Good Morning,
This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. It is going to be one of the ten best days. Praise the Lord for the way He surrounds us with His mantle of beauty and grace. Praise the Lord for the way He is our protective and defensive shield around us. In Him we have freedom and peace. Our God, who is revealed in Jesus Christ, is full of tender mercy and loving kindness. He hears our prayer. He feels our pain. He shares our sorrows. He answers our prayer. There are times that He gives us grace when we wait in Him for unanswered prayers. Michael Green wrote, “The prayer of Jesus in Gethsemane shows that we can be close to God, live a holy life, and pray with faith, earnestness, and expectancy, and yet not get what we ask for. It is a profound mystery before which we must bow.” We bow before this mystery of unanswered prayer by saying to our loving God “your will be done.” We cannot know the mind of God, his great plans, or how he will work out our present troubles for his glory. All we can say in faith is “your will be done.” Prayer is not about manipulating God to our will – it is opening up to God and trusting that whatever pain we go through in the process, he is there with us. Richard Foster, in his book “Celebration of Discipline” says, “To pray is to change. Prayer in the central avenue God uses to transform us. If we are unwilling to change, we will abandon prayer as a noticeable characteristic of our lives. The closer we come to the heartbeat of God the more we see our need and the more we desire to be conformed to Christ…." …James said, in his epistle, ‘You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions’ (James 4:3). To ask ‘rightly’ involves transformed passions, total renewal. In real prayer, we begin to think God’s thoughts after Him, to desire the things He desires, and to love the things He loves. We are taught, in selfless prayer, to see things from His point of view. Becky Tirabassi, wrote, "After praying for one hour every day, my perspective of prayer changed. I learned that prayer is not a monologue to a deaf God, but a conversation with a God who hears prayer. Prayer is not helping God with an answer; it is asking God to help. It is not telling God what to do; it is telling him my needs. It isn’t so much for the disciplined as for the undisciplined. Prayer is not necessarily meant to be an easy joy ride, but it definitely is a spiritual discipline that produces joy." *Prayer is not just coming to Jesus; it is letting Jesus come into me. *Prayer is not only for the educated seminary scholar; it is for anyone who will practice, persevere, and plan to pray. *Prayer is not a substitute for time in the Word; it will lead to the Word. *Prayer is not for the impatient but for the one who waits. *Prayer is not a place to boast but a place to confess.
*Prayer is not my motivating God, but God motivating me. *Prayer is not a waste of time; it is an appointment with the King of kings.
" Lord listen your children praying".
In Him,
Brown
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xkw3a4raWfg
Friday, May 15, 2009
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Brown's Daily Word 5-14-09
Good Morning,
This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. I praise the Lord for the parsonage, where we live is a beautiful and very spacious home, which the Lord has provided for us. We have lived here almost 19 years. The parsonage has several rooms, many walls, and ample space. Walls in a home provide a barrier to keep out the elements, ensure privacy, and provide a place to hang pictures. Why do we build walls? Generally we build walls because of fear! We seek protection, and defense against hostile forces. The Great Wall of China was built to keep out the invading hordes of Genghis Khan and other powerful enemies. This amazing defensive palisade stretches for 6700 kilometers over the Chinese frontier. It has stood for over 2000 years and is a symbol of a peoples’ desire to be safe. Hadrian’s Wall in Great Britain was built for a similar reason, to keep the wild tribes of the north from threatening civilized Roman settlements in the south. It was built in the second century and ran 73 miles long through the English countryside. In more recent history we recall the infamous Berlin Wall and its notorious purpose of keeping people in. Those who visited the wall before its destruction in 1989 said that they could feel the built-in suspicion and mutual distrust, the hatred and hostility, and the outright defiance represented by that wall. East German guards would watch with keen eyes both sides of the wall making certain that no one came in or out. Many people were killed trying to escape East Germany. Where their bodies fell, West Germans would erect crosses as a reminder and in open defiance of the East German guards. I remember that it was the Advent season of 1989 when the world rejoiced as the Berlin Wall was dismantled by exultant Germans. What a time that was! West Germans were reunited with East Germans to become one Germany after 45 years of painful division. However, when the wall came down, I believe the Germans discovered an invisible wall that was even more difficult to tear down. There were two cultures at odds. One was that of an oppressed people, and the other was a culture of the free-thinking and prosperous. East Germans may have felt like 2nd class citizens, charity cases for the West, while the West may have felt resentment at having to support their poor brothers. It was a new kind of hostility that is still experienced today. All of us have invisible walls that are difficult to deconstruct. If we are honest about who we are we have to admit that we do not allow others to see our true selves. Some people build higher walls, while others we keep a waist high fence. We are afraid people will see too much of us and therefore have nothing to do with us. So it is that we throw up a wall.
