Brown's Daily Word 6-15-11

Good morning,
Praise the Lord for this new day. It is going to be one of the brilliant days of spring. We will gather for our mid-week fellowship and Bible study, beginning at 6 PM.
Some time ago I read about Erik Weihenmayer. I saw his picture on a bill board. At the age of 33, Erik Weihenmayer is a phenomenal athlete who loves to skydive, snow ski and climb mountains. Mountain climbing is his specialty. As a matter of fact, he is on track to be one of the youngest to climb all of the Seven Summits, the highest peaks on each of the continents. In 1995 he scaled Mt. McKinley, in 1996 El Capitan, in 1998 Mt. Kilamanjaro. In 1999 he climbed Argentina’s Aconcauga. On May 25, 2001 he reached the summit of Mount Everest, a peak that 90% of those who begin to climb never finish. Since 1953, 165 people have died trying to climb Everest, but Erik made it. Now that is an extremely significant feat, but you don’t know the half of it. Weihenmayer suffers from a degenerative eye disease, and when he was 13 he became totally blind. All of his climbs have been without the benefit of his eyesight. Weihenmayer is a blind mountain-climber!
How is that possible? How can a guy who can’t see climb the highest peaks in the world? If you were to ask him, he would freely tell you that he has learned to listen well.
- He listens as a bell tied to the back of the climber in front of him shows him which way to go.
- He listens to his climbing partners who shout back to him, "Death fall two feet to your right!" so he knows what direction not to go.
- He listens to the sound of his pick jabbing the ice, so he knows whether his footing will be secure or not.
For Erik Weihenmayer, being a good listener is a matter of life and death. (source: www.touchthetop.com)

According to the Word of God, as it is recorded in James 1 James, the same is true for every one of us too. Listening, I mean really paying attention, to God's Word is the only way any of us is able to follow the pathway that God has opened up for us. We are challenged to take faith in Christ seriously enough that it changes our behavior. James was addressing Christian people here, saying that we have to be willing to listen to what God says to us and then modify our behavior to conform our will to God’s will. In order to do that, we have to do 3 things, Hear God’s Word, Accept God’s Word, and then Do God’s Word.
We need to be listening for the Word of God in the same way that Erik Weihenmayer listens for those bells, the warnings from his fellow climbers, and the sound of that pick in the ice. We need to be listening as if our life depends on it, because it does! In Exodus there is an account of when Moses was able to enter into the presence of God. It says that his countenance was changed. You might say he glowed from experiencing the presence of God. When he came back among the people he wore a veil to hide the fact that the glow was growing dimmer.
In 2 Corinthians Paul reminds us of that occurrence and then He tells us that if we hear, accept and do the will of God, a supernatural transformation occurs in our lives. In 2 Corinthians 3:18, Paul wrote, “And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.”
In Christ,
Brown

http://youtu.be/sv55FMjeMV0
Saturday evening worship service.
Location: First United Methodist Church
53 McKinley Avenue
Endicott
Sponsored by the Union Center United Methodist Church, 128, Maple Drive, Endicott

Saturday,June 18 7, 2011
6 PM Coffee Fellowship

6:30 PM Worship Service
Worship Music: Laureen Naik
Speaker: Brown Naik