 A daily, Bible-based perspective of hope, encouragement and exhortation. <Previous Messages · Archives ·  Archive/print editionMonday, July 20, 2009  This flower cart had an interesting purpose prior to its current use. Can anyone identify what that was? (See below)  Listen to us share this message on your audio player"The Greatest Perspective" "And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also" (Genesis 1:16). "When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?" (Psalm 8:4).  Today is the fortieth anniversary of man's first landing on the moon. I was fourteen at the time and like most recall that day as a tremendous milestone. If I'm not mistaken I was visiting my grandparents in Harwood Missouri at the time of the landing. My grandpa, George Washington Steincross, was born in 1882 and during his adult lifetime he witnessed (read about) Wilbur and Orville Wright's first manned flight and then witnessed the many advancements in flight up to seeing man land on the moon, "the lesser light" that July day.As I type this morning "the greater light" that God made is shining brightly into our home office window. Here's a different perspective: What a sense of our puniness when we consider the vast immensity of space and thus far man's greatest achievement in regard to space travel is only getting one of our own kind as far as the moon! Consider today's Scripture. Then consider looking up from a field on a clear, cloudless night, overcome by an intense sense of awe toward God, corresponding with an awareness of our own relative insignificance. The Psalmist extols God's most massive works at creation as "the work of your fingers." We recognize that God has set these objects in place. They are not "set in place" as the result of some "big bang" or whatever scientific theory is presently in vogue. The Psalmist then considers man. Why is God mindful of us? Why does this great Creator God care for us? The Psalmist doesn't answer these questions and neither can we. But the Scriptures abundantly reveal that God is mindful of us and cares for us. Enough so that He gave His Redeemer Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. That's good news. In fact it's by far it's the greatest news! Today man's greatest hope is certainly not the achievement of placing a man on the moon, but the eternal sacrifice of the One divinely placed on the cross. Whatever circumstances you are dealing with today we encourage you to immerse yourself in this greatest perspective. Be encouraged today, Stephen & Brooksyne Weber Daily prayer: Father, we contemplate the deep thoughts of the Psalmist who asked why You bother Yourself to care for all humanity. We are so small in comparison to the great works of the universe which You not only created but also sustain with perfect order, viability and replenishment day by day, year after year. You know the millions of stars in the galaxy by name and yet You are moved by the smallest burden that I bear this day. Your power is evident all about me and within me. I praise You for I am fearfully and wonderfully made by You, the Master Designer. Amen. A Busy Summer Weekend We want to share some of our photos from this past weekend beginning Friday afternoon when we introduced some of our friends to the Lapp family and had lunch at their place. Almost everything we had was grown on the farm and was delicious!  David Fisher is a Canadian friend I met many years ago through a connection with these daily encouragement messages. He and his wife Carol brought their grand-daughter, Victoria, down to spend two weeks on the Lapp dairy farm. For many years David was the chaplain for the Toronto Blue Jays. He is a great writer, sharing many of the same interests that we do and blogs prolifically at Pilgrim Scibblings.  Scott and Lori are friends from New Jersey who also wanted to meet the Lapps while visiting our area. Scott has a mechanical interest and was quite intriqued by the Amish dairy operation. Scott peppered Jesse with questions while Lori seemed a little taken back in the milking barn! The cows aren't necessarily polite and tend to use the bathroom when the need arises regardless of the company.  Most of us "English" probably wouldn't do this in our homes but for Mother's Day Jesse placed ink on the children's feet and lifted them up to walk on the ceiling as a gift to their mother!  Larry and Tina Kester are long-time friends from the Lehigh Valley who joined us in church yesterday morning and then came over to our place for a meal. For 22 years Tina has served as a church secretary in the church (Faith Community) where my brother Pat has pastored since 1992. Larry is a route driver for Utz chips and brought us some of their tasty products.  I introduced Tina to Lillian DeHart who attends our church. Lillian is also a full-time church secretary and has served the same church for 26 years! That's 48 years of faithful service in two churches. Lillian also assists me in a part time role in my office work at our church. We commend those who steadfastly serve the Lord in a variety of ways.  Sunday afternoon we conducted a service at Longwood Manor Assisted Living Center, where we both serve as part-time chaplains. Roxie joined us and blessed the residents with "pet therapy". Here she is pictured with one of her favorite residents, Josephine, who is delighted (along with many of the residents) whenever we bring Roxie along.   Sunday evening we had a group of friends over to our home for Strawberry/rhubarb pie ala mode. It was a beautiful evening and we had a nice time of fellowship around the table.   Last week I shared concerning a rather unsuccessful fishing trip I had in the Atlantic Ocean on Tuesday morning. I did manage to catch one tiny sea bass. Rodney and Lindsay Geib are friends of ours and shared this photo of their daughter Rylei with a big largemouth bass she caught last week in a farm pond near their home in Mastersonville, PA. She caught it using the small kid's pole she is holding! 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.) "How Great Thou Art" Video Newsong "I Must Tell Jesus" Video I chose this song due to recalling a line that states, "He ever loves and cares for His own." "Creation Calls" Video Brian Doerksen Today's top photo of the flower cart is actually an old manure spreader converted to a planter! It was taken last Friday on the grounds of the Cherry Crest Farm here in Lancaster County. 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 7/19/09: $6,020.00)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 Add scweber@dailyencouragement.net to your email address book to ensure delivery Forward to a Friend | Manage Subscription | Subscribe | Unsubscribe |  |