Jesus came to destroy walls. His mission was to remove the barriers that keep us from knowing Him, knowing each other, and ultimately living in true relationship. In Ephesians 2:13 Paul describes how Christ breaks down walls and brings people together, “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by abolishing in his flesh the law with its commandments and regulations.” Peace is a person, according to Paul. Jesus is our peace. His peace through his own shed blood is what destroys the walls that divide. Paul said “There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Gal. 3:28). This was his purpose, to bring before God a new people without distinctions. “Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household…”. Christ has created a new society where we are no longer outcasts. Christ is our peace.
In His Peace,
Brown
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T2qm3eD4akM
This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. I praise the Lord for the parsonage, where we live is a beautiful and very spacious home, which the Lord has provided for us. We have lived here almost 19 years. The parsonage has several rooms, many walls, and ample space. Walls in a home provide a barrier to keep out the elements, ensure privacy, and provide a place to hang pictures. Why do we build walls? Generally we build walls because of fear! We seek protection, and defense against hostile forces. The Great Wall of China was built to keep out the invading hordes of Genghis Khan and other powerful enemies. This amazing defensive palisade stretches for 6700 kilometers over the Chinese frontier. It has stood for over 2000 years and is a symbol of a peoples’ desire to be safe. Hadrian’s Wall in Great Britain was built for a similar reason, to keep the wild tribes of the north from threatening civilized Roman settlements in the south. It was built in the second century and ran 73 miles long through the English countryside. In more recent history we recall the infamous Berlin Wall and its notorious purpose of keeping people in. Those who visited the wall before its destruction in 1989 said that they could feel the built-in suspicion and mutual distrust, the hatred and hostility, and the outright defiance represented by that wall. East German guards would watch with keen eyes both sides of the wall making certain that no one came in or out. Many people were killed trying to escape East Germany. Where their bodies fell, West Germans would erect crosses as a reminder and in open defiance of the East German guards. I remember that it was the Advent season of 1989 when the world rejoiced as the Berlin Wall was dismantled by exultant Germans. What a time that was! West Germans were reunited with East Germans to become one Germany after 45 years of painful division. However, when the wall came down, I believe the Germans discovered an invisible wall that was even more difficult to tear down. There were two cultures at odds. One was that of an oppressed people, and the other was a culture of the free-thinking and prosperous. East Germans may have felt like 2nd class citizens, charity cases for the West, while the West may have felt resentment at having to support their poor brothers. It was a new kind of hostility that is still experienced today. All of us have invisible walls that are difficult to deconstruct. If we are honest about who we are we have to admit that we do not allow others to see our true selves. Some people build higher walls, while others we keep a waist high fence. We are afraid people will see too much of us and therefore have nothing to do with us. So it is that we throw up a wall.
Jesus came to destroy walls. His mission was to remove the barriers that keep us from knowing Him, knowing each other, and ultimately living in true relationship. In Ephesians 2:13 Paul describes how Christ breaks down walls and brings people together, “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by abolishing in his flesh the law with its commandments and regulations.” Peace is a person, according to Paul. Jesus is our peace. His peace through his own shed blood is what destroys the walls that divide. Paul said “There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Gal. 3:28). This was his purpose, to bring before God a new people without distinctions. “Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household…”. Christ has created a new society where we are no longer outcasts. Christ is our peace.
In His Peace,
Brown
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T2qm3eD4akM
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Brown's Daily Word 5-13-09
Good Morning,
Praise the Lord for this new day. As we stand before the Lord we recognize that we are needy people. We are thirsty and we are hungry. The good news that Christ offers to us is that He can satisfy all our deepest needs. Somebody aptly stated that, " There is a hunger for truth and JESUS IS THE TRUTH, the answer to all of life's questions. There is a hunger for life and JESUS ALONE CAN GIVE MEN LIFE, abundant, eternal life. There is a hunger for love and JESUS ALONE CAN GIVE US THAT LOVE THAT OUTLASTS EVEN DEATH."
As we grow older we very quickly discover that the pleasures of this world are temporary and fading. Only a relationship with Jesus can satisfy the immortal longings and the insatiable hunger of the human heart and soul. As St. Augustine prayed, "Thou hast made us for Thyself and our hearts are restless without Thee." Only in Jesus do we find food for our souls. The food that He offers is so satisfying that, as He says in John 6:35, those who come to Him will never go hungry, and never be thirsty. The Greek here is very emphatic, and Jesus actually says, "whoever comes to ME (and no one else) will never be hungry or thirsty". He alone can satisfy our spiritual hunger for He alone is the BREAD OF LIFE...
