Brown's Daily Word 11/7/14

  Praise the Lord for this Friday.  Sunday is coming.  Pray for our weekly Television outreach this evening on Time Warner channel 4 at 7 PM.  I am posting a sermon, "Come to Jesus and Live" on YouTube, and also on our church's Face Book page.  You can  visit "Brown Naik" on YouTube.  We are praying that it will be blessing  to many.  The Group "A Touch of Christ will be in concert this Sunday at Wesley UMC.  We are planning to host our annual Thanksgiving Banquet on Saturday, November 15.  It will be held at the Fellowship Hall of the Union Center UMC.  Our Chefs and cooks will be preparing a traditional Thanksgiving Menu.  There will be two seatings ... at 5 PM and 6 PM.  We will also be showing a movie, "Faith Like Potatoes".  We are blessed and also very excited for this season of Thanksgiving.  Jessica and Tom are coming home for the weekend.  We are getting ready for worship and celebration this coming Lord's day.  Plan to be in the Lord's House wherever you might be.  When Christians gather to worship and proclaim the majesty and the greatness of our Lord, Satan trembles. 

    As we get ready for the Thanksgiving Season let us focus on our God's greatness. . . God's mighty acts are awe-inspiring and his greatness is without limit.  Even with intensive search no one can find its depths.  Psalm 145:3 "Great is the LORD and most worthy of praise; his greatness no one can fathom."  The word "fathom" comes from the ancient word fadym which was the word for "thread."  A thread was used to measure the distance between two things.  Our word "fathom" then came to mean to measure something, such as the depth of water under a ship to see if it can safely pass over.  The question we ask  every day, "Is God sufficient for our needs?"  Is God deep enough to supply what we are lacking?  Can we safely trust God to be mighty enough, loving enough, forgiving enough, and near enough to help?  Are God's resources adequate for our need?

    We are used to limitations in life.  We all have a limited amount of time, patience, money, strength, and insight, among other things.  God has no limits.  We can never exhaust the resources of God with our needs.  How can we understand the unlimited nature of God's greatness?  When I was 15 years old, I rode one bike with one of my classmates to the beach.  We rode 90 miles just see the beach.  I was born in the village and I had an inferiority complex about it because I had never been to a beach.  When I saw the Ocean for the first time I was stunned and overwhelmed.  I was sruck by the vastness and the enormity of the ocean.  God's greatness is far greater than the depths and breadth of the ocean.  All the good and perfect gifts come from the Lord.  His love never ends and His mercy never fails.  In Philippians 4:19 we are told, "And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus."

    In ancient Greece it was customary for peddlers who walked the streets with their wares to cry out, "What do you lack?"  The idea was to let people know they were in the vicinity, and also to rouse the curiosity of the people.  Coming out of their houses they would want to know what the peddler was selling.  It might be something they lacked and needed, or simply something they desired.

    What do we lack? God has exactly what we need.  Our Lord is great.  He is also gracious.  God's glory is manifested  in his grace to people, his generosity and goodness.  God is gracious, which means he is full of generosity, kind, good, and his gifts are given freely to his people.  In spite of all the wrong that I have done, the Lord is gracious and compassionate to me.  Just as the prodigal son was welcomed home after his rebellion, so God welcomes home his children. 

    During a British conference on comparative religions, experts debated what, if any, belief was unique to Christianity.  They began eliminating possibilities.  The Incarnation?  Other religions had different versions of gods appearing in human form.  Resurrection?  Again, other religions had accounts of return from the dead. The debate went on for some time until C. S. Lewis wandered into the room. "What's the rumpus about?" he asked, and heard in reply that his colleagues were discussing Christianity's unique contribution among world religions.  Lewis responded, "Oh, that's easy.  It's grace."  After some discussion, the others had to agree.

    The notion of God's love coming to us free of charge, no strings attached, seems to go against every instinct of humanity.  Grace tells us that everything is all right in spite of so much in us being so wrong.  God is patient and does not punish us as we deserve.  He is compassionate with those who are weak, make foolish mistakes, and are discouraged.

    In a psalm we are reminded of God's grace and mercy toward us.  "He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities."  "Grace" has been defined as God giving us what we don't deserve and his "Mercy" is not giving us what we do deserve - the adequate punishment for our sins.

