Praise the
Lord for the wonderful days of October. We drove to Boston to spend a few days
with our grandchildren and their parents. We drove through the beautiful
States of New York and Massachusetts. The autumn colors were at their peak.
The skies were cloudless and the mountains and the hills, fields, and meadows
were colorful. As we drove it seemed as if beauty comes mingled with blessing
that seemed unending. Many tourists come from around the world to drive through
and enjoy the amazing beauty and magnificent colors the Lord of creation
displays once in a year in due season in this region. We exalt His Name. Our
time with our grand children is always a special treat. We read books to them.
We saw them ride their bikes, build intricate lego houses, and do all kinds of
crafts with much imagination. We took long walks in the city, and on Sunday
afternoon we walked around one of beautiful parks, where Simeon climbed the
rocks. We all went to church Sunday Morning. During the offering time four
year old Ada had 50 cents to put in the offering but instead she took $1.00 out
of her wallet to put in the basket.
Praise the Lord for the way He imparts His peace to us. He
is the Prince of peace. The peace of the Christian is only possible because of
the presence of Christ, and the peace of the Christian is the presence of our
Lord. We can hear the Lord saying in Psalm 23, “Though you walk through the
valley of the shadow of death, I am with
you.” Frederick Buechner talks about the
blessings that the Lord gives His people and yet, at the same time, the trials
that His people go through. He says something like this, “Jesus says to you,
‘Here is your life. You might never have been, but in my goodness, I brought
you into existence and into this world. Here is the world. Beautiful and
terrible things will happen, but do not be afraid, I am with you. Nothing can
ever separate us. I am next to you. I am for you. I love you.” Buechner is
almost paraphrasing Romans 8, but with a little bit of John 14 to 16 thrown in.
What we need in the darkest places of life is to know that we're not alone, but
that the Lord is with us. One of the
saddest verses in all of the New Testament is found in 2 Timothy 4:16 in
which Paul wrote, “At my first
defense, no one came to stand by me, but all deserted me.” That really is
astonishing. Ever since Paul's arrest in Judea, his whole goal in the Christian
life had been to be taken all the way to the high court in Rome, just a few
blocks from the emperor's palace and testify to the grace of Christ in the
Gospel in the court of Caesar. When the day finally came for Paul to be able to
give that testimony, Paul wrote that no one - no friends, no family, no fellow
Christians, no fellow ministers - came to be by his side. It seemed that Paul
was absolutely alone, but in reality he wasn't. The very next thing that Paul
said is, “But the Lord stood by me.” When Paul was all by himself before the
powers Rome , the Lord of Heaven and Earth was there standing by him. The Same
Lord is with us at all times at all junctures , at all detours of life. When
He is there by our side .. we can say all is well. His Peace passes all
understanding. His love never fails. His mercy never
ends.
In Christ,
Brown
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