Brown's Daily Word 3-4-14

  Praise the Lord for this new day. Exactly one month from today our team is flying to Orissa, India.  The weather in G'Udayagiri, Orissa, India is in the high eighties and low nineties.  The mango trees are in full blossom.  The cotton trees are full blossom.  The spring bird, the "Cuckoo" is the dominant bird of spring season. The cuckoo is a harbinger of spring season.  Please continue to pray for us.  We are trusting the Lord for a great blessing upon His people who are preparing for the great event.  Praying for those who will attend that the Lord would do a new thing. 

    Let us join together in prayer for Ukraine.  Pray for the Church in Ukraine that the Lord would pour upon His fresh grace and power to trust Christ under intense oppression.  We come against all oppression, all tyranny, around the corner and around the globe. 

    Tomorrow is Ash Wednesday.  We are called to enter into a season of prayer, praise, self-denial, and discipline.  May we all use this season to grow deeper in our faith journey and claim the miracles of Jesus.   

    Last year a woman named Margaret Geary made the news. She's an 85 year old nun, who lives in a convent near Baltimore.  All of the other sisters in her convent were going to a three day conference and she had to stay behind.  For three days she was left alone in her convent.  Shortly after they left, she came down from her room to the kitchen to get a snack. She went to the refrigerator, pulled out a jar of water that had celery sticks in it, and walked back to elevator, got on and pressed the up button. Well, the elevator went up about two feet and then it stopped. She went, "Uh oh," and she tried to pry open the doors, and right then the electricity went out. Then she realized, "Oh, don't worry about it, I have my purse with me and it's got a cell phone."  So she rummaged in her purse, pulled out the cell phone, and realized, "I can't get a signal inside this elevator shaft."  At that point she started to panic.  Then she realized, "You know what, I can either panic or I can pray.  And it looks like I'm going to be taking a three day prayer retreat and I didn't have to reserve the space."  So she sat on the floor of the elevator and ate some of the celery sticks and prayed, and then she drank some of the water and prayed. And then she rummaged in her purse and pulled out some of the cough drops down in the bottom and sucked on those, and prayed.  And when she got tired she curled up and used her sweater as her pillow and put her purse in her back to keep that from hurting as much, and she prayed.  And when the sisters finally got back three days later and got her out of the elevator, they said, "What were you thinking?  What was it like for you?"  She said, "Well, I finally realized God had provided for me an opportunity to draw closer to him."

    Right now some of us  feel like we are  stuck in an elevator that is not going anywhere.  We can't get out.  We can't pry open the doors.  The lights have gone out and our cell phone is not working.  We are  thinking, "Would somebody come and get me out of this thing!"  Yet, if we will choose to see it through the promises of God's Word, this can be an opportunity that God has provided for us to draw closer to Him.

In Christ,

 Brown

http://youtu.be/-8mZpGj29qw

Brown's Daily Word 3-1-14

Praise the Lord for the month of March.  It is like summer time in Orissa, India. The spring and summer birds are singing melodious sonnets to the Lord of all creation.  Here in New York we have a touch of spring.  People have seen robins. We hear the birds sing.  It is all joyous and all glorious. 
 

    Janice flew to Washington with her work and spent some time with Sunita and her family. Jessy and Tom were on vacation in Nicaragua and are back in Philly, facing another snow storm.  Praise the Lord for He is in control.  All is well. 

 

    It was good to be in the House of the Lord yesterday.  It was Transfiguration Sunday, just before the Lord set His face towards Jerusalem... on His journey to the Cross.  He took three of disciples up to the High Mountain where He was transfigured before them.  Moses and Elijah show up in the mountain that day, and they conferred with Jesus our Lord about His departure, exodus, and Jerusalem.
In Mark 9  it is written,“…and He was transfigured before them. (3) His clothes became shining, exceedingly white, like snow, such as no launderer on earth can whiten them. (4) And Elijah appeared to them with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus. (5) Then Peter answered and said to Jesus, "Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; and let us make three tabernacles: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah"—(6) because he did not know what to say, for they were greatly afraid. (7) And a cloud came and overshadowed them; and a voice came out of the cloud, saying, "This is My beloved Son. Hear Him!" (8) Suddenly, when they had looked around, they saw no one anymore, but only Jesus with themselves.” 
Luke's Gospel is telling us that the disciples were weary after the climb up the mount and evidently as Jesus prayed they fell asleep (Luke 9:32).  When they awoke it was a very spectacular and surreal scene before their eyes.  The reason that His clothes became brilliant white is from the light emanating from His body.

