little while later comes this massive bowl of chicken pasta with the works…it was slow today, so there I was with about five pounds of food,lol…just having a feast during my shift!!! I could use the extra cals, honestly…then that night, something incredible happened. I hear this usually foul mouthed chef sing "I’m hungry for you Jesus!!!" at the top of his lungs! Did I hear that right??? He was walking around smiling, he’s usually a nice guy despite his language, but this was no regular smile, this was 1000 watts of smile… Huh!?  Then I over-heard him say, "I feel like I’m drunk right now." I know that when people get touched by the holy spirit, they (a) praise God  (b)are unusually cheery  (c)feel drunk. Did the Holy spirit jump on this guy? I pray so…

What a weekend!!! Praise the Lord Jesus!