Brown's Daily Word 2-5-10

Good morning,
Praise the Lord for the way our days are in the hands of our Lord. It was last Saturday afternoon that the Lord put in my heart a nudge to go and visit Naoma Leathers, one of the saints of the church. Naoma had been placed in a nursing home for rehabilitation. When walked into her room I saw Naoma, sitting up in a chair surrounded by her two brothers, one sister, and her two daughters. I was led to have prayer with her and a song service. We sang hymns and shared Scripture verses. Then, we laid hands on her and committed her in the everlasting arms of Jesus. I had a call early morning Sunday that Naoma had entered the Church Triumphant, into the presence of Jesus at 3.30AM SUNDAY, the Day of Resurrection. We will have a service Death and Resurrection in the church tomorrow at noon.
Naoma was born in 1923 in Knoxville, PA. She was one of five children. She attended Mansfield University, graduated from there, and was a teacher. She and her husband, Stan, were married for 61 years. Stan had gone to be with Jesus in 2006. Naoma loved the Lord with passion and served Him with great devotion and Joy. She was a fervent and faithful witness of Lord and Savior.
When I was a young boy I read Rudyard Kipling’s "The Jungle Book". In this book Mogli, the man cub, asks the animals what is the most feared thing in the jungle. He is told that when two animals meet on a narrow path one must step aside and let the other pass. The animal that steps aside for none other would then be the most feared. He was told it was an elephant. Another told him it was a lion. Finally, the wise old owl exclaims, "The most feared thing in the jungle is death. It steps aside for no one."
Death steps aside for no one. In our hearts we know that very fact of life. We all die. Solomon said in Ecclesiastes 7:2, “...death is the destiny of every man.” There comes a time when we each must feel the sting of death. No one gets through this life unscaved by death’s curse. The world we live in is marked by death; time marches toward it. Every day it grows closer, as every tick of the second hand draws death nearer. The sting of death is a burden we all must deal with. Loved ones die, spouses die, children die, friends die, we die. As depressing as that might seem, it is the truth. Death steps aside for no one.
In the seventh chapter of Luke we meet a woman whom death had dealt a double blow. She certainly had come to know death and discovered quickly that it was not her friend. She had lost her husband a few months before and death had came knocking again at her household door, for her son this time. In a short span of time, death had taken from this woman all she had. She was probably motionless, not able to deal with all that had happened to her in such a short time. In a moment of desperation she probably wished that she too was dead. Her hope was lost, so what reason was there to go on?
However, this woman’s situation was not hopeless because, unknown to her at the time, she had a friend on the way, named Jesus, who just happened to be passing through her little town. Even though death did not step aside for her, death would step aside for Jesus and he was certainly willing to help this woman regain her hope for tomorrow.
Before Jesus came, she was struggling with a host of emotions and hopelessness. For one thing, she was experiencing DEEP GRIEF. Not only had she lost her husband, but now her son also. I have been told that one of the worst types of grief is when a child dies before the parent. It goes against the natural order of things. A mother never thinks that she will have to bury her son.
She was also, most likely, experiencing LONELINESS. Even though her friends and relatives were with her, she knew that when the funeral was over they would go home and she would have to return to an empty house.
Luke 7:13, "When the Lord saw her, his heart went out to her and he said, ’Don’t cry." What a friend Jesus was! He stopped and gave His full attention to this woman. He was compassionate. Someone once defined compassion as "your pain in my heart", and Jesus certainly felt the pain of this woman and grieved for her. His words "don’t cry" were a sign of encouragement, perhaps foreshadowing a miracle to come. Perhaps Jesus was implying that there was no reason for this woman to cry because her son would eventually be okay! Verse 14 says, "Then Jesus went up and touched the coffin, and those carrying it stood still. He said, ’Young man, I say to you, get up!’ Then the dead man sat up and began to talk and Jesus gave him back to his mother."
It is interesting that this boy sat up and talked. Understand that this young man was not raised from the dead in the sense of the resurrection of the dead that will occur at the end of time. Instead, he was simply brought back to life, resuscitated. His vital signs were restored. In verse 15 Luke, the author who was a medical doctor, used a medical term that referred to a patient who sits up during a medical exam. Luke was saying that this boy was healed from whatever sickness had killed him and Jesus had merely reversed the affects of the sickness. This was a healing of the disease he had. This young man was brought back to life, but he would die again someday and then be resurrected on the resurrection day with everyone else.
This miracle demonstrated the power that Jesus had over nature and over death. It demonstrated his authority as God. Only God can reverse the affects of disease, sickness, and death. Verse 16 says that the crowd was filled with awe at this occurrence and so they praised God and news of this miracle spread throughout all Judea and the surrounding country.
A lot of us have the misconception that Jesus is so busy running the universe that he has no interest in our lives, or in our hurts. But there is no pain or hurt of yours or mine that Jesus does not notice. When we hurt Jesus knows all about it. He knows our heartaches. He knows about the trials we are going through. He knows the tears we shed at night in the darkness of our room. He knows about the loved ones we miss desperately. Jesus notices every hurt and he sees every tear.
The Psalmist said, "You oh Lord hear my pain, you have kept a record of my tears." (Psalm 56:8). Psalm 31:7 says, “Lord, you have seen the crisis in my soul.” Skip Heitzig in his book "Jesus: Up Close" writes, “The presence of pain and suffering in our world challenges some people’s ideas about God. Does he even care? But in this story we see Jesus walking in the midst of that world and dealing directly with pain. He didn’t run away. He looked firmly and directly into the eyes of a hurting woman and ministered to her need.”
Because of Jesus’ power over death, He always seems to turn a funeral into a celebration. That’s what he did that day for this widow, and that is what he can do for us. If he could turn this funeral around he can certainly turn your life around. Whatever situation you face, Jesus can transform it. Jesus can bring hope to our hopeless situations. He can revive any relationship, he can cure any illness. He can revive us in any circumstance. He is the Lord of hope.
Romans 15:13 says, “May Jesus Christ, the source of all hope, fill you with joy and peace through your faith in him.”
In Christ,
Brown
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gy7XVvu6oqE

