Friday, October 01, 2010

Daily Encouragement (10/01/10) "No Adjournment For The Godly"

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The online Bible teaching ministry of Stephen & Brooksyne Weber
A daily, Bible-based perspective of hope, encouragement and exhortation.

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Friday, October 1, 2010

Creekside farm stand near Mount Joy, Pennsylvania
One more photo of the Creekside Farm stand near our home in Mount Joy, PA. I've been sharing photos from this farm stand the last several days. Looks like Elam has plenty of help on the farm along with two older daughters not shown! He established this nursery last Spring and is doing well selling decorative plants as well as vegetables grown on their farm. Readers from our area stopped by our house this morning attempting to find this farm so we led the way and visited it again.  We learned that Elam started working construction today so his family will be provided for over the winter which was an answer to their prayers!

ListenListen to this message on your audio player.

"No Adjournment For The Godly"

"Help, Lord, for the godly man ceases to be. For the faithful disappear from among the sons of men" (Psalm 12:1). "Contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints" (Jude 3). "Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to your care" (1 Timothy 6:20).  "Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you--guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us" (2 Timothy 1:14).

The inspiration for today's Daily Encouragement comes from a song originally recorded by a group called "Truth". It's titled "God Is In Control" and I have often been ministered to by the assurance it brings as I listen carefully to the words.  For the last several days I have been intrigued and challenged by a line in the beginning of the song that powerfully describes our times:

"Does it seem like the world is chaotically turning
sin and shame are unreigned and,
Godly men are adjourning."

Yesterday I kept pushing the replay button on the CD player
in our van as I was especially considering that phrase, "Godly men are adjourning." I consider the sense of adjournment in regard to a meeting coming to an end. It is indeed a sad day when Godly men and women adjourn themselves from the great spiritual battle before it has ended.  Laying their spiritual armor down, they're dismissing themselves in the midst of our ongoing struggle against the rulers, against the authorities and against the powers of this dark world (Ephesians 6:12).

Consider the first daily text in this regard:  "Help, Lord, for the godly man ceases to be. For the faithful disappear from among the sons of men." David expresses himself in a way that we might also in our own day.  His cry for help is directed to the Lord.  His observation is that "the godly man ceases to be".  David grew up during a time of great moral and spiritual apostasy.  Certainly Saul's reign was not marked by spiritual revival or consistent obedience to God. His reign transitioned from the period of the Judges, which is summed up with the phrase, "each man did what was right in his own eyes."

However there was a remnant of God's faithful followers during this period.  The prophet Samuel immediately comes to mind. Thank God for those who remain faithful followers of God all through history and right up to our own day:
  • Faithful ministers who preach God's Word uncompromisingly, not seeking to please or accommodate the ways of the world.
  • Dedicated lay persons who live out their faith before an oft-scorning world.
  • Couples who take their marital covenant seriously.
  • Singles who walk the Christian path in holiness, solitude and purity.
  • Parents who raise their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.
  • Church communities that do not give up meeting together, but encourage one another as they see the day approaching (Hebrews 10:25)
I am convinced that there will always be a remnant church, faithfully holding to the truths of Holy Scripture till our Lord returns.  Christ has stated that the gates of hell shall not prevail against the church of God (Matthew 16:18). This true church may very well be hated by the world, for as it contends for the truth and the faith once for all entrusted to the saints, it will be labeled intolerant, mean-spirited, hateful and even dangerous. In fact it is even now often characterized in this way by the media and in other settings.

May the Lord help us to be faithful in holding onto the Living Word and preserving its uncompromised message through our conversation and in our lifestyle.  Let us pass this glorious message on to the next generation in our present passing zone.  Let us not customize or interpret God's timeless truths set forth in His Word, based on our own preferences.  It is commonplace in our day to modify or edit truths set forth in Scripture.   Analogous to using the "delete" or "insert" buttons on a present day computer, some adjust their viewpoints to fit in comfortably to the trends of our society.

But thank God there is also a faithful remnant that holds on to the faith "once for all handed down".  That faithful remnant is alive and well in the tidal wave of mockery, modification, and outright blasphemy toward God's Holy Word and Christian standards. 

We earnestly appeal to every reader to be a part of God's holy remnant.  In the midst of doctrinal apostasy we need to stand up boldly for our faith in God and confront the heresies of our day.  In the midst of moral apostasy we need to boldly assert the timeless standards of personal holiness and seek daily to live by them.

Let us stay faithful! For the godly man and woman there is no adjournment from life's spiritual battle until we are called home.  It is in our heavenly setting that the battle will no longer rage and we will finally experience everlasting peace.  Sin will be adjourned and the righteous remnant will forever reign with the King of kings and Lord of lords.


Be encouraged today,


Stephen & Brooksyne Weber

Daily prayer: Father, the commandments that You give are not only to be impressed upon our thoughts but also implanted in our hearts.  Help us to be extremely cautious about new teachings that are pleasing to the ear and popular with our present generation, but do not bear witness with the eternal Scripture.  Keep us on guard against the easy-isms of a shallow Christian experience, for that will eventually give way to surrendering to the enemy in the midst of the spiritual battle of this life.   We hold on to that which is of most importance and pass on to those who come behind the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints of all generations.  Keep us faithful no matter the cost.  In the name of Jesus 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.)

"God Is In Control"  Video   This is my attempt at making a YouTube video using background music. The song is sung by Kristian and Shannon Walker, whom I met at a picnic this summer. I took the photos in New England.  I learned that it takes a lot of skill to coordinate music with photos themes.

Here are the lyrics to the song:

Does it seem like your world is chaotically turning
Sin and shame are unreigned and godly men are adjourning
Well, our fathers warned that it would come to this
But you just hold on and know that the final truth is

    God is in control though godless men conspire
    His will unfolds though mortal minds are
    Sometimes left to doubt
    His ways are higher than our ways
    So even through the fire, take heart and know
    God is in control.

Does it seem like your world is a maze of confusion
Do you long for the day when problems meet their solutions
Well, I know sometimes life's line feels so unsecured
But the saints who've held on before
Would charge you to rest assured.

"The Greatest Thing"  Video  Shannon Wexelberg  A great reminder as to what is of utmost importance.

Yesterday and all through the night we have had heavy rains which are real blesing after the dry summer we endured. We spoke to a neighbor today who told us in another part of Lancaster County they had 10 inches of rain!  We got about 6".

Finally today: Several weeks ago I shared how
all throughout our county we see similar type signs presenting a Christian witness such as the signs below on Colebrook Road near our home. A friend told me they were an evangelism effort by a man who makes these signs and then rotates them throughout the area.

Witness sign on Colebrook Road near Mount Joy, Pennsylvania

Witness sign on Colebrook Road near Mount Joy, Pennsylvania

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Our other blogs:
"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!
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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."

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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.


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