A daily, Bible-based perspective of hope, encouragement and exhortation. <Previous Message · Easy read/print edition Thursday, December 27, 2007  Simeon  Listen to this message on your audio player."The Lord's Christ" "Simeon took Him in his arms and praised God" (Luke 2:28). (This is the second encouragement message on Simeon following the one we shared yesterday) Over the years I've been told that I look rather clumsy holding infants. In fact my good friend, Ken, often coerces me into holding his little baby, David, so he can look on and chuckle at my discomfort! Through the years I've received some great instructions and young mothers have shown me the right way to hold their babies. I believe I do better than I used to, although I'm still not very comfortable doing so. I wonder what it was like to hold the infant Jesus? I would suppose He was held by many. Artists usually show Mary holding Him, but surely Joseph did so as well. Grandmothers, aunts, and most women love to hold and cuddle babies and so do a lot of men. But there's only one person the Bible specifically refers to by name who held the baby Jesus. Simeon was a righteous and devout man of faith who had long been waiting in expectation of the "consolation of Israel" and who had the Holy Spirit upon him. It was the Holy Spirit who had revealed to him that he would not die before he had seen the "Lord's Christ." At just the precise day and time His parents took Jesus to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord. Simeon was moved by the Spirit to also be there to meet them in the temple court. No introduction is recorded. We simply read, "Simeon took Him in his arms and praised God." This would have been a great time to have a digital camera and take lots of pictures! Today we cannot take the infant Jesus in our arms. He is now majestically seated at the right hand of God the Father, having fully accomplished the mission for which He was sent into the world; to save sinners. But we can raise our arms and praise God acknowledging, as Simeon did, that Jesus is indeed the Lord's Christ. And today redeemed sinners are doing just that all over the world. I'm one of them and I sure hope you are too! Be encouraged today, Stephen & Brooksyne Weber Daily prayer: Father, we ascribe to You glory and honor and power and strength due Your name. We rejoice in our salvation made possible through the incarnation of Your Son, Jesus Christ, who came to redeem humankind from their wretched sin. For, at just the right time, while we were still powerless and dead in our sins, Jesus died for us. God, You demonstrated Your love for us, in that You credited righteousness to us through Christ's death, and justified us from sin. Your wondrous love is truly amazing and we can only respond by dedicating to You our soul, our life, our all! Amen.  Yesterday I shared this photo my cousin sent me that he took on a foggy, frosty morning. I asked if anyone would care to tell me where this was taken and many of you responded. The key is the coordinates in the lower left corner. The answer is Manderscheid, Germany. Congratulations to you fellow geography and gps aficionados who correctly answered this rather unusual quiz! Here's the key (for me anyway). Go to Google maps (The metric coordinates are 50.083333, 6.816667.) Place the coordinates on the search box and it will tell you where it is. Interestingly several of you responded that it was Luxembourg, which is really close. I had not puttered around with the google maps for awhile but see they have a new feature (to me anyway) called "street view" for major cities. Last night I enjoyed "driving" around Boston and seeing familiar sights. Suggested Music "Mary Did You Know" (Audio1) (Audio2) "We All Bow Down" (Audio) A beautiful song of surrender and worship. The words and music have a way of transcending us from the present to the majestic presence of God Himself as we bow before Him. Winners, losers, rich and poor, all of equal value and so precious in the heart of the Father. "We Bow Down" (Audio) Info about multi-media files used on daily encouragement. |
Administration Information  Stephen, Brooksyne and Ester Weber "We want to encourage you daily in your walk with Christ!" 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! * "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 Daily Encouragement Net Stephen & Brooksyne Weber 495 Kraybill Church Road - Mount Joy, PA 17552 Contact us  |
Thursday, December 27, 2007
"The Lord's Christ"
