Daily Encouragement (09/19/11) "Ram In The Thicket"

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Follow Daily Encouragement on Facebook and Twitter        The online Bible teaching ministry of Stephen & Brooksyne Weber. Home · About Us ·· Podcast · Free email <Previous Message  ·  Archives  ·  Archive edition Monday, September 19, 2011 We are now seeing lots of pumpkins and wagons, a sure sign of Autumn. This one sure has an especially large pumpkin! Listen to this message on your audio player. "Ram In The Thicket" "And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram, caught in a thicket by his horns" (Genesis 22:13). "He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?" (Romans 8:32). Mike Martin is a friend of ours who has an interesting ministry. He and his wife, Nicole, lead a "biker church" with a goal to reach bikers and others for Christ who may prefer a non-traditional church setting.  Mike shared of an interesting experience this last weekend where a special outreach to bikers was held at a Harley-Davidson dealership. Though the event had been scheduled for months some of the key leaders he was counting on cancelled last minute. He and Nicole were scurrying to fill some needed positions, in particular the BBQ Caterer, practically a necessity for any event of this type here in Lancaster County. On a weekend in mid September it's pretty difficult to find anyone whose schedule isn't already filled. Nicole frantically called around and finally located a BBQ joint that catered events in Lancaster City called "Dan the Man BBQ". He was available to meet their need, even on the spur of the moment. Turns out that Dan the Man is a Christian and, as the afternoon progressed and things went well, Dan told Mike, "I'm your ram in the thicket." That's an interesting allusion to a tremendous event in the Old Testament recorded in Genesis 22. In one of the signature demonstrations of faith and obedience in the Bible Abraham was prepared to sacrifice his own son: "But just as he took the knife, the angel of the LORD called to him from heaven and said, 'Abraham, Abraham!' And he said, 'Here am I.' He said, 'Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me'" (Genesis 22:11,12). Abraham passed the test. "And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram, caught in a thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son."  Dan the Man described his last minute availability to the Bikers Event as a "Ram in the Thicket" as illustrated in this famous Scripture passage. We indeed can be a "ram in the thicket" to meet the critical needs of other people. God providentially ordains this in His design that we be interdependent on one another.  Romans 14:7 says, "No one liveth unto himself." However, as many of you know, the account in Genesis goes on to proclaim a future provision to meet our greatest need: "So Abraham called the name of that place, "The LORD will provide"; as it is said to this day, "On the mount of the LORD it shall be provided" (Genesis 22:14). It is in this phrase, "The LORD will provide" that we find one of the Hebrew compound names for God many of us have heard and even perhaps sung about, "Jehovah Jireh".  This is the only time in Scripture that the title Jehovah Jireh appears. We may consider this in regard to general provision regarding our everyday needs but foundationally the phrase is referring to something else. This was just moments after the great provision of the ram was provided as a replacement for Isaac. We would surely expect Abraham to say, "The Lord has provided" (past tense). But let us consider carefully the tense that Abraham actually uses, "The Lord will provide".  He is referring to a future provision, Christ's death on the cross for our sins. Traditional conservative scholarship holds that Genesis was among the Five Books Of Moses (The Pentateuch). Moses lived some 500 years after Abraham. At the time the oral record was placed in writing this statement was made "as it is said to this day, 'On the mount of the LORD it shall be provided'". That was some 1,500 years before Christ's sacrifice on the Cross for our sins. Theologian RC Sproul observes, "It was on Mount Moriah, later named Mount Calvary, just outside of Jerusalem, where two thousand years after Abraham's experience, our Savior on the night before His death went into the Garden of Gethsemane.  With sweat drops of blood He pleaded with the Father to allow the cup to pass from Him. "Nevertheless" Jesus said, "Not what I will but what You will" (Mark 14:36).  In that moment of the grand passion of Christ, the Father said no. The Father would not spare His Son." No, essentially God's only begotten Son became our ram in the thicket. "He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?" (Romans 8:32).  Hallelujah, What a Savior! Be encouraged today, Stephen & Brooksyne Weber Daily prayer: Father, we thank You for Jesus who willingly laid down His life to become our "Ram in the thicket". He became a living sacrifice that we might receive forgiveness of sins; His death in exchange for our forgiveness, and thereby inheriting eternal life. We greatly rejoice in the fact that You did not spare Your own Son but delivered Him over for us all, that we might receive salvation, and that we might take up residence in the Kingdom of God.  We thank You in Jesus' name.  Amen. An Old-Fashioned Hymn Sing The hymn sing was held in a church near Manheim, PA constructed in 1859. It was a clear cool evening and we welcome the natural A/C of opened windows, the only kind the church had. The didn't have indoor facilities!  Too bad we didn't know since Brooksyne and I each had a cup of coffee as we drove to the church! Sorry for the poor lighting but I took this from an open window looking in at the rather dimly lit meeting house prior to the start of the hymn sing. Tightly placed rows of benches faced forward and there were also two sections on each side facing the center.  The pews are arranged for women sitting on one side and men on the other as was the practice in this type of church, though last night families sat together. The hymnals were copyrighted over 100 years ago. The place was packed and the acappella singing was filled with rich harmonies and male/ female parts. Though Brooksyne and I were unfamiliar with many of the selected hymns, we joined in wholehearted worship, as the exuberant congregation joined their voices to sing great hymns of the church.  We were blessed as we were introduced to old hymns (yet new to us) that were filled with great theological truths.  Today's Suggested Music and Supplemental Resources Today we will seek to provide musical selections similar to the style of the hymn sing service we attended last night. "And Can It Be"  Video "Softly and Tenderly"  Video   "Are You Washed In The Blood"  Video "Rock Of Ages"  Video   Triple Tree Church - Mike and Nicole's biker ministry church Send a message to Stephen & Brooksyne.

"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. 2011 financial offerings to Daily Encouragement Net as of 9/15/11: $9,581.00 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. Daily Encouragement on Facebook and Twitter: The daily message and prayer on Facebook.  The daily message and prayer on Twitter. 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! 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! "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

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