" When
morning gilds the skies,
My heart awaking cries:
May Jesus Christ be praised!
Alike at work and prayer,
To Jesus I repair;
May Jesus Christ be praised"
My heart awaking cries:
May Jesus Christ be praised!
Alike at work and prayer,
To Jesus I repair;
May Jesus Christ be praised"
It
is a wonderful blessing that the Lord blesses with a new morning and a new
day. Praise the Lord the way He blesses us with His healing and wellness
every day, whether we recognize it or not, and fail to acknowledge
Him. I get excited for every new day that is paved with all His promises,
with His presence, and with His power. Throughout my life I have loved
early mornings, when all is calm, serene, and tranquil. I woke up early
this morning and gazed towards the Eastern skyline. It was calm and
quiet. Somehow the Lord of each new morning reminds us, " Be still
and know I am God".
I
love to write the morning blog. I hear from so many from around the
corner and around the globe. I am so grateful that the Lord pours His
grace upon me every day that I can share about His wonders, His faithfulness,
and His unfailing love. Thank you all for praying fervently. I am the
recipient of His answer to your prayers. I am grateful. We are
redeemed by the Lord and loved by Him forever. He is more than wonderful.
He is more than marvelous.
The
Lord blessed us with a beautiful Spring day here in Central New
York. I was able to two one mile walks yesterday. The second was
with Alice in the late afternoon. Our hearts were stirred with joy
and gratitude to see patches of daffodils about to burst
into fresh crisp blooms. Patches of Crocus of divergent
colors are already in full bloom. The trees are bursting and
budding. The Spring birds are singing and the cattle and deer in the
fields are frolicking . What a dance! As we were walking we ran into a
neighbor/church member. The roofers are putting a new roof on his
house. We stopped to chat with him for a few minutes. He and
his wife are blessed four children - two boys and two girls. Alice
had all of their children as her students. Their oldest son is married
and has one child. He is a Captain in the US Army, stationed in Italy,
soon moving to Washington, DC to begin graduate studies at Georgetown
University.
Alice
will be retiring in a few months. The Lord has blessed her with
wonderful years teaching, touching the lives of hundreds of students.
Many have gone to some prestigious universities and have become responsible
citizens of this great nation. Many have gone to be successful
entrepreneurs and businessmen and productive members of the
society. I was also a full time teacher early in my life. Most my
students were blessed by the Lord with successful and fruitful careers . Most
of them have now retired. It is exciting to know the Lord can use us
all in His Kingdom even though we might be blessed with just one talent.
We
get to Google chat with our grandchildren on a regular basis. Lindy,
daughter of Jessica and Tom near Philly is sweet. She tells us that
her favorite color is yellow. Yellow used to be the favorite color of her
mommy Jessie. Tom and Jessie are blessed with a second daughter who is to
be born in August. We are blessed. This will be our 8th
grandchild. Lindy frequently gets to visit a nature center just a
block from her house where there are some majestic trees with beautiful birds.
Lindy is becoming a bird watcher.
Praise
the Lord for our grandson Gabe, who turned four this week. He loves
preschool and, best of all, he loves Jesus. He has two younger
sisters. Addie is a wonderful dancer and singer who is blessed with a
nurturing heart. Asha, the youngest, loves to live on the edge (scaring
her Mama every day).
We are getting ready
for Palm Sunday worship and witness. Praise the Lord that in
the midst of conflicts, human atrocities, and international
upheavals we get to celebrate the triumphal entry of Jesus into the city of
Jerusalem on the first Palm Sunday riding on a donkey as the Prince of
Peace. We will keep on trusting Him and praying for peace on earth among
the nations and people groups. Plan to be in the Lord's House this coming
Sunday wherever you might be. Invite your family and friends to be in the
House of the Lord in worship, prayer, and praise. Our children will be
marching around the Sanctuary waving Palm branches, joining countless
others around the world and around the corner. Jesus is praised. He
is exalted. There will be a family reception with decadents desserts from
delicious destinations following the worship service.
It is written that "The Son of Man came to seek and save that which was
lost and to give His life as a ransom for many". Jesus has redeemed
us in and through His life and death, through His own blood. We
belong to Him. We are called and drafted now to live for Him and for
others for whom Christ died. One of the hardest to get, most
difficult to live up to, toughest to hold onto ideas of the truly Jesus-like
life is this: a Christian lives for the sake of others. This idea is
central to a biblical understanding of what it means to be truly a Christian.
It
is written, "Therefore if you have any encouragement from being
united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the
Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion …" (Philippians 2:1). If Jesus has made any real dent
on us, if being his follower has had any real effect on us "then make
my joy complete" by having the same love, spirit, and mind as Christ.
"Do
nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit" (2:3). In other
words, don't be self-focused. We certainly don't like vanity and
selfishness in others whom we meet. The me-first mentality that is
all too prevalent these days is not what Jesus would have for us.
Fifth-century bishop, Augustine, said the essence of sin is incurvatus in se: literally, this
"curving in upon oneself,"a tendency to think a great deal about our own feelings, opinions, needs,
and position.
Because
of Christ and through Christ we are born anew. We are now a breed
apart. We know that we are beloved children of the
almighty God of the universe. We have seen the most brilliant and beautiful
being, who is greater than the universe itself, suffer and die for us so
that we can be His beloved. We know that we are heirs to
a glorious heaven, the eternal city. Somebody once
said that we have won the Paradise Powerball. We
have an identity and security that is unimpeachable. While it takes
a lifetime to fully live into that reality, it is liberating us from
a self-focus toward an other-focus. The apostle Paul understood that this
shift of orientation takes time for all of us. I think it's why Paul
wrote the letter to the Christians at Philippi. He knew that
we are always being tempted to go back to the natural, sinful, human way
of looking at things and coming at life. We feel the pull to make our
school days, our job, our marriage, our politics, our church life a lot about
us or our families. Rather, in humility we must value others above
ourselves, not looking to our own interests but each of us to the
interests of the others" (2:3-4).
We
are of great value. We matter in His Kingdom and in this world.
We are heaven's royal children. We have an identity,
gifts, and wisdom that are needed in this world. We do not think
less of ourselves but we are to think of ourself less, as Jesus modeled.
"In
your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:
Who, being in very nature God …" (Phil. 2:5-6) In other words, Jesus,
who could have properly and rightfully chosen to have had everything be
about him, " … did not consider equality with
God something to be used to his own advantage … " He did not view
his position, privilege, or power as something to be used mainly to secure more
benefits for himself. "Rather, he made himself nothing by
taking the very nature of a servant …(and) he humbled himself by becoming
obedient to death— even death on a cross!" (2:5-8) Why? For the sake of others.
Wow.
In
Christ,
Brown
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