In his best selling book called, “Into Thin Air,” Jon Krakauer relates the hazards that plagued some climbers as they attempted to reach the summit of Mount Everest. Andy Harris, one of the expedition leaders stayed at the peak too long and on his descent, he began to be in dire need of oxygen. Harris radioed the base camp and told them about his predicament. He mentioned that he had come across a cache of oxygen canisters left by the other climbers but they were all empty. The climbers who already passed the canisters on their own descent knew they were not empty, but full. They pleaded with him on the radio to make use of them but it was to no avail. Harris was starved for oxygen but he continued to argue that the canisters were empty.
The problem was that the lack of what he needed had so disoriented his mind that, though he was surrounded by something that would give him life, he continued to complain of its absence. You might say that the very thing he held in his hand was absent in his brain. The lack of oxygen had ravaged his capacity to recognize what was right in front of him. What oxygen is to the body the Bread of Life is to the soul. Many of us are suffocating and starving and we don’t even know it. We think we have Jesus figured out but we might be way off. Jesus is offering life to us while we run around trying to appease our appetites.
Give us this day our daily bread…give us Jesus, as we give ourselves to him.
In Him,
Brown
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IfVmsZNBKR8
Praise the Lord for this new day. As we stand before the Lord we recognize that we are needy people. We are thirsty and we are hungry. The good news that Christ offers to us is that He can satisfy all our deepest needs. Somebody aptly stated that, " There is a hunger for truth and JESUS IS THE TRUTH, the answer to all of life's questions. There is a hunger for life and JESUS ALONE CAN GIVE MEN LIFE, abundant, eternal life. There is a hunger for love and JESUS ALONE CAN GIVE US THAT LOVE THAT OUTLASTS EVEN DEATH."
As we grow older we very quickly discover that the pleasures of this world are temporary and fading. Only a relationship with Jesus can satisfy the immortal longings and the insatiable hunger of the human heart and soul. As St. Augustine prayed, "Thou hast made us for Thyself and our hearts are restless without Thee." Only in Jesus do we find food for our souls. The food that He offers is so satisfying that, as He says in John 6:35, those who come to Him will never go hungry, and never be thirsty. The Greek here is very emphatic, and Jesus actually says, "whoever comes to ME (and no one else) will never be hungry or thirsty". He alone can satisfy our spiritual hunger for He alone is the BREAD OF LIFE...
In his best selling book called, “Into Thin Air,” Jon Krakauer relates the hazards that plagued some climbers as they attempted to reach the summit of Mount Everest. Andy Harris, one of the expedition leaders stayed at the peak too long and on his descent, he began to be in dire need of oxygen. Harris radioed the base camp and told them about his predicament. He mentioned that he had come across a cache of oxygen canisters left by the other climbers but they were all empty. The climbers who already passed the canisters on their own descent knew they were not empty, but full. They pleaded with him on the radio to make use of them but it was to no avail. Harris was starved for oxygen but he continued to argue that the canisters were empty.
The problem was that the lack of what he needed had so disoriented his mind that, though he was surrounded by something that would give him life, he continued to complain of its absence. You might say that the very thing he held in his hand was absent in his brain. The lack of oxygen had ravaged his capacity to recognize what was right in front of him. What oxygen is to the body the Bread of Life is to the soul. Many of us are suffocating and starving and we don’t even know it. We think we have Jesus figured out but we might be way off. Jesus is offering life to us while we run around trying to appease our appetites.
Give us this day our daily bread…give us Jesus, as we give ourselves to him.
In Him,
Brown
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IfVmsZNBKR8
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Brown's Daily Word 5-12-09
Good Morning,
Praise the Lord another day in His Kingdom, to experience His grace and walk in His freedom. Two of my favorite Psalms are Psalms 3 and 4. Psalm 3 is known as a psalm of David. It was written when he fled from his son Absalom, in reference to David's flight from the murderous intentions of his own son towards him. David's family was dysfunctional like all of our families. In my book, 100 per cent of the families are dysfunctional, "for all have sinned and have come short of the glory of God".. Psalm 3 includes words of lament and words of confidence in his God.
The first two verses read "How many foes will there be? How many more can rise up to threaten me? Aren't you watching, God? People are mocking me. They're taunting me, saying, "Where is your God, ?"
At times we all have felt like foes, or at least trying circumstances, were lining up one after another against us. While I don't recall anyone taunting me with those very words, I have asked the question of myself, "Where is MY God?" I suspect a great many of us have done the same. Usually, at this point, a well meaning Christian friend says something prophetic-sounding like, "God won't allow you to face more than you can handle." That's a big lie. Nowhere does God promise such a thing. In fact, the Bible is full of accounts of God allowing His people to face more than they, in and of themselves, can handle. It is at those places where they come to rely fully on Him. "No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it." (I Corinthians 10:13)
David, in this situation, concludes that he has no answer, in and of himself, for the mounting enemies and threats. He has no escape -- (this was likely penned as he hid in a cave). He has no assurance that if he were to lay down his head for an hour's rest that he would awaken. The dangers could overtake him. But David professes, "But You are a shield around me O Lord; You bestow glory on me, and lift up my head."
