Brown's Daily Word 8-28-09

Good morning,
Praise the Lord for this new day a gift from the Lord. Praise the Lord for this last Friday of August. Praise the Lord for the way He surrounds us with His great love and tender mercies. In worshipping and serving Him we find His joy and His peace. Recently I asked a young professional, "What's new?" He paused and pondered for a moment. Then, with a big smile he said "Freedom - freedom in Jesus." Praise the Lord for how He sets the captives free.
We have been praying for a pastor in one of our neighboring churches. He has been going through both radiation and chemo treatment. He continues to serve the Lord with Joy and obedience. We just found out that one of his daughters died. She was in her mid thirties.
We also heard from Orissa this week. One of the strong Christian leaders died suddenly from complications from medication. He was in his late forties. He was the president of one of the colleges in Orissa. He was a very committed Christian and he and his wife were partners in ministry. When we were in Orissa in July, 2008 they had come and prayed over Sunita and Andy. He leaves behind a wife and two young girls. The church came together in tears and yet in triumph and buried him with the sure and certain hope of resurrection. When life seems to become sour, when everything crumbles, we must remember what we say we believe. We must remember always that God’s favor is with us, because of Christ’s righteousness given to us, because He has adopted us and we are His. This means that His favor always wins out over His displeasure.
This is pictured by "Weeping remains for a night." in Psalm 30. Paul, in 2 Corinthians 4, speaks of "momentary afflictions". The pain and sorrow we feel now may seem as though it has moved in with us like an unwelcome guest, but rejoicing comes in the morning. David describes joy appearing with a shout, like a loud trumpet blast of joy, when the morning comes. Like the first rays of the sunrise which dispel the gloom of night.
We spent a couple of days with Sunita and Andy in Washington, DC this week. They live a little over a mile from Union Station. The house they live in is an older home, very beautiful and spacious. It has 49 large windows. One morning I woke up and saw the saw the morning light beaming brightly through the windows. Through the windows I saw the morning sunshine driving away the darkness from the city. The morning sun was falling on flowering trees in the yard, making all things bright and beautiful. God gives us joy, though at times the darkness of our problems seem as though it will never leave.
Our mourning will dissipate in the morning. Our winter will melt into summer. God will replace our sighing with singing, grief will give way to gladness. What was once bitter will be made sweet, what was once a desolate wilderness will be transformed into a paradise. It is so crucial to understand that, as a Christian, our life will be filled with both sickness and health, with times of weakness and strength, with want and wealth, with disgrace and honor, with crosses and comforts, miseries and mercies, joys and sorrows, mirth and mourning. It is a cycle that moves from the cross to glory. God exchanges wailing for dancing (Psalm 30:11-12). When David prayed and God responded, notice what God did. Wailing was replaced with dancing - not just, “Thanks be to God,” but an all out expression of appreciation for God’s work.
Sackcloth is exchanged for joy. Sackcloth was cloth that, like burlap, was used for sacks but that would be worn to express repentance. Its itchy fibers would be a constant reminder of the need to see oneself as in need of another. God takes that off of us; we don’t need to wear it forever. What He gives us is better than any Armani suit or Versache dress. No silk or cashmere could compare to knowing that God is indeed good.
In light of this, David responds with praise. He can’t keep silent. It only makes sense that when God does this for us, when a new-found prosperity comes, we would not want to once again fall into presumption. Rather, this provides an opportunity to give praise to God for all He has done.
Christ and all his benefits are ours. We have reason to give thanks to God for all the good gifts we have, not just our lives and all those wonderful temporal benefits we enjoy every day. Because of Christ’s death, burial and resurrection we have the perspective by which to enjoy them. God’s good favor rests on us because of Christ.
We then, like David, (verse 4) should invite those we know to likewise praise His holy name. That is what we are to do as well.
The redeeming work of our Lord Jesus has been encapsulated in Isaiah 63:
1The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;
2To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn;
3To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified.
Please pray for our dear friend Anne Fryga, who lives in South Carolina. She is in her late 80s. She was recently hospitalized and in a coma for 4 days. The Lord has raised her up. She has a contagious and vigorous faith in our Lord. She serves Him relentlessly. She is one of the sweet servants of our Savior and indeed a salt of the earth.
In Christ,
Brown
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2KsfwvpcQhY