Praise
the Lord for the way He transforms the winter topography and landscape into a
wonderful winter wonderland. I talked with one of our daughters who lives
in Washington, DC, who shared with me that they are expecting over two feet of
snow, one of the record breaking snowfalls. We get to see
usually during this time of January a spectacular display of winter
splendor. I recall the first time my mom traveled to the US was on
20th of January 1985. It was one of coldest days. The wind chill
factor was -40 degrees. I, along with a dear friend of ours, were
driving down to JFK airport to pick up my mom. I was driving
our VW Diesel Rabbit. It was so cold that the diesel gelled up stopping
the engine. We came to a sudden and screeching halt near a truck
stop. We could not go anywhere. Many vehicles were stranded along
the highway. These were the days before cell phones, e.mails, or
texting. We kept on praying. The young man she was traveling
with was led by the Lord, and somehow they got tickets to fly to the
Binghamton Airport. My mom was wearing sandal and no winter jacket
coming from India. It was an extreme exposure for her to the winter
weather of NY.
Every
year we get touch of extreme winter weather beginning the 20th of
January. One of the blessings of this day, however, is that we
are getting nearer to Spring. I saw a large flock of geese
yesterday. They were brave and flying with a sense of
gallantry. I saw a massive gathering of Canadian geese
grazing at the Campus of Binghamton University. My heart was comforted
to realize that we are slipping and sliding towards sweet Spring.
Alice
and I will be driving to Boston today. Thank you for praying.
I would like to share the heart warming story
of a man named Michael Brady. Brady was a stuntman for Universal Studios
who specialized in skydiving. Michael was in Benson, Arizona, preparing
to parachute atop a moving train. Climbing up the ladder on the side of
the train to check some rigging, Michael accidentally fell, hitting his head
and dying instantly. Michael's body was taken to the University Medical
Center in Tucson. His heart was placed inside the body of another man,
Bill Wohl, who had been kept alive for the previous 159 days by a temporary
artificial heart. Six months and one day after getting a new heart, Bill
Wohl received a letter from Michael Brady's family with a picture of Michael
enclosed. Bill was surprised to find that he had the heart of a
36-year-old Hollywood stuntman.
"I
looked at this picture," Bill said, "at this incredibly good-looking,
super-fit, super athletic guy, and I thought, 'Are you kidding me? That's
whose heart I've got?'" Before his heart transplant, Bill Wohl had
been a Type-A, overweight, money-obsessed businessman pursuing a jet-setter
lifestyle. Today, he works part-time, spending most of his new-found
energy winning speed and performance medals in swimming, cycling and track.
Recently
interviewed by a reporter in his Scottsdale condo, Bill Wohl leaned forward in
his chair, glanced up at the bronze, silver, and gold medals he has won,
lowered his voice, and said, "Every day, all day, I thank God for Michael
Brady. When I ride, when I work out…the biggest thing is to honor him."
A new heart changed him.
A new heart changed him.
When we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, His heart is in us.
When His heart beats in us the biggest thing in our lives will be to honor Him,
and we will have a great passion for His Gospel and His Kingdom.
In
Matthew
28, we find the Lord
Jesus and His disciples on a mountain in Galilee. Throughout Scripture,
mountains were places where God revealed Himself to men and women. In
Matthew's Gospel, we learn that Jesus conquered the devil's third temptation in
a mountain setting; that Jesus preached the greatest sermon ever preached from
a mountain; that the Lord lingered in prayer by Himself on a mountain; that He
revealed His glory to Peter, James and John on a mountain; that He unfolded the
endtimes to His disciples on a mountain. It's no surprise, then, that the
Lord Jesus issued the Great Commission from a mountain. We don't know the
name of this mountain, but it might be appropriate to call it Heartbeat
Mountain, because the Lord revealed His heart so clearly there. "And
Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, 'All authority has been given to Me in
heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am
with you always, even to the end of the age.' Amen" (Matt.
28:18-20). "all
authority"; "all nations"; "all
things"; "always. "WOW!
In Christ,
Brown
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