 A daily, Bible-based perspective of hope, encouragement and exhortation. <Previous Message · Archives ·  Archive/print editionThursday, March 12, 2009  Cowboys on their way to a rodeo in Southern Chile Photo by Patricia Hormabazal  Listen to us share this message on your audio player."Spiritual Defragmentation" "Be still and know that I am God" (Psalm 46:10). "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God" (Romans 12:1,2).  Windows-based computer operating systems have an interesting utility feature known as "defragmentation". This feature rearranges and places your files in order so that your machine will work more efficiently. I would sure like to clean out and arrange my paper files and other clutter in my life this quickly and effortlessly! You should see my growing stacks.I would also like a quick procedure like this for my mind. I would need to use it regularly; when I awaken in the morning, throughout the day, then again at night as I lie down to sleep. Well I believe such a procedure is available. God has given us everything we need for life and godliness. I believe His grace, in renewing our minds, is like a defragmenter and we must rely on it regularly. Perhaps it's a deep awareness of the verse that states, "Be still and know that I am God" (Psalm 46:10). The NASB translates the first part of the verse "Cease striving." It is through His grace that we can still our minds, our hearts, and our activities in this driven, often calamitous world so that we listen for the voice of our Father and recognize His presence in our lives. As God speaks to us He is in the process of renewing our mind so that we no longer conform to the behavior or attitudes common to those living in the kingdom of darkness. His Spirit is at work transforming our minds so that our behavior and attitudes reflect His kingdom of light. John Piper's reflections on this verse are as follows: "In Romans 12:2 Paul focuses on one essential means of transformation— the renewal of your mind. 'Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind.' Oh, how crucial this is! * If you long to break loose from conformity to the world, * If you long to be transformed and new from the inside out, * If you long to be free from mere duty-driven Christianity and do what you love to do because what you love to do is what you ought to do, * If you long to offer up your body as a living sacrifice so that your whole life becomes a spiritual act of worship and displays the worth of Christ above the worth of the world. Then give yourself with all your might to pursuing this — the renewal of your mind. Because the Bible says, this is the key to transformation. 'Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind.'” Many years ago I heard a speaker at a minister's conference point out, "While you're trying to figure it all out, God is working it all out." This simple statement has been a proven proverb in my own life many times over! May we rely on God's grace today which enables us to be still and cease striving; to know deep within our being that He is God and that truly He is working it all out. Today I urge each reader to recognize the many means that God has provided to defragment and renew our minds for His glory! Be encouraged today, Stephen & Brooksyne Weber Daily prayer: Father, You have shown us through the example of Your Son, Jesus, that we must set aside a regular time and quiet place to meet with You, to hear Your voice, to recognize Your presence and to invite Your transforming power to renew our hearts and minds every day. We want Your kingdom of light to guide us through this world of darkness as You stamp Your own image deep in our hearts like carpenters who embed nails deep in planks of wood. Amen. Brooksyne's challenge: We closed our message today with this challenge: "Recognize the many means that God has provided to defragment and renew our minds for His glory!" I want to invite our readers to submit a personal example of the "many means" in which God has renewed your mind. Keep it brief: one sentence, maybe two. If we have a good response we'll make a composite of your responses to share with our readers so that they might be open to conduits of God's "defragmentation" to renew our minds. Just submit your example using this link (either email or webform). Today's Suggested Music and Supplemental Resources Click on the link to open and play. In some cases you may also need to click again to start the song. "Be Still" (Psalm 46:10) Audio from the Integrity Scripture Memory series. (Open this page and click on the play button.) Send a message to Stephen & Brooksyne."Do Not Be Conformed" (Romans 12:1,2; Ephesians 4:23) Audio from the Integrity Scripture Memory series. (Open this page and click on the play button.) "Still" Video By Hillsong "The Renewed Mind and How to Have It" by John Piper Article Audio In my view John Piper is one of the most thoughtful Scripture expositors of our time.  Today's Chilean cowboy photo was taken by our friend Patricia Hormabazal, who is originally from Chile, during a recent trip back to her homeland. Yesterday I shared her volcano photo and will share another two of her photos tomorrow. Below is a photo of a mountain river. Looks like an inviting spot right now here in the northern hemisphere! |
 "We want to encourage you daily in your walk with Christ!" Personal Ministry Update Revised 01/20/09  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. (2009 YTD financial offerings through 3/11/09: $2,345.00) SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION  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 either 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 these messages no longer meet your needs (providing encouragement) you can remove your address by merely use the link automatically inserted by the mailing list software at the very bottom of each email message. Weekly Version: The weekly version is designed for those who may 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! "A Little Foolishness" - Humor/satire blog (a great outlet for non-serious writing but at times with a subtle message!) Last updated 2/18/09 with the story of Mildred Swanson, who joyfully discovers her "spiritual gift" is sending forwarded emails! (Note: This material is satire!) "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!) "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 |
Daily Encouragement is issued Monday-Friday. To make sure you continue to receive these e-mails in your Inbox (so they're not sent to a junk folder), please add scweber@dailyencouragement.net to your address book or safe sender list. You are receiving these recurring messages as a subscriber to Daily Encouragement Net because you signed up on our website or otherwise requested it unless someone forwarded the message to you. If you desire to unsubscribe use the link below. However, please do not use this link unless your address is the subscribed address below as you will otherwise unsubscribe the person who forwarded it to you!
| You are currently subscribed to dailyencouragement as: stephencweber.dailyencouragement@blogger.com To unsubscribe click here or send a blank email to leave-1337775-29778931.3ca482100b92072753461f79e13fb4f8@pr4.netatlantic.com |  |
