Praise the Lord
for this First day of May. It is another cloudless but colorful Spring day here
in NY. We still have an abundance of blossomed daffodils. The tulips are
almost ready to burst with color. The fruit trees in the garden are clothed in
the blooming garb of Spring. It is going to be a gorgeous day. The Lord of
creation and our redemption lavishes us with His beauty and splendor. He pours
upon us His love that never ends and His mercy that is new every morning.
We will gather
for Wednesday fellowship and study at 6:00 PM. One of the chefs of the church
is making some special soul food this evening. We will be looking at 1
Corinthians 15. Choir practice will begin at 7:30 PM.
Our second
daughter, Sunita, celebrates her birthday today. She was born on this May day
in a tiny hospital in Susquehanna County, PA. She has grown up to be a sweet
servant of Jesus. She loves to travel all over the world, serving Christ among
the various people groups of the world. She was in the Republic of Georgia in
April and also visiting Albania. She and Andy are traveling to Cyprus this
month, and she traveling to Israel in June. She provokes me to love Jesus and
serve Him with joy and obedience. We praise Jesus for the life and witness of
Sunita a sweet servant of Jesus our Lord.
In the late
sixties I read a paperback book by Ruel Howe. He wrote in this book, "God made
people to be loved and He made things to be used, but because of our sin and
depravity we love the things and use people to get things that we love". Sunita
challenges me to love people and use the things the Lord has blesses us with to
bless people. In the Book of Acts we read about a wonderful Christian who was a
follower of Jesus, named Barnabas. He loved Jesus and His Church. He used the
things the Lord had given to bless the Church. His name means "the son of
encouragement". May the Lord propel us and anoint us to be the sons and
daughters of encouragement today.
Across Northern
Africa stretches the largest desert in the world -- the Sahara, almost as large
as the United States. From east to west, it spans 3,200 miles, farther than the
distance from New York City to San Francisco. Mile after mile of scorching,
shifting sand dunes make up the Sahara, where temperatures reach 130 degrees
Fahrenheit during the summer -- so hot that breathing is nearly impossible. Yet
at the eastern edge of this mammoth oven lies one of the richest, most fertile
valleys known to humankind -- the beautiful Nile Valley. Flowing through the
valley is the great Nile River, its 4,160 miles making it the longest river in
the world. It's not the river alone that makes the valley so abundantly
fertile, but the fact that the river overflows each year, generously depositing
all over the valley layer upon layer of rich tropical soil, washed down from the
jungles of Central Africa.
Like
the River Nile, the mere flow of life is meaningless in this desert world of
today. It's when our heart generously overflows that we provide rich fertile
soil for growth in the Lord's work.
There
is nothing for sale here -- everything is free, yet one effect of accepting
God's gift of salvation is that our lives turn to giving. We know we must give
to live. All true living is giving. It is God's gift to us that frees us to
give ourselves to others.
"All the blessings we enjoy are Divine deposits, committed to
our trust on this condition, that they should be dispensed for the benefit of
our neighbors.” John Calvin
In
Christ,
Brown
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