Brown's Daily Word 5/5/15

Praise the Lord for this spectacular spring season in New York.  The Lord blessed us with a wonderful day in His house Sunday in worship and fellowship.  Janice, Jeremy, Micah, Simeon, and Ada traveled to Philadelphia for the weekend  where Uncle Tom and Aunt Jess were able to bless  Micah, Simeon and Ada.  They all had sweet time in beautiful Abington, PA in the suburbs of Philadephia. 
    We were saddened to learn of the death of Jayne Flanagan.  Jayne and Kirk Flanagan were part of out church family in the 1990's, working with the youth.  They felt a strong call from the Lord to go to Africa as young missionaries.  The Lord opened the door for them to go to Africa and did provide for them.  Jayne had a heart like that of David Livingston to go to Africa.  She was blessed with the passion  of William Carey to share the Gospel beyond our borders.  She had the sweet smile of Mother Teresa to reach the least, the last, and the lost.  Kirk and Jayne were blessed with  three handsome sons who love the Lord. Jayne was in her early forties.  She was born in England, moved to the States, married her husband Kirk, and served the Lord together.   We praise the Lord for the faithfulness of Jayne. 

    The Lord blessed us with a marvelous Monday.  It has been like a summer day.  The temperature reached into the mid 80's.  Thank you Jesus.  All the trees are bursting.  All the fruit trees are blossoming with much brilliance.  Daffodils and tulips are in full bloom everywhere.  Many of the flowering bushes and trees by the highways and bi-ways are in full bloom.  Praise the Lord who makes all things so glorious and so colorful.  The moon last night was spectacular.   For all these things we give thanks to Jesus.This morning I was awakened by singing birds at4.30 AM.  It is going to be another triumphant day on earth , for Jesus the  Risen saviour reigns.

    One of the readings for Sunday was taken from John 15.  In 2005, the commencement speaker at the Stanford University graduation service took the podium and talked about how to live before you die.   He said, “You’ve got to find what you love… Your work is going to fill a large part of your life.  And the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work.  And the only way to do great work is to love what you do.  If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking and don’t settle.  As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it.  And like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on.  So keep looking.  Don’t settle.”

    That speaker’s name was Steve Jobs, former co-founder and CEO of Apple Inc., who passed away at the age of 50.  He’s been called a “tech titan,” a “visionary” and “pioneer”.   If you own an iPod, iPhone, iPad or Mac, you’ve probably heard his name before.  But in that same speech about doing what you love to do in life, Steve Jobs shared the question he asked himself to make sure he was living life to its fullest.  He asked himself, “If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I’m about to do today?”

    How would we answer the same question?  Are we satisfied with today’s activities?  Do we  have “great work” to do today?  Would we change anything on our schedule if this were the last day of our lves?  Jesus has a vision for our lives.  He has a vision for our joy.  He shares with us His vision with the picture of the vine and the branches.  Not only does He want our lives to be truly productive and fruitful, but He also says our life is filled with truly great work because it brings glory to God!  So, Steve Jobs advised that until you find great work that you love to do, you should keep looking.  Jesus the Risen Lord says to us “Stop looking.  I am the only Vine to a life that bears great fruit.  Look no further; only REMAIN IN ME!”

    One reason why Jesus calls us to remain in him is because “apart from me you can do nothing.”  Without Jesus, all people are unfruitful, dead branches.  Branches that have been cut off from the tree no longer bear fruit.  Sometimes it is not easy to agree with Jesus because we see lots of good people out there, doing “good things”.   We see charity and kindness, even in people who don’t believe God exists, but Jesus says everything done apart from Him is like nothing done at all.  As another verse says, “Without faith it is impossible to please God.”  (Hebrews 11:6)

    If today were the last day of our lives, would we still want to do what we are about to do?  It really doesn’t matter what’s on the schedule.  We have a thousand opportunities to bear some great fruit!  The only encouragement for us branches is this – REMAIN IN ME. .

In Jesus our Lord,

 Brown

https://youtu.be/twuLr5rQmp0