Brown's Daily Word 11-03-09

Good morning,
Praise the Lord for this new day. Our favorite granddaughter, Micah, turns 4 years today. She called me 5 times yesterday and just chatted. She talks fluently and can tell some stories. We praise the Lord for Micah.
Sunita got back to Washington after a long flight from Jerusalem. She had a long delay in Newark and so, exhausted, reached her home after midnight.
Laureen and her team left for Bangkok yesterday, flying from Los Angeles. Laureen told me that she put all her necessary belongings in a carry on bag. I was amazed. She told me she is traveling just like missionary, learning to travel light. Less luggage (more comfort?). The Sound Tech for the team quit the team as they were preparing to journey to Thailand. In the Bible, John Mark quit the Missionary journey as it is recorded in the Book of Acts. The Lord is faithful. He provided a new sound tech for the team the very day the old sound tech quit. The new Sound tech was already had a valid passport to travel to Thailand. He was able to get an airline ticket within the day and will be flying out today. Our Lord is in the business of performing miracles.
Our youngest daughter Jessica and her fiance Tom are coming home for the weekend. Praise the Lord for all His blessings.
I just got an e-mail from a young woman, whom I knew when she was a young teenager. She is now married and blessed with three children. She wrote about her mom, whom I knew well in the 1980's, is in poor health and is needing much prayer.
Life is filled with examples of wounded and suffering individuals - people who have been wounded in many different ways - wounded by physical or spiritual warfare. During my High School days we had the "Parable of the Good Samaritan" as the text for English Literature in King James Version. The Parable is the response of Jesus, the Christ, to the question of a certain lawyer who, in trying to justify himself and trap Jesus, the Christ, into saying something wrong, asked Him the question, "And who is my neighbor?"
We know very little about the man who fell among thieves. The Holy Bible - the written Word of Almighty God - does not tell us his name. It does not tell us his race or nationality. It does not tell us whether he was rich or poor, educated or ignorant. In point of fact, he could have been anybody, even someone like one of us! Regardless of who we are, we can be left by the "roadside of life" through no fault of our own in a hurting or wounded condition! We can be hurt in so many ways. Often, it seems, when we are making our greatest progress and when life is at its best for us, suddenly some disaster strikes and becomes a thief that steals our joy or it may steal those things that we love!
Life itself carries with it the possibility of being hurt! If we had no feelings at all, we could not be hurt, but a person without any feeling at all is a dead person! So, the very fact that we can be hurt is a sign that we are still alive! The lesson that Jesus, the Christ, would have us learn from His parable is this: We should be "Good Samaritans" all of the time! However, there are times when we are in no position to be a "Good Samaritan". Instead, we find ourselves being the wounded person who is left by the "roadside of life!"
The tragedy of life is not the wound itself, because life is so constituted that wounds are inevitable! The tragedy comes when we quit or give up on life because of the wound, when we fall down and we can’t get up! There are times, however, when we simply must grit our teeth and say, "I may be down; but, I’m not out!"
There is a story of the late great American golfer, William Ben Hogan (1912 - 1997), whose car was hit by a bus - an accident which left him laying by the roadside wounded! A great career was ended, we thought! It was doubtful whether he would ever walk again, let alone play golf! However, as soon as possible, he got braces and began to swing his golf clubs. It was a painful process. However, he kept on swinging and later came back to win both the United States Open and the British Open championships!
When we are wounded, we can count on help coming our way! Often, it is help that we did not expect! In the "Parable of the Good Samaritan," surely it must have been a disappointment to hear the footsteps of the priest and the Levite as they passed the wounded young man by! But then, he heard other steps, steps that stopped at his side. These were the steps of a Samaritan, an outcast himself and a member of a despised race. It was the Samaritan who tenderly bound up his wounds, puts him on his own donkey, and, walking beside the animal, took him to safety! Life usually works that way. Often, when we need help, it comes from a place that we did not count on!
There is always hope, for Jesus, the Christ, Himself, tells us, in Luke 4:18 (KJV): "The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, for He hath anointed Me to preach the Gospel to the poor; He hath sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised." Not only do the wounded have the help of other people, they also have the help of Almighty God who is our Father, a help that gives us serenity and peace!
In Jesus Christ the wounded Healer,
Brown

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhOJW4Uwy3c