A daily, Bible-based message of hope and encouragement.
 A daily, Bible-based message of hope, encouragement and exhortation. Click here to support our ministry.The online Bible teaching ministry of Stephen & Brooksyne Weber. <Previous Message · Archive edition Monday, June 24, 2013  Our neighbor Eli was raking hay when I drove by his place down Kraybill Church Road Saturday morning.  Listen to this message on your audio player. "Hating The Voice Of Truth" Then the king of Israel gathered the prophets together, about four hundred men, and said to them, "Shall I go against Ramoth-gilead to battle or shall I refrain?" And they said, "Go up, for the Lord will give it into the hand of the king." But Jehoshaphat said, "Is there not yet a prophet of the Lord here that we may inquire of him?" The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, "There is yet one man by whom we may inquire of the Lord, but I hate him, because he does not prophesy good concerning me, but evil. He is Micaiah son of Imlah" (1 Kings 22:6-8). "There are those who hate the one who upholds justice in court and detest the one who tells the truth" (Amos 5:10). "And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever—the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept Him, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him. But you know Him, for He lives with you and will be in you" (John 14:16,17).  Brooksyne picked up a little paperback book the other day that's interesting to randomly peruse. It's titled, "The Book Of Bible Names - Fast facts on all 2,026 people named in Scripture". It's interesting see all the names of real people I have read about at some point but in many cases have given little thought as to the origin of their names. Many of course are obscure with no biographical info about them at all, such as those in lists. But the book has an interesting way of summarizing in a few sentences the notable aspects when there is information about the person in Scripture. I expect these will be a springboard for some future study and daily encouragement messages.When we think of prophets in the Bible we likely first consider those who have Bible books named after them such Isaiah and Jeremiah. But there were other great prophets such as Elijah, Elisha and Nathan. One of the lesser known prophets is Micaiah (we pronounce his name like Isaiah since its spelling is very similar). His story is told in parallel accounts in 1 Kings 22 and 2 Chronicles 18. He was a prophet to the apostate Northern Kingdom and was known for telling it like it is. People like Micaiah are rarely popular but their boldness is needed for each generation! Their words and actions may not be just for their time but may also affect the following generations and he present age as well. The Book Of Bible Names sums up his life with these words: "Prophet whom King Ahab of Israel hated because he never prophesied anything good to him. When King Jehoshaphat asked Ahab for a prophet who would tell the truth, Ahab called for Micaiah." I was especially intrigued by the phrase, "a prophet who would tell the truth." The background: Jehoshaphat, king of the southern Kingdom (Judah) and Ahab, king of the northern kingdom had entered into an ungodly alliance and were preparing for an attack against their enemy, the Aramites. Jehoshaphat had agreed to proceed but then remembered that he should seek the will of the Lord. His "Charge Ahead" attitude got ahead of Moses' command, "Listen to His voice, and hold fast to Him" (Deuteronomy 30:20b)! So he asked Ahab, "Please inquire first for the word of the Lord" (22:5). King Ahab got together four hundred "prophets" that assured them of victory in battle. "Go up, for the Lord will give it into the hand of the king" (22:6). News of victory surely was a "sign" that God was in this but Jehoshaphat, on the face of such news, detected that these were false prophets. Exercising discernment he asked, "Is there not yet a prophet of the Lord here that we may inquire of him?" (22:7). For Jehoshaphat the unfettered truth was more important than false assurance. Indeed there was a prophet of the Lord but Ahab did not want to consult him! It seems even Ahab had some discernment but tried to ignore it, hoping to get his way. His response is like many who don't want to hear what God says. Instead he had gathered around him those whom he knew would say what he wanted to hear. The apostle Paul in the New Testament warned: "For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear" (2 Timothy 4:3). I think we live in such a time! In regard to Jehoshaphat's appeal for a true prophet of the Lord Ahab probably spoke just above a whisper through clenched teeth when he finally revealed, "There is yet one man by whom we may inquire of the Lord". I think in his heat even Ahab realized this was a real prophet. Surely his eyes were full of deadly venom as he went on to confess, "but I hate him, because he does not prophesy good concerning me, but evil. He is Micaiah son of Imlah." So Micaiah was called and pressured by the messenger to give a prophetic word agreeable to the other 400. He told Micaiah, "Look, all the prophets are promising victory for the king. Be sure that you agree with them and promise success." But Micaiah didn't succumb to the messenger's ungodly counsel. He surely reasoned that kings on earth do not have the same authority as the King of heaven. His response, although obscure, is one of the greatest statements of faith and acts of obedience in the Bible, "As surely as the LORD lives, I can tell him only what my God says." * The application: Today we need to take some lessons from Micaiah. He didn't go along with the crowd just to accommodate others' ideology, even though they represented the "experts" of their time. Our counsel and lifestyle must reflect the principles set forth in Holy Scripture, not the ever changing values and evolving definitions presented in our present society. Like many today Ahab hated the voice of truth but that did not keep Micaiah from boldly speaking out. May God raise up men and women today who will speak the truth to our world. We want to be two of them. Won't you join us? Be encouraged today, Stephen & Brooksyne Weber  Daily prayer: Father, we pray for Holy Spirit power to enable us to give godly counsel based upon Your inerrant and unchanging Scripture. It is not from the media, current polls, or popular personalities that we form our opinions. We acknowledge that Satan is the god of this age, plotting to confuse, distort and mislead. Our confidence is firmly established in the inspiration of the Holy Scriptures which are able to make us wise for salvation. They inspire, teach, convict, correct, comfort and model for us the way we're to live our earthly life. May we never sugar coat Your commands because we want to please others who differ with Your authority. We want to honor Your Word in all we say and do. As we look in the mirror of truth, help it to reflect this godly intent. If the reflection shows otherwise, help us to make the necessary changes in accordance with Your Word. In Your name, Jesus, we pray. Amen.