Praise the Lord for
yesterday, a super Saturday of January. It was a very mild
day. On Friday I watched the Inauguration ceremony and celebration of the
45th President of the United States of America, Donald J Trump. I also
watched the prayer service for the new President and his team at the
National Cathedral yesterday. Praise the Lord for America, a
"city built on a hill". May the Lord God Almighty bless
our nation, our President, and his team. May the Lord God bless all
the nations of the world.
May
Jesus bless all our homes, our families and children, grandchildren, and
every one with whom we are linked in this life through Jesus Christ our
Lord. Thank you for lifting me before the Throne of Grace of
our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The Lord is strengthening me day by
day. Praise the Lord for the Lord's day today. I am planning to be
in the house of the Lord in worship, prayer, and praise. I get excited
when I pause and ponder about Jesus. He is the most real of the
real. He is the truth. The glamour and glitter, the fads and the
fancies of the world, fade away and erode. They evaporate like a
vapor. Jesus is brighter than the glitter. He is the Lord of the
Glory. He is Sun of Righteousness who is Risen, Rising and never
going down. He is our anchor.
I
was talking to someone yesterday at his work place. He was sharing that
he has surrendered his life fully to Jesus. Jesus is the epicenter of his
life. He was sharing that there is nothing compared to the promises, the
power and peace that we have in Him and because of Him. In the
moments and times of chaos and confusion, anarchy, and lawlessness that Jesus
is the Christ. He is our peace.
Yesterday was a warm day here in Central New York. Alice and I
walked beside the fields and meadows in the afternoon. It
was refreshing. Alice took down the rest of the decorated Christmas
trees and almost all of the decorations last evening - reluctantly, I
must say. She longs to prolong Christmas.
I
talked, to some friends from Florida, where it was very
warm. They had a Fish Fry for many of their friends. Another friend
posted that it was in 80's in Florida. One other friend, a Steelers fan
who lives in Pittsburgh, posted that it was great day for bicycling. I
also called a man, one of the premier Maple Syrup producers of the area and
runs a high tech Maple Syrup outfit who said they have started making
Maple syrup. The sap is running. "Come and see
it today", he said. He was so excited. He wanted to show
me his operation. He is 91 years old. And I said, "what a
country".
We
talked to some of our grandchildren yesterday morning from
Washington, DC and Philadelphia on Google chat. It was a great thrill and
treat. They seem to grow and change, and take on a different face
every time we talk to them.
Let
us all plan to be in the Lord's House today, praising the Lord, Singing and
Shouting, praying, praising Him, and proclaiming His power and
majesty. When the saints sing, Satan flees. We live in a world
that is still under the Authority of Jesus. He rules and
reigns. He has not abdicated His throne, His sovereign power,
or His authority. He shines in the darkest and bleakest moments and
times of history. History is His story. He infuses and injects
courage and boldness into His people who walk not by sight but by faith.
Jesus is our Eternal Contemporary.
Daniel
lived in a culture saturated by heathenism and idolatry. The Lord gave
him courage and holy boldness because Daniel resolved in his heart to not
defile himself but to honor the Lord and glorify His name. The Book of
Daniel is about courage in the face of overwhelming odds. God raises up
ordinary people in all seasons that He might demonstrate His divine
power and confuse and confound the proud and arrogant.
I was reading about Timothy Dwight, who took admission to Yale
College in 1795. The awakenings experienced under his grandfather,
Jonathan Edwards, were long forgotten. Yale had come under the influence
of the French Enlightenment and the students' heroes were not Peter and Paul,
but Voltaire and Rousseau. The school, though founded to be a Christian
institution, was known not only for drunkenness and infidelity but for its
vehement opposition to all things related to Christ. Lyman Beecher
(Father of Harriet Beecher Stowe), who taught at Yale, reported that
Christian students identified themselves to one another with secret notes,
because it was dangerous to be known as a believer. Into this hot bed of
French philosophy and Christian apathy Timothy Dwight began to preach and teach
on the trustworthiness of Scripture. He stayed on this same subject
for six months. The result was first ridicule, then rage, and then
revival. When he courageously put position and prestige on the line, even
when it seemed that the stand would cost him everything and change nothing, the
Lord changed everything. Believing that the Lord can change everything
through us, beyond us, or after us is what should keep us living courageously,
because we are living in hope—the confidence that our God will fulfill purposes
through us if we will stand for him.
His Name is
Glorious.
In
Him,
Brown
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