Brown's Daily Word 9/8/14

     Praises be to Jesus for this new day.  He blessed us with summer like days this past weekend.  He blessed us in His house with His people yesterday.  Alice and I walked in the cool of early last evening.  The moon reflecting the sun looked glorious, almost the full moon.  Sunita and Andy and Gabe landed in Cyprus safe and sound.  They are getting situated in their new home Cyprus.  Sunita said it is a lovely house with a brilliant view of the sea.  One of the readings for yesterday was taken from Exodus chapter 12.  It is the wonderful account of the Passover.  It is concerning the last plague sent by the Lord to Egypt.  It is about sacrifice and also is about deliverance, as the Israelites were commanded to sacrifice the lamb and apply the blood of the lamb on the door posts of each house hold.  It is all about the Passover Lamb.  When we reflect on the event of the first Passover we can conclude that it’s what’s on the outside that counts.

    “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.” (John 1:29)  Perhaps the first thing to note about Passover is that Passover was a plague!  The heading for chapter 11 gives the other name for the Passover, it was “the plague on the firstborn.”  There had been nine plagues prior to this one – nine signs to Pharaoh that the LORD is God and Pharaoh should let the people go.  Each time Pharaoh refused and each time his heart gets harder, and so the plagues got harder, too.  They get deadlier and deadlier as time went on.
    God was going to pass through the whole country.  The distinction would be that some would take shelter under the blood of a lamb and the LORD would pass over them, while the rest would be judged.  Each household was instructed to sacrifice lamb without a blemish and then, (v22) "using a bit of hyssop plant as a paintbrush, paint the blood on the outside of your doorframes".  Then they were to go inside and not come out again till morning – only safe as they sheltered under the blood of the lamb.  Once inside (verses 8-11) "roast the lamb with bitter herbs and eat it with unleavened bread".  They were to eat it quickly, still standing, ready to leave the country because it would be the last night in Egypt.
    Jesus is that He is the Lamb, so what we see here in Exodus is not just an account of one remarkable night in ancient history.  Passover reveals the most fundamental truths about our LORD Jesus.  Unlike the plagues of hail or darkness or gnats, in which Moses would stretch out his hand and the plagues would come through him.  This time the LORD told even  Moses to stay inside because, “I am coming.”  All of Israel, even Moses must take shelter because the LORD Himself was judging the land.  Salvation, if it’s going to come, has to be salvation from God.  Passover was a meal certainly, but before it was a meal, it was a sacrifice, and the real key to the sacrifice was its blood.

"When the LORD goes through the land to strike down the Egyptians, He will see the blood on the top and sides of the door-frame and will pass over that doorway, and He will not permit the destroyer to enter your houses and strike you down."

    It’s the blood that makes all the difference.  That was true of every house in Egypt that night.  Whether Egyptian or Israelite, every house without blood on the doorpost had someone dead in it.  On that cross: the LORD became the Lamb.  The Savior became the Sacrifice.  Our Maker was crucified – slaughtered as a Lamb.  It’s all about the blood on the doorposts.  It’s not about the LORD inspecting each household to see whether it’s up to scratch.  It’s ONLY about whether the household is sheltering under the blood.  And it’s not even about how much faith you have in the blood.  If the blood is applied at all, you’re saved.  Strong faith in the blood and wavering faith in the blood lead to exactly the same outcome. 
    Often people say, “I don’t have very strong faith.”  I can reply, “Me neither.  But thank God we’re not saved by how strong our believing feelings are!  Thank God we are saved, not so much by our faith in Christ’s blood, thank God we’re saved by Christ’s blood!”  Passover teaches us about our Christian lives.  Christ saves you by His blood – not by anything in us.  It’s not about the quality of our living, speaking, acting, or praying.  It’s not even about the quality of our own faith.  It’s only about the blood.   Our status with God, both now and into all eternity, is NOT about the quality of our life –  Our salvation has nothing to do with US – and everything to do with HIM, nothing to do with our performance and everything to do with His performance.
    People so often worry that their sins have cost them their relationship with God.  We can not out-sin the Blood of Jesus.   It’s about His blood outside – not your heart inside.   1 John 1 verse 7:  The blood of Jesus, God’s Son, purifies us from EVERY sin.
    Salvation is entirely outside ourselves; it’s all about Jesus, the  Lamb of God, who alone takes away the sins of the world.  It is not about how we lead our lives as though our performance, good or bad, is what counts before God.  Trusting in our Lamb is a whole way of life.  We are not sinless but we are called to sin less every day.  Once we recognize that His shed blood covers us, we can live in joy and live a life of worship and witness.  We can live a life of a servant .  We can run the race that is set before us in freedom and joy, renouncing sin, receiving His Grace, and taking shelter under His Blood.
In Christ,
 Brown
http://youtu.be/taOXJZY-d-w

Brown's Daily Word 9/5/14

     Praise the Lord for the First Friday of September.  It was 40 years ago today that I arrived in the USA, traveling via Air France.  It was a sunny and beautiful day.  The weather channel is forecasting that the temperature around here will reach into the nineties.  (It was 92 in  1999 in Binghamton.)  It is still summer here.  My wife started her school on Wednesday.  Our granddaughter Micah, who has previously been home schooled, had her first day in public school in Boston yesterday.  Colleges and schools are open for another year.  The students are back in the halls of learning.  Sunita, Andy, and Gabe flew to Cypress, Greece yesterday.

