A daily, Bible-based perspective of hope, encouragement and exhortation. <Previous Message · Easy read/print edition Friday, November 30, 2007  In yesterday's message I shared a photo of the sunrise behind our house. (see here) I stepped outside yesterday just as the sun was setting and took the above photo. (Click here for a larger desktop-sized photo)  Click here to listen to this message on your audio player."For This Very Reason" "Now my heart is troubled, and what shall I say? 'Father, save me from this hour'? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour" (John 12:27). Last night I attended a men's meeting where we were again challenged to share our faith. The speaker was Patrick O'Neal the Executive Director of CBMC, an international organization of Christian men. He is from North Carolina and at one point he paraphrased God's call for each of us to spread His message of love and salvation by stating, "I'm counting on ya'll to do it" quipping that God is a southerner! We will be worshipping God throughout eternity, we'll be in fellowship with one another throughout eternity. But we have this brief lifetime window for the impact of evangelism. We are now in the season of advent when we especially focus on the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ. A special focus on my heart is that Jesus knew His extremely difficult mission when He left heaven. A song Dottie Rambo penned in the seventies describes it this way, "He left the splendor of heaven, knowing His destiny, 'twas the lowly hill of Golgotha, there to lay down His life for me." Throughout His ministry He regularly reinforced and reminded His disciples of this mission, although it seems they didn't really grasp it until after He was resurrected. In the daily text He is teaching at the time of the Triumphal Entry and forthrightly states, "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified" (John 12:23). His heart is troubled and He asks aloud whether he should appeal to His Father to save Him from the darkest hour of His human experience. "No", He emphatically states, and with resolute resolve He declares, "It was for this very reason I came to this hour." For some time I have taught that it is important to have a very succinct life mission statement. My statement describes the very mission that I believe God has for me for the remainder of my life on this earth. I purposefully include it in the footers of each daily encouragement posting. "I am created by God to bring Him glory. Through God's Son, Jesus Christ, I have been redeemed and I make it my life's goal to please the Lord. My mission in life is to honor God through my faith and obedience and to prepare myself and all whom I may influence for eternity." Amen, may it be so Lord Jesus! Be encouraged today, Stephen & Brooksyne Weber Daily prayer: Father, we are grateful to be among the redeemed who triumph in victory over sin and seek to please You in all things. You have called us out from the influences of the world and yet You have also strategically placed us among those in the world who have yet to bow their knee in surrender to Your lordship. So many are searching but have not yet found the answer their heart is longing for; a deep, abiding peace. This can only come from a relationship with You, Father. You heal the broken-hearted, You forgive and restore the fallen one. Help us to freely share that life-changing message with one who so desperately needs to hear it. Amen. I had a pleasant interruption this morning in the final moments of message preparation. I got a call from a lady who was trying to get me to renew a subscription to a national secular news magazine. In verifying my address I told her my town was Mount Joy. Then I commented, "Isn't Mount Joy a great name for a town!" Although we'd never talked before, and she had no idea I was a Christian believer, she said that it reminded her of the joy of the Lord and then she went on to declare her faith. I told her she was surely unaware that she was speaking to a Christian minister and, although I didn't renew my subscription, I sought to encourage her. She asked me for prayer as she will soon be leaving a work release program and returning home. I prayed with her over the phone and gave her a brief exhortation. It sure wasn't the normal telemarketing call and reminds me, and hopefully all of you reading this, that the Lord can use us in unusual ways and even those occasional unwelcome interruptions! "Rescue the Perishing” – Fanny Crosby Fanny Crosby tells others of how she came to write this wonderful missionary song: "I remember writing that hymn in the year 1869. Like many of my hymns, it was written following a personal experience at the New York City Bowery Mission [a homeless shelter with many derelicts at the time]….I was addressing a large company of working men one hot summer evening, when the thought kept forcing itself on my mind that some mother’s boy must be rescued that night or he might be eternally lost. So I made a pressing plea that if there was a boy present who had wandered from his mother’s home and teaching, he should come to me at the end of the service. A young man of 18 came forward – 'Did you mean me, Miss Crosby? I promised my mother to meet her in heaven, but as I am now living, that will be impossible.' We prayed for him and suddenly he arose with a new light in his eyes and spoke these words, 'Now I am ready to meet my mother in heaven, for I have found God.'” V. 1 - Rescue the perishing; care for the dying. Snatch them in pity from sin and the grave. Weep o'er the erring one; lift up the fallen. Tell them of Jesus, the mighty to save. V. 3 - "Down in the human heart, crushed by the tempter, Feelings lie buried that grace can restore. Touched by a loving heart, wakened by kindness, Cords that are broken will vibrate once more. Refrain: Rescue the perishing; care for the daying. Jesus is merciful; Jesus will save. Here is the website for CBMC Suggested Music "Rescue The Perishing" (Audio) Great song with Fanny Crosby lyrics but different tune than we sang growing up. Brooksyne really likes it and enjoyed listening when I found this version! "People Need The Lord" (Audio) An all-time favorite! "Come Home Running" (Audio) "Redeemer, Savior, Friend" (Audio)  Here's the photo of yesterday's sunrise. |
Administration Information  Stephen, Brooksyne and Ester Weber "We want to encourage you daily in your walk with Christ!" (Click on photo to enlarge) Personal Ministry Update Revised 11/28/07  Each weekday morning Brooksyne and I prepare these messages and distribute them at no cost to you and many others all over the world. Would you please consider a financial offering to support us in this encouragement ministry? Thanks! See here for details.Join: To receive these free "Daily Encouragement" devotionals each Monday-Friday through email see this page to subscribe. You can also subscribe to the rss feed. Cancel: To remove your address from this mailing list merely use the link automatically placed by the mailing list software at the very bottom of each message. Weekly Version: The weekly version is designed for those who do not check their email regularly. It is merely the Friday message with a link to previous messages. To receive the free weekly version, send a blank email to this address. (To change addresses cancel your old address and then join again using your new address.) Please feel free to pass this message on! * Our other blogs: "A Daily Prayer" - The daily prayer from each daily encouragement message. "A Little Foolishness" - A collection of humorous and satirical stories drawn mostly from our years of ministry, as well as my sometimes fertile imagination. "Clear Minded" - Longer, periodic articles on specific issues impacting the church.  Daily Encouragement Net is an affiliate of Christianbook.com (Any orders placed to Christian Book Distributers using this link or any specific product link to a recommended resource in a daily encouragement message will help our Daily Encouragement ministry through a small commission on the sale. Thank you for using these links when purchasing online through CBD!)Personal Mission Statement: "I am created by God to bring Him glory. Through God's Son Jesus Christ I have been redeemed and I make it my life's goal to please the Lord. My mission in life is to honor God through my faith and obedience and to prepare myself and all whom I may influence for eternity." How to become a child of God Scripture references are from The Holy Bible: New International Version. © 1984 by International Bible Society; NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission; and the King James Version. © Copyright 2007 Stephen C. Weber - All Rights Reserved  |
