Brown's Daily Word 6-12-13

    Praise the Lord for this wonderful new day in our Lord's Kingdom.  We will meet for our Wednesday gathering this evening at 6 PM with a special meal prepared with much grace and served with much love.  We will be looking at references to the rainbow in Scripture.  At 7:30 there will be a special choir rehearsal in preparation for the service of dedication for the new addition of the church, this coming Sunday at 10.00AM. There will be a church-wide Family style Chicken BBQ, this coming Saturday June 15,2013 starting at 4 PM. Come, Share and Rejoice.

    Alice and  I drove to the beautiful Charm City, Baltimore, yesterday.  The Lord blessed us with a wonderful trip.  I got a very good report from doctor.  My doctor is a committed Christian who belongs to the Greek Orthodox Church.  He and his wife (also a medical doctor) are blessed with a son.  He shared with us they are going back to Greece in August for their son's baptism. In Greece baptism is a great celebration of the Grace of the Lord on our children.  The Baptismal service is " Huge".  He said it almost as big as "My Big fat Greek Wedding".  The weather in Baltimore was  stunning -- in the 90's.  One of the staff members at Johns Hopkins said, " It is like the tropics", and I agreed with her.  On our way back home we saw a brilliant and astounding Rainbow.  The Color purple was dominant.  Alice and I both paused to gaze at the Rainbow, the Lord's gift of grace to us.  

    I was pondering on the rainbow.  It is written in Genesis 9:13-16: "I set My bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between Me and the earth.  And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud: And I will remember My covenant, which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh.  And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth."

    The Hebrew word translated bow (or rainbow) is of tremendous significance because it is the same word that refers to the familiar weapon.  In fact, of the 77 occurrences of the Hebrew qeshet in the Old Testament, virtually all of them refer to the familiar weapon used by the hunter (Genesis 27:3) and the warrior (1 Samuel 31:3) that shoots arrows (2 Kings 9:24).  The bow is a truly ancient weapon, mentioned in Scripture for the first time in Genesis 21:20.  The rainbow is an amazing and beautiful phenomenon, one that mesmerizes us every time it appears.  It's probably safe to say few humans can see a rainbow and not stop what they are doing and gaze upon it.  Prior to the flood, a mist watered the earth and rain, as we know it, was unknown. (Genesis 2:5-6).  No wonder the people of Noah's day scoffed at the man as he built the great ark.

    The rainbow appears several times times in Scripture.   When we compare all these occurrences, we see a three-fold significance that applies to the storms of life that believers encounter.  First, Noah saw the rainbow after the storm.  While a storm rages, it is difficult to think about anything else.  Our foremost thoughts are simply finding shelter and hoping it doesn't do serious damage.  Like Noah, we must wait until it's all over before seeing the sun again.  Then are reassured by the rainbow that every storm is temporary and that no matter how much damage it does it could be worse.

    Second, the prophet Ezekiel saw the rainbow during the storm.  Ezekiel 1—3 records the prophet's call, first describing the visions he saw (Ezekiel 1) and then the voice he heard (Ezekiel 2 Ezekiel 3).  No Scripture writer ever tried to describe God directly but did so only using images that the human mind could grasp. Ezekiel's visions of God began with a violent storm of horrendous wind and fiery lightning, demonstrating God's judgment power and blazing glory (v. 4).  Then came four "living creatures" (vv. 5-14), undoubtedly cherubs (Ezekiel 9:3; Ezekiel 10:5-20), which are always symbolic of God's holy presence and unapproachability, as in their guarding God's glory in the Holy of Holies (Exodus 25:10-22; Psalms 80:1).  Next, beside each cherub was a wheel within a wheel (vv. 15-21), which seems to picture a chariot-throne that is in motion and moving toward judgment upon Jerusalem.

    Finally, Ezekiel also had a vision (vv. 22-28) which included a "firmament" (an expanse) over the heads of the cherubs that dazzled like crystal, "the likeness of a throne," and the "likeness...of a man" on that throne, undoubtedly the pre-incarnate Son of God.  It was then that a rainbow appeared, "the brightness" of which shown not in the semi-circle of a normal rainbow, rather "round about" a complete eternal circle all around to "the likeness of the glory of the LORD" (v. 28).  Indeed, Ezekiel saw the rainbow during the storm, one unlike any other, and in response he "fell upon [his] face" in humble submission.  Let us be reminded during the storms that come that God is on the throne and we are to submit to all that He is doing.

    Not only do we the rainbow in Scripture after the storm (Noah) and during the storm (Ezekiel), but we also see it before the storm, as revealed in the New Testament.  Similar to Ezekiel, the apostle John had a vision of the throne of God in heaven and wrote, "And he that sat [on the throne] was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone: and there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald" (Revelation 4:3).

    Again similar to Ezekiel, John saw a rainbow encircling God's throne, announcing the completeness and perfection of God.  This multi-colored bow is dominated by a soothing emerald green.  As a symbol, then, of peace and God's faithfulness to His promises, this bow assures John before the coming horrendous judgments even start that there will be peace when it is all done.