In Christ,

 Brown

http://youtu.be/nCa4FZkdyJE

Brown's Daily Word 11/6/14

   Praise the Lord for this New Day.  He blessed us with a wonderful Wednesday evening gathering for fellowship and study.  As we prepare for Thanksgiving I am reminded  from the Word of the Lord: "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change"  (James 1:17).  All good things come from Him.  God gives us all these good things.  They make us feel comfortable and safe.  They give us a sense of security or achievement.

    What happens when God wants them back?  God gave Isaac to Abraham.  It is written that the Lord asked Abraham to give back Isaac ... to Him.  "By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice."  He who had received the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, even though God had said to him, ‘It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.'  Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead, and figuratively speaking, he did receive Isaac back from death" (Hebrews 11:17-19).  "So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac.  And he cut the wood for the burnt offering and arose and went to the place of which God had told him.  On the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place from afar.  Then Abraham said to his young men, ‘Stay here with the donkey; I and the boy will go over there and worship and come again to you'" (Genesis 22:3-5). 

     It is mind boggling for me to know that  Abraham did not hesitate to follow God's commands.  Early that morning, after God spoke to him, he got up, saddled up and did not let up until he ended up at the place of sacrifice.  God had promised a son to Abraham on multiple occasions.  When Abraham and Sarah took the matter into their own hands, when he slept with her servant Hagar, God didn't accuse, God didn't renege.  He simply said, "This child won't be your heir.  You will have a son by Sarah."  Abraham and Sarah both laughed at that.  God said, "Fine! We'll call the baby Laughter.  Through Isaac (meaning "he laughs") you will become a great nation."

    As the record shows, all happened just as God said it would.  Our God can be trusted.  This was a promise kept after decades of mercy and love.  In addition, God had told Abraham that this great nation he would father would begin with none other than Isaac.  Abraham's faith was reasonable, resolute and rewarded.  When tested, he trusted; and so he triumphed.

    When we walk by faith and not by sight, when we keep on trusting the Lord when the going gets rough and tough He reveals to us His magnitude and greatess.  Often we miss out on those blessings of miracles because we fail to trust Him to the end.  Abraham, however, trusted the Lord's promises in the face of adversities and impossibilities.

I love the words of the hymn:

    But we never can prove

    the delights of His love
    until all on the altar we lay
    for the favor He shows
    and the joy He bestows
    are for them who will trust and obey.

 From another Hymn:

    Jesus, the very thought of Thee
    With sweetness fills the breast;
    But sweeter far Thy face to see,
    And in Thy presence rest.
    Nor voice can sing, nor heart can frame,
    Nor can the memory find
    A sweeter sound than Thy blest Name,
    O Savior of mankind!
    O hope of every contrite heart,
    O joy of all the meek,
    To those who fall, how kind Thou art!
    How good to those who seek!
    But what to those who find? Ah, this
    Nor tongue nor pen can show;
    The love of Jesus, what it is,
    None but His loved ones know.
    Jesus, our only joy be Thou,
    As Thou our prize will be;
    Jesus be Thou our glory now,
    And through eternity.

     God isn't a robber.  He's a giver!  God gives and gives and gives.  He gives us things to use.  He gives us people to love. He gave us His Son, Jesus Christ.  Indeed, what God stopped Abraham from doing, He Himself did.  He didn't spare His own Son but gave Him up for us all.

    "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you offer your bodies a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service" (Romans 12:1).

In Christ,

  Brown

http://youtu.be/4jyrpdztKIg

Brown's Daily Word 11/5/14

 Praise the Lord for this wonderful day.  We will come together for our Wednesday Evening gathering for fellowship and study this evening at 6 PM followed by choir practice at 7:30 PM.  It is going to be a mild and marvelous day.   This is the morning after the midterm elections in the USA. 
    In The words of William Cowper:

    "God moves in a mysterious way
    His wonders to perform;
    He plants His footsteps in the sea
    And rides upon the storm. 

    Deep in unfathomable mines
    Of never failing skill
    He treasures up His bright designs
    And works His sov’reign will. 

    Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take;
    The clouds ye so much dread
    Are big with mercy and shall break
    In blessings on your head. 

