 A daily, Bible-based perspective of hope, encouragement and exhortation. <Previous Messages · Archives ·  Archive/print editionThursday, June 18, 2009  A leaning silo in rural Virginia. I wonder if it's still standing?  Listen to us share this message on your audio player."Our Hope In Christ" "The name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe" (Proverbs 18:10). "If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men" (1 Corinthians 15:19). Andraé Crouch, a very popular Christian musician throughout the 70's and beyond, wrote a song that comes to mind this morning as I reflect upon our daily text. The words of one stanza are as follows:  "But if heaven never was promised to me. Neither God's promise to live eternally, It's been worth just having the Lord in my life; Living in a world of darkness, He came along and brought me the light." Now I like that song and located it today as I prepared the message. I know what Andraé Crouch is trying to convey regarding the joys and blessings of the Christian walk in contrast to the dark void of living without Him. Crouch's thoughts expressed in this song are a sentiment that many believers would agree with. When we were spinning out of control and had no real purpose for living, receiving Christ and His abundant plan for our lives turned our desperate situation into hopeful expectation. We are among "those who walked in darkness [who] have seen a great light!" Having said all that, any allusion to heaven or eternity not being a part of God's future plan for the believer is contrary to Paul's statement in the daily text. The apostle Paul wrote, "If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men" (1 Corinthians 15:19). In the greater context of 1 Corinthians 15 Paul is giving his great defense of the resurrection of Christ. "We are to be pitied" because, apart from the resurrection, the very foundation of our faith would be fatally flawed. The literal physical resurrection of Jesus Christ is the very foundation of our faith. Our hope of salvation hinges on Christ's resurrection. Our power to overcome sin is also based on His resurrection. In the very next verse Paul emphatically proclaims, "But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead" (1 Corinthians 15:20). Otherwise His death was to no avail, since he would be numbered among all others before Him who died and was buried. The End! Those who have endured persecution and suffering for Christ would have done so for nothing. Those martyred for their faith would have died an early death in vain, instead of receiving "a crown that fadeth not away." Christ truly makes a wonderful difference in earth's journey. Indeed, if this life is all there is to experience, His fulfillment and the order He brings is wonderful. However it's not only for this life that we have hope in Christ! We all face death and loss, but what an astounding difference for those whose hope is solidly anchored in Christ. We do not grieve as those who have no hope because our hope is not diminished at death. Instead the Spirit of God ushers us beyond the lifeless grave to heaven where our blessed hope is realized as we see our Savior face to face. (see 1 Thessalonians 4:13). Life is fragile and unpredictable. Now is the day of salvation. Place your hope in Christ, in this life and the life yet to come. Be encouraged today, Stephen & Brooksyne Weber Daily prayer: Father, we thank You for Jesus and His obedience in dying for our sins that we might be forgiven and experience eternal life. We're so glad that You did not abandon Him to the grave, but instead You raised Him up on the third day so that we might have eternal salvation. We place our hope in You for all that concerns us in this life. We also look beyond the grave knowing that our greatest hope awaits us there. Keep us faithful in life's journey so that our hope on this side will be fully realized on the other side. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. 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.) "If Heaven Never Was Promised To Me" Video Andraé Crouch "My Hope Is In The Lord" Video "The Solid Rock" Video "My Hope Is Built On Nothing Less" A beautiful acapella arrangement.  The Case for the Resurrection of JesusBy Gary R. Habermas & Michael R. Licona / Kregel Publications The Case for the Resurrection of Jesus, along with an interactive CD, will prepare you to make a compelling argument for the historicity of Christ's resurrection, even to those who do not accept the Bible as divinely inspired. The authors first develop principles by which a historical event can be accepted as true, then apply them to belief in Christ's rising from the dead, and finally offer sample scenarios illustrating the use of these principles.  HopeBy Jeremiah Burroughs / Reformation Heritage Books The world today is lost in sin and full of despair. Yet there is hope for the world---hope found in Christ and His Gospel. In this never-before-reprinted book, Puritan preacher Jeremiah Burroughs examines the nature of hope, the object of hope, and the reasons why Christians should have hope in this world. One contemporary of Burroughs said that this work was especially helpful for putting to death the fears and doubts that assail us so that we might look forward to the future with confidence.  Regardless of what country you may live in we sure need a revival! On Sunday morning July 5 our church will join many others in participating in "Call2Fall", a nationwide prayer meeting. We encourage others to look into this, especially pastors here in America. Essentially this is a definite time during worship on Sunday, July 5th when we get on our knees before the Lord in repentant prayer, pleading with God to reshape our lives, renew our land, and send times of refreshing (See 2 Chronicles 7:14; Acts 3:19).Send a message to Stephen & Brooksyne |
 "We want to encourage you daily in your walk with Christ!" Personal Ministry Update Revised 05/08/09  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 6/17/09: $5,195.00)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. or as an email subscription update through feedburner. Subscribe to Daily Encouragement Updates by EmailCancel: 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. (To change addresses cancel your old address and then join again using your new address.) Weekly Version: The weekly version is intended 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. 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 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  Endorsed chaplain "Living securely today anchored in God's solid foundation" www.dailyencouragement.net |
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-1531326-29778931.3ca482100b92072753461f79e13fb4f8@pr4.netatlantic.com |  |
