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 A daily, Bible-based perspective of hope, encouragement and exhortation. Home About Us Archives Free email subscription  Listen to these messages  Text only for printing Follow Daily Encouragement on Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn     See here for more info. <Previous Message · Archive edition Monday, January 26, 2015  Powdery snow on a rural landscape in upstate Michigan uncluttered by foot or paw prints Photo by Howard Blichfeldt "Jesus Breaks Every Fetter" Listen to this message on your audio player."Like a city whose walls are broken through is a person who lacks self-control" (Proverbs 25:28). "But since we belong to the day, let us be self-controlled" (1 Thessalonians 5:8). There's an old chorus from our Bible School days that speaks of the fetters (chains) that keep us bound in our life of sin. The word, "fetter" is not a word used often these days but it is used in various hymns describing the wonderful freedom that Christ brings. Jesus breaks every fetter, Jesus breaks every fetter, Jesus breaks every fetter, And He sets me free! Some 250 years ago British statesman Edmund Burke wrote, "Men are qualified for civil liberty in exact proportion to their disposition to put moral chains on their own appetites. Society cannot exist unless a controlling power upon will and appetite be placed somewhere, and the less of it there is within, the more there is without. It is ordained in the eternal constitution of things that men of intemperate minds cannot be free. Their passions forge their fetters." You might need to read the above quote several times to more fully grasp the message that Burke conveys. Clearly, one of the great virtues lacking in our day is that of self-control. As Burke observed we can see the awful results of those whose "passions forge their fetters". The binding chain of sin is disregarded or concealed in the heat of passion. Actions are justified and consequences forgotten until they're unavoidable. But today we want to challenge those who have been set free from sin through salvation in Christ. Today's second verse is a powerful reminder of how exercising self-control is a major responsibility of the believer, since "we belong to the day." Earlier in the chapter Paul contrasted the day with the night and darkness (v. 5). As God's children we now live in the light of God's truth and His revelation. We no longer reside in the domain of darkness where evil presides. We are called to live self-controlled lives. Self-control is the ninth Fruit of the Spirit listed in Galatians 5:22,23 and is one of the most deficient virtues found in the lives of believers in this present generation. We can fall into a lax state of practicing self-control and thus the call to self-control is repeated all through the New Testament. I am aware in my own life of the need to keep this discipline ever before me. In our hearts we likely can identify areas where we lack self-control. It may be in our eating, use of our time, finances, spiritual disciplines, our temperament or in a host of other areas. Some struggle to overcome destructive habits while others may need to apply self-control in their attitudes toward anger, worry, jealousy, or any other form of ungodliness. Take some time to reflect on those things in your life that have become fetters. Where do you need to exercise self-control? Be encouraged today, Stephen & Brooksyne Weber  Daily prayer: Father, as children of the light, we no longer desire the attitudes or behavior we practiced when living in ignorance where darkness reigns. After dying to self You took up residence and equipped us with the necessary tools to battle our struggle against sin. Help us to throw off everything that hinders, entangles, or identifies us with the enemy. Your discipline is always right and good for us because it means we will share in Your holiness. Self-control is a difficult exercise since it requires self-denial, restraint and full surrender to You. The reward follows as we enjoy a wonderful harvest of right living. Not only will it benefit us personally, but it will result in a testimony of thanksgiving to You, make us more like Christ and be an example to those we seek to influence. We ask Your help in the name of Jesus. Amen. This Saturday I visited with our friend Howard Blichfeldt at an outdoorsman show at the Lancaster Convention Center. Howard and his wife Sharon have been our friends for several years since my chaplain supervisor Al Worthley introduced us. Howard is an outstanding photographer and displays his art work in shows all over the country. He and Sharon reside in Pittsburgh, about 250 miles from Lancaster. The Outdoor Show had some outstanding animal mounts.  Brown bear   Today's Suggested Music and Supplemental Resources “Glorious Freedom" Video GVB Once I was bound by sin’s galling fetters, Chained like a slave, I struggled in vain; But I received a glorious freedom, When Jesus broke my fetters in twain. "Jesus Breaks Every Fetter" Video Musicians not identified "Come Thou Fount Of Every Blessing" Video Fernando Ortega In this song "fetters" is used in a positive sense. Oh, to grace how great a debtor daily I'm constrained to be! Let Thy grace, Lord, like a fetter, bind my wan-d'ring heart to Thee: Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it; prone to leave the God I love. Here's my heart, Lord, take and seal it; seal it for Thy courts above. Send a message to Stephen & Brooksyne  Stephen and Brooksyne Weber (Click on photo to enlarge) About Us "We want to encourage you daily in your walk with Christ!" Personal Ministry Update (Revised 12/10/14) 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.2015 YTD offerings to Daily Encouragement Net: $1,025.00 We express thanks to all who support our ministry! SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION  If this email was forwarded 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. 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"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 make it my life's goal to please the Lord. My mission in life is to honor God through my faith and obedience and 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 2015 Stephen C. Weber - All Rights Reserved Daily Encouragement Net Stephen & Brooksyne Weber 495 Kraybill Church Road - Mount Joy, PA 17552  Endorsed chaplain "Living securely today anchored in God's solid foundation" www.dailyencouragement.net |
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