* In carefully reading the account Micaiah initially stated a favorable word mimicking the 400 prophets, "Go up and succeed, and the Lord will give it into the hand of the king" (22:15). But apparently his words were dripping with a quite transparent sarcasm for immediately Ahab said, "How many times must I adjure you to speak to me nothing but the truth in the name of the Lord?" Then Micaiah gave the true prophetic word from the Lord. Some Scenes From Our Weekend  Friday afternoon following a chaplaincy visit in Lebanon County I stopped by our friend Galen's farm and he was harvesting a field of hay in a one man operation.  The summer after we got married in 1976 I had a lot of work with a local hay harvesting crew "bucking" the hay bales up on the wagon and then into the barn. This baler shoots the bales up on the wagon although I assume they still need manhandled back at the barn.  Friday evening Ester's long-time friend stopped by for a visit. Renee just returned from a 5 month mission trip to Spain where she assisted a missionary family.  Friday and Saturday four of the ladies of our church attended the "Revive Our Hearts" tour with radio speaker, Nancy Leigh DeMoss speaking and Shannon Wexelberg leading worship. Brooksyne came home speaking of the wonderful time in the Word she enjoyed through Nancy's teaching and the powerful presence of the Spirit as Shannon led in worship.  Ester was able to get a photo with Nancy. They measure the same height at just over 5'.  We thought our readers might enjoy a view of our church parking lot after I backed our "old" 1999 van in yesterday. If our van could speak he (or is it she) might say, "I don't feel so old now!" parked next to this 1932 Chevrolet.  We regularly conduct services at Longwood Manor, a local personal care home. The residents of the center attend the service but we always have a visitor or two as well. Phares is 93 years old and still lives at home. He drives to his own church in Hershey on Sunday mornings and then drives down to Longwood for the afternoon service. How's that for dedication! Phares is sharp and enjoys conversing.  Sunday evening we attended a gathering for the Book family celebrating Mike's 50th birthday and their daugthers' college and high school graduations.  Friday evening Ken and Nila stopped by after having their 11th anniversary meal. Their family has grown! Ken had dropped by with his chainsaw to remove a tree for me.  We posted this photo Friday of a groom with his bride departing to their wedding reception on a FarmAll tractor. This brought to mind that when Ken and Nila got married in 2002 they didn't travel from the church to the reception in a stretch limo, like so many do today. Darrel, a farmer friend, drove them, along with their wedding party in a hay wagon pulled by a tractor. It's not a very clear photo but it sure looks like the men are horsing around!  A makeshift tire repair! "The Voice Of Truth" Video Casting Crowns "Speak, O Lord" Video Kristyn Getty "Word Of God Speak" Video MercyMe "Ancient Words" Video Michael W. Smith Nancy Leaigh DeMoss ministry website. Our pastor was on a mission trip last week to New Mexico and was late getting in Saturday night. His wife requested I have a message ready but John was able to preach. I will post the message I was prepared to preach here: "Making Sense Of The Nonsense" (pdf) The following links are supplements to the above message "Aliens and Strangers" Interview with Os Guinness Marvin Olasky Video "Pulpits Aflame With Righteousness" by Frank Wright Article |
 Stephen and Brooksyne Weber (Click on photo to enlarge) "We want to encourage you daily in your walk with Christ!" Personal Ministry Update (Revised 12/31/12)  Are our daily encouragement messages a blessing to you? Each weekday morning Brooksyne and I prepare these messages and distribute them at no cost to you and many others all over the world. We ask you to consider an offering to Daily Encouragement Net so that we can continue to prepare and provide this daily resource which is accessed by believers and seekers all over the world. Daily Encouragement Net relies solely on the generosity and financial support of its readers and podcast listeners. See here for more information on supporting this ministry. Gifts are tax deductible. Click here to donate online. 2013 YTD financial offerings to Daily Encouragement Net as of 6/23/13: $10,298.00 SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION  If a friend forwarded this to you, you can subscribe here.These messages are never sent by us unsolicited. It was sent to you because you either signed up to receive it OR it was forwarded to you. You can also subscribe to the Wordpress rss feed or as an email subscription through Wordpress email subscription. (See the email subscription on the right side after opening this page.) Cancel: These messages are only sent from us to people who request it; please accept our apologies if it reached you in error. You can unsubscribe from this list at any time. 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!) (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. 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. Other versions are also occasionally used. © Copyright 2013 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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