Brown's Daily Word 2-10-10

Good morning,
Praise the Lord for this good day, a gift from the Lord. Praise the Lord for the way He diffuses joy into our lives through His grace. Praise the Lord for the joy of knowing Him and serving Him. Thank you for praying for me. I am feeling a little better. For those who live in the area , our Mid-week service has been canceled for today. We will meet next Wednesday, Ash Wednesday, with a very special gathering and a communion service.
One of my favorite hymns is, "Jesus, the Very Thought of Thee", attributed to Bernard of Clairvaux.
Jesus, the very thought of thee
with sweetness fills the breast;
but sweeter far thy face to see,
and in thy presence rest.

O hope of every contrite heart,
O joy of all the meek,
to those who fall, how kind thou art!
How good to those who seek!

But what to those who find? Ah, this
nor tongue nor pen can show;
the love of Jesus, what it is,
none but his loved ones know.

Jesus, our only joy be thou,
as thou our prize wilt be;
Jesus, be thou our glory now,
and through eternity.

Joy throbs throughout Scripture as a profound, compelling, quality of life that transcends the events and disasters which may dog God’s people. Joy is a divine dimension of living that is not shackled by circumstances. The Hebrew word means, “to leap or spin around with pleasure.” In the New Testament the word refers to “gladness, bliss and celebration.”
Psalm 16 is a Psalm of delight. David used the words "delight," "pleasant," "glad," and "joy" in this Psalm. There are no trials or tribulations mentioned here. David simply delighted in his life. What was his secret?
He delighted in the Lord’s person
He delighted in the Lord’s people
He delighted in the Lord’s portion
He delighted in the Lord’s principles
He delighted in the Lord’s protection

"Apart from you I have no good thing", David said. I like the way David said it. Apart from the Lord I have no good thing. How true this is for us all! All good gifts come from the Lord, and apart from the Lord there is nothing that is truly good.
Dr. S. D. Gordon told of an old Christian woman whose age began to tell on her memory. She had once known much of the Bible by heart. Eventually only one precious bit stayed with her. "I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I committed unto him against that day." II Tim. 1:12. As time went on, she lost more of that verse. She would quietly repeat, "That which I have committed unto him." At last, as she hovered on the borderline between this and the spirit world, her loved ones noticed her lips moving. They bent down to see if she needed anything. She was repeating over and over again to herself the one word of the text, "Him, Him, Him." She had lost the whole Bible, but one word. But she had the whole Bible in that one word.
We begin with Him and we end with Him. Our ultimate delight must always be in the Lord no matter what we have or do not have. The only way to find true delight in life on a daily basis is to find it in Him.
When actress Sophia Loren sobbed to her Italian movie director over the theft of her jewelry, he lectured her, "Listen to me, Sophia. I am much older than you and if there is one great truth I have learned about life, it is this--never cry over anything that can’t cry over you." People are far more important than material possessions. Jesus lived for us. He gave His life for us. He rose again from the grave for us. He is coming again for us..
When Lloyd Douglas, author of "THE ROBE", attended college, he lived in a boardinghouse. A retired, wheelchair-bound music professor lived on the first floor. Each morning Douglas would stick his head in the door of the teacher’s apartment and ask the same question, "Well, what’s the good news?" The old man would pick up his tuning fork, tap it on the side of his wheelchair and say, "That’s middle C! It was middle C yesterday; it will be middle C tomorrow; it will be middle C a thousand years from now. The piano across the hall is out of tune. The tenor upstairs sings flat. But, my friend, that is middle C."
We all need a middle C. Life changes, but Jesus never changes. Jesus is still the Christ, the Son of the living God! The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want! Some say, "The Lord is my shepherd, and He is all I want!" Our delight must be found in Him.
In Christ,
Brown
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=koEU8Z9VwJg