    It is difficult, indeed, perhaps even impossible, for us today to fully fathom the solemnity of that moment when the first rainbow appeared.  After what Noah and his family had been through, their first response upon exiting the ark was worship (Genesis 8:20), praising God for their deliverance from the incomprehensible destruction that had just occurred.  Then God gave His promise and hung His assuring sign of that promise in the sky.  The Rainbow Is a remembrance of God's power.

    Every time we look at a rainbow, we are to remember the flood.  For believers this is virtually automatic.  In remembering the flood, we should remember that in His sovereign, omnipotent power God destroyed the earth because of sin.  We also remember God's power to execute wrath and His power to save.  As He saved Noah and his family because they believed and obeyed what He said, He also saves those today who receive Him as Savior and Lord.

    This prompts us also to remember constantly God's wondrous grace. "Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD" (Genesis 6:8). We find the phrase "found grace," in fact, 18 times in the Old Testament. Lot "found grace" in God (Genesis 19:19), and Moses "found grace" in God (Exodus 33:12-13). Even in wrath there is mercy and grace, and how we should rejoice in it! The Rainbow Is a Reminder of God's Purpose

    The appearance of the rainbow to Noah, Ezekiel, and the apostle John are all powerful reminders that God always has a purpose, even in and through the storms of life.  As He revealed to the Apostle Paul, "We know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose" (Romans 8:28).  Paul went on in the next two verses to outline what theologians have called "God's Golden Chain of Salvation": "For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.  Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified."

    Just as our salvation is by God's sovereign purpose, all the storms that come our way are also by His sovereign purpose. Storms come, but Paul assured Timothy, "Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution" (2 Timothy 3:12), but we can be certain that there is a reason for it all. Peter reassures us: "That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ: Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory" (1 Peter 1:7-8).

In Christ,

  Brown

http://youtu.be/e8HgAVenbUU

Brown's Daily Word 6-10-13

The Lord blessed us in His House with His presence and His people.  It is a blessing to be In His House to worship, celebrate, and give thanks to Jesus, the Lord of the Sabbath.  It was a glorious day.  The sunshine was stunning and invigorating.  We made some chicken spiedies, original to this area.  Laureen and two of her friends joined us for Sunday dinner.  Late in the afternoon Alice and I walked in one of our favorite parks, by the river banks.  The park was filled with Sunday afternoon walkers and picnickers.  We saw lots of children playing.  There were also scores of Canadian goslings, many frolicking like the unhurried sun, unafraid and loved.  In one place we spotted 19 goslings guided by two adults  (mommy and daddy).  I tarried a while to see these innocent goslings learning their ways in a big world.   We also saw one hot air balloon lifted on a tether.  As we passed through a shady wood, I noticed aome the gigantic trees making long archways over the walking trails.  My heart began to hum.. "The spacious firmament on high".

 

    Yesterday I preached from 1 Kings 19, dealing with Elijah's depression following God's astounding victory on Mount Carmel.  Depression is the common cold of our emotions.  Eventually it touches everyone -- even God's people.  It would be nice to think that we, as Christians, do not endure dark days, that discouragement came only to those around us, but looking through the Bible at the great saints -- people we laud as heroes -- we find that they also had times of despair.  If we are to experience victorious living we must, therefore, learn how to deal with depression.

    The classic study of a depressed man in the Bible is the prophet Elijah, the iron man of the Old Testament. Elijah lived and served during the days of the wicked king Ahab and his sinister queen, Jezebel, who introduced Baal worship into Israel.  Elijah was the champion of orthodoxy, chosen by God to challenge the king and the prophets of Baal and to call the nation back from apostasy.  In a contest on Mount Carmel, Elijah was God's instrument to prove to Israel that Jehovah was the Lord.  However, after that amazing victory, Elijah sank into the depths of despair. He sat down under a juniper tree and asked God to take his life. 

    A sixteenth century monk we know as John of the Cross originated the phrase “the dark night of the soul.”  He described God’s work in us not through joy and light, but through sorrow and darkness.  John of the Cross taught that night and darkness may be the friends, not the enemies of faith.  He taught that God may lead us into a night in which our senses, that is, our usual ways of feeling and experiencing life, are emptied.  Thus, we have no feeling of God’s presence.  John of the Cross described this ‘dark night’ as a time when those persons lose all the pleasure that they once experienced in their devotional life, and there may follow a deep darkness of purifying and waiting.  That darkness ultimately leads to a dawn in which the vision of God is deepened and enriched.  

    Longfellow said, "Some must lead, and some must follow, but all have feet of clay."  We sometimes look upon men like Elijah as super saints.  In reality he was, as the Scriptures say, "A man of like passions even as we are."  That means he was cut from the same bolt of human cloth as we.  He had the same weaknesses, frailties, and emotions as the rest of us.  Even Elijah became depressed.

    These two experiences, Elijah on Mt. Carmel and Elijah under the juniper tree, are set side by side in Scripture (1 Kings 18-1 Kings 19).  In 1 Kings 18, Elijah was at the height of success; in 1 Kings 19 he wallowed in the depths of despair.  In 1 Kings 18 he stood on the mountain top of victory; in 1 Kings 19 he had sunk to the valley of defeat.  In 1 Kings 18 he felt elation; in 1 Kings 19 he was deflated.  We are all capable of such roller-coaster emotions.