Brown's Daily Word 2-4-10

Good morning,
The Lord blessed us with a wonderful Wednesday evening Bible study session. We looked at Mathew 4. Soon after the glorious His baptism, our Lord was driven by the Spirit to be tempted by Satan, in the wilderness. During this time, He fasted for forty days, after which He was tempted by Satan. In Mark we read, "And He was in the wilderness 40 days, tempted by Satan,and He was with the wild beasts, and the angels ministered to him." Mark 1. Jesus overcame Satan. He grants His grace now to those who call upon Him, and trust in Him, to overcome the evil one. By His grace and the anointing and ministering power of the Holy Spirit we can overcome the adversary.
Thomas Costain’s history, "The Three Edwards", describes the life of Raynald III, a fourteenth-century duke in what is now Belgium. Grossly overweight, Raynald was commonly called by his Latin nickname, Crassus, which means "fat." After a violent quarrel, Raynald’s younger brother Edward led a successful revolt against him. Edward captured Raynald but did not kill him. Instead, he built a room around Raynald in the Nieuwkerk castle and promised him he could regain his title and property as soon as he was able to leave the room. This would not have been difficult for most people since the room had several windows and a door of near-normal size, and none was locked or barred. The problem was Raynald’s size he couldn’t fit through the door. To regain his freedom, he needed to lose weight. However, Edward knew his older brother, and each day he sent a variety of delicious foods. Every day he wheeled before Raynald on a cart, the tastiest foods. Instead of dieting his way out of prison, Raynald grew fatter from the food. When Duke Edward was accused of cruelty, he had a ready answer, "My brother is not a prisoner. He may leave when he so wills." Raynald stayed in that room for ten years and wasn’t released until after Edward died in battle. By then his health was so ruined he died within a year, a prisoner of his own appetite.
There are many of us who are like Raynald, trapped by our own sinful desires. We wish we didn’t have these desires but often the delicious temptations that are "wheeled before us" are too hard for our flesh to resist. We each have an appetite for a certain sinful pleasure that whenever we are tempted with it we give in. It becomes a cycle of feast and famine, pleasure then guilt. Whatever it is, you know you lack the personal willpower to overcome it because the temptation is just too strong.
Kent Hughes has a book entitled, "Liberating Ministry from the Success Syndrome", in which he gives a list of questions we can use to examine the nature and the effect of the thoughts we are entertaining. Are we being desensitized by the present evil world? Do things that once shocked us now pass us by with little notice? In 1 Corinthians 10:13 (New King James Version) we read, "No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it."
In His Victory,
Brown

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BN9JALQRMb0

Brown's Daily Word 2-3-10

Good morning,
Praise the Lord for His amazing grace and marvelous love. Praise the Lord for His faithfulness. I talked to one of our friends yesterday, who is a single mom. She is always full of gratitude, praising the Lord for the way He has blessed her so wonderfully. She makes time to bless her three children and her grandchildren. She makes time for Bible study with her children, nurturing them in faith, hope and love in Christ.
We are getting ready for our daughter Jessica's wedding on the 14th of February. Thank you for praying for us. Currently, Jessica is away in Las Vegas, attending her work related conference. Laureen will driving down to Lancaster this weekend to visit friends, and from Lancaster to Philly next week to pick Jessica up and bring her home. Micah and Simeon were away with their parents for a brief vacation to New Hampshire. Micah told me that swam for an hour in a heated outdoor pool.
Praise the Lord for the joy we have in serving the Lord. He infuses us with His anointing. He grants us His grace for every challenge and for every task. I am reminded of Philippians 4:6 which reads, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” The Bible teaches that it is appropriate to present our requests to God. We are permitted to ask the God of the universe to act on our behalf. In fact, the Bible says, “You do not have, because you do not ask God.” (James 4:2,NIV)
There is a story of a tenant in an apartment building who loved God dearly. Her landlord, on the other hand, was an atheist who despised her faith. One day she ran out of food and money. She prayed aloud, “Oh dear God please help me in my time of need, I look to you and you alone to provide my needs, now please send me some food, for I’m tired and hungry.”
The landlord heard the prayer through the wall and thought, “I’ll show her once and for all that God doesn’t care for her, that He doesn’t hear and answer prayers.” So he went to the grocery store and bought a bag of groceries and used his access key to get into her apartment and set the groceries on her dining room table.
When the woman came in and found the groceries she began to praise God and thank Him for answering her prayers. The landlord was listening and went to her apartment and told her she was a religious fool and that God didn’t give her the groceries he said, “I gave you the groceries; there is no God.” The lady replied, “You’re wrong, God gave me these groceries and he got the devil to pay for them.”
Asking God to do great things and believing that He will do them is what faith is all about. There’s a favorite old hymn with the words, “Thou art coming to a King. Large petitions with thee bring; For his grace and power are such. None can ever ask thee for too much.”
A. C. Dixon wrote, "When we depend upon organizations, we get what organizations can do; when we depend upon education, we get what education can do; when we depend upon man, we get what man can do; but when we depend on prayer, we get what God can do."
In Christ,
Brown
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jh6TR7Szlgc