 The online Bible teaching ministry of Stephen & Brooksyne Weber. <Previous Message · Archives · Archive edition Tuesday, January 18, 2011  "Wisdom and knowledge shall be the stability of thy times"  Listen to this message on your audio player."The Stability Of Thy Times" "He will be the sure foundation for your times, a rich store of salvation and wisdom and knowledge; the fear of the LORD is the key to this treasure" (Isaiah 33:6). As we shared yesterday we were in New York City, which is about 2 1/2 hours from our home, this last Saturday. We walked through the city and I was surprised to find the Scripture verse portion and image in the photo above that I took from the entrance to the NBC offices. We wondered how many would know it is taken from Scripture since the reference is not given. Indeed it is a portion of Isaiah 33:6 from the King James Version. I sort of wonder if the selective citation is purposeful. Without knowing the context one might understand it as man's wisdom and knowledge being a source of stability. But that is not the case as a fuller contextual reading of the verse indicates.*  I recall a very embarrassing moment that happened many years ago. I took my family to a concert and when it was over we walked out in the night to the large parking lot preparing to leave. Recalling the general area I had parked in, I found my car but the key just wouldn't fit in either the driver's door nor the passenger door. (I suppose it's a rather dated illustration since it was during a time when you actually used a key to open your car door which most do not anymore!)I tried several times without success. I finally attempted to find my secretly hidden key, but it was also missing. I went back to the driver's door and again frustratingly tried to make the key work when a man hollered, "Hey, what are you doing trying to get into my car?" while Ester said at the same time, "Daddy, this isn't our car." We walked over to our almost identical car, parked only about ten spaces away and the key worked just fine! The world offers plenty of keys that people use seeking to meet their deepest needs for love, joy and peace, but all in futility, for they go through life using the wrong key. The daily verse is a real gem. It's one of those great treasures found deep in the Old Testament. The "He" in the verse is speaking of the Lord, who is exalted and dwells on high (33:5). Today, some 2,700 years after Isaiah wrote this, our God is still exalted and dwelling on high! He ever remains, "the sure foundation for your times, a rich store of salvation and wisdom and knowledge." O, how we long to be settled on a firm foundation in these tumultuous times where we can draw from a rich store of salvation and wisdom and knowledge. This is an expression of our deepest need. The last clause is vital, but so lost by the majority in this world, and I earnestly feel many in the church as well. "The fear of the LORD is the key to this treasure." The notion of "fearing the Lord" seems archaic to many in our generation. Jerry Bridges writes, "There was a time when committed Christians were known as God-fearing people. This was a badge of honor. But somewhere along the way we lost it. Now the idea of fearing God, if thought of at all, seems like a relic from the past." It is my observation that the fear of the Lord is underemphasized and in some settings never mentioned. It seems there is always a struggle for balance in Christian theology. As I study sermons of the past it seems as if the "fear of the Lord" was sometimes preached to the extreme. Hellfire and brimstone sermons seemed to be the recurring theme and at times presented an unhealthy fear of a loving God which brought little peace or needed security to the believer. However in recent decades the love and grace of God has been the chief theme to the point of completely deemphasizing the proper understanding of the fear of the Lord. Both themes are essential and part of Biblical revelation. A Study Bible gives this helpful insight to the meaning of the fear of the Lord. "A reverent awe of God's power, majesty and holiness produces in us a holy fear of transgressing His revealed will; such reverence is essential to gaining a heart of wisdom. The New Testament indicates that the sincere fear of the Lord in our hearts will be accompanied by the comfort of the Holy Spirit." Many years ago I developed a sermon on the need to have a healthy, holy fear of God and I earnestly believe this healthy, holy fear is vitally needed for our generation. Today let us indeed walk in His love with fear and reverence toward Him for the Bible says, "Blessed are all who fear the LORD, who walk in His ways" (Psalm 128:1). Be encouraged today, Stephen & Brooksyne Weber  Daily Prayer: Father, our generation seeks more and more knowledge all the while exercising less and less restraint toward sins that grieve Your heart. In our information age knowledge is promoted as the key to success, fulfillment, happiness and financial security and yet we see so many educated people lacking in these areas. While higher education is important, godly wisdom and biblical understanding are the foundational tools by which we accept or reject current philosophies, basic principles, human traditions, and the practices of our day. Your Word helps us to interpret knowledge that is ever changing so that we are careful to build our foundation upon You, the unchanging Solid Rock. Any other foundation will sink when the rain falls, the streams rise, and the assaulting winds blow and beat against that which we have worked so hard to build. We choose to love You and have a healthy fear of going against Your prescribed will for our lives. Amen. * Using a selected portion of a Scripture portion to make a point is rather common and even earnest Christians need to be on guard against doing so. Another example is how it might have originally been understood in a