Praise the Lord for
the way in which "His divine power has granted to us all
things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who
called us to his own glory and excellence" (II Peter 1:3).
Praise the Lord for each of you, for your visits of grace, love, and
kindness. Thank you to each one who has thoughtfully sent cards and
prepared comfort food for us. During my recovery Alice has been
preaching, and the Lord has been blessing her ministry of teaching and
preaching. We are getting excited about the October festival of special
music this Friday evening at the sanctuary of the First Baptist Church, with
our very good friend, Aric Phinney. Those who live in the area please
join us at 7:00 PM. You'll be blessed.
I am prayerfully planning to preach this coming Sunday on
"A Pilgrim's Progress". Then we will be returning to Boston for
a couple of weeks for further treatment. Thank you for praying fervently
and faithfully, and for believing.
Our
grandchildren Gabe, Addie, and Asha, who live in Washington, DC, spent last
weekend with their parents and Auntie at their church-wide retreat at a
beautiful, mountainous, retreat center in Virginia. They shared that they
had beautiful moments and times of refreshing in the Holy Spirit.
Alice has continued to harvest fresh tomatoes, peppers, carrots,
and cucumbers
this week. She
was especially tickled with our harvest of winter squash and pumpkins -
including about 6-7 buttercup, 8-10 delicata, 20 or more carnival, upwards of
two dozen butternut, and plenty of (smallish) field pumpkins. We even
have more strawberries growing and ripening every day on our little plants
outside the back door. We are overwhelmed by the generosity of Jesus,
both in season and out of season. Praise the Lord for our great
out-of-doors! What a blessing it is in every season, fresh and
colorful. Here in Central New York harvest is nearly over - corn, apples,
grapes, potatoes, honey, and many other good things. We are entering the
season of Thanksgiving, praising God for his bounteous blessings. In the
words of George Herbert, "O Lord you have given us so much! Give us
one more thing; give us a grateful heart."
Blessings
are not things we achieve for ourselves. They are gifts that come only from
God’s hands, and they account for the things we value most – someone to love,
His unique gifts of grace and mercy,, our health, the breath in our lungs, and
the rising sun every day. These are the gifts and blessings that money
cannot buy; they come only by the hand of God. During my recent illness
and recoveries, I have discovered these blessings, free and yet priceless,
which come from the heart of God. Yesterday, a young woman, a
sweet servant of Jesus, drove up to see me. We spent time reading,
singing, and sharing a simple meal. She and her husband have been blessed
with two wonderful sons. She was sharing her gratitude for the way the
Lord has used my faltering witness and reluctant servant-hood to bless her
and her family in their walk with the Lord.
One
of the hymns that we sang today was, "Jesus, the Very Thought of
Thee", which was written the Twelfth Century by Bernard of
Clairvaux. One of the verses always moves me with its
words, "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!"
When
we pay attention to our blessings, we soon realize that we cherish them so much
more than our achievements, so all that is left is gratitude. Some
time ago I read about a successful man who, when he
retired, realized he was done updating his resume. Instead, he
began a practice of pulling out a yellow tablet of paper every Thanksgiving,
and line by line, he would list all of the blessings in his life. The
first time he tried this, he was amazed that the list was so long. Over
the years, he began to experience losses in his life. His loved ones
died. In time, he had to sell the big family home and move into a smaller
place. He contracted cancer. But in spite of these loses, every
Thanksgiving he discovered that his list of blessings kept growing longer and
longer. Gratitude is the soul’s Doxology for the blessings of life.
Earlier
this week, I read about a pastor who received a certified letter from a
man about whom he knew nothing, by the name of Bing Yang. Thirty-two
years ago, a couple of Presbyterian missionaries who had been teaching in China
were impressed by his promise. They worked hard to secure a student visa
for him to come to our country so he could continue his education. They
found financial aid for Bing, and he was accepted at the University of
Pittsburgh. All they needed was a plane ticket, so they approached the
church (where this pastor was serving). The Missions Committee secured a
commitment from the elders to write him a check for $1,570 to pay for his
travel expenses to come and study. Bing did well at the University of
Pittsburgh, and after he graduated, he went to California where he became a
successful businessman. His letter expressed gratitude for the blessing
he received from the church a generation ago, and it contained a check
for $15,700. He repaid the blessing tenfold. As far as the pastor
knew, none of the people who took the risk of giving a Chinese student a plane
ticket were still in leadership.
As
Jesus told us, “Some plant, and others reap the harvest.” Often, we are
blessed today because of things done through the faithful witness and
servant-hood of those who have gone on before. We are called and given
divine imperative to sow seeds in His kingdom, which has eternal
consequences. Even though the world seems chaotic and confused, Jesus,
the Light of the world, still shines in the darkest of places. We are
blessed to be the sowers who, though they sow with tears, shall reap with
joy.
As we come to the seasons of Thanksgiving, Advent, and
Christmas, let us examine ourselves as to how we can invest in the Lord's
divine enterprise, both through our churches and through our mission agencies.
" He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he
cannot lose." Jim Elliot
In Christ.
Brown
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