It was not David's own military might that could save him, nor was it his battle tactics or his ingenuity. "But" he claimed God as his shield. Because it is true that God was his shield, he could cry out to God, for God will hear him and answer. He could lay down and sleep, for God would sustain him. He had no need to fear even if tens of thousands surrounded him, for God was his deliverer.
Another big "but" in scripture is found in Daniel chapter 3. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were offered one last chance to denounce God and bow to Nebuchadnezzar or be thrown into a fiery furnace to die. Their reply: "If we be thrown into the blazing furnace the God we serve is able to save us from it and he will rescue us from your hand, O king. But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up." They had confidence that God would deliver them one way or another. We choose God.
David, and this big "but" in Psalm 3, gives us a picture of faith. I don't imagine that you will find yourself hiding in a cave from a murderous child or face a blazing furnace for refusing to bow at some altar, though I suppose it could happen. Life's circumstances often seem insurmountable. Enemies may appear to be innumerable. Believers always have a big "but" that they can claim: "But Thou O Lord art a shield for me; my glory and the lifter of my head."
In Christ,
Brown
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1jUGTdYCs5Y
Praise the Lord another day in His Kingdom, to experience His grace and walk in His freedom. Two of my favorite Psalms are Psalms 3 and 4. Psalm 3 is known as a psalm of David. It was written when he fled from his son Absalom, in reference to David's flight from the murderous intentions of his own son towards him. David's family was dysfunctional like all of our families. In my book, 100 per cent of the families are dysfunctional, "for all have sinned and have come short of the glory of God".. Psalm 3 includes words of lament and words of confidence in his God.
The first two verses read "How many foes will there be? How many more can rise up to threaten me? Aren't you watching, God? People are mocking me. They're taunting me, saying, "Where is your God, ?"
At times we all have felt like foes, or at least trying circumstances, were lining up one after another against us. While I don't recall anyone taunting me with those very words, I have asked the question of myself, "Where is MY God?" I suspect a great many of us have done the same. Usually, at this point, a well meaning Christian friend says something prophetic-sounding like, "God won't allow you to face more than you can handle." That's a big lie. Nowhere does God promise such a thing. In fact, the Bible is full of accounts of God allowing His people to face more than they, in and of themselves, can handle. It is at those places where they come to rely fully on Him. "No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it." (I Corinthians 10:13)
David, in this situation, concludes that he has no answer, in and of himself, for the mounting enemies and threats. He has no escape -- (this was likely penned as he hid in a cave). He has no assurance that if he were to lay down his head for an hour's rest that he would awaken. The dangers could overtake him. But David professes, "But You are a shield around me O Lord; You bestow glory on me, and lift up my head."
It was not David's own military might that could save him, nor was it his battle tactics or his ingenuity. "But" he claimed God as his shield. Because it is true that God was his shield, he could cry out to God, for God will hear him and answer. He could lay down and sleep, for God would sustain him. He had no need to fear even if tens of thousands surrounded him, for God was his deliverer.
Another big "but" in scripture is found in Daniel chapter 3. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were offered one last chance to denounce God and bow to Nebuchadnezzar or be thrown into a fiery furnace to die. Their reply: "If we be thrown into the blazing furnace the God we serve is able to save us from it and he will rescue us from your hand, O king. But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up." They had confidence that God would deliver them one way or another. We choose God.
David, and this big "but" in Psalm 3, gives us a picture of faith. I don't imagine that you will find yourself hiding in a cave from a murderous child or face a blazing furnace for refusing to bow at some altar, though I suppose it could happen. Life's circumstances often seem insurmountable. Enemies may appear to be innumerable. Believers always have a big "but" that they can claim: "But Thou O Lord art a shield for me; my glory and the lifter of my head."
In Christ,
Brown
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1jUGTdYCs5Y
Monday, May 11, 2009
Brown's Daily Word 5-11-09
Good Morning,
Praise the Lord for this new day, a gift from the Lord. Praise the Lord for the spring season that the Lord of all seasons gives us. The Southern Tier of NEW YORK is full of various flowering trees and bushes, which are in full bloom. We are blessed at the church and parsonage grounds with several flowering trees and bushes as well. There two crab apple trees in front of the parsonage, one of which was planted in 1968 by Howard and Dotty Woodward, which grown to be like a banyan tree with luxuriant flowers. The other crab apple tree, planted in 2006 by Ed Hower, is also in full bloom. We are also blessed with flowering cherry trees and also several lavender and white lilac bushes, which are in full bloom. I say to my family, "We have our own Lilacs festival".
