 The online Bible teaching ministry of Stephen & Brooksyne Weber A daily, Bible-based perspective of hope, encouragement and exhortation. <Previous Messages · Archives ·  Archive/print edition Listen to us share this message on your audio player."Staying On Guard" "The other Jews joined him in his hypocrisy, so that by their hypocrisy even Barnabas was led astray" (Galatians 2:13). "Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you-guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us" (2 Timothy 1:14). I have on my heart this morning a friend from long ago. We went through Bible College together, preparing for a life of service for Christ. We went our separate ways and for several years stayed nominally in touch. However he progressively moved away from sound doctrine and godly living and the last I heard he was living in an apostate condition. We reconnected several years ago but from our conversation I could tell we were not at all on the same page when it came to spiritual matters. Our first daily verse is set in the context of Paul's encounter with the Judaizers, a false religious group that insisted on the keeping of ceremonial aspects of the Jewish law as a condition to salvation. The "him" in the verse is the mighty Peter, who had also been affected by this doctrine and at least for a time appeared to have embraced it. But the part of the verse that grips my attention is the phrase, "even Barnabas was led astray." Barnabas is among my favorite Bible characters. He first appears in Acts 4:36 as "Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus." But the apostles gave him the nickname Barnabas which means "son of encouragement" and that's what he is known as through the rest of the Scriptures. He was an early encourager to Paul (Saul at the time) and they developed a long-time relationship. Barnabas had stood up for him when nobody believed the persecutor Saul could really be saved. Later they went on a missionary journey together. They had argued and parted company over a onetime deserter, John Mark, but later reconciled. Paul seemed surprised that the Judaizers had influenced Barnabas, even more so than he was at Peter's involvement. What lesson might we find in this? Thankfully, we can conclude from the balance of Scripture, that both Peter and Barnabas came to recognize their error and went on to have faithful ministry for our Lord. Praise God for that. But I consider that if two great leaders of the early church could be affected by error, how on guard we should be. I am astounded at the many false doctrines and practices that are impacting the church in our day. Paul encouraged Timothy to "Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you - guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us" (2 Timothy 1:14). We need to stay on our toes and more in the Word than ever before, like the Berean believers in Acts 17! Each generation has a responsibility in guarding the good deposit of faith passed on by the preceding generation and in turn passing it on to the succeeding one. That's at the very heart of what Biblical Christian faith is all about. In fact Paul set forth the pattern to Timothy, "And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others" (2 Timothy 2:2). In a sense I am both receiving the torch and passing it on simultaneously. As I study the Bible and godly material from previous generations I'm still reaching back and receiving from many believers in the past who have guarded the good deposit. And now I'm passing it on to those in our present generation who will also affect future generations. How about you? Let us stay on our guard. Be encouraged today, Stephen & Brooksyne Weber Daily prayer: Father, with the help of the Holy Spirit, we seek to guard the truths and commandments entrusted to us through the Holy Scriptures. We don’t want to be swayed by man's opinions and will not be if we are firmly anchored to the Rock which can't be moved. We stand firm and strong when we, by conviction of Your Holy Spirit, embrace Your teachings and refute that which conflicts. Help us to be sober and vigilant as our adversary the devil seeks to divide believers and destroy their faith. By the grace of God we will be strong, stand united, and overcome his attacks. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Several photos of the Lehigh Gorge  We visited this area on Monday and it was slightly overcast but the fall foliage was still beautiful!  The Lehigh River forms a quiet pool at this point although through much of the gorge it is rapids.  This long abandoned railway tunnel was cut in the 1,800's.   The Lehigh Gorge Scenic Railway train I suppose my only disappointment was that it wasn't a steam engine. Here in Lancaster County we have the Strasburg Railroad with an authentic steam engine! Or see this photo. 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.) "Find Us Faithful" Video "Resist him" 1 Peter 5:8,9 from the Integrity Scripture Memory series. Audio (Open this page and click on the play button) This entire album goes well with today's theme. Yesterday we were all very blessed by the "In The Beginning" presentation at the Sight and Sound Theatre here in Lancaster County. It is an outstanding depiction of the Creation story. As is true in every presentation we have seen in this theatre, it ends with a powerful proclamation of the Gospel. Send a message to Stephen & Brooksyne |
 "We want to encourage you daily in your walk with Christ!" Personal Ministry Update Revised 05/08/09  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. (2009 YTD financial offerings through 10/14/09: $8,510.00)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 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 update through feedburner. You can also subscribe to Daily Encouragement feed updates by email.Cancel: We respect and value your time and privacy. If these messages no longer meet your needs (providing encouragement) you can remove your address by merely use 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. It is merely the Friday message with a link to previous messages. To receive the free weekly version, send a blank email to this address. 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 2009 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 |  |
