A daily, Bible-based perspective of hope, encouragement and exhortation. <Previous Message · Easy read/print edition Tuesday, November 13, 2007  Golden maples on Donegal Springs Road  Click here to listen to this message on your audio player."Keep Proclaiming" "I will proclaim the Name of the LORD. Oh, praise the greatness of our God!" (Deuteronomy 32:3).  I walked by this truck yesterday in a large parking lot in Lancaster. Bumper stickers often give you a pretty good idea of the owner's interests but I don't know what to make of this one. I wonder what in the world he is trying to proclaim! Today we, as Christian believers, know what we want to proclaim and we hope it is very clear. As we grow older in our walk with the Lord there is a spiritual condition we all need to guard against. The teachings are no longer new to us. We've seen just about everything (at least we may think we have.) Some become bored in their walk, others run about seeking the latest fad teaching, spiritual experience or worship style. Some succumb to what the apostle Paul called "every wind of strange doctrine" (Ephesians 4:14). The daily text is a portion of a song that Moses recited to the people of Israel shortly before his death. Notice that Moses did not appear to have grown weary with the mighty God he served nor was he bored in his walk of faith. He had lived 120 years and this song was a renewed expression of what the latter 40 years of his life had been all about. When he had dramatically heard from God at the burning bush he began a long journey of faithful service to the Lord. He had confronted Pharaoh, led the people out of Egypt and through the desert. And he now gave them his final message on the plains east of the Jordan River. He knew he would not be entering the physical Promised Land and that his death was imminent. Although surely disappointed, he accepts that and maintains the positive, faith-filled outlook expressed in the daily text. "I will proclaim the Name of the LORD." It's a reminder to us of God's call for each of our lives. It is also a reminder that we may not see every dream fulfilled on this side, but the joyous reality of heaven awaits the faithful. This is immeasurably more than the fulfillment of any dream on earth. Today, let us, like Moses, renew our covenant and faithfully proclaim the Name of the Lord. Let us continually with joy "praise the greatness of our God" for who He is, and for His remarkable, supernatural and steadfast presence in our lives. Be encouraged today, Stephen & Brooksyne Weber Daily prayer: Father, we proclaim Your greatness throughout the earth and we proclaim Your greatness in our lives. We who were once destined for eternal damnation, through the redemptive work of Jesus, now bow our knees and declare with our tongues that "Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father….For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope." And this hope leads us to life everlasting as we stay the course. Keep us faithful on our spiritual sojourn. In the name of Jesus, we pray. Amen.  Parking lot of an Amish wedding (Click on photo to enlarge) Stephen's note: Very early this morning I picked up our friends, Jesse and Anna Ruth, and took them to a wedding. In the Amish custom weddings are generally held in November on Tuesday or Thursday. They begin gathering at 7:00 AM and the service begins at 8:30 which lasts till about 11:30 followed by a large luncheon, fellowship, a large dinner, singing, and finally the festive occasion concludes about 9 PM. Jesse and Anna Ruth now operate a dairy farm and had to milk all the cows at 4:15 this morning before I picked them up. Consider this verse when you pour milk on your cereal today! This morning there was a lot Amish horse and buggy traffic all though Lancaster County. When I dropped them off the men gathered in the barn since it was raining outside. The rain has now stopped and the sun is already shining.  Brooksyne's note: Yesterday afternoon I began baking some Christmas goodies and one of our favorites is "Keeping Cake." It's a combination of cranberries, brown sugar, glazed pecans, etc. and I make it early since its flavor improves as it sits over a couple of months. I make small loaves for teacher gifts, etc. at Christmas. After baking and washing the rectangular ceramic dishes I asked Stephen to put them away in the highest cabinet shelf to save me the extra time it takes to get a stool. He willingly agreed and as he did so I heard this loud, crashing sound that just seemed to go on and on. Imagining the worst I turned to see him using his hands as a shield to protect his face as the dishes tumbled forward onto him and then the ceramic tile floor. The next thing you know Ester races into the kitchen with camera in hand flashing pictures of Stephen and the mess he had just made (she's learned "quick camera action" from her dad.) She's still flashing photos as he's running downstairs to the bathroom sink washing out his mouth from the minor cut he received. It became a very laughable experience. Fortunately only two out of five dishes broke, probably because he became the padded buffer. These are my favorite ceramic loaf dishes but I wasn't very upset for two reasons: Stephen's cut was minor and "The Christmas Tree Shop", an extremely popular store throughout New England, just opened in nearby York. I can replace the dishes without lengthy travel (and it gives me a valid excuse to do a little shopping at one of my favorite stores usually reserved for trips to New England.) Our latest entry on our humor/satire blog is about a worship pastor in Texas who was fired for not being "cool" enough. We tagged this 'satire', 'could be true' and 'sad state of the church'. Read it here.Today's suggested music: "Hear Our Praises" (Audio) "Let Everything That Hath Breath" (Audio) "Make Me Your Voice" (Audio) Info about multi-media files used on daily encouragement. |
Administration Information  Stephen and Brooksyne "We want to encourage you daily in your walk with Christ!" Personal Ministry Update We share our hearts with you as we go forth in this online ministry.  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 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! 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. "A Little Foolishness" - We invite daily encouragement readers to visit our new blog which is a collection of humorous and satirical stories drawn mostly from our years of ministry, as well as my sometimes fertile imagination. We also welcome submissions from readers. © Copyright 2007 Stephen C. Weber - All Rights Reserved  |
