Praise the Lord for the way He refreshes and rejuvenates through
the night of rest and sleep. I woke up early and peeked through the
upstairs bedroom window, and gazed at the eastern sky. It was beautiful
and colorful. It is going to be a brilliant and blessed day. Praise
be to Jesus, the One who is beautiful beyond compare and who makes all things
beautiful in His time. We went walking on the streets and the Greens
of the town yesterday evening. As we were walking on the bridge across the
river that flows in the center of the town my wife remarked that a tree that
has been hanging out into the water looked almost dilapidated. In
the winter months it looked leafless and lifeless, but now it is luxuriant and
exuberant. This tree reminded me of the Biblical analogy, "
.. A tree planted by the streams of water, that yields it's fruit in its
season. This is the work of grace of the Lord in our lives in all
seasons.
Praise
the Lord for this new day. The weather channel is forecasting that it will be a
wonderful, sunny, and stunning day with abundant sunshine. Thank you
Jesus. Praise be to Jesus for the endless beauty He lavishes on us
through the spring blossoms and flowers of all shapes and colors and with
breathtaking fragrances.
The
Lord blessed us in His House yesterday, Mothers Day. Our daughters
called their mom and filled and blessed her with Mothers Day reminiscences and
memories. Alice preached yesterday and the Lord anointed her message.
She had titled her message, "This is Love".
Bishop
Earl Hunt (A faithful and very gifted Bishop of our United Methodist
Church) once told a story I never have forgotten. It was about a
physician who told of a transforming experience he had when he was a young
doctor just starting his career. He was going to check on a patient who
lived in a rather rundown apartment community. He pulled the car up to
the curb and got out to go up the apartment. A little boy was there
bouncing a ball on the sidewalk, and the little boy said, "Man, that's a
nice car, Sir. Where did you get that car?" The doctor
stumbled a bit in answering, because his brother, who was older than him, owned
a car dealership. They had worked out a deal in which the doctor would
take care of the brother and his family for free, and the brother on a regular
basis would give the doctor a car. It worked for both of them.
So
the doctor started to try to explain and said, "Well, my brother gave me
this car...", but before he could go on, the little boy said, "Your
brother gave you that car?" "Yes, you see, we have this
arrangement…" The little boy said again, "Your brother gave you
that car?" "Yes," and before the doctor could say anymore,
the little boy said, "Would you wait right here?" Then before
the doctor could answer, the little boy went tearing off around the corner.
The
doctor didn't have much time. He didn't really want to wait, but there
went the little boy, and the doctor didn't know what to do. He kept
looking at his watch, and after a few minutes the boy came back around the
corner. He was pulling a wagon and in the wagon was another little boy,
smaller than him, clearly younger than him. The little boy in the wagon
had legs withered from the waist down.
The
older boy came pulling that wagon around with the younger boy in it, sitting
there with his withered legs. The older boy came pulling that little boy
right up next to the car and said, "Joey! Do you see that car, that
shiny nice car? His brother gave him that car! Joey, I promise you
that when we get older, that's the kind of brother I'm going to be for
you."
In
telling the story the doctor got very quiet for a moment and then he said,
"Years have passed since that happened, but I believe God has used that
experience to keep me in His will and in His love. Because every time I
have a decision to make with my practice, my family, my friends or with
anything, I keep saying, ‘God, that little boy pulling the wagon, that's the
kind of brother I want to be!'"
Friends, there is a
dance that's been going on since before time began, and the only ones who
ultimately know the proper steps have the proper hearts. Let us ask ourselves:
What kind of sister or brother do we want to be?
In Christ the
Lord of dance.
Brown
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