 A daily, Bible-based perspective of hope, encouragement and exhortation. <Previous Message · Archives ·  Archive/print editionThursday, January 15, 2009  The sunrise view from our home on this very cold morning. We are getting a light snow and the forecast for tomorrow is a chilling zero degrees, but it's the freezing windchill the forecasters keep talking about more than the low temperatures.  Listen to us share this message on your audio player."We Live By Faith" "We live by faith, not by sight" (2 Corinthians 5:7). We are presently ministering to a number of people who are experiencing layoffs due to the stresses of the economy. The uncertainty of their future is looming over them. I recently spoke to a supervisor whose team of workers was temporarily laid off. Usually I steer conversations in a direction that is uplifting in nature, but this time the subject of our talk was distressing to this worker as we considered the uncertainties of our time. We are praying that orders will resume for these companies and the employees will soon get called back to work. About 20 years ago I served as a Civil Air Patrol chaplain and periodically flew along with pilots, sitting in the back seat as a non-pilot. We were based out of St. Marys in northern Pennsylvania. My role was to provide spiritual support and encouragement to the squadron. Among my responsibilities as chaplain was to notify and update family members about the condition of their loved ones aboard a missing or crashed plane.  I recall one time when we were flying to an airport in Clearfield Pennsylvania (in the Allegheny Mountains) where there was a steep dropoff at the end of the runway. The pilots were practicing their instrument rating skills. After take-off both pilots placed hoods over their heads to block their visual view outside the airplane, forcing them to focus solely on the plane's instrument panel. I could see from my seat, but certainly I had no control of the flight. Each time I looked toward the front of the plane and saw the pilots in their strange-looking hoods I grew more and more uneasy. It wasn't so bad when we were high in the air, but when we began to drop for our descent to the landing strip all I could notice was the drop-off at the end! I began thinking about Brooksyne at home and visualized a police chaplain showing up at our front door and to notify her of a downed aircraft with her chaplain husband aboard. I was so relieved when, just prior to landing, both pilots lifted their hoods and of course we had a safe landing! We like to see don't we? We like to know what's going on, and we especially like to be in control of our circumstances. Much of the time we believe we really are. We think we've got it all figured out. It is imperative that we remember the Proverb, "In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps" (Proverbs 16:9). "We live by faith, not by sight." Not seeing the full picture runs counter to our natural instincts. God wants each step of our earthly journey to be a step of faith so that our eyes are not focused on the situation nearly so much as they are focused on Him and the continuing work He is doing in our lives. If our physical vision is limited then we will hopefully stimulate our spiritual vision and see that God providentially allows these foggy periods in our life for His glory and for our good. Just as the hoods forced the pilots to rely on the instruments rather than their sight, so our trials will cause us to focus on God, our faith and the eternal, which is where our focus should be. Several have written lately of going through deep trials in their lives. I consider a phrase from a great old hymn that expresses my heart today. "When darkness veils His lovely face, I rest on His unchanging grace." Oh, for that blessed rest to be upon each reader today is our prayer! Be encouraged today, Stephen & Brooksyne Weber Daily prayer: Father help us to have the kind of faith prescribed in Hebrews 11:1 where "Faith is being sure of what hope for and certain of what we do not see. " It is the kind of faith that is triumphant in the worst of circumstances because our faith in Christ is the victory that overcomes the world. We will not be overcome by life's circumstances but we will overcome life's circumstances by the blood of the Lamb. Praise God! Amen.  Today's Suggested Music and Supplemental Resources "Step By Step" Video This was among our congregation's favorite songs in New England, although I don't recall singing the verses. "Open The Eyes Of My Heart" Video |
 Stephen and Brooksyne Weber "We want to encourage you daily in your walk with Christ!" Personal Ministry Update Revised 10/21/08  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 financial offerings to Daily Encouragement Net: $21,791.00 2009 YTD financial offerings through 1/14/09: $120.00 SUBSCRIPTION INFO  Were you forwarded this edition of Daily Encouragement Net? If you desire you can receive your own free! To receive these "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" - A blog simply posting the daily prayer. We keep this up each day since it's merely the prayer from the Daily Encouragement Net message! "Clear Minded" - Longer, periodic articles on specific issues impacting the faithful believer and church. (Actually this is my intent but I haven't done much with it!) "A Little Foolishness" - A humor/satire blog (a great outlet for non-serious writing but at times with a subtle message!) I haven't had time or "inspiration" for this for awhile but it has several stories that get regular page views. "Hymns of Hope" - Brooksyne along with two friends made a CD using classic hymns. Brooksyne tells the background story of the 11 hymns. We are distributing this CD without charge in our ministry. All of these songs are also available for download on the site. If any reader in this series would like a CD merely write us and request one.  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, New King James Version (NKJV) Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. and the King James Version. © Copyright 2009 Stephen C. Weber - All Rights Reserved Daily Encouragement Net Stephen & Brooksyne Weber 495 Kraybill Church Road - Mount Joy, PA 17552 Contact us |
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