Brown's Daily Word 5-24-13

    Praise the Lord.  It is Friday and Sunday is coming.  We heard from Sunita yesterday.  Sunita and Andy are in Cyprus for two weeks.  Sunita wrote that the Lord is blessing their time in Cyprus.  Sunita is meeting and interacting with some of the most beautiful and brave people who love the Lord and serve Him with great abandon and joy. 

    I love to read the letter of Paul to the Philippians from time to time.  One of Paul's favorite words is the Greek word hilarotes, from which we get the word hilarity.  It literally means "laughter from the heart."

When Paul talks about joy, he doesn't mean the trivial, shallow, obscene or mean-spirited stuff we call humor today.  He means bone-deep, blood-rich, exuberant laughter which comes up out of the depths of a person's soul, joy which flows from the center of our being, deep joy,coming from the depth of our hearts.  In Philippians4:6 it is written "Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.  And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus."

    Holy hilarity is born out of deep, inner peace; peace which passes all understanding; peace which comes from knowing that we are really loved and accepted by God.  My experience tells me that uptight people can never really experience joy.  Only those who let go and discover the deep peace which comes in knowing we are loved and the Risen Lord isin control can know the freedom of laughter.

    There's a line from G. K. Chesterton which I've claimed as part of the operating creed for the second half of my life: "Angels can fly because they take themselves so lightly."

    In Philippians 4:11-13 it is written, "I have learned to be content with whatever I have.  I know what it is to have little, and I know what it is to have plenty.  In any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of being well-fed and of going hungry, of having plenty and of being in need.  I can do all things through him who strengthens me."  The J. B. Phillips translation has great feeling for the emotion of Paul's letters: "I have learned to be content, whatever the circumstances may be.  I know now how to live when things are difficult and I know how to live when things are prosperous...I have learned the secret of facing plenty or poverty.  I am ready for anything through the strength of the one who lives within me."  Rejoice!  The Lord is King.

    In Him,

    Brown

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