Daily Encouragement Net - A daily, Bible-based message of hope and encouragement.
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 The online Bible teaching ministry of Stephen & Brooksyne Weber A daily, Bible-based perspective of hope, encouragement and exhortation. <Previous Message · Archives · Archive edition Wednesday, March 3, 2010  Tom and Marsha Neizmik are long-time friends who live on a farm in the Allegheny mountains in northern Pennsylvania. They enjoy this beautiful view from their kitchen window. "Lessons From Barns" "The LORD will send a blessing on your barns and on everything you put your hand to" (Deuteronomy 28:8). There's something that intrigues me about barns. They vary in size, design, color and even their intended usage. There are cattle barns, feed barns, equipment barns and many other kinds of barns. As a little boy I would play in my Uncle Gentry's barn on his farm outside of Harwood Missouri. When the cousins would come together during family gatherings we'd play vigorously for hours in the hay loft.  Many of the barns in that area are now dilapidated much like the one barn that we'd pass as we made the trip to my grandparents' house. It seemed that with each passing year the timbers were more rotted and the entire barn was leaning more and more toward the earth, similar to the silo in the photo. On each trip I'd eagerly watch for the spot to see if the weathered barn had finally collapsed but it never did. I wonder to this day if it's still standing!Brooksyne grew up on a farm where they had a couple of smaller barns. She doesn't have such fond memories since their farm chores included cleaning up the cow and horse stalls. Fortunately that job fell more often to her brother as he got older rather than the girls. Though she does remember a few times doing the nasty chore for her brother, Jody, in exchange for his promise not to tattle on her if there was something she didn't want her parents to know. I wonder if siblings still use blackmail to get out of doing their chores.  Today's verse is a wonderful promise from Scripture, "The Lord will send a blessing on your barns and on everything you put your hand to." Barns, also called storehouses, could be a source of pride to farmers if they were not careful to acknowledge their abundance was from God. "The Lord will send..." It's so vital to recognize where the blessings come from. We regularly sing the doxology, "Praise God from whom all blessings flow." God continues to send forth his physical and spiritual blessings. Sadly, many rely on other sources to provide for their needs and even have entitlement attitudes. God owes us nothing and yet provides for all that we have need of. "A blessing on your barns" indicates the agricultural way of life so common in the Bible period. In principle it surely also means your work or business, whatever that may be, that relates to the way we make a living today. Note carefully that this Scripture expresses a cooperative relationship. God is faithful to bless. But notice the phrase, "on everything you put your hand to." Farmers don't lay around just waiting for God's blessing. They work hard using the skills God has taught them over the years, often through the trials and errors of farming. Although most of us don't work on farms the principle is surely the same.  Let us claim this promise and let us faithfully do our part in obedience to God's commands! Be encouraged today, Stephen & Brooksyne Weber Daily prayer: Father, we are confident that You will provide for all our needs as we obey Your commands. You have instituted work from the very beginning so that we can provide for ourselves that which we have need of. Your blessings fall upon those who obey You and who are not idle or wasteful. We thank You for our jobs and the skills needed to perform our duties. We lift up our brothers and sisters who are diligently looking for employment but are awaiting doors to open. Father, we pray that You would open the right door and provide for their needs in supernatural and unconventional ways as You always care for Your own, no matter the circumstances. May it be a time of trusting and growing as they look to You for their provisions and for the open door. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. You will recall the farmer in Luke 12:13-21 who wanted to replace his smaller barns with bigger ones when he saw that he had a great crop. I wonder how the parable would have ended if the farmer had given proper thanks and recognition to God for His blessings. What if he had prayed, "God, reveal to me a family(ies) whose crop did not have a good yield so that I can share from my abundance." Surely, by storing up all the harvest for just his family the food would have been rancid by the end of the season.  Another view of the Neizmik barn  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.) "Great Is Thy Faithfulness" Video Selah |
 "We want to encourage you daily in your walk with Christ!" Personal Ministry Update Revised 10/21/09  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.2010 YTD financial offerings as of 3/2/10 $1,545.00 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 2010 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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