    We had a service of death and resurrection for my mother-in-law Cora Maynard on the second of September.  In India they do things a little differently.  My mom was buried the same day that she died.  They will have a day of mourning and celebration on the 8th of September.  They are planning for over two thousand people to attend this event.  Thank you all for your prayerful thoughts and signs of love and grace.  Thank you for cards, prayers, visits at the calling hours, and presence at the service.  We are loved and blessed.  We cannot respond individually, so please accept our gratitude and thanks through this correspondence.  As my mom and my mother-in-law entered into the Lord's presence I am reflecting about the world and heaven.  John Wesley said, "Our people die well".  Indeed, those who live in Jesus and die in Jesus die well".  Our moms died well to go on to live for ever in the presence of Jesus.  J. S. Bach composed an amazing peace titled, "Come, Sweet Death".  Our moms lived and left behind a legacy of love and sacrifice and devotion. 

    The world seems to be going through some turbulent times.  Jesus is the Christ in every crisis.  He is our anchor.  He is our refuge and strength and a very present help in the time of trouble. 

     For our worship times we will be starting our Fall Schedule the Sunday, September 7.  We will meet at 8:30 AM and 11:00 AM for worship at Union Center and at 9:30 AM at Wesley UMC.  The Sunday school will meet at 9:50 AM at Union Center.

    I have been reading from 1 John this week.  It is written 1 John 2: 17: "The world and its desires pass away, but the one who does the will of God lives forever."  The problem with pleasure, possessions, and pride isn't so much that they are wrong; it's that they're not enough.  They don't last, for one thing.  Pleasure is fleeting. Possessions lose value.  Earthly accomplishments are soon forgotten or surpassed.  They don't last.  For another thing, they're too shallow.  They cannot satisfy the deepest desires of our hearts.  it's not just pleasure we're looking for; it's joy.  We don't need more stuff; we need joy.  It's not achievement we're after; it's significance.  These things can only be found, ultimately and eternally, in relationship with Jesus, which is why John says, "The one who does the will of God lives forever."

    According to C. S. Lewis, these desires—to do, to have, to be—are merely the rumblings of a much deeper desire.  It's one so deep, so profound, that even Lewis couldn't find a word for it.  He talks about it in his writings, this inconsolable longing for something more.  Sometimes he describes it as beauty, other times as joy, but by his own admission, none of those words quite gets at it.

    In his book "The Weight of Glory", Lewis describes it as "the scent of a flower we have not found, the echo of a tune we have not heard, news from a country we have never visited."  It's the longing for every good and perfect thing all at once. It's the longing for God and his kingdom.  Until that deepest of all desires is satisfied, nothing else will ever be enough, because no earthly pleasure, possession, or achievement can ever satisfy the deep longing of our souls.  

    "The human heart was made for God," Augustine said, "and our hearts are restless till we find rest in him."  Yet, once that desire is satisfied, once we have turned to God and aligned ourselves with his good and eternal purpose for our lives, we can experience earthly things as they were meant to be experienced—in relationship with him.

    According to John, "The world and its desires are passing away, but the one who does the will of God lives forever."  If you think this world has things to enjoy, you can't even imagine what's waiting for us in the life to come, in that country we haven't visited yet but know to be true!  Both our moms loved the Lord and served Him.  Their desires were to serve honor Him.  They loved the Lord.  They lived because of Him and on account of Him.  They died well.  They had served Jesus without ever seeing Him, but now they see Him face to face. Both our moms could say and did say, "I'd rather have Jesus, than silver or gold".  The old gospel song says. "I'd rather have Jesus. . .  than houses or lands. . . than anything." 

 

In Christ

 Brown

http://youtu.be/Xje4OYalB5Q

Brown's Daily Word 9/1/14

    Praise the Lord for the way He comforts us in all our afflictions.  The Lord blessed us with a beautiful Sunday, a day of worship, a day of celebration, and a day of witness.  Thank you all for praying for my mom back in India.  She has been hospitalized since June of this year.  I called to talk to my brother around 2 PM yesterday.  My brother Potel was spending the night with my mom by her bedside every night for last several nights.  I had a long conversation reminiscing about our lives with our mom.  She was such blessing to all of us and to so many others.  In an hour we received the phone call that my mom slipped in to the presence of Jesus.  Jesus came and took her to be with Him in His presence in the company of the church Triumphant for ever.

    My Mom died within 72 hours of the death my mother-in law. Today are the calling hours for my mother-in-law.  The service of death and resurrection will be held tomorrow, the 2nd of September, at the Smyrna Baptist Church in Smyrna, NY.

