Brown's Daily Word 5/5/15

Praise the Lord for this spectacular spring season in New York.  The Lord blessed us with a wonderful day in His house Sunday in worship and fellowship.  Janice, Jeremy, Micah, Simeon, and Ada traveled to Philadelphia for the weekend  where Uncle Tom and Aunt Jess were able to bless  Micah, Simeon and Ada.  They all had sweet time in beautiful Abington, PA in the suburbs of Philadephia. 
    We were saddened to learn of the death of Jayne Flanagan.  Jayne and Kirk Flanagan were part of out church family in the 1990's, working with the youth.  They felt a strong call from the Lord to go to Africa as young missionaries.  The Lord opened the door for them to go to Africa and did provide for them.  Jayne had a heart like that of David Livingston to go to Africa.  She was blessed with the passion  of William Carey to share the Gospel beyond our borders.  She had the sweet smile of Mother Teresa to reach the least, the last, and the lost.  Kirk and Jayne were blessed with  three handsome sons who love the Lord. Jayne was in her early forties.  She was born in England, moved to the States, married her husband Kirk, and served the Lord together.   We praise the Lord for the faithfulness of Jayne. 

    The Lord blessed us with a marvelous Monday.  It has been like a summer day.  The temperature reached into the mid 80's.  Thank you Jesus.  All the trees are bursting.  All the fruit trees are blossoming with much brilliance.  Daffodils and tulips are in full bloom everywhere.  Many of the flowering bushes and trees by the highways and bi-ways are in full bloom.  Praise the Lord who makes all things so glorious and so colorful.  The moon last night was spectacular.   For all these things we give thanks to Jesus.This morning I was awakened by singing birds at4.30 AM.  It is going to be another triumphant day on earth , for Jesus the  Risen saviour reigns.

    One of the readings for Sunday was taken from John 15.  In 2005, the commencement speaker at the Stanford University graduation service took the podium and talked about how to live before you die.   He said, “You’ve got to find what you love… Your work is going to fill a large part of your life.  And the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work.  And the only way to do great work is to love what you do.  If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking and don’t settle.  As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it.  And like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on.  So keep looking.  Don’t settle.”

    That speaker’s name was Steve Jobs, former co-founder and CEO of Apple Inc., who passed away at the age of 50.  He’s been called a “tech titan,” a “visionary” and “pioneer”.   If you own an iPod, iPhone, iPad or Mac, you’ve probably heard his name before.  But in that same speech about doing what you love to do in life, Steve Jobs shared the question he asked himself to make sure he was living life to its fullest.  He asked himself, “If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I’m about to do today?”

    How would we answer the same question?  Are we satisfied with today’s activities?  Do we  have “great work” to do today?  Would we change anything on our schedule if this were the last day of our lves?  Jesus has a vision for our lives.  He has a vision for our joy.  He shares with us His vision with the picture of the vine and the branches.  Not only does He want our lives to be truly productive and fruitful, but He also says our life is filled with truly great work because it brings glory to God!  So, Steve Jobs advised that until you find great work that you love to do, you should keep looking.  Jesus the Risen Lord says to us “Stop looking.  I am the only Vine to a life that bears great fruit.  Look no further; only REMAIN IN ME!”

    One reason why Jesus calls us to remain in him is because “apart from me you can do nothing.”  Without Jesus, all people are unfruitful, dead branches.  Branches that have been cut off from the tree no longer bear fruit.  Sometimes it is not easy to agree with Jesus because we see lots of good people out there, doing “good things”.   We see charity and kindness, even in people who don’t believe God exists, but Jesus says everything done apart from Him is like nothing done at all.  As another verse says, “Without faith it is impossible to please God.”  (Hebrews 11:6)

    If today were the last day of our lives, would we still want to do what we are about to do?  It really doesn’t matter what’s on the schedule.  We have a thousand opportunities to bear some great fruit!  The only encouragement for us branches is this – REMAIN IN ME. .

