Brown's Daily Word 2-3-11

Good morning,
Praise the Lord for the way the Lord calls us to be His servants and to be partners in His Kingdom. We support some pastors and evangelists who serve the Lord in Orissa in the midst of great persecution. Most of them are, in the eyes of the Indian culture, not very sophisticated or very highly educated, but they love the Lord with great passion and zeal. Many pastors of this kind were murdered during the great persecution broke out in Orissa in 2008.
What kind of people does God invest in? Paul’s words here written in 1 Corinthians 1:26 ff might well come as a bit of a shock because they run COUNTER-CULTURALLY, against most of the ideas that we’ve all been raised with. Our society values those who have the right looks, wear the right clothes, flaunt great talents and abilities. That’s the kind of people that the world invests in. God, on the other hand, chooses the seemingly foolish, weak, and insignificant (as the world sees them). They are the ones He calls. In fact, He calls NOT MANY wise, NOT MANY mighty, NOT MANY noble.
Why does God choose the "foolish", weak, or plain? Verse 29 tells us, “so that no flesh should glory in His presence”. God invests in people who will, when everything is said and done, and He’s used them, and they’ve been successful, say, “IT WAS ONLY BY YOUR GRACE THAT WE MADE IT. We could never have achieved one iota without You!”
It’s a great encouragement to me that our Lord, the lord of the Church, can gain the MOST glory by using ordinary people like you and me. Many Christians are intimidated by their feelings of inadequacy, knowing our own weaknesses and limitations better than anybody else does. We think that because our resources are so small, we could never do anything for God. We think, “Leave it to those talented people; those ‘Super-men and women’ who have it all together”.
News flash! Those so-called ‘super-people’ don’t exist! If you get close enough to one of those really talented, seemingly ‘all-together’ people, you discover that they’re just human beings like the rest of us, with the same feelings of inadequacy about themselves that we all share.
Gladys Aylward was a missionary to China more than 70 years ago.She was forced to flee when the Japanese invaded Yangcheng, but she would not abandon the orphans that she had been caring for. With just one assistant, Gladys Aylward led more than 100 children over the treacherous mountains toward Free China.
Along the harrowing journey she grappled with despair and, at times, a feeling of utter hopelessness. One morning on that journey, after Gladys Aylward had experienced a sleepless night, a 13 year old girl reminded her of how Moses had led the Israelites out of Egypt and through the Red Sea. Gladys replied, “But I am not Moses”. Then the little girl said, “Of course you aren’t, BUT JEHOVAH IS STILL GOD!”
When Gladys Aylward and those orphan children made it through the mountains to safety, they proved once again that no matter how inadequate we may feel, God is still God, and we can depend on Him.
I like J.B. Phillips translation of I Corinthians 1:26-31, “For look at your own calling as Christians, my brothers. You don’t see among you many of the wise (according to this world’s judgment) nor many of the ruling class, nor many from the noblest families. But God has chosen what the world calls foolish to shame the wise; He has chosen what the world calls weak to shame the strong. He has chosen things of little strength and small repute, yes and even things which have no real existence, to explode the pretensions of the things that are - that no man may boast in the presence of God.”

WOW!
Praise be to Jesus our Lord,
Brown
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZIUCRXMM4pE

Saturday evening worship service.
Location: First United Methodist Church. Endicott
53 McKinley Avenue, Endicott.
Sponsored by the Union Center United Methodist Church, 128, Maple Drive, Endicott


Saturday February 5, 2011 6 PM Gathering: Coffee, cookies, and fellowship
6:30 PM Worship Service
Worship Music by Emily Sabin and Emma Brownson
Speakers: Rev. Brown Naik, and Rev. Bill Turner