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 Tuesday, June 1, 2010  The Memorial Day storm filled our front lawn and surrounded our sign. Brooksyne had just planted tiny flower seed all around the sign, which was most likely washed away.  Listen to this message on your audio player."Lessons From The Storm" "Praise the LORD from the earth, you great sea creatures and all ocean depths, lightning and hail, snow and clouds, stormy winds that do His bidding" (Psalm 148:7,8). Late yesterday afternoon we had a memorable Memorial Day storm. It began shortly before our friends, Ken and Nila, and their two boys joined us for dinner and it rained heavily all through our meal. Over just a couple of hours we had four inches of pounding rain, hail the size of quarters, howling winds and crackling thunder along with the fireworks of lightning that brightened the dark skies. We watched out our front window as a large pond formed in our lawn due to the rapidly rising waters. After the storm passed through we walked out and assessed the damage up close. Ester had some fun with little David in the "pond" and then, like many curious neighbors, we drove around to examine the storm's damage. Especially interesting was the surging high waters on a normally shallow and gentle Donegal Creek. Neighbors had come together; some bailing out water from their garages and basements. But today we awakened to a beautiful day and already this morning I cleaned up numerous branches and storm debris in our yard. With the early sun accompanied by a significant continuous breeze the pond is already dried up which will be a big disappointment the next time David comes over expecting to play in the Weber "pond"! I must admit I really like storms. Certainly not the damage, injuries or deaths but the awesome display of God's sovereign power. Psalm 148 is not necessarily one of the better known Psalms and I doubt if very many of you would list it as among your favorites. It begins with a Hebrew phrase that we also use in the English; "Hallelu Yah". We also use the word, hallelujah, in the English, which is translated "Praise the Lord." In fact the word "praise" is found 12 times in this short Psalm. Consider the portion of our daily verse that states, "that do His bidding". Although it seems the focus of Psalm 148 is to express the universal praise of which God is worthy, this little portion is a part of God's Word and merits our attention. The KJV translates this phrase, "fulfilling His word." This phrase seems to grammatically associate with those words that immediately precede it; "lightning and hail, snow and clouds, stormy winds". Generally these are conditions in which we find discomfort. But God's Word says they "do His bidding." Remember this the next time you face a storm whether it's literal or spiritual. God has authority over the storms that reap havoc all about us. The peace of God prevails in our hearts when we recognize the storms ultimately do His bidding.  Today the immutable God is still at work controlling nature. In times past He has ordained periods of drought to remind mankind of Who is really in charge and certainly that could happen again. But last evening here in southern Pennsylvania we had a demonstrable rain, though certainly not in the amount that Nashville, Tennessee or more recently Guatemala has endured with the tropic floods.Yet we are to "praise God from whom all blessings flow" in the midst of plenty and in times of want, in times of flourishing rains and in times of drought. We acknowledge with Jeremiah that God is our absolute source of hope in the storms, both literally and figuratively, this day and every day. "Therefore our hope is in You, for You are the One who does all this" (Jeremiah 14:22). Be encouraged today, Stephen & Brooksyne Weber Daily prayer: Jesus, You are the Peacespeaker who controls the winds and waves. All of Your creation must submit to Your bidding. Nothing escapes Your attention nor can anything exceed Your power or authority. Help us to trust You during the times of calm and during the tidal waves of life. You're an ever-present, ever-powerful God who is ever-worthy of all our ever-lasting praise. Amen. Psalm 148 Some more photos from our Memorial Day storm  We watched out our picture window as the waters rose in our front lawn to form a pond (the road is in the background). This picture doesn't show it very well but we found it interesting to watch the hail hit the water, which gave the appearance of many small fish feeding. It made me want to go fishing!  Here's our rain guage following the storm. Each inch of rain spread over an acre is equal to some 27,000 gallons of water. Since we live on a 1/2 acre lot we had over 50,000 gallons poured on us yesterday afternoon! Billions of gallons of rain fell over our entire region in just a couple of hours! This leads me to consider this aspect of what theologians call "common grace" (God's goodness expressed to all people, both the redeemed and unredeemed.) The water is spread over the earth incrementally in drops rather than poured out all at once in one place, as we would empty a bucket. That to me is another powerful, yet often overlooked, evidence of "intelligent design" that points to our Creator. After the storm passed Ester and David enjoyed playing in the "pond"!  This was a section of the Donegal Creek flood waters below us on Trout Run Road.  This section of Donegal Creek, seen from Colebrook Road is above us. Since the creek only starts a mile or two above this point it's amazing to see how much water can accumulate so quickly. We watched from the bridge as my neighbor Lester's heifers walked into the flooded waters. He was concerned that one would fall over and drown or keep moving toward us and get sucked into the culvert under the bridge.  This is our walking path along Donegal Creek that we often write about and share photos from. Today's Suggested Music and Supplemental Resources Click on the link to open and play. 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  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 5/31/10 $5,608.00 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 through feedburner.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. Reader Survey: Please take a few minutes to assist us in improving our ministry effectiveness by filling out this onlne reader survey. Click here. 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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