    The word translated “transfigured” is the word that we get metamorphosis from. When the Bible says that Jesus was transfigured it means he became on the outside what he was on the inside.  “For a brief moment the veil of his humanity was lifted and his true essence was allowed to shine through.  The glory which was always in the depths of his being rose to the surface for that one time in his earthly life.” [R. Kent Hughes.  “Jesus Servant and Savior” Volume II (Westchester, ILL: Crossway Books, 1989) pg. 15]

    The reason that this event is so important in the life of Jesus’ life is because it confirms His deity.  The Psalmist used similar language to describe God, “Bless the LORD, O my soul! O LORD my God, You are very great: You are clothed with honor and majesty, (2) Who covers Yourself with light as with a garment…” (Psalms 104:1-2)    

    Daniel used a similar description to describe the One who was seated on the throne of Heaven, “I watched till thrones were put in place, And the Ancient of Days was seated; His garment was white as snow, And the hair of His head was like pure wool.  His throne was a fiery flame, Its wheels a burning fire;” (Daniel 7:9)

    John used similar language in the book of Revelation to describe the One he saw seated on the throne of Heaven.  “The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it.  The Lamb is its light.” (Revelation 21:23)

    The disciples were given a glimpse of the glory that all believers will behold when we get to Heaven. The writer of Hebrews said, “The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being” Hebrews 1:3 (New International Version)  The Bible uses that same word in several places to describe the change in a believer’s life after receiving Jesus Christ – in Romans 12:2 - the believer is to “…be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind…”  in 2 Corinthians 3:18 we are told that we are “being transformed into the same image from glory to glory…”  In Romans 8:29-30 are told believers are “…predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son…”  In other words, when we are saved, our lives should begin to take on the image of Jesus Christ in us.  Then one day we shall be completely like Him! 

    In the event of transfiguration we have the glimpse of the might and the majesty of Jesus, the glorious King.  It is written,  "The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign for ever and ever." Revelation 11:15  

    We live in His Kingdom that is eternal.  He is almighty.  Because He is the Glorious One we can live on earth in confidence, we can worship Him with great adoration, we can invest in His Kingdom with great hilarity, and we can serve Him with great tenacity and great abandon.  One day we shall behold Him face to face. That will be the real "FACETIME".  WOW!

 In Christ,

  Brown

Brown's Daily Word 2-28-14

Praise the Lord for this last day of February, the last Friday of February.  Sweet Spring is around the corner.  I have been hearing the birds sing.  Many have seen the Robins around.  The other day I saw a group of deer behind the parsonage.   Plan to be in the Lords house this coming Lord's day in worship, praise, and witness.  Praise the Lord that we get to worship the Risen Lord.  We get to give for the sake of the unshakable Kingdom.  We get to serve the King.  We are praying for a young woman who has received her second heart transplant on Valentines Day.  Her sister is going to NY City to spend time with her.  Praise the Lord  for His miracles.  We are praying for a baby who was born prematurely at only 1 pound 3 ounces.  He is now 4 pounds and 5 ounces.  I met with the young mom and her parents yesterday.  They are jubilant and grateful to Jesus.  I was visiting with a young pastor in the Hospital yesterday.  His beloved wife suffered a major stroke.  She is a nurse herself, the mother of 5 lovely children, and only 37 years old.  I prayed with the young pastor.   

    In Psalms 23 we see ourselves walking through darkness with the Shepherd as our guide.  In C.S. Lewis' The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, as Aslan makes his way to the stone table he comes to a point where he does not allow Lucy and Susan to go any further.  They are not permitted to make that last leg of the journey with him.  It is a path which he must walk alone, into the heart of death and darkness.  Likewise, Jesus proceeded toward the cross  for our sake.  He who knew no sin became sin for us.  He lamented over the abandonment He would experience from His disciples.  Peter, however, insisted that he would not fail.  It is here that Jesus informed him of his triple failure.  Three times he would deny the Lord.  Yet Jesus interceded.  Jesus said, "Peter, Satan has asked that he might sift you like wheat.  But I have prayed for you that your faith fail not.  And when you have returned to me strengthen your brothers" (Luke 22:31-32).

    What is to become of us when it is the Shepherd's valley of the shadow of death?  Let us fear not.  Christ has prayed for us.  He has passed through the valley of the shadow of death for us.  We need not fear any evil.  We are kept by the power of God.  In our crises of faith, He whispers in our hearts through the anointing of the Holy  Spirit, "All is well".

    The chief shepherd has passed through the valley of the shadow of death.  There is no valley so deep that the Son of God can not fathom, no mountain so high that the Son of Man can't climb, no darkness so grim that the Prince of the dawn can not illuminate.  There is no sin God can't forgive, no person so lost that Christ can not find them, no bondage so great that the Deliverer can not burst asunder.  The valley is the Lord's.  The way is safe.  "Surely goodness and mercy shall follow you all the days of your life.  And you shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever."  Amen. 

  In Christ,

   Brown

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1nyzGR3tUE&feature=share&list=RDKSShylcAcZs&index=2