    Jesus is the King of Kings and the Lord of lords.  He is upon His throne.  All is well.  He calls us to rise up and come to Him and follow Him.  I like the encounter of the blind man named Bartemaeus, when he met Jesus, when someone in the crowd said to Blind Bart, “Take heart.  Rise. He is calling you.”  We all need to hear those words.  Sometimes it is Jesus who says these words to me. Sometimes it is my wife, a good friend, or one of my children.  Whoever it is, this person is a messenger of God, who speaks the word of the Lord to me.  In this encounter with the blind man, it was an unknown messenger from God in the crowd.

    “Take heart.”  Those words ring in my ear.  They echo in my mind.  They resonate within the chambers of my heart.  Take heart.  There are many times when we lose our inner desire to get up, get out, and get things done.  At times we give up, or may at least be close to quitting.  Perhaps we are overloaded, over- confronted, over our heads with life.  In that moment, Jesus calls to you and to me, “Take heart.”  Those words become an infusion of energy to us.
    Jesus is saying those words to you today, “get up.”  He is calling us today to follow him.”  Jesus comes to heal our spiritual blindness.  Blind Bart was physically blind, but many of us are spiritually blind - blind to the things of God, to the power and goodness of God all around us every moment of every day.
In Jesus,
 Brown
http://youtu.be/v9bC9CRv9oU

Brown's Daily Word 11/4/14

Thanks be to Jesus for this day.  Today America goes to the polls for the midterm elections.  Those of us who live in this great blessed land, let us plan to cast out our ballots for Life and Liberty.  I spoke to Sunita, who is in Cypress with her family.  She shared with me that she spent most of a week in Lebanon with her work. She shared that Lebanon is beautiful country.  The total population of Lebanon is over 4 million.  Refugees from Syria totaling over 2 million have fled to Lebanon.  The Church is ministering to those people.  Many Christians around the globe live under tremendous political pressure and religions persecution.  Praise the Lord for all Christians around the corner and around the globe who live with great devotion to the Lord.  They live with great fervor and deep faith. 

    One of the worship songs we sing goes: “You are Lord of creation and Lord of my life,  Lord of the land and the sea; You were Lord of the heavens before there was time, and Lord of all Lords you will be.  We bow down ...”

    Some time ago I read the story of Dietrich Offeldt, who was born in the land of Martin Luther and Deitrich Bonhhoffer which occurred right after World War II and the separation of East and West Berlin.  It was that moment in history when the division of East and West was becoming painfully apparent.  All his friends counseled him:  “Dietrich, flee to West Berlin.  It will be better for you, better for your family, better for your freedom, a better place to be a Christian.  Don’t remain in East Berlin.  It is family suicide, spiritual suicide.”  But Dietrich was one of the many thousands who chose to remain and live as a Christian under communism.  In  essence he said in one of his letters: “Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior.  He is the ruler of my life, and he can dispose of my life in any way he chooses.  I have found that every Christian finds himself or herself in a particular circumstance, a particular time, a particular place in which they live out their discipleship.  My circumstance is communism;  my time is the Cold War; and my place is East Berlin.  I chose to be a disciple here.  To survive, I found that I needed to make two decisions:  first, to accept the task that God had placed before me; that is, to live as a Christian in a communist state.  The easy thing would have been to run away, to run someplace that was less difficult.  But an essential key to life is to accept the God-given task that God has placed right in front of you and not run away from it”.  ...  How about us? 

    Dietrich’s letter continued: “The second choice is to raise my flag and show my colors, to let those around me know for sure that I am a Christian, that Christ rules my life.”  Dietrich went on to tell about how some Christian parents in East Germany advised their children to be cautious in revealing that they were Christians and that such children became tense and not free but slaves to the fear of being found out.  Dietrich found it much easier to be up front, to show his colors, to let people know he was a Christian.  For example, one day his school principal confronted him, “Mr. Offeldt, communism teaches that there is no God, that God is a figment of our imagination.”  To which Dietrich replied,  “God is not the figment of my imagination.  God created my imagination and yours.”  His response was up front, colors flying high.  Dietrich knew that he couldn’t teach his beliefs in God at school, but he wanted his principal to know where he stood.  ... How about us? 