Praise the Lord fragrance of Spring. Sunita and Andy came home for the weekend to celebrate Mothers' Day. Laureen was off for the weekend, so she joined us as well. Last evening, Micah took her Mom and Dad to a Bluegrass concert in the greater Boston area for Mothers' Day.
We had a service of death and resurrection for Warren Ayer, Sr. last Wednesday. Warren and his wife Lois were married for 52 years. Lois became sick with cancer on their 27th wedding anniversary. Warren stood by his wife as a devoted and very caring care giver for 27 years. He demonstrated a life of great love, devotion, and self-forgetfulness as gave himself up for his wife, even as Christ loved the church gave Himself up for her. Lois had gone to be with Jesus in 2002. We praise the Lord for the sure and certain hope we have in Jesus, the Risen One. We can do life well in and through Christ alone.
In the midst of decadence and decay we uphold the abundant, eternal, and everlasting life that Christ offers to those trust in Him. I also conducted a wedding for our young friends Amanda and Casey on Saturday. It was great time of celebration and joy.
We had a great time of worship yesterday, Mothers' Day. Two of our devoted and dedicated mothers brought the messages during morning worship. Deborah Eckhardt preached at the 8.30 AM Worship and Alice Naik preached at the 11.00 Worship. It was great blessing. I preached at Wesley at 9.30 AM. I used Proverbs 31 as he text for my message.
Proverbs 20 says in verse 6, "Who can find a trustworthy man?" I just want to put that in because I don't want you to think that this thing is out of balance. It's just as hard to find a trustworthy man at the level of God's standard of character. Proverbs 31:10 reads, " Who can find a virtuous woman"? Typically, men seek a wife for all the wrong reasons, including looks, accomplishment, style, success, money, education ... all the wrong reasons. They should seek a woman for virtue, strength of character, spiritual excellence, internal godliness; those are the right reasons. This kind of woman is a force to be reckoned with. She makes a difference. She leaves a mark. Verse 10 says her worth is far above jewels. Some would translate that word rubies, some would translate it pearls, and the Septuagint translates it precious stones. In other words, she is more valuable than all earthly things which are valuable. She is a rare fortune, a rare find, a woman of force.
According to verse 12, she does him good and not evil. She always does that which is best for him. She pursues his best interests. She strengthens him. She builds him up. She encourages him. She does him good not evil. Then it adds most interestingly this note, "all the days of her life". Isn't that interesting? In other words, her love for him is based upon such high spiritual principles that it doesn't fluctuate with the circumstances of life. When you get married, you no doubt have affirmed the vow that you will live together in sickness and in health, in joy and in sorrow, in plenty and in want. That is a vow that this woman kept in good times, bad times, weak times, strong times, sick times, well times, happy times, sad times, plentiful times, empty times, all times. She always did him good. Like Sarah, in 1 Peter 3:6, she serves him. She reveals her virtue by her consistent service on his behalf. Her love is so deep it has a purity, a power, and a devotion that never change.
This is the essence of what Paul said when writing to Titus, Titus 2:4 when he said, "Wives, love your husbands. Do them good all your life, manage properly that which is in your care so that they have no need of gain." The sphere of the woman's duty is the home. She is the ruler of the house. The breadth of the role of homemaker is amazing. To be able to be an economist, a steward of funds and resources, to be able to analyze all the products available, to be strong enough and well-planned enough to make the right moves at the right time to acquire the right things, to be fully a wife to your husband and a tender and loving mother to all of your children, to apportion all the responsibilities to everybody who was a part of the labor force, that takes some woman.
Verse 16 takes us even further into the enterprising woman. She considers a field and buys it, from her earnings she plants a vineyard. There's a field, perhaps adjacent to the property that the family owns. She feels it's at a right price and would be beneficial to the family. She buys it. There's a certain amount of independence in that. It doesn't say her husband bought it; she bought it. She made the decision that it was wise. She pursued that option. Wise steward, careful money manager, good analyst ... This is some woman.
She makes wise investments to assist her husband. She labors in the home to help. She takes the money that she has earned on her own making those things and invests that in a long- term investment for the benefit of her family and her children and her grandchildren. She buys land and plants a vineyard. She is a wise woman.
Verse 17 says she girds herself with strength and makes her arms strong. The first statement, she girds herself with strength, expresses the energy or the force of this woman of force. It could be translated strength is wrapped around her, she's a strong woman, strongly disciplined, strong in terms of commitment to the family, strong in love to her husband. Even her arms are strong, but not because she goes to the gym. Her arms are strong because of the effort exerted in the daily tasks. Her strength is a result of effort. Her strength is a result of becoming a blessing to her family. She is totally selfless. This is what comes pouring through this passage, her humility, her selflessness, her love, the joy and delight of everything she does because she's lost in the love of her household.