In Jesus our Lord,

 Brown

https://youtu.be/twuLr5rQmp0

Brown's Daily Word 5/1/15

Praise the Lord for this First day of May. Today we celebrate the birthday of our daughter, sweet Sunita. She was born this day in Barnes Kasson Hospital in Susquehanna, Pennsylvania, surrounded by beautiful mountains and the spectacular viaduct. Sunita has grown to be sweet servant of Jesus and a woman of faith. We praise the Lord for her. She provokes me to follow Jesus and serve Him with joy. Alice baked chocolate chip cookies galore and homemade breads in honor of Sunita's birthday. I get to eat some of them. It is a gorgeous spring day here in New York. As far as I am concerned, the Spring season in New York is amazing, spectacular , better than anywhere else on earth. I wish you were here.
  Join us for our Friday evening television outreach this evening at 7:00 PM on Time Warner Cable channel 4. This morning I have been reflecting on the Book of Jude. The entire Book has 25 verses. The Epistle of Jude has only one chapter with 25 verses. Verses 24-25 together make one of the greatest doxologies in the New Testament. This declaration of praise teaches us that God is able to keep us when we cannot keep ourselves. Edward C. Pentecost wrote, “Here is the greatest theme of victory to be sounded, the highest note of praise and adoration possible, and the greatest assurance for the redeemed.” The doxology in Jude 24-25 teaches us to trust and praise the God who is able to keep us.
Jude 24-25 is one of the amazing New Testament doxologies that praise God for being able. “Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of His glory with great joy.” The emphasis is on divine omnipotence — the inherent and infinite power of God. Jude did not remember when God was able in the past. He did not promise that God will be able in the future. This is real-time assurance. Whenever it is, wherever we are, whatever we need, our Lord is able. The first assurance of this doxology covers our entire Christian journey from earth to glory: “Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling.” The KJV says, “Now unto him who is able to keep you from falling.” The original is more emphatic. Stumbling precedes falling. God is able to keep us from falling on our face.
The world is a slippery place. The devil constantly schemes to trip us. Our sinful flesh is prone to trip, stumble, and fall, but or Lord is able to keep us from stumbling. Psalm 121:3 says, “He will not let your foot be moved.” Our Lord can keep us from falling into the error of sin and falling away from the faith. This is living hope which the Lord Jesus Christ offers the guilty, the dying, and the grieving. The only hope in the face of death is that God is able to present us blameless before the presence of His glory with great joy. Great joy is more than personal happiness. It is a public celebration with singing, dancing, and shouting. This is what heaven will be like! Psalm 16:11 says, “You make known to me the path of life; in Your presence there is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.”
The Month of May has come with much beauty, and June will soon be upon us. This is a gentle reminder of our retirement gathering and celebration on Saturday, June 27, from 5 to 7 PM. It will be a blast and we will be blessed. We are serving a variety of foods, including Indian, French, Italian, and American. There will lots of music, time for stories and testimonies, and plenty of good times to go around. Best of all, you will get to meet our grandchildren, and they will make you laugh, so come prepared. They are nothing like the children we raised in the parsonage, but they bring us great joy.
  In Christ, Brown.
https://youtu.be/cH_LLGiE0f0

Brown's Daily Word 4/30/15

Praise the Lord for this new day.  It is brilliant and bountiful with the grace and mercy of our Lord.  I woke up early to watch the sunrise once again.  It is all calm and serene all around us.  The trees and bushes are close to full bloom.  We went to Syracuse yesterday to visit a young mom who is in for some tests.  We are praying for her.  She was doing well and so far all the tests have turned out to be negative.  She looked radiant with joy.  On the way to the city we saw  the countryside gorgeous with flowering trees and drove along some of the streets in the outskirts of the city, where the magnolias were in full bloom.  The sky was blue all the way. We came home rejoicing in the goodness and faithfulness of our Lord who makes all things colorful and beautiful in His time.  Last evening the Lord blessed us with another evening of sweet fellowship and Bible study.  There were moments of holy laughter and simple joy.  One of the women, a sweet servant of Jesus for whom  we have been praying, was in the study.  We all rejoiced with her and  gave thanks to the Lord for His tender mercies.  She has been ill and going through treatments. The Lord has blessed her with a beautiful mind and a brave heart.

    In my book, the Lord must love women - He made so many of them.  I am thinking about the woman at the well that we read about in John 4.  She wasn’t looking for Jesus.  She wasn’t out searching for the Messiah as Nicodemus was.  She was just out living life.  She was out getting her bucket of water from the public well. She wasn’t especially looking for God or wanting to walk the godly life.  Yet, when she wasn’t even looking for it, Jesus said: “I would like to give you some living water.”  Although she didn’t even ask for it, Jesus offered her the very best gift in the whole world at a time in life when she really needed it.

    Jesus does the same for you and me.  We may not be looking for the living Lord. We may be just living life, day by day.  Yet, to us who are living life just day by day, Jesus says, “Whoever believes in me, I will pour into him, (into her), the living water, and out from his heart shall flow rivers of living water.”  Christ makes the same offer to you and me, whether we are looking or not.

    Where do the rivers of living and loving water come from?  They originate in Jesus, the source of living water.  The story of the Samaritan woman at the well is one of the best stories in the whole Bible.  It is the story of a woman who was a five times loser who was not even looking for God.  Jesus offered her what she really needed, not a lecture, but the living water.  He offered her what she really needed and she couldn’t live without and Jesus does the same with us.  Amen.

In Christ,

 Brown

https://youtu.be/s4l2yY2r95g