 A daily, Bible-based perspective of hope, encouragement and exhortation. <Previous Message · Archives ·  Archive/print editionFriday, January 16, 2009  Single digit temps today. Doris High shares this photo depicting cold!  Listen to us share this message on your audio player."The Blessing of Trusting" "Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths" (Proverbs 3:5,6). Do you naturally trust in the Lord for all your needs or do you have to go through a time of testing to get to a place of complete trust? I too often identify with Jacob, the great Old Testament patriarch, who had to go through a time of testing to get to a place where he fully trusted the Lord to direct his paths. He wrongly stole his twin brother Esau's birthright and fled to Haran to save his life. Esau, in a rage, had threatened to kill him for his wrongdoing. Twenty years later God told Jacob: "Go back to the land of your fathers and I will be with you" (Genesis 31:3). In obedience Jacob began the arduous journey to his homeland with a stockpile of livestock, menservants, maid servants, worldly goods, two wives, twelve sons and one daughter (pretty much in that order of line-up). Obeying God is one thing; trusting Him is another matter. The Bible describes Jacob being filled with "great fear and distress" in response to hearing that his brother was coming to meet him, along with four hundred of his men. He began to strategize and rearrange his entourage of animals, servants, and family members in fear that an attack was being planned. Jacob leaned upon his own understanding instead of God's. God knew all along that Esau's heart had softened and he would joyfully welcome his brother's arrival. "But Esau ran to meet Jacob and embraced him; he threw his arms around his neck and kissed him. And they wept" (Genesis 33:4). God was working behind the scenes and beyond Jacob's vision. That's why he spoke to Jacob about moving back to his homeland. Satan plotted in Jacob's mind, but God planned in reality a great family reunion to take place. He's always been in the business of reconciliation, most especially revealed in the death of Christ who reconciled us to God. After Jacob and Esau reconciled, after Jacob wrestled with God, after he doubted God's protection, after he maneuvered his original plan, Jacob and all his entourage finally arrived within sight of his homeland of Canaan. There Jacob met God and built an altar naming it El Elohe Israel meaning "Mighty is the God of Israel." Finally he acknowledges that the God of Israel is able to do more than we could ever ask or imagine according to His might and not our limited scope of understanding. "Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths." This wonderful Proverb has three commands followed by the wonderful promise, "He shall direct your paths." Our responsibility is to obey the commands. We can be absolutely assured that God will keep His promise! We are all called to: 1) Trust in the Lord with all our heart. 2) Lean not on our own understanding. 3) Acknowledge Him in all our ways. For me it's not at all hard to understand the meaning of these three clauses, but consistently applying them is another matter! Let's choose not to walk in fear and distress but in faith and dependency upon Almighty God. Let us experience the blessing of trusting. Jesus, Jesus, how I trust Him How I've proved Him o'er and o'er Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus O for grace to trust Him more Be encouraged today, Stephen and Brooksyne Weber Daily Prayer: Jesus, when I lean on my own understanding I fall prey to the natural man and limit the work of the supernatural. But when I trust You with all my heart I leave no room for second guessing. Today I want to acknowledge Your presence in every area of my life…family, work, relationships, my alone times. You will bring to pass the divine plans You have for me as You direct me in all my ways. Amen. Today's Suggested Music and Supplemental Resources "Proverbs 3:5,6" Audio I was unable to find an online version for this memory verse as we sang it so I managed to persuade Brooksyne to sing it! No instrumentation or fancy production, just the way you would sing it without accompaniment (although I added a little reverb). "Trust In The Lord" Video For many years we've enjoyed the music of Don Moen and his enthusiastic worship style. "Tis' So Sweet To Trust In Jesus" Video A beautiful version of one of our favorite hymns. Several days ago we shared a message titled "Lay Your Burdens Down" and shared a song by that title. An alert reader from Malaysia shared that it was written by Scott Dyer. It really is a touching song. |
 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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