Brown's Daily Word 8-8-08

Good Morning,
Praise Jesus - it is Friday. Praise the Lord! Sunday is coming. Praise the Lord for summer.
Jesus is the Man of all seasons. He is the Lord in every season. He is our eternal contemporary. John Milton said it best: “The mind is its own place, and in itself, can make a Heaven out of Hell, a Hell of Heaven.” That’s so true, isn’t it? All of us know people who can find something good to focus on even in the worst of circumstances. All of us also know someone who can find something bad to focus on even in the best of circumstances. There is a universal principle at play here: that we tend to see what we’re looking for. I think there are two basic types of people in the world: complainers and worshippers. Complainers can always find something to complain about. Worshippers can always find something to praise God about. Each of us is almost constantly in the process of developing hypotheses about the world around us. Then we look for evidence to support our hypotheses, and we tend to ignore evidence to the contrary. For example, if you decide you don’t like someone you’ll notice everything that is wrong with that person. You will probably also ignore anything you could potentially like about them. The flip-side is true as well. If you are head-over-heels in love with someone you tend to only notice those things you love about them. In other words, we see what we’re looking for. A worshipper makes a pre-decision to look for something to praise God about even in the direst of circumstances. In Acts 16, Paul and Silas were in a prison cell in Philippi. Paul cast a demon out of a fortune-teller. Her master did not like it because she lost the ability to predict the future, so he had Paul and Silas arrested.
Acts 16:22 says, “A mob quickly formed against Paul and Silas, and the city officials ordered them stripped and beaten with wooden rods. They were severely beaten, and then they were thrown into prison. The jailer was ordered to make sure they didn’t escape. So he took no chances but put them into the inner dungeon and clamped their feet in the stocks.” I think that when we read a story like this it’s tough to put ourselves in their shoes. I’ve had bad days before, but nothing like this. If I were Paul or Silas, I would be emotionally, physically, and spiritually spent . . . drained to the last drop, with got nothing left to give. Their backs were bleeding from their beating. They were black and blue all over. And they had to be angry. I have never had a mob form against me, but I’m guessing that it would set you off emotionally. To top it off they landed in the maximum security cell in stocks! It just doesn’t get much worse than that.
That’s why the next verse is so amazing to me. Acts 16:25 says, “Around midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening.” When I get into a spiritual or emotional slump, it’s usually because I’ve focused on a problem. I’m fixing my mind on something that is wrong. Nine times out of ten, the solution is "zooming out" so I can get some perspective and see the bigger picture. So, how do we zoom out? Worshipping is taking our eyes off of our external circumstances and focusing on God. We need to stop focusing on what’s wrong with us or with our circumstances, and begin to focus on what’s right with God. Paul and Silas could have taken the narrow view of their circumstances and complained about them. They could have said something like, "God, we cast out a demon and this is what we get? We’re on a missionary journey and we get beaten and thrown in jail? Instead of “watching our back” our backs are bleeding from a beating!" They could have complained till their voices were hoarse, but they made a choice to worship God despite their external circumstances. Here’s what worship does. It restores spiritual equilibrium. It helps you regain perspective. It enables you to find something right to praise God about even when everything seems to be going wrong. Worship is zooming out and refocusing on the big picture. It’s refocusing on the fact that two thousand years ago, Jesus died on the cross to pay the penalty for my sin. It’s refocusing on the fact that God loves me when I least expect it and least deserve it. It’s refocusing on the fact that God is going to get me where God wants me to go. It’s refocusing on the fact that I have eternity with God to look forward to in a place where there is no mourning or sorrow or pain. Worship is refocusing on the fundamentals of our faith. Here is what happens when we correct our focus: God restores the joy of our salvation. We regain our spiritual equilibrium. Nothing is more difficult than praising God when everything seems to be going wrong. However, one of the purest forms of worship is praising God even when you don’t feel like it because it shows God that your worship isn’t based on circumstances. Worship is based on the character of God. One of my all time favorite books is Man’s Search for Meaning by Victor Frankl. Frankl was a Holocaust survivor who wrote about his experiences in a Nazi concentration camp. Everything was taken away from these prisoners. They were stripped of their clothing, their pictures, and their personal belongings. They even had their names taken away and replaces by numbers. Everything was taken away except one thing. Frankl said, “Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances.” Paul and Silas were in prison, their bodies in chains, but you can’t chain the human spirit. That’s what Victor Frankl discovered in the concentration camp. That’s what Paul and Silas modeled two thousand years ago. Their bodies were chained, but their spirits soared. There is one recording I would love to hear - that of Paul and Silas singing. I think they sang with a conviction that caused their fellow prisoners to listen. They praised God at the top of their voices! That choice to worship set off a chain reaction. I don’t think Paul or Silas could have planned their miraculous jailbreak. To make a long story short, there was an earthquake. Though the prisoners are set free, but they didn't leave! The jailer who was about to kill himself was saved, along with his entire family, and they were baptized in the middle of the night. This isn't the kind of thing you would put in a novel - no one would find it remotely feasible. You can’t plan miracles. However, when you worship God in the worst of Circumstances you never know what is going to happen. Worship sets the stage for miracles! Worship causes spiritual earthquakes that can change the your life. Worship is the way we stay positive in negative circumstances. No matter how bad things get, because we are followers of Christ, we have eternity in heaven to look forward to! Our pain is real, but it is temporary. Heaven is also real, and it is for eternity. Paul gives some priceless advice in Philippians 4:8. It’ a list of eight premeditated commitments. He says, “Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” Worshippers always find something to praise God for. Worship is a premeditated commitment. It was worship that set Paul and Silas free physically. It is also worship that will set us free emotionally and spiritually. Worship sets off a chain reaction. The prison doors fly open. The chains break free.
Hebrews 10:22 "Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;) 24 And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: 25 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching."
Pray for our television outreach this evening on Time Warner Channel 4 at 7 p.m.
Tomorrow - there will be a Saturday evening worship service at 6:30 p.m. The music team will consist of Jeff and Keisha Blaine and Laureen Naik.
Sunday morning -
Worship at Wesley UMC - 8:30
Sunday school (UCUMC) - 9:00
Worship (UCUMC) - 10:00

Our annual pilgrimage to the Christmas Extravaganza at Radio City Music Hall will be on Monday, December 8. The total cost for the ticket and bus is $75.00. We still have limited seats available. Please contact us at brownnaik@aol.com

Congratulations to
Tom and Lenka Maynard on the birth of their daughter, Esther.
Diedre and Jeremy Rapp, on the birth of their son, Caden.
Chad and Jessica Lucas, on the birth of their son, Cody.
Mike and Deborah Eckhardt, on the birth of their daughter, Cassidy.
Happy birthday to
Bruce Henry, who recently turned 90
Etta Schaffer, 81
Dave Griffiths, 81

Jesus is Lord! Hallelujah!
In His Love and Mercy,
Brown