In verse 18 it is said that she senses that her gain is good. In other words, as the Septuagint says she makes a good profit. She sees that it's good for the family. She sees that it's beneficial. It has welfare provision for them; it's for their well being, and so that motivates her. This woman who is motivated by benefiting others is the woman of God's design. She is not motivated by self- fulfillment, self-esteem, self-glory, self-adulation. She is totally motivated by seeing others benefited. That's the godly woman. She is spurred on, not by ego, but by the fact that she sees what she does bringing good to others. As a result, verse 18 says, her lamp does not go out at night. She is so fulfilled in the benefit that's coming to others that it spurs her to work harder and harder and harder.
This is an excellent woman. The measure of devotion and love that she has toward her family is also manifested toward those outside her family. She demonstrates not only a special devotion to her home but compassion on all those who don't have the privilege of being in her home or a home like her home ... the poor and the unfortunate. When verse 20 says she extends her hand to the poor, we might assume that it means she touches them, she's personally and intimately involved. She'll not just touch those who come close but she reaches out to those who stay away with the idea of feeding them and clothing them and enriching their life through her resources.
Strength and dignity are her clothing. She is garmented by strength and dignity. She smiles at the future. Strength has to do with spiritual character. Dignity has to do with class and quality. She is a woman of great character, and she is both strong and dignified. She has a grace about her. She has a confidence about her. The teacher in the home is the woman who has gained the right to be heard and believed because strength and dignity are her clothing.
Scripture says, "And she smiles at the future." She has no fear. Because she knows in whom she trusts, she's deeply spiritual. All things are in God's hands. She has prepared elegantly for everything. It will be well in the future for her because she's right with God. It will be well in the future for her household because all things are in order. It will be well in the future for her children because they are properly brought along in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. It will be well in the future for her husband for she has made provision in his case for him to be the best that he can be. It will be well in the eternity to come for all of them because of her life. She has made a spiritual impact.
She opens her mouth in wisdom. She guides her family daily in wisdom. Verse 26, "The wisdom of God comes out of her mouth and the law of kindness is on her tongue." The attitude in which she teaches all of this is a dominant attitude of loving kindness. She employs gracious speech, kind speech, tender speech, pleasing speech, compassionate speech, ministering grace to the hearers, as Paul said, edifying, building up. That which comes out of her mouth is the wisdom of God in tender and compassionate gracious kind words. What a teacher! She is the greatest kind of teacher because the character of life makes her so believable, because the wisdom of God is true and because the attitude is compassionate and gracious. Because of all of this, "Her children rise up and...what?...bless her." They reverence her. They honor her. They hold her in high esteem.
This woman would raise her children and when her children were old enough to be on their own, they would spend the rest of their life blessing the woman who gave her life to them. That's God's design. God has designed our life in passages and when we invest our life in those children God gives us, we will find the backside of our life will be the greatest sweetest time of blessing as they repay to us the blessing given. That's God's design.
As the children become older, they have their own children, and they seek to raise their children as they were raised. Therefore their mother is constantly before their eyes with her tender guidance, wise counsel, loving discipline, holy example, hard work, and unselfish giving. They never cease to fill the memories of her children who try to pass them on to their children.
There is another dividend for her motherhood. Verse 28 says her husband also praises her "in the gate". That is, he tells the other men of the virtues of his wife. He says, "Many daughters have done nobly but you excel them all."
Verse 30 continues, "Charm is deceitful." Do you know what charm means in the Hebrew? It is bodily form. Some women spend all their time on their bodily form. That is deceitful because that's not the real you. Beauty is of no real value; it's vain, it's useless, it's empty. Form, deceitful. You think you're getting something you're not. Beauty has no real value. These are the things our world looks for. No wonder there relationships are empty and filled with deceit. But here's the woman you want, a woman who fears the Lord. She shall be praised. Give her the product of her hands and let her works praise her in the gates.
What woman is this? She loves God. She's a true worshiper. She fears the Lord. This is the woman of character. Only God can produce her. Matthew Henry said, "Proverbs 31 is the mirror against which every Christian woman must stand and face herself." This is God's design. And only God can produce this woman, but this is the woman God wants. This is the woman who will be praised by her children and her husband.
I praise Jesus for the witness and testimony of my mom and my wife.
