 The online Bible teaching ministry of Stephen & Brooksyne Weber. <Previous Message · Archives · Archive edition Monday, November 29, 2010  We passed this tidy farm near Maytown, PA yesterday.  Listen to this message on your audio player."Lessons From A Purring Cat" "Through Him then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name" (Hebrews 13:15). "He who offers a sacrifice of thanksgiving honors Me" (Psalm 50:23). We've had some cold weather in our area the last several days so I cranked up our coal stove practically to the maximum output. Last night I was sitting on the recliner beside the stove when our cat Dottie jumped up to sit on my lap. Over the years I have periodically written about Dottie and displayed her photos. She's not as prominent in our messages as our dog Roxie, who tends to be much more personable and outgoing. But we have enjoyed her being part of our family for over nine years now, the longest we have ever had a pet. Her mother was a wild barn cat who surprised us with a litter of newborn kittens in a dilapidated summer kitchen attached to our home. We were renting a 100 year old farm house at the time following our move down to Pennsylvania from New England in early 2001. Since my childhood I've really enjoyed hearing a cat purr when stroked gently or held closely. Last night Dottie just purred away as I slowly stroked her back and face. I don't know the biological basis of a cat's purr but I take it to be a sign of contentment and appreciation. It's as if she is saying. "Ah, that is so nice." But I also find myself getting so much satisfaction when I hold a purring cat. Scripture teaches that our praise glorifies God and, really, aren't we also expressing our contentedness and thankfulness when we earnestly enter into praise? When we praise the Lord we rest in His presence and acknowledge His steadfast love and care. Many have wondered, "What is the distinction between praise and thanksgiving?" It is commonly taught that praise is our worship toward God concerning who God is while thanksgiving is our worship toward God concerning what He has done. In practice though they often used interchangeably such as in our daily texts. The writer of Hebrews ended his letter with a call to praise the Lord. "Through Him then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name." I encourage you to rest in the arms of our loving God and express your love for Him as you recall the ancient words of the Psalmist, "He who offers a sacrifice of thanksgiving honors Me." Let us, as His children, offer up our praise and thanksgiving to Him today! Be encouraged today, Stephen & Brooksyne Weber  Daily prayer: Father, as we give praise to You we are offering our heartfelt thanks for who You are and all that You do on our behalf. As we mature in our walk with You we realize that there are many occasions when we must offer a sacrifice of praise since it doesn't always come easily nor often enough. It is in those circumstances that we willfully choose to praise You out of obedient hearts desirous of pleasing You and glorifying Your name. May our words be fruitful and our thoughts praiseworthy in the name of Jesus we pray. Amen.Summer kitchen: A summer kitchen is a small building, usually away from the main house, where the canning/preserving, washing of clothes, etc was done in the extremely hot weather, so as not to heat up the main house. At times, the summer kitchen was attached to the house, but was situated so that it didn't warm up the main part of the house. In our case it was attached at the side of our house in the back.  We mentioned that we use a coal stove to heat our house (with occasional supplement from electric heat). We thought some of our readers might enjoy seeing how this system works.  The coal is delivered and placed in a coal bin beside our small barn at the side of our house. I can normally load 4 tons at a time into the bin which lasts the winter. We use Pennsylvania anthracite coal to heat our home. The delivery man has to get up in the bed of the truck as it is being unloaded. He has a hard job! Anthracite is a hard coal that burns clean and efficiently.  The coal slides from the truck down the chute into the bin. I take the coal into the house in large buckets and fill a hopper behind the stove. From the hopper the coal is slowly fed to the fire. I also have to empty the ash pan and dispose of the ash daily. The stove essentially heats our entire home with a little electric heat assist on really cold days.  Inside the stove the coal on the burner plate is white hot.  Roxie and Dottie enjoy laying together in front of the stove.  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.) Send a message to Stephen & Brooksyne. |
 "We want to encourage you daily in your walk with Christ!" Personal Ministry Update (Revised 10/21/10)  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 11/28/10 $12,969.00 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 by us 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 you no longer desire to receive these messages you can remove your address from the list by merely using 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 or who may desire less frequent mailings. It is Friday's 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 online reader survey. To take the 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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