Friday, August 23, 2013

Daily Encouragement (08/23/13) "The Blessing Of Spiritual Reminders"

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Friday, August 23, 2013

Mailbox tomatoes for sale in Lancaster County 8/22/13
This Amish farmer has an interesting way of selling tomatoes.
Sign says "All on shelf for $1.00"

"The Blessing Of Spiritual Reminders"

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"Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things again is no trouble to me, and it is a safeguard for you" (Philippians 3:1). “So I will always remind you of these things, even though you know them and are firmly established in the truth you now have. I think it is right to refresh your memory as long as I live in the tent of this body, because I know that I will soon put it aside, as our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me. And I will make every effort to see that after my departure you will always be able to remember these things" (2 Peter 1:12-15).

Post-it notes 8/22/13In the course of our business chaplaincy we visit people in all kinds of work venues from manufacturing facilities to service people in the field, to people doing work in offices. Our newest "unofficial" opportunity is a pallet shop with Amishmen working. Yesterday we visited with Marjie, who dispatches service technicians for an HVAC company. She is the queen of post-it notes in comparison to all the companies we serve and her photo should be on the post-it note website! Notice the sticky reminder notes, line along the bottom of both monitors along with being plastered on her bulletin board.

Post-it® notes are one of the great office inventions in our lifetime, a small piece of stationery designed for temporarily attaching notes to documents and other surfaces. A 3M scientist, Spencer Silver, developed a unique, repositional adhesive, but didn't know what to do with his discovery. He bounced the idea off other scientists at 3M but it seemed he had a solution without a problem! Then, six years later another scientist, Art Fry, a colleague of Silver's, remembered the light adhesive when he was considering a bookmark that would stay put in his church hymnal without damaging the page for use during choir practice. The rest is history.

Post-it notes are most commonly 3-inch square and canary yellow in color, although they now come in numerous colors and designs. A unique low-tack adhesive allows the notes to be easily attached and removed without leaving marks or residue. This is one illustration the majority of our readers can identify with since most have used Post-it notes. We both only have to look down along the bottom edge of our monitors to see how frequently we use them!

Romans 12:12 on post-it noteBrooksyne often uses post-it notes to share brief words of encouragement with people in the hospital, workplace or in cards she mails. Her present favorite is Romans 12:12. It’s heartening to see these notes attached to people’s computer monitors as we go about our work, some still posted years after she wrote it.

As we get older we tend to be more forgetful and may speak of "senior moments" or "data overload" as a younger friend describes it. I once saw a little plaque on a desk that read, "I have CRS". Curiously, I asked the older man sitting at his desk, "What does CRS mean?" I wondered if it referred to a disease or disorder that is known by its abbreviations such as TS (tourette syndrome) or OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder). He chuckled as he pointed out, "The initials stand for 'Can't Remember Stuff'."

As we get older we generally deal with short-term memory loss (like forgetting where we put our wallet, coffee cup, car keys, cell phone, etc.)  These are increasingly common sources of minor frustration in our home as we transition through our life cycle. To my family’s consternation and annoyance I often misplace my suspenders, which are an essential clothing item for me! In fact we were late for Sunday School on Sunday as I was looking all over for my suspenders. 

We all need spiritual memory prompts to keep us on track, so why not write inspirational Post-it notes. These Bible truths remind us of Biblical principles but they also reveal to others where our source of guidance comes from.

The daily texts, written by two different apostles (Paul and Peter), are similar and express an attitude we should have when reminding ourselves of familiar truths. 

The apostle Paul was aware that he had shared the same things before with the Philippians but considered the reinforcement of truth as a "safeguard".  That's a great attitude for us to have as we receive unchanging truth in this day where the shifting sands of relativism abound. Although we should expect our pastors and teachers to seek the Lord and share a fresh message we should not resent repetition or reinforcement of Bible truths. Also consider that there are likely those in attendance who are hearing the teaching for the first time!

In the second daily Bible text, although Peter was confident his readers not only knew the truths he had shared, but they were also established in them. Nevertheless he pledged to be steadfast in reminding them of these things. He was determined to "make every effort to see that after my departure you will always be able to remember these things."  That's a faithful minister!

Do you receive the reminders of truth with joy? I recall the line in an old hymn that puts it this way, "I love to tell the story, for those who know it best, seem hungering and thirsting to hear it like the rest." May I never lose interest or find myself yawning when hearing or reading of the foundational truths of the Gospel! May they instead reassure and refresh my spiritual appetite.


Be encouraged today,


Stephen & Brooksyne Weber

Praying manDaily prayer: Father, we thank You for the inspiration of Your Holy Spirit.  May Your Words be impressed upon our hearts as we give regular attention to them through reading and memorizing the Scriptures.  We don't want a casual attitude about Your Holy Word, but rather we want to be earnest students of Your Word earnestly contending for the faith. May we never weary of the basics of the gospel or lose the awe and wonder of seeing a life that is changed when redemption takes place. We want to hunger and thirst after righteousness and never lose sight of the old, old story that will be our theme throughout eternity.  In Jesus name we pray.  Amen.



Note: The last 24 hours the daily encouragement net server has been down several times and I am not sure for how long. When this happens the website and photos are unavailable. Brad, our Canadian IT volunteer (who is also an IT professional working for a company) is working on getting this fixed.



Some scenes from the Elizabeth town Country Fair

Last night Ester and I went over to the Elizabethtown Fair, the first of several community farm fairs in our county through the late summer and early fall.

Shorn sheep at Etown fair 8/22/13
Lots of animals and competition at this fair.
So neat to see the young people caring for their animals.

Tractor t-shirt at Etown fair 8/22/13
I visited with an older man with this t-shirt at the antique tractor display!

Tractors at Etown fair 8/22/13
The antique tractor display at the Etown fair is as large as many state fairs we've attended.

hit and miss engine at Etown fair 8/22/13
This hit and miss engine was running in the back of an old pickup.

We almost always see people we know at the fair:

Jim and Wendy Gambini 8/22/13
On the way we stopped by. He and Wendy remain good friends. They have a neat raised-bed garden in front of their house!

Nelson and Dani Longenecker 8/22/13
Nelson and Dani Longenecker. I met Nelson at a company when we first moved to Lancaster County over 12 years ago. We often wave as we pass them on the way to our respected churches.


Darrell and Kelly Martin 8/22/13
Darrel and Kelly Martin are two young people who grew up in the church we attend and dated through high school. Darrel is a local farmer. One of my favorite farm photos is a date he had with Kelly on a combine. We attended their wedding several years ago and they are soon expecting their first child.



Today's Suggested Music
and Supplemental Resources

"Tell Me the Story of Jesus / I Love to Tell the Story"  Video  Gaither Homecoming Singers

"Blessed Assurance"  Video 
The Isaacs  All this week we have featured a song by the Isaacs since we hope to go to a concert this coming Sunday evening in Lebanon PA. See here for info if you are in our area and may be interested.

Big Green Tractor  Video  Just for fun (not a spiritual song), a farm song about a boy who takes his girl on a tractor ride. Great John Deere photos.

History of Post-It notes

Hebrews 13:3 on post-it note
Make your own digital post-it notes here. (Such as the one made for Romans 12:12 in the message or the one above)

Contact Us
Send a message to Stephen & Brooksyne.
Stephen, Brooksyne and Ester Weber 04/21/13
Stephen and Brooksyne Weber

(Click on photo to enlarge)
"We want to encourage you daily in your walk with Christ!"


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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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