    The 1 Kings 18 records the incredible story of Elijah on Mt. Carmel.  After all the preparations were made, Elijah prayed a simple prayer and God sent fire to consume the sacrifice, the altar, and even the water.  With that event as the turning point, the people worshiped the Lord and shouted, "The Lord, he is God.  The Lord, he is God."  Then, in obedience to Elijah's command, they slaughtered Baal's prophets.  It was a high hour.  Everyone knew God's hand was upon Elijah.

    Elijah, however, did not get the chance to savor his victory for very long.  The very moment that Queen Jezebel heard what happened to the prophets of Baal, she sent Elijah a message saying, "You have killed all of my prophets; by this time tomorrow I am going to kill you also."

    When the prophet of God read her message his heart sank and he began to run for his life.  He ran all the way to Beersheba, the southern-most city in Judah. Beersheba was the end of civilization.  Beyond it there was nothing but desert.  He was getting as far away from the queen as possible.  There he left his servant, perhaps because he didn't intend to come back, perhaps because he didn't want his servant to see what he was really like.  Then he went another day's journey into the wilderness alone.  Have you ever gotten so depressed that you didn't want anyone to see just how down you were?  Psychologists call it "withdrawing." When Elijah finally quit running he sat down under a juniper tree and asked God to let him die.  "I've had it, Lord," he said, "take my life for I am no better than my ancestors" (1 Kings 19:4), who had been unsuccessful in stamping out apostasy in Israel.  Elijah felt the sting of failure also.

    Elijah talked through his frustrations.  While he sat in a cave feeling sorry for himself, God asked, "What doest thou here, Elijah?"  God always asks questions for which He already knows the answers.  He asked Adam, "Adam, where art thou?"  God knew where Adam was.  He asked Cain, "Where is thy brother Abel?" God knew that Abel was already dead.  He asked Moses, "Moses, what is that in your hand?"  God knew that Moses had a staff in his hand.  Here he asks, "Elijah, what doest thou here?"  God knew what we are doing in all situations, but sometimes wants us to articulate it so that we understand what we are doing.  God ask Elijah the question to give him an opportunity to talk, to vent his frustrations. Then God listened non-judgmentally as Elijah poured out his feelings of anger, bitterness and self-pity.

     Elijah felt that God had forsaken him and that he alone remained faithful to the Lord.  His reasoning went something like this: "Here I am, doing my best to serve the Lord and look what happened.  God has forsaken me.  I alone am left.  It's me against the world.  Poor me."  God then revealed Himself to Elijah in a new and fresh way.  He sent a tremendous wind, a cyclone, that ripped through the mountain, but God was not in the wind.  Then God sent an earthquake that shook the whole mountain, but the Lord was not in the earthquake.  After the earthquake, He sent fire and lightning, but God was not in the fire.  God was not "in" these three elements, but He certainly got Elijah's attention.  Then, when there came a still small voice through which God spoke to Elijah, he was ready to listen.  The Hebrew expression "still small voice" literally means "a voice of low whispers, a sound of gentle stillness."

    Elsewhere in the Old Testament, wind, lightning, and earthquakes were often associated with God.  They are ways that He manifests Himself to us.  Yet God chose to speak to Elijah in a voice of low whispers.  It is as if God was saying, "Just because I have not spoken to you as I have to others in days gone by, doesn't mean I am not here."  Though God was silent, He was not absent.  Though Jezebel was thundering, she was not in control.  God was quietly going about His work.  God is the God of wonders but He is also the God of whispers.  Elijah not only needed a new perspective of God, he needed a new perspective of himself. He thought he was the only one who was still faithful to God so God reminded him that He had seven thousand prophets who had not yet bowed their knee to Baal.  In fact, God had already chosen Elijah's successor and He commanded him to go and anoint Elisha for this work.

    Elijah thought he was more important than he really was.  He thought everything depended on him.  We sometimes feel the same way.  If God's work depends solely on you and me, God (and the world) is in serious trouble.

    When I become overly impressed with my own importance I remember what I read recently: "If all the preachers and all the garbage collectors quit at once, which would you miss first?"

    Elijah got back into the mainstream of life and went to work again.  God allowed Elijah to sit in the dark cave of self-pity just so long, then He told him to get up and get busy again.  There was to be a new king of Israel and a new prophet had to be anointed.  The time for complaints and self-pity were over; Elijah needed to get back to work.  He needed the anointing of a new task.

With us, as with Elijah, the best way to quit feeling sorry for ourselves is to start feeling compassion for somebody else.  Our Lord is the God of second chance.  Lord gave Elijah fresh anointing to overcome his depression.  In fact, he ultimately closed out his ministry in a blaze of glory as God swept down on him and carried him into heaven in a whirlwind and a chariot of fire.  Thank God we can do the same.  Despair need not be the doxology of life.  It might be the invocation.  It was for many... "May those dark days make us tender enough to keep focusing on Him."

  In Christ,

   Brown

http://youtu.be/mZGzu6oI9b4