Praise the Lord for
this new day full of His promises and surrounded with His fresh grace.
Praise the Lord for the rest and the renewing peace that He lavishes upon
us. He blessed us with a wonderful Wednesday gathering of fellowship and
study.
I spoke to a mentors and dear friend who
is in India yesterday. We have known each other since 1966. He was
one of the servants of the Lord whom the Lord used in leading to full
time ministry of our Lord Jesus. He is the retired Bishop
and is still active in the preaching ministry. He has visited us
here in New York several times. He has gone to visit the village where I
was born. He was one of the preachers at the summer camp meeting where
thousands attended for a few days, that was held on the premises of the
Middle School where I attended in the nineteen fifties. He has gone to stay
in the village, in the house where I was born. He is spending a couple
days for some R&R.
The
house was burned multiple times and almost destroyed during the
persecution of Christians in 2008. The original house was built by my
grandfather who was the first Christian in my village and who was baptized in
1921. The village is situated almost 7000 feet above the sea level,
which causes it to be cooler in the blistering summer season. There is a
mega coffee plantation just about a mile away from the house where I was
born. The village is surrounded by big mountains where, in the
past, tigers, wild buffaloes, wild elephants, wild boars, antelopes, and other
big and small game roamed. The wild mountain terrain is
studded with mango groves and other tropical fruit trees. The coffee
plantation also is locus for growing of bay leaves, black pepper and manner of
spices. The area is fertile ground for raising cash crops like lentils,
ginger, turmeric roots, bananas, papayas, guavas, jack fruit, and varieties of
wild but edible fruit. The region is filled with a touch
heavenly bliss and divine kiss.
Just recently I read the story of Jimmy Wayne. Jimmy Wayne
never knew his father. His mom spent more time in prison than out.
When Jimmy was twelve years old, his mother was released from jail
and took up with a troublemaker. They loaded Jimmy into the backseat of
the Olds Delta 88, and for a year the car was his home. “It had bench
seats and smelled like body odor,” remembers Jimmy. They drove from city
to city, avoiding the police.
After
miles of drifting they dumped Jimmy in the parking lot of a Pensacola, Florida
bus station and drove off. He was thirteen years old. He had no
home, no future, no provision. One day while wandering through a
neighborhood, he spotted an older man who was at work in a garage wood shop. He approached the elderly gentleman and asked if
the man had any work that he could do. The carpenter sized up the boy,
assessed him to be homeless, and decided to give him a chance. The man
introduced himself as Russell. He called for his wife, Bea, to come to
the garage. They showed Jimmy the lawn mower and how to operate it. For
several weeks Jimmy cut the couple’s grass and survived on the twenty dollars
they paid him each week.
After
some time, Bea asked Jimmy where he lived. At first he lied, afraid she
wouldn’t let a homeless boy work. But finally she convinced him to tell
her the truth. When he did, the couple took him in. They gave him
his own bedroom, bathroom, and place at the dinner table. The home was
like heaven to Jimmy. He took hot baths and ate hot meals. He
even sat with the family in the living room and watched television in the
evening. Still, in spite of their kindness, Jimmy refused to unpack his
bag. He’d been turned away so many times that he’d learned to be wary.
For four days his plastic bag sat on the floor, full of clothes, ready to
be snatched up when Bea and Russell changed their minds.
During
this time Jimmy was in the house but not in the house. He was under the
roof but not under the promise. He was with the family but didn’t behave
like a family member. Russell
eventually convinced Jimmy to unpack and move in. It took several days, a
dozen or so meals, and more than one heart-to-heart conversation, but Russell
finally persuaded Jimmy to trust them to care for him.
We
can compare and contrast this story with the reality of our Lving Father
revealed in the Person of Jesus Christ our Lord, who is still working to
convince us. The moment we put our trust in Jesus and believe in the Good
News of Jesus Chrsit, we are transported into His Family. We pass
from death to life. We are redeemed and our position and staus in
life are changed forever. It is not based on our work and
accomplishments, but solely on the finished work of Jesus at the
Cross. At times we question our place in God’s
family. We fear his impending rejection. We wrestle with
doubt-laced questions. "Am I really in God’s family? What if God
changes his mind? What if He reverses his acceptance?"
The Lord knows He has reason to do so. We press forward only to fall
back. We renew our resolve only to stumble again.
We
wonder, "Will God turn me out?" Boyfriends do. Employers
do. Coaches kick players off the team. Teachers expel students from
class. Parents give birth to children and abandon them at bus
stations. How do we know God won’t do the same? What if he changes
his mind about us? After all, He is holy and pure, and we are anything
but. Is it safe to unpack our bags?
God
answered this question at the cross. When Jesus died, the heavenly vote
was forever cast in your favor and mine. He declared for all to hear,
“This child is my child. My covenant will never change.” Promised Land people believe this. They
trust God’s hold on them more than their hold on God. They place their
trust in the finished work of Christ. They deeply believe that they are “delivered…from
the power of darkness and conveyed…into the kingdom of the Son” (Col. 1:13).
They know that Jesus was serious when he said, “[My children] shall never
perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand” (John 10:28, NIV). They
point to Calvary as irrefutable evidence of God’s commitment to them. We
are blessed. We are redeemed. We are safe and secure in His Arms in
His promises. Now we are propelled to live our lives, in serving
Him, loving Him and being deployed in His Kingdom for His kingdom purposes.
Blessed be His Name.
In
Christ, our Eternal home.
Brown
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