Brown's Daily Word 3-10-10

Good morning,
Praise the Lord for the way He made the Heavens and the earth. Praise the Lord for the beauty of this earth, and His splendors all around us.
"For the beauty of the earth,
For the glory of the skies,
For the love which from our birth
Over and around us lies.
Lord of all, to thee we raise
This our hymn of grateful praise."

I was awakened from a deep sleep by a serenade of "holy honks", as the geese flew over on their northward journey. It was 3 AM at the time. The sky was clear, a showcase for innumerable stars, praising Jesus with manifold witness. It is going to be a bright and beautiful day again.
We will meet tonight for our midweek supper, Bible study, and choir practice. The choir is preparing their Easter cantata, and welcomes any who would love to come and sing for the Lord. The cantata will be presented during both morning services on Palm Sunday, March 28. My "twin brother", Rodney Haines, will be the chef for this evening. In our Bible study we have been looking at the beatitudes of Jesus, as recorded in Matthew 5.
In the beatitudes our Lord Jesus honored and exalted many people who may enjoy few privileges in this life. To the poor, the mourners, the meek, the hungry, the persecuted, and the poor in spirit He offered assurance that their service, love, loyalty, and devotion will not go unrecognized. They will receive ample reward. To many Christians an emphasis on future rewards has fallen out of fashion. C. S. Lewis reminded us, "We dare not discount the value of future rewards." When we listen to the spirituals that were composed by American slaves, we are reminded of the future blessings and promises of Jesus. For example, they sang, "When I get to Heaven, gonna put on my shoes. I'm going to walk all over God's Heaven."
The promises of future rewards provoke us to live in hope and assurance. Terry Waite, an Anglican envoy, was taken hostage in the slums of Beirut and held captive, enchained for many days in a filthy apartment. Yet, the thoughts of family and friends, mercy and love, music and food, awaited him if he could find the strength to hang on just a bit longer. In the words of Philip Yancey, "To believe in future rewards is to believe that the long arm of the Lord bends toward justice, to believe that one day the proud will be overthrown and the humble raised up and the hungry filled with good things. . . I am convinced that for these neglected saints, who learned to anticipate and enjoy God in spite of the difficulties of their lives on earth, heaven will seem more like a long-awaited homecoming than a visit to a new place. In their lives, the Beatitudes have become true. To people who are trapped in pain, in broken homes, in economic chaos, in hatred and fear, in violence - to these, Jesus offers a promise of a time, far longer and more substantial than this time on earth, of health and wholeness and pleasure and peace. A time of reward."
Standing in His promises.
Brown

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P37bM87b9pg