In Christ,
Brown
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iPeVIuRjUi4
Praise the Lord for this new day, a gift from the Lord. Praise the Lord for the spring season that the Lord of all seasons gives us. The Southern Tier of NEW YORK is full of various flowering trees and bushes, which are in full bloom. We are blessed at the church and parsonage grounds with several flowering trees and bushes as well. There two crab apple trees in front of the parsonage, one of which was planted in 1968 by Howard and Dotty Woodward, which grown to be like a banyan tree with luxuriant flowers. The other crab apple tree, planted in 2006 by Ed Hower, is also in full bloom. We are also blessed with flowering cherry trees and also several lavender and white lilac bushes, which are in full bloom. I say to my family, "We have our own Lilacs festival".
Praise the Lord fragrance of Spring. Sunita and Andy came home for the weekend to celebrate Mothers' Day. Laureen was off for the weekend, so she joined us as well. Last evening, Micah took her Mom and Dad to a Bluegrass concert in the greater Boston area for Mothers' Day.
We had a service of death and resurrection for Warren Ayer, Sr. last Wednesday. Warren and his wife Lois were married for 52 years. Lois became sick with cancer on their 27th wedding anniversary. Warren stood by his wife as a devoted and very caring care giver for 27 years. He demonstrated a life of great love, devotion, and self-forgetfulness as gave himself up for his wife, even as Christ loved the church gave Himself up for her. Lois had gone to be with Jesus in 2002. We praise the Lord for the sure and certain hope we have in Jesus, the Risen One. We can do life well in and through Christ alone.
In the midst of decadence and decay we uphold the abundant, eternal, and everlasting life that Christ offers to those trust in Him. I also conducted a wedding for our young friends Amanda and Casey on Saturday. It was great time of celebration and joy.
We had a great time of worship yesterday, Mothers' Day. Two of our devoted and dedicated mothers brought the messages during morning worship. Deborah Eckhardt preached at the 8.30 AM Worship and Alice Naik preached at the 11.00 Worship. It was great blessing. I preached at Wesley at 9.30 AM. I used Proverbs 31 as he text for my message.
Proverbs 20 says in verse 6, "Who can find a trustworthy man?" I just want to put that in because I don't want you to think that this thing is out of balance. It's just as hard to find a trustworthy man at the level of God's standard of character. Proverbs 31:10 reads, " Who can find a virtuous woman"? Typically, men seek a wife for all the wrong reasons, including looks, accomplishment, style, success, money, education ... all the wrong reasons. They should seek a woman for virtue, strength of character, spiritual excellence, internal godliness; those are the right reasons. This kind of woman is a force to be reckoned with. She makes a difference. She leaves a mark. Verse 10 says her worth is far above jewels. Some would translate that word rubies, some would translate it pearls, and the Septuagint translates it precious stones. In other words, she is more valuable than all earthly things which are valuable. She is a rare fortune, a rare find, a woman of force.
According to verse 12, she does him good and not evil. She always does that which is best for him. She pursues his best interests. She strengthens him. She builds him up. She encourages him. She does him good not evil. Then it adds most interestingly this note, "all the days of her life". Isn't that interesting? In other words, her love for him is based upon such high spiritual principles that it doesn't fluctuate with the circumstances of life. When you get married, you no doubt have affirmed the vow that you will live together in sickness and in health, in joy and in sorrow, in plenty and in want. That is a vow that this woman kept in good times, bad times, weak times, strong times, sick times, well times, happy times, sad times, plentiful times, empty times, all times. She always did him good. Like Sarah, in 1 Peter 3:6, she serves him. She reveals her virtue by her consistent service on his behalf. Her love is so deep it has a purity, a power, and a devotion that never change.
This is the essence of what Paul said when writing to Titus, Titus 2:4 when he said, "Wives, love your husbands. Do them good all your life, manage properly that which is in your care so that they have no need of gain." The sphere of the woman's duty is the home. She is the ruler of the house. The breadth of the role of homemaker is amazing. To be able to be an economist, a steward of funds and resources, to be able to analyze all the products available, to be strong enough and well-planned enough to make the right moves at the right time to acquire the right things, to be fully a wife to your husband and a tender and loving mother to all of your children, to apportion all the responsibilities to everybody who was a part of the labor force, that takes some woman.
Verse 16 takes us even further into the enterprising woman. She considers a field and buys it, from her earnings she plants a vineyard. There's a field, perhaps adjacent to the property that the family owns. She feels it's at a right price and would be beneficial to the family. She buys it. There's a certain amount of independence in that. It doesn't say her husband bought it; she bought it. She made the decision that it was wise. She pursued that option. Wise steward, careful money manager, good analyst ... This is some woman.
She makes wise investments to assist her husband. She labors in the home to help. She takes the money that she has earned on her own making those things and invests that in a long- term investment for the benefit of her family and her children and her grandchildren. She buys land and plants a vineyard. She is a wise woman.
