| A daily, Bible-based perspective of hope, encouragement and exhortation. <Previous Message · Archives ·  Archive/print editionTuesday, September 23, 2008  Listen to us share this message on your audio player.Please Note: Yesterday's message (9/22/08) had delivery problems to a number of domains and in some cases was delivered much later than usual or not delivered at all. If you did not receive yesterday's encouragement and would like to read it the message is here. "Safe Pasture" "Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart" (Psalm 37:3,4). I took today's photo about a mile from our house on an afternoon walk. It's a peaceful pasture with beautiful white fencing and adequate green grass for the horses to graze. They appear quite content and well cared for. Early this morning I emailed brief words of encouragement to a few friends who had written about some prayer needs. A pastor friend facing a housing situation since he and his family resigned the church they'd served for many years. Another pastor friend is seeking opportunities to extend his ministry outreach. A truck driver from Canada then called for prayer who has critical decisions to make regarding expensive repairs on his truck. As I shared I was able to use today's verse as a basis of Biblical encouragement and thus I will do so today for all our readers. I particularly focus on the words "safe pasture." Likely our most familiar Biblical use of the word pasture is from the 23rd Psalm where David proclaims, "He makes me lie down in green pastures." Pasture is land with vegetation cover used for grazing of livestock as part of a farm or ranch. We don't have as much land used for pasture around here as I was accustomed to in southern Missouri or Brooksyne from Oklahoma, since most of the ground in this area is tilled and planted in crops. This brings a recollection of my very colorful Uncle Gentry, a farmer and banker in tiny Harwood Missouri, who referred to golf as "cow pasture pool" (which by the way, fellow Missourian Mark Twain called golf "a good walk spoiled"). As we walk or drive through the country we enjoy seeing livestock grazing in pasture land and today's photo is the quintessential view. In today's verse the Psalmist David, as in Psalm 23, also uses an agricultural illustration to connect to his readers. "Trust in the Lord and do good." He begins with this familiar exhortation which is a common theme through the Scriptures and is reflected in the lyrics of the classic hymn, "Trust and obey". This is at the very heart of what God calls each of us to do in our earthly journey. "Dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture." Surely David is foundationally speaking from a spiritual perspective. Safe pasture connotes security, abundance, and faithfulness. A footnote in the NASV indicates that David is giving counsel to his readers to, "feed securely or feed on His faithfulness." The Amplified Bible directs the reader to, "feed surely on His faithfulness, and truly you shall be fed." "Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart." We can admire a person from a distance for his or her beauty, talent, skills or accomplishments. But to delight in a person holds deeper meaning since it suggests strong emotional involvement, not a distant admiration. To delight ourselves in the Lord is to desire and enjoy His nearness and the truth and righteousness of His Word. As we develop and nurture this kind of relationship with God we surrender our desires to Him so that they are in accordance to His will. The desires that flow from our heart will be greatly influenced or originate from His abiding presence in our hearts. The same deep satisfaction that David referred to 3,000 years ago may also be ours today as we regularly delight ourselves in the Lord. It is in this place of safe pasture that the desires of our heart will be shaped by our loving Lord as we feed on His abundance and live by His principles. Be encouraged today, Stephen & Brooksyne Weber Daily prayer: Father, we place our complete trust in You, for You are a faithful, trustworthy, and loving God. As we feed on Your faithfulness and live by Your righteousness revealed to us through the Scriptures we find ourselves delighting in Your presence. We also delight in You when we sing praises, when we give ourselves in service to others, and most especially when we commune with You in prayer. May the desires of our heart bring delight to Yours as we conform ourselves to Your will and rid ourselves of that which lures us from the safe pasture You have abundantly supplied for those who believe. Amen. An alert reader pointed out that the Corner Acre Mums (photo) we mentioned in yesterday's message is really open "dawn to dusk" rather than "dusk to dawn" as we had mistakenly posted! (Brooksyne's Note: I'm the guilty party since I often get the words backwards for the properly designated time. Our neighbors' business, if it were open from "dusk to dawn" would thrive if they sold moon flowers instead of mums, since moon flowers are most beautiful in the dark.  Today's Suggested Music and Supplemental Resources (Click on the link to play)  Andrew Hostetler, pictured here with his wife Jessica, is the worship team leader in a church I spoke at this spring in southern Lancaster County. We enjoy this song he wrote, along with Valerie Kreider, based on Psalm 33. Here's the key thought for our readers today: "The Creator of the universe cares about each one of us." Psalm 33 audio mp3 Verse Sing joyfully to the Lord, you righteous ones It is fitting for the upright to praise Him Praise the Lord with the harp and lyre, make music to Him It is fitting for the upright to praise Him Sing to Him a new song; Play skillfully, and shout for joy. Sing to Him a new song; Play skillfully, and shout! for! joy!! Bridge For the Word of the Lord is righteous and true; He is faithful in all He does… Chorus He puts the seas into jars He puts the seas into jars The Creator of the universe Cares about each one of us He puts the seas into jars Words (based on Psalm 33) and Music by Valerie Kreider and Andrew Hostetler "Who Am I" Video Scripture Memory Songs - Last week we referred to a selection of Scripture verses we had recorded in our home with some friends. The words are set to familar music as an aid to memorization in a discipleship training class. Here's the full selection! Info about multi-media files used on daily encouragement. 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 Stephen and Brooksyne Weber - May 6, 2008 "We want to encourage you daily in your walk with Christ!" Personal Ministry Update Revised 04/15/08  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 daily encouragement ministry? Donations are tax deductible and will be receipted directly by my chaplaincy endorsing ministry. Thanks! See here for details. (2008 YTD financial offerings to Daily Encouragement Net through 9/22/2008: $15,124.00)SUBSCRIPTION INFO  Were you forwarded this edition of Daily Encouragement Net? To receive these free "Daily Encouragement" devotionals each Monday-Friday through email see this page to subscribe. This newsletter is never sent unsolicited. It was sent to you because you signed up to receive it OR a friend forwarded it to you. You can also subscribe to the rss feed. Cancel: We respect and value your time and privacy. If this newsletter no longer meets your needs we will be happy to remove your address from the list immediately. To remove your address merely use the link automatically inserted 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 these messages 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 2008 Stephen C. Weber - All Rights Reserved Daily Encouragement Net Stephen & Brooksyne Weber 495 Kraybill Church Road - Mount Joy, PA 17552 Contact us  "Living securely today anchored in God's solid foundation" www.dailyencouragement.net |