    “You are Lord of creation and Lord of my life; Lord of the land and the sea;
You were Lord of the heavens before there was time and Lord of all lords you will be.  We bow down...”

    This past Sunday was Christ the King Sunday.  On this special Sunday Church  remember that Christ is Lord over the whole creation, the entire universe and all the galaxies.  Christ is Lord over this little earth, this lovely planet on which there is life.  We remember that Christ rules over our lives ... during triumphs and tragedies, in all circumstances, all times, all places, and during the complex moral decisions that we face day by day.  Yes, Christ is... LORD!

 In Him,

  Brown

Brown's Daily Word 11/3/14

    Praise the Lord for this brand new month of November.  The Lord blessed us with a amazing weekend.  The Lord blessed our youth gathering Saturday evening.  Whenever we hang out with the youth we feel younger and the Lord makes us energetic.  The Lord blessed us yesterday in His House in our times of worship and celebration.   

    Tom and Jessica spent few days in Cypress with Sunita, Andy, and Gabe.  They had a wonderful time.  They are back in the States.  Today our oldest granddaughter turns 9 years old.  We praise the Lord for Micah.  Micah is blessed with a servant's heart.  She is winsome, beautiful, and sweet.   She loves Jesus and shares about Him with others. 

    Praise the Lord for our lives in Jesus.  Praise the Lord for His gifts of grace and mercy.  Praise the Lord that we get to worship Him, indeed we get to serve Him.  In Christ alone we are blessed and we are loved.  In Christ alone we are given significance.  There is beautiful mystery and wonder in the life that we have in Jesus our Lord.  We are reminded, "your life is hidden with Christ in God"  (Colossians 3:3).   Whenever we stand before the Lord we stand before His Mercy seat.   

    I am praying and planning to post brief messages on You Tube under the theme "Jesus transforms lives... Come to Jesus and live".  

    It is always refreshing and challenging to read about Jean Valjean.  Victor Hugo introduced us to this character in the classic Les Misérables.  Valjean enters the pages as a vagabond, a just-released prisoner in midlife, wearing threadbare trousers and a tattered jacket.  Nineteen years in a French prison have left him rough and fearless.  He's walked for four days in the Alpine chill of nineteenth-century southeastern France, only to find that no inn will take him, no tavern will feed him.  Finally he knocks on the door of a bishop's house.

    Monseigneur Myriel is seventy-five years old.  Like Valjean, he has lost much. The revolution took all the valuables from his family except some silverware, a soup ladle, and two candlesticks.  Valjean tells his story and expects the religious man to turn him away, but the bishop is kind.  He asks the visitor to sit near a fire. "You did not need to tell me who you were," he explains. "This is not my house—it is the house of Jesus Christ."  After some time the bishop takes the ex-convict to the table, where they dine on soup and bread, figs, and cheese with wine, using the bishop's fine silverware.

    He shows Valjean to a bedroom where, in spite of the comfort, the ex-prisoner can't sleep.  In spite of the kindness of the bishop, he can't resist the temptation. He stuffs the silverware into his knapsack.  The priest sleeps through the robbery, and Valjean runs into the night, though he doesn't get far.  The police catch him and march him back to the bishop's house.  Valjean knows what his capture means—prison for the rest of his life.  But then something wonderful happens. Before the officer can explain the crime, the bishop steps forward.  "Oh!  Here you are!  I'm so glad to see you.  I can't believe you forgot the candlesticks!  They are made of pure silver as well…Please take them with the forks and spoons I gave you."

    Valjean is stunned.  The bishop dismisses the police and then turns and says, "Jean Valjean, my brother, you no longer belong to evil, but to good.  I have bought your soul from you.  I take it back from evil thoughts and deeds and the Spirit of Hell, and I give it to God."  Valjean has a choice: believe the priest or believe his past.  Jean Valjean believes the priest.  He becomes the mayor of a small town.  He builds a factory and gives jobs to the poor.  He takes pity on a dying mother and raises her daughter.

 

    The Grace of Jesus changed him.  Let it change us as well.  Let us not give any  heed to Satan's voice.  We  "have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous" (1 John 2:1).   "There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus" (Romans 8:1). 

 

  In Jesus,

    Brown

http://youtu.be/bxL6fRdnHkM