 The online Bible teaching ministry of Stephen & Brooksyne Weber. <Previous Message · Archives · Archive edition Friday, January 14, 2011  We passed this gate and winter rural view along Rissermill Road yesterday.  Listen to this message on your audio player."The Narrow Gate" "Open to me the gates of righteousness; I shall enter through them, I shall give thanks to the LORD. This is the gate of the LORD; The righteous will enter through it" (Psalm 118:19,20). "Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it" (Matthew 7:13,14). I suppose I have always been intrigued with farm gates; the way they operate, their various styles, colors and sizes, etc. It probably goes back to my childhood when I often played on my Uncle Gentry's farm in southern Missouri and later worked on a farm during my senior year in college. Brooksyne, on the other hand, grew up on a small farm and was pretty accustomed to opening and closing gates both at her home in Oklahoma and at her grandparents' farm in northwest Arkansas. As a child she often heard, "Make sure the gate's shut." She's told me more than once of the humiliation she experienced as a teen having to chase in the cows, horses (and even pigs) that ran loose in the neighborhood due to someone forgetting to close the gate. “Gate” is a common word found in the Bible from Genesis through Revelation. That's not surprising since the Bible was written during a time when virtually every reader was familiar with agriculture. In fact the word is used some 350 times depending on the translation according to my study on Biblegateway.com. This site features a handy word search that includes a total of times the word is used. But in that time the word, “gate” was not used merely in the agricultural sense but also for city gates, the portals through which one entered or departed. The temple also had gates and thus we have the marvelous phrase from Psalm 100:4, "Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise; give thanks to Him and praise His name.”  We often sang this verse over the years and I recall one Sunday morning, over 25 years ago, when Mike Matangelo put into practice the meaning of this verse. He was teaching an adult Sunday School class and marched his students outdoors so they could purposefully enter the “gates” of our church with rejoicing in their hearts and thanksgiving on their lips. I doubt that anyone present in that class has ever forgotten that spiritual exercise!But today we want to consider a spiritual gate, one that through Christ's atoning work, is open to all who place our faith in Him! The Psalmist begins the first daily verse with a plea, "Open to me the gates of righteousness." He follows through with this commitment, "I shall enter through them, I shall give thanks to the LORD." The Psalmist identifies the owner of this gate: "This is the gate of the LORD; the righteous will enter through it." This gate is revealed in a teaching by Christ in the Sermon on the Mount: "Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it" (Matthew 7:13,14). In this age of religious pluralism, diversity, and tolerance these words of our Lord may seem harsh and even unloving. It's amazing to some of us that our country's slide into decadence would be so great that a national memorial service regarding those tragically slain last Saturday in Tucson would be opened in "prayer" by a pagan medicine man. As one editor put it, “he began the off kilter scene with his pseudo-blessing of rocks and trees, northern doors, and -- well, whatever he was blessing, anyway.” I address the faithful here; those who have "eyes to see and ears to hear" the words of our Lord. Let us faithfully adhere to the teachings of Christ revealed in the Holy Bible and let us enter through the narrow gate that leads us to His paths of righteousness. Be encouraged today, Stephen & Brooksyne Weber  Daily Prayer: Father, there are so many options laid out for us that are man-made, popularity driven and financially motivated directing us to the broad path of destruction where the majority go. Instead we, as Your redeemed people, make the willful choice to enter the gate that is small and the way that is narrow. It is not the easy choice, but it is the right choice. The broad gate diminishes the traveler’s hope as they come to the end of their perishable walk and see nothing but a dead end. But the narrow, righteous path increases our hope as we see no end in sight but an upward path leading to eternal life where no sorrow, sin, or suffering is permitted. It is there that we will enter the gates of heaven and dwell for all eternity with our glorious Redeemer and all the saints who chose to enter the narrow gate here on earth. Keep us faithfully walking the narrow path, we pray in the name of Jesus. Amen. Anyone know what these are? (place mouse over photo for answer)  I like this view of a dinner bell that's still being used.  We stopped by to see some friends. Luke and Anna Mae are busy making whoopie pies at the kitchen table. We sampled them and they are, oh so good!  Anyone interested in an Australian cattle puppy! See here for video of Moses showing off the puppies.  Ester is feeling better and slowly regaining her energy, although resting more than usual these days. She loved holding this puppy. 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.) "I Will Enter His Gates With Thanksgiving In My Heart" Video Maranatha Music This is the song Mike led the class in many years ago! Great song that will bring a smile to your face and joy to your heart! "You Are My Hiding Place" Video Maranatha Singers "The Narrow Gate" Video An interesting video witness. Send a message to Stephen & Brooksyne. |
 "We want to encourage you daily in your walk with Christ!" Personal Ministry Update (Revised 12/31/10)  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 to Daily Encouragement Net through 12/31/10 $19,494.00 Note: A final accounting for 2010 offerings to our ministry will not be available for several days until we receive a final report from our chaplaincy account of offerings given directly online. We want to thank all who have supported our ministry!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 2011 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 |  |
