Brown's Daily Word 5-6-09

Good Morning,
Praise the Lord for this new day a gift from the Lord. Alice and I drove out to Boston last Sunday after worship for my annual check up with my doctor. We had a great time of visiting with Janice, Micah, and Simeon. Jeremy was away for few days in Washington, DC on business. Boston looked brilliant and beautiful in full blown spring. The arboretum was filled with dozens (maybe hundreds) of varieties of lilacs, in bloom or nearly so. Praise Jesus for the beauty of the earth.
The late great Prussian-born English Christian evangelist and coordinator of orphanages in Bristol, England, George Fredrick Muller (Born: George Frederic Muller) is known to have lived a life of sin and crime while studying for the ministry in the "State Church!" He was converted at a prayer meeting in a private home; and, from that time in his life, he was a changed person! He moved to England, where he sought acceptance by the London Missionary Society as a missionary to the Orient! Upon being rejected, he began to preach and minister wherever the Lord God Almighty opened a door! He was led to Bristol, England, where - in 1834 - he founded the "Scriptural Knowledge Institution for Home and Abroad! One year later, with no financial assistance, he opened his first orphanage for 26 girls. By 1870, he had built five (5) orphanages - and, by prayer and faith in Almighty God - he was feeding 2,100 orphans on a daily basis.
The story of George Frederick Muller is extraordinary in many aspects. He read through the Holy Bible over 200 times (half of those times on his knees). In reading through the Word he claimed the Promise found in Psalm 81:10 (KJV): "I am the Lord thy God, which brought thee out of Egypt: open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it." There are many stories of simple, regular Christian people who have done great things for Almighty God, people such as "Mother Teresa", because they were willing to sacrifice for His Kingdom! Living a life of service in God’s Kingdom is synonymous with sacrifice! When we make a commitment to Jesus, the Christ, as our personal Lord and Savior, it is an Eternal commitment. Our commitment to serving Him should be no different! In Luke 9:23-24 (KJV), Christ, Himself, said, "...If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. (v. 24) For whosoever will save his life, shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for My sake, the same shall save it." We are called to be a personal sacrifice offered unto the Lord. He calls for your sacrifice and my sacrifice!
The story is told about a family who visited a church. As they were leaving the church parking lot, while in their vehicle, the father commented. "That was the worst sermon I have ever heard - it was long - it was boring - and, it was awful!" The wife, seated in the front passenger seat, chimed in, "Yes, the music was awful too - it was off-key - it was too loud - and, I didn’t like the songs!" The teenage girl, seated in the back seat, said, "The people weren't friendly either!" The little boy, also seated in the back seat, who had watched his father when the offering plate was passed, said, "Dad, you have got to admit that it was a pretty good show for a quarter, wasn't it?" Often we get out of something what we put into it. It is written in Hebrews 13:15-16 (KJV), "By Him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to His name. (v. 16) But to do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased."The late great Russian religious and political philosopher, Nicholas Alexandrovich Berdyaev (1874 - 1948), who abandoned Marxism for Christianity, insisted that it was not theology or history - nor the church that caused his conversion! He stated that he was present at a concentration camp in Nazi Germany when the Nazis were killing Jewish people in the gas chambers! One distraught mother, whose first name was Maria, saw that the officer in charge, Berdyaev, was really only interested in numbers. So, without a single word, Maria was pulled aside by an unknown woman who took her place! So powerful was that image that it turned Berdyaev toward the Christ who sacrificed His life for all of humanity!
In Christ,
Brown
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ld3D4oOzx8o