Brown's Daily Word 7/10/09

Praise the Lord for this fabulous Friday. Praise the Lord for the Joy of knowing Him and serving Him. Jesus is the real joy giver. In the midst of clamor, calamities, crises, and confusion, the Lord dispenses His joy to His people. Robert Louis Stevenson once entered in his diary what he considered to be an extraordinary thing. He said, "I have been to Church today, and (Surprisingly) I am not depressed." Christians are called to be joyful in all circumstances. Christian concepts of joy are different from those of the world. The Joy of the Lord is the result of God’s work in our hearts (Galatians 5:22). Christ didn’t come that you might have sadness; He came that you might have a full life. (John 10:10) The book of Nehemiah records a time when Israel was coming back into their homeland after spending 70 years in exile. They began to rebuild their home in the ‘land of promise’. Israel was regaining her homeland and returning to faith. The book of the law had been discovered, Nehemiah called together the people, and he had Ezra conduct a public reading of God’s law. The Israelites had different stages of reaction to the law. First, they fell into repentant sorrow. Second, they began to praise and worship the Lord. Third, they celebrated the “Feast of Booths” as the law commanded. The result was great joy! Nehemiah told them, “The Joy of the Lord is your strength.” We often confuse sacred with solemn and somber. We sometimes think that to be holy is to be quiet and serious, but the Bible equates holiness with joy. The true worship of God is done with rejoicing and celebration. The most sacred times in our lives are filled with joy, including but not limited to our wedding, the birth of a child, Christmas, and Easter. God does not delight in sorrow but in joy. The joy of the Lord is our strength. Joy is the result of knowing who we are and whose we are.
What did the people discover as they read the Word of the Law? They heard the words, “I am the Lord who brought you up out of Egypt to be your God; therefore be holy, because I am holy” (Leviticus 11:45). They heard how God chose them, had loved them and delivered them from slavery. They learned how he gave them the promised land. They learned what their purpose was as a people in the world. They began to understand that they were not just a group of individuals, but they were the people of God. They were not a bunch of losers living in the same area, but they were the chosen people of God. They were not the product of chance and fate; they were the people of God — created by Him and loved by Him. They were also responsible to him. They were to be like Him. Because they were God’s people they were accountable to Him for their actions. They were to lead holy lives. These facts had awesome implications, but it also gave them a sense of identity and belonging. They finally understood that they had been created by God for a purpose and that their lives had a destiny. They were not just any people — they were the people of God. They were not to live just any way they chose — they were to live in such a way that their lives pleased God and glorified him. We are called to build our lives on the foundation of the word of the Lord as it is revealed in Jesus Christ our Lord. We will have trouble with self-esteem when we teach our children that they are not the creation of God, but the result of irrational fate — an accident of time and chance with no real purpose or meaning. Is it any wonder that we are having trouble teaching morals when we are taught that we are merely animals which have evolved over millions of years, and that it is unrealistic to expect people to control the animal passions within them? Is it any wonder that people are aimless when they buy the idea that there was no reason for their existence other than the forces of biology and animal chemistry? It has been taught to them that God is not their father and that their bodies are only the result of the evolutionary process. Some believe that human existence began in a primordial mud hole, and from there primitive life forms eventually crawled out and evolved through time until humans began to appear on the scene. Can we expect children and adults who have been taught this scientific fiction to value themselves and have a sense of purpose and meaning? It is not wonder that our culture is so lacking in direction. The Word of God has been lost in our lives. Many get their direction from Oprah and form opinions by watching Dr. Phil. In our generation it is common to look to the self-help books and the feel-good gurus of the day. We cannot and will not have direction in our lives when we have neglected the Word of God. The Bible says, “For his anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime; weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning” (Psalm 30:5). Joy comes as a result of God’s love and forgiveness — having our hearts right with him. Jill Briscoe, a Christian writer, told the story of how this works. She wrote, “I remember talking to a girl in my church two or three years ago. She said, ‘Jill, I’ve lost my joy. I’ve lost my peace, and I want it back.’ ‘Where did you lose it?’ I asked. ‘That has nothing to do with this,’ she replied. ‘Help me to get it back.’ ‘But where did you lose it?’ ‘I don’t want to talk about that.’ But eventually she did talk about it. She lost it when she moved in with her boyfriend. That’ll do it.” The things that promise to bring joy apart from God never do. You don’t find joy by living in disobedience to God. Joy comes through obedient love. The joy of the Lord is our strength. It is a joy that comes as we understand who we are and whose we are. It comes when we discover God’s will for our lives through his Word. It comes when we experience grace as a result of genuine repentance. You cannot have the joy of the Lord if you are living in disobedience. It just doesn’t work that way. You must surrender your life to God in obedience and then you will find a new strength coming into your life. That strength is the joy that comes from God. It is the strength that will carry us into eternity and usher us into the gates of heaven as our Lord says to us, “Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!” (Matthew 25:21).
Please tune in tonight at 7:00 PM on Time Warner Cable Channel 4, and join us for our weekly television outreach broadcast.

Tomorrow, from 4-6 PM will be our annual Chicken Barbeque, made with love by our experienced team and served with joy. Join us for a hearty meal that includes barbequed chicken, salads, rolls, and dessert. You'll be glad that you came!
In Christ,
Brown
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YxH2Ow3ep88Kindergarten for men, so women shop in peace
A German bar has come up with the perfect answer for women who like to shop in peace without the stress of moaning partners - a kindergarten for men.For a mere $11.80 a woman can dump her husband at the Noxbar in downtown Hamburg, while she can get on with her shopping.The woman can shop till she drops in the city's attractive boutiques, while her man is kept fully occupied and amused at the play pen for grown ups.The men are given a name badge and treated to a hot meal, two beers, televised football and games. Two trained 'nurses' are on hand to look after them. There are also plans in the pipeline to introduce miniature car racing.The 'Maennergarten' has proved a big hit in Hamburg and could be the start of a whole new movement across Germany and the rest of the world, to take the stress out of shopping for both sexes.Demand was very brisk in the first week of opening, no less than 27 women got rid of their partners there on Saturday. They are allowed leave the men there until 6 pm before collecting them to help carry the shopping home.The idea for the men's crèche came from a female customer who was too stressed shopping with her husband and wanted a way to shop in peace.