Brown's Daily Word 6/23/11

Good morning,
Praise the Lord. He is the Lord in every season and He is the Lord of every season. The High School seniors will be graduating this coming Saturday. It is a great time of excitement and challenge. The children of some young couples I married are graduating this year. Some of the children I baptized are graduating this year. May Jesus bless them all with zeal and wisdom. I graduated from high school in 1964. All my High School classmates have retired back in India. They ask me when I will be retiring, but it is my earnest desire to keep on serving the Lord as long as He gives me the strength and favor.
Whenever I read about the life and the witness of Caleb, I get excited. Caleb had been promised a piece of property forty five years earlier. Since that promise, he spent forty years wandering in the wilderness with a bunch of dissatisfied, unfaithful, whining people. Then, under Joshua’s leadership, Caleb, at 85 years old, had spent the past five years fighting as a soldier against the Canaanite kingdoms. Even after 45 years, he still held onto God’s promise. He said, “I remember God’s promise to me, now give me this hill country!” He never let go of that promise – that’s what the Bible calls persistence; the spirit of expectancy.
Caleb teaches us to never give up on God or His promises.
Both Joshua and Caleb were old, but God reminded them that He wasn’t through with them. In Joshua 13:1 we read, “When Joshua was old and well advanced in years, the Lord said to him, "You are very old, and there are still very large areas of land to be taken over.” God needed a couple of octogenarians to seal the deal. You’d expect Him to say, “You’ve done a good job; take a rest for a while, I’ll use some of these younger guys now.” But no, God not only preserved the promise for the man, God preserved the man for the promise. Caleb was 85 years old before he ever moved into his home place. That’s an age when most people are feeling like it’s time to slow down and step aside. When you follow God wholeheartedly–you’ll never retire from serving Him!
Six times in the Old Testament we read these words describing Caleb, “He wholeheartedly followed the Lord.” In fact, Caleb’s name literally means, “Follows God like a dog.” If you aren’t following God with your whole heart, you’re only a half-hearted Christian–and half-hearted Christians are faint-hearted Christians. And often the half hearted Christians are miserable Christians.
God has called every Christian to serve Him, and if you are following God with all your heart, you’ll never retire from spiritual service. Serving the Lord is not a job; it’s a life-calling. The word “vocation” comes from the Latin word “vocare” which means “to call.” God has called all of His children to serve Him– it’s your real vocation–and you can’t take a vacation from your vocation.
Another lesson we can learn from Caleb is the lesson of courage. He had been a brave soldier at age 40, and we see he was just as courageous when he was 85. He was still ready to go out to battle. Courage is not the absence of fear. Courage is the ability to face your fears and to keep on moving forward. Every soldier who stormed onto the beaches of Normandy on D-Day was terrified. They weren’t fearless–but they were courageous. When you are afraid, courage keeps you moving forward. I found a good definition of courage recently: Courage is being the only one who knows how afraid you are! When you fight in God’s strength–you’ll never retreat from the enemy!
Caleb was still ready to go charging into battle when he was 85 years old. The promise was still real; it was tangible. It was not just a fantasy or a weird dream. He knew it was a God given, God birthed promise that would be hard to see come to pass. But….. it was going to be worth it! Caleb knew God wasn’t a liar so he would finish what He started!
When you follow the Lord with your whole heart, you will never back up, shut up, or give up until you are caught up to heaven!
In Christ,
Brown
http://youtu.be/c-Jkktpp9QI
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 PMDinner
6:30 PM Worship Service
Worship Music:
Speaker:Dave Hettinger