Verse 17 says she girds herself with strength and makes her arms strong. The first statement, she girds herself with strength, expresses the energy or the force of this woman of force. It could be translated strength is wrapped around her, she's a strong woman, strongly disciplined, strong in terms of commitment to the family, strong in love to her husband. Even her arms are strong, but not because she goes to the gym. Her arms are strong because of the effort exerted in the daily tasks. Her strength is a result of effort. Her strength is a result of becoming a blessing to her family. She is totally selfless. This is what comes pouring through this passage, her humility, her selflessness, her love, the joy and delight of everything she does because she's lost in the love of her household.
In verse 18 it is said that she senses that her gain is good. In other words, as the Septuagint says she makes a good profit. She sees that it's good for the family. She sees that it's beneficial. It has welfare provision for them; it's for their well being, and so that motivates her. This woman who is motivated by benefiting others is the woman of God's design. She is not motivated by self- fulfillment, self-esteem, self-glory, self-adulation. She is totally motivated by seeing others benefited. That's the godly woman. She is spurred on, not by ego, but by the fact that she sees what she does bringing good to others. As a result, verse 18 says, her lamp does not go out at night. She is so fulfilled in the benefit that's coming to others that it spurs her to work harder and harder and harder.
This is an excellent woman. The measure of devotion and love that she has toward her family is also manifested toward those outside her family. She demonstrates not only a special devotion to her home but compassion on all those who don't have the privilege of being in her home or a home like her home ... the poor and the unfortunate. When verse 20 says she extends her hand to the poor, we might assume that it means she touches them, she's personally and intimately involved. She'll not just touch those who come close but she reaches out to those who stay away with the idea of feeding them and clothing them and enriching their life through her resources.
Strength and dignity are her clothing. She is garmented by strength and dignity. She smiles at the future. Strength has to do with spiritual character. Dignity has to do with class and quality. She is a woman of great character, and she is both strong and dignified. She has a grace about her. She has a confidence about her. The teacher in the home is the woman who has gained the right to be heard and believed because strength and dignity are her clothing.
Scripture says, "And she smiles at the future." She has no fear. Because she knows in whom she trusts, she's deeply spiritual. All things are in God's hands. She has prepared elegantly for everything. It will be well in the future for her because she's right with God. It will be well in the future for her household because all things are in order. It will be well in the future for her children because they are properly brought along in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. It will be well in the future for her husband for she has made provision in his case for him to be the best that he can be. It will be well in the eternity to come for all of them because of her life. She has made a spiritual impact.
She opens her mouth in wisdom. She guides her family daily in wisdom. Verse 26, "The wisdom of God comes out of her mouth and the law of kindness is on her tongue." The attitude in which she teaches all of this is a dominant attitude of loving kindness. She employs gracious speech, kind speech, tender speech, pleasing speech, compassionate speech, ministering grace to the hearers, as Paul said, edifying, building up. That which comes out of her mouth is the wisdom of God in tender and compassionate gracious kind words. What a teacher! She is the greatest kind of teacher because the character of life makes her so believable, because the wisdom of God is true and because the attitude is compassionate and gracious. Because of all of this, "Her children rise up and...what?...bless her." They reverence her. They honor her. They hold her in high esteem.
This woman would raise her children and when her children were old enough to be on their own, they would spend the rest of their life blessing the woman who gave her life to them. That's God's design. God has designed our life in passages and when we invest our life in those children God gives us, we will find the backside of our life will be the greatest sweetest time of blessing as they repay to us the blessing given. That's God's design.
As the children become older, they have their own children, and they seek to raise their children as they were raised. Therefore their mother is constantly before their eyes with her tender guidance, wise counsel, loving discipline, holy example, hard work, and unselfish giving. They never cease to fill the memories of her children who try to pass them on to their children.
There is another dividend for her motherhood. Verse 28 says her husband also praises her "in the gate". That is, he tells the other men of the virtues of his wife. He says, "Many daughters have done nobly but you excel them all."
Verse 30 continues, "Charm is deceitful." Do you know what charm means in the Hebrew? It is bodily form. Some women spend all their time on their bodily form. That is deceitful because that's not the real you. Beauty is of no real value; it's vain, it's useless, it's empty. Form, deceitful. You think you're getting something you're not. Beauty has no real value. These are the things our world looks for. No wonder there relationships are empty and filled with deceit. But here's the woman you want, a woman who fears the Lord. She shall be praised. Give her the product of her hands and let her works praise her in the gates.
What woman is this? She loves God. She's a true worshiper. She fears the Lord. This is the woman of character. Only God can produce her. Matthew Henry said, "Proverbs 31 is the mirror against which every Christian woman must stand and face herself." This is God's design. And only God can produce this woman, but this is the woman God wants. This is the woman who will be praised by her children and her husband.
I praise Jesus for the witness and testimony of my mom and my wife.
In Christ,
Brown
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iPeVIuRjUi4
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