 his wife. Though Amedeo had only a handful of peanuts, he had the choice of what he could do with them. He could have eaten them or sold them, but he wisely chose to plant what he had so that, in time, he would have enough to eat, give away, and sell so that he could send money to his family. What will we do with the resources with which the Lord has entrusted us? Will we consume them, or will we plant them? If we plant them, will we plant sparingly, or will we plant generously? It is written in Scripture the words of our Lord concerning sowing and harvesting, "The point is this: the one who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the one who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each must give as you have made up your mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. " God is able to provide you with every blessing in abundance, so that by always having enough of everything, you may share abundantly in every good work.Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!<br />In Jesus name, Amen.<br /> In Him,<br /> Brown<br /><br /><a title="blocked::" href=""></a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src=''/></div>Brown Naik's Daily Word 6-19-09Good morning,<br /> Praise the Lord for this fabulous Friday. Praise the Lord for the advent of the summer season. Praise the Lord for all the seasons. Praise the Lord for the way He makes all seasons beautiful. We can say it again: How great is our God! He is more than wonderful. He is upon the throne.<br /> I was reading a little bit about Sigmund Freud this week. He died at the age of 83, a bitter and disillusioned man. Freud was one of the most influential thinkers of last century but had little compassion for the common person. In 1918, Freud wrote, "I have found little that is good about human beings on the whole. In my experience most of them are trash, no matter whether they publicly subscribe to this or that ethical doctrine or to none at all.” Freud died friendless. Even his famous pupils, Carl Jung & Alfred Adler, were expelled from his life, because they chose to disagree with him. Freud died a bitter and lonely man. (Unfinished Business, Charles Sell, Multnomah, 1989,page 121 ff.) Paul wrote the letter to the Romans to tell people that God’s kingdom has come, that the Old Testament has been fulfilled, and that the Messiah, whose real name is Jesus, is the anointed one. He also said in this letter that this Jesus is Lord, He is Savior, He is the true Son of God, He is the prince of peace, and His death and resurrection bring true peace to this world. "And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved" (Acts 4:13) It is not (nor ever was it) any Caesar who is god and worthy of worship. King Jesus alone, who reigns from His throne in heaven forever is worthy of our worship, adoration, and praise! It is not the Roman Empire or any empire of man to whom we should give allegiance, but to Jesus, and His eternal kingdom. The Caesars died, Rome burned, nation will continue to rise against nation, and heaven and earth will pass away, but King Jesus will build his kingdom and the gates of Hades will never conquer it. One day all of the world will bow to King Jesus and confess that He is Savior and Lord, not Caesar or any other worldly leader. Jesus Christ is Lord of Lords, and King of Kings. This is the gospel. The world is not the dominion of Caesar; it belongs to Jesus. This gospel of Jesus Christ is powerful. The gospel of King Jesus is a radical, revolutionary message that often flies in the face of the establishment. About 200,000 Christians a year around the world are killed because of their commitment to Christ and His Gospel. Why? It is because the Gospel is revolutionary. The gospel is also for revolutionaries and it will always cost something. The message of Jesus is disturbing and radical, and it calls for a complete and unconditional commitment. Praise the Lord for those who have become the Company of the Committed, who are constantly surrounded by "a great cloud of witnesses".<br /> May Christ continue to baptize His church with a fresh fire and the fresh wind of His Holy Spirit. May we be propelled to shake Satan's foundations, and to "dance upon injustice." May we all be committed to finish it well. He is Lord. <br /> <br />In Him,<br /> Brown<br /> <a title="blocked::" href=""></a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src=''/></div>Brown Naik's Daily Word 6-18-09Good morning,<br /> Praise the Lord for this new day. It rained torrentially last night. The Lord heats the earth; He also waters it abundantly. We had a great mid-week service of sweet fellowship and provoking Bible study and prayer last evening. I came home blessed and inspired. <br /> This morning I am looking at Chapter 16 of Romans. In Romans 16, the Apostle Paul is concluding a letter to the Christians in Rome. The first 15 chapters of Romans provide a theological discussion of what it means to live for God as a devoted disciple of Jesus. Chapter 16, however, is completely different. Using words, Paul created snapshots of more than thirty of his brothers and sisters in Christ. He did so by sending greetings to the Christians he knew in that city or by telling them hello from the Christians who were with him. Through those greetings we see snapshots of people who help us understand what it means to be a contagious Christians. <br /> We read in Revelation chapter 3 that the Risen Lord is not pleased with lukewarm Christians, though He still loves them. He calls Christians to be full of fire and zeal, and to be contagious and fermenting with the power of the Holy Spirit. In the first portrait offered by Paul in Romans 16, Paul showed us “Our sister Phoebe, a deacon in the church.” Paul told the Roman Christians that Phoebe would be visiting them soon and that they should, “ receive her in the Lord, as one who is worthy of high honor. Help her in every way you can, for she has helped many in their needs, including me.” Form a picture in your mind of mother Teresa of Calcutta and you'll see Phoebe. She did not clothe herself in fine clothes or expensive jewelry. Further, she was as tough looking as Paul and as tenderhearted as Jesus. In Paul’s economy, Phoebe was worthy of high honor because she had suffered for Jesus, and even in the midst of her suffering had continued to serve her brothers and sisters in Christ. She was a portrait, according to Paul, of contagious enthusiasm for Jesus and his church. Then Paul gave a portrait of ‘Priscilla and Aquila’. They were obviously deeply in love, yet are not with each other; they were gazing out upon a hurting and fallen world. “They risked their lives for me,” Paul tells us. Then he continued, “I am not the only one who is thankful to them; so are all the Gentile churches.” What does it tell you about the heart and soul of someone who would risk his or her life for you? What does that tell you about what it means to have a contagious enthusiasm for Jesus? Third, Paul revealed to us a picture of his dear friend Epenetus. He did not say much about Epenetus, but simply that he “was the very first person to become a Christian in the province of Asia.” Isn’t it incredible to know the name of the very first person that accepted Christ in the area now known as Turkey? That takes us back to the very beginning of the Christian faith. Paul went on to show us a portrait of Andronicus and Junia, who were like a family to him when they were in prison together for being Christians. “They are respected among the apostles and became Christians before I did,” said Paul. In prison with Paul for being Christians means that they stood strong in the face of religious persecution and went to jail rather than denying their faith.<br /> Paul listed name after name, description after description, and sent greeting after greeting. He closed the book as of to say, “that’s what it means to be a contagious congregation where disciples exude a contagious enthusiasm for Jesus. That’s what it means to be Christian.” In Romans 16 we see verbal portraits of the contagious enthusiasm for Jesus. A bigger picture begins to form of people who love Jesus and each other so deeply that they would risk their lives for one another and who would rather go to jail than deny their faith in Jesus. We get a picture of women working alongside men as equals in the gospel, in a culture that saw women as property. We get a picture of a people like Tryphena and Tryphosa, who saw themselves as the Lord’s workers. In fact, we see very clearly that these early contagious Christians were anything but passive recipients of Paul’s ministry. We get the picture that the church was an enthusiastic group of people who did everything for the glory of God because they had themselves experienced the saving love of Jesus Christ. Here were contagious Christians who