Scriptural sense but over time and with greater Biblical illiteracy the meaning of a verse may come to mean something different than intended or originally understood. I recall an illustration I read many years ago in this regard but have not been able to verify. It stated that Harvard University had this inscription on one of its old buildings "The truth shall set you free". Of course that's a statement of our Lord and in this case He is the truth. It may very well have been known and even taken this way when the inscription was placed on the building but over time came for most to mean "The truth" in the sense of the pursuit of greater knowledge void of spiritual meaning and Christ. I recall walking around the Harvard campus several years ago looking for this building but never found it. When Harvard was founded, its motto was Veritas Christo et Ecclesiae—"Truth for Christ and the Church." Its crest showed three books, one face down to symbolize the limitation of human knowledge. But over time that book has been turned face up to represent the unlimited capacity of the human mind. And the motto has been changed to Veritas— "Truth." Now of course Harvard is a bastion of secularism, although there is still a small active group of Christian students. Regarding the fear of the Lord: I discovered this brief quote by British theologian A.W. Pink who died in 1952 so even at that time (before I was even born) he was noticing a diminishing in the fear of the Lord. "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom" (Prov. 1:7). Happy the soul that has been awed by a view of God's majesty, that has had a vision of God's awful greatness, His ineffable holiness, His perfect righteousness, His irresistible power, His sovereign grace. Does someone say, "But it is only the unsaved, those outside of Christ, who need to fear God"? Then the sufficient answer is that the saved, those who are in Christ, are admonished to work out their own salvation with "fear and trembling." Time was when it was the general custom to speak of a believer as a "God-fearing man." That such an appellation has become nearly extinct only serves to show whither we have drifted. Nevertheless, it still stands written, "Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear Him" (Psalm 103:13). When we speak of godly fear, of course we do not mean a servile fear, such as prevails among the heathen in connection with their gods. No, we mean that spirit which Jehovah is pledged to bless, that spirit to which the prophet referred when he said, "To this man will I (the Lord) look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word" (Isa. 66:2). It was this the apostle had in view when he wrote, "Honor all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king" (I Pet: 2:17). And nothing will foster this godly fear like a recognition of the Sovereign Majesty of God. Some more photos from our trip to New York City  I have always been intrigued by the photos of people skating on an ice rink in New York City so we walked by and, sure enough, just like in the photos, people were skating. Note: I don't recall ever ice skating on a rink, but I sure have skated on ponds. Many years ago Brooksyne and I were skating on small pond in northern Pennsylvania when the ice broke through and I sunk immediately. I jumped right out and ran all the way home to change out of my soaked clothes and wet boots as Brooksyne laughed heartily! She got the last laugh because she warned me it was going to break through but I ignored her.  This is an example of the huge bright screens in Times Square. We and many others got a kick out of seeing ourselves on the big screen!  This interesting globe is outside the Trump International Hotel. We're glad we had a ride home. Staying at this hotel would have cost us some $500.00 per night!  This street musician was playing a pan flute on Times Square.  It was amazing to watch and listen to this man use fridge and oven parts, pans and buckets to make music! The U.S. postal service even "donated" the storage case for the "instruments".  The entrance to Times Square Church What a great expression of Scripture! 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 Firm A Foundation" Video Sovereign Grace Music For those who may be curious regarding my personal preference in church music this is a good example. Congregational voices are dominant with piano accompaniment. Here's a channel of music like this. Send a message to Stephen & Brooksyne. "The Solid Rock" Video Sovereign Grace Music "We Choose The Fear Of The Lord" Video Maranatha Singers "White As Snow" Video Maranatha Singers |
 "We want to encourage you daily in your walk with Christ!" Personal Ministry Update (Revised 12/31/10)  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. 2010 financial offerings to Daily Encouragement Net: $19,494.00 Brooksyne and I want to express thanks to all who have supported our ministry! 2011 financial offerings to Daily Encouragement Net as of 1/17/11: $445.00 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 by us 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 through feedburner.Cancel: We respect and value your time and privacy. If you no longer desire to receive these messages you can remove your address from the list by merely using 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 or who may desire less frequent mailings. It is Friday's message with a link to previous messages. To receive the free weekly version, send a blank email to this address. Reader Survey: Please take a few minutes to assist us in improving our ministry effectiveness by filling out this online reader survey. To take the survey click here. 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. All of these songs are also available for download on the site.  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 2011 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 |  |