    I praise the Lord for the life and witness of my mom.  She was around 87 years old.  She was born in a village 7 miles from my village.  She came from a very rich family.  Her family was blessed with a great amount of land holdings.  She was the youngest of 4 children.  Her oldest brother had died while high school.  My dad had one older bother and one older sister.  My grandfather ( Paternal) was the first Christian in our village.  The Lord blessed him with substantial amount of land  in the village.  My only aunt from my father's side was married to the first cousin of my mom.  My aunt was married in Christian wedding ceremony performed by a British Missionary named Edward Evans.  My mom came to my dad's house as a young bride.  She must have been 18 or so.  My mom and dad were married for 4 years with no children.  She shared with me that she prayed like Hannah in the Old Testament prayed for a son.  The Lord honored her prayer.  After four years I was born.  I was sickly as a young child, and suffered many seizures.  My mom prayed for me and nursed me, and I was healed completely.  My mom and dad were blessed with 7 children, 4 boys and three girls.  One of my sisters died in 1968 as a young teenager.       

    My uncle married to my only paternal aunt became Christian under the witness of the British Baptists. This uncle gave me my name after the name of two sons of a British medical missionary who were named as Brian and David.  My name was supposed be Brian, some how in the translation it became Brown, a very unique name for the "first name".  My younger brother got named David.   

    My mom had went to a mission school through third grade.  She knew how to read and write.  She knew how to read the Bible.  She loved the Lord.  I heard the Name of Jesus from the lips of my mom for the first time.  I believed in the Lord Jesus as the Lord, God, and my Savior at the age of three.  My mom instilled in my heart a desire and thirst to love Jesus and to know Him more.  From my mom I learned for the first time that Jesus is the Lord, not the gods and the idols our villagers worshipped and offered animal sacrifices.  She taught me that God in Jesus answers prayer.  I  believed in prayer and began to tell others about Jesus. 

   There was  no church building in my village so the church gathered in my uncle's house next door in the other half of our house every Sunday.  The British missionaries would come from time to time and lead the worship.  They also came for Christmas celebrations and the festivities. 

   My parents, along with my uncle's family, were farmers.  My grandfather had divided the land and the fields equally between my dad and my uncle.  While we were growing up there was no electricity, no running water, no telephone, no radio, not even a clock or watch.  I learned to measure time looking at my shadow.  My parents had no bank account as there was no bank.  We all lived from the land.  My mom and dad raised crops like rice, corn, lentils, sweet potatoes, potatoes, beans, tomatoes, and cucumbers and cash crops like ginger and turmeric. We had plenty to eat all year through.  My mom was a wonderful homemaker.  She made quilts for us.  She was wonderful cook.  Our home was open for the visitors and guests.  Pastors and missionaries were always welcomed in our home.  I recall missionaries like Frank Wells, Joyce Henry, and many pastors spending the nights at our home.  Later, short term missionaries from USA, UK, German, New Zealand, and Australia  stayed in our home.  My mom served them with joy and devotion. She cared for the poor, and opened her heart and her home with great generosity and love.   My mom and dad were blessed with lots of land where they raised various crops.  The villagers worked there as daily laborers.  My dad and mom treated them as part of the family. 

   My dad was a hunter like Esau of the Old Testament.  He was an outdoors man.  He killled lots of deer, elk, wild buffaloes, wild boars, many small game, and even tigers.  He had killed 33 tigers that were menacing the village cattle.  My mom and dad raised chickens, goats, cows, and water buffaloes.  We had lots fruit trees such as mangoes and jackfruit.  In the summertime my mom and my dad and all of us went out gathering mangoes.  My mom dad sowed in tears and harvested with joy.  I remember hearing the local ballads and the harvest songs including funeral dirges. 

    My dad died on December 23,1973 at the age of 48.  My mom has been a widow all these years.  Her life has been devoted to prayer.  Her life was also devoted to her children and grandchildren.  My family, including all our four daughters, spent a month at home in my village in the summer of 1996.  My mom thought that she "died and went to heaven".    

   She was loved by people of all backgrounds.  She was loving and gracious.  It was in 1977 she had severe fall and suffered severe head injury.  She went in to a coma.  There was no advanced and sophisticated medical care.  The doctor, who was a Christian and a friend mine, asked the family and the church to pray for her. My mom was in a coma for 70 days.  The Lord fully restored her.  The Lord blessed her abundantly.  She was able to travel to America in 1985.  She returned back to India as she missed the village and her family there.  She returned back to America the beautiful in 1991 and stayed here for over one year.  She loved us.  She loved people here in the States.  She was loved by so many here who knew her.  She lived in the Lord and died in the Lord. Now she is with Jesus her Saviour and Lord.

 

"And I heard a voice from heaven saying, Write, Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from henceforth: yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors; for their works follow with them "(Rev. 14:13)

  1 Corinthians 15:51-55 Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed,  in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.  For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality.   But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, "DEATH IS SWALLOWED UP in victory.

   In Jesus our Lord.

      Brown

 

http://youtu.be/l-bAXm-A3Ls