Brown's Daily Word 4-3-09

Good Morning.
Praise the Lord for the first Friday of April. Palm Sunday is coming. Evidence of the release from the grip of a long winter is all around us. The grass is greening, and Spring flowers are abundantly blooming. Jess and Tom are coming in tonight from Philadelphia for the weekend. I read a story some time ago, about a farmer who had three sons, Jim, John, and Sam. No one in the family ever attended church or had time for God. The pastor and the others in the church tried for years to interest the family in the things of God to no avail. Then one day Sam was bitten by a rattlesnake. The doctor was called and he did all he could to help Sam, but the outlook for Sam’s recovery was very dim indeed. The pastor was called and apprised of the situation. When he arrived, the pastor began to pray as follows: "0 wise and righteous Father, we thank Thee that in Thy wisdom thou didst send this rattlesnake to bite Sam. He has never been inside the church and it is doubtful that he has, in all his time, ever prayed or even acknowledged Thine existence. Now we trust this experience will be a valuable lesson to him and will lead to his genuine repentance. "And now, 0 Father, wilt thou send another rattlesnake to bite Jim, and another to bite John, and another really big one to bite the old man. For years we have done everything we know to get them to turn to Thee, but all in vain. It seems, therefore, that what our combined efforts could not do, this rattlesnake has done. We thus conclude that the only thing that will do this family any real good is rattlesnakes; so, Lord, send us bigger and better rattlesnakes. Amen." This Coming Sunday is Palm Sunday, which ushers us all into Holy Week. We are getting ready for Palm Sunday worship. Our choir is going to present the Easter Cantata during 8.30 and 11.00 worship this Sunday. Plan to be in the house of the Lord in worship and praise. Plan to invite some one join you for the Palm Sunday event.
I love to read from Hebrews 10 : 22 ff 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. Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;) And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: 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. Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us." Someone once penned that Socrates taught for 40 years, Plato for 50, Aristotle for 40, and Jesus for only 3. Yet the influence of Christ’s 3-year ministry infinitely transcends the impact left by the combined 130 years of teaching from these men who were among the greatest philosophers of all antiquity. Jesus painted no pictures, yet some of the finest paintings of Raphael, Michelangelo, and Leonardo da Vinci received their inspiration from Him. Jesus wrote no poetry, but Dante, Milton, and scores of the world’s greatest poets were inspired by Him. Jesus composed no music. Still, Haydn, Handel, Beethoven, Bach, and Mendelssohn reached their highest perfection in the hymns and symphonies they composed in His praise. Every sphere of human greatness has been enriched by this humble carpenter of Nazareth. Jesus is the central figure of our faith. Without Him, there would be no faith! He is the author of our faith and the perfecter of our faith when we come to the end of our lives! Our perfection is in Him! "Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."
In Christ,
Brown

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T2qm3eD4akM