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 The online Bible teaching ministry of Stephen & Brooksyne Weber. <Previous Message · Archives · Archive edition Friday, July 8, 2011  Yesterday morning we passed through Lancaster City, which has old upright pianos in public places available for people to play. Brooksyne is on Penn Square playing "Jesus Loves Me" while a homeless man looks on and immediately smiled with recognition. She purposely chooses a song that might be recognized by one who may have lost their way but remembers their childhood songs from church. "Amazing Grace" is another great hymn of recognition she often plays.  Listen to this message on your audio player."Disguise and Deception" "Satan disguises himself as an angel of light" (2 Corinthians 11:14). "Don't be deceived, my dear brothers" (James 1:16).  I recall a time when Brooksyne left for a meeting after having cleaned the kitchen. I noticed the coffeemaker was still on and figured she had made herself some fresh coffee prior to going to the meeting so I poured myself a cup. I took one drink and started coughing, spitting it out as I repulsed at the horribly sour acidy taste. Turns out it was coffee flavored hot vinegar! I told her about the horrible vinegar/coffee drink in the coffee pot when she came home. After I finally convinced her I was not teasing she had a good laugh. She had run some vinegar through the coffeemaker and mistakenly left old coffee grounds in the basket so the vinegar "looked" like coffee as it poured through. She wasn't trying to disguise her cleaning process or deceive me although she normally empties out the carafe prior to running the vinegar solution into it. I should have been more observant at the light brownish color of the "coffee", since we tend to like our coffee on the stronger side! This reminds me of another form of deception, but this one is quite intentional. It is a deception that we, as Christ's followers, need to be on our constant guard against. Today's first Scripture forthrightly states, "Satan disguises himself as an angel of light." Essentially in this deception Satan seeks to steal the identity of an angel of light, a good angel. The word translated "disguises" is very interesting. Other translations use the words "transform" or "masquerade" to translate the Greek word "metaschēmatizō", which means "to change in fashion or appearance." From the very beginning Satan has used disguises in various forms as a means of deception, as in the garden he disguised himself as a serpent. Jesus, in His most lengthy teaching on Satan said, "He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies" (John 8:44). A great line in the hymn "A Mighty Fortress" expresses it this way: But still our ancient foe doth seek to work us woe, His craft and power are great and armed with cruel hate On earth is not his equal. Thank God for the remainder of the great old hymn which reminds us of God's provision to overcome our enemy through the infinitely greater power of Jesus Christ. Today I encourage you to turn fully to Christ and be ever vigilant against our enemy. Heed the simple words from James 1:16, "Don't be deceived." Be encouraged today, Stephen & Brooksyne Weber  Daily prayer: Father, keep us alert and vigilant since our enemy, the devil, runs around like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. We don't want to be enslaved by him who is the father of lies. His deceit has brought down scores of godly people because they were not on their guard. We know the way to protect ourselves is by wearing the armor of God mentioned in Ephesians 6, practicing discernment, and being prayerful in every situation. It's in Jesus' name that we pray. Amen.Brooksyne's Note: I told Stephen I had cleaned the coffee pot with vinegar and he was to run it through again. But he was reading and paid no attention, thus he had quite a "bitter cup" to swallow after my departure. Too bad I wasn't there to see the prune like face that would follow such an unexpected taste in one's mouth! A Slice of Our Life  The other night coming home from our midweek prayer meeting we passed our friends Oren and Naomi with a quaint sight reminding us of yesteryear and a slower pace, sitting out on the covered porch, surrounded by the beautiful geraniums, on a lovely summer evening!  We experienced some interesting traffic yesterday on Martindale Road in eastern Lancaster County.  It was finally our turn to pass, right on the bridge crossing the Conestoga River. It appears to be an old-order Mennonite family taking watermelons to market.  We took our turn in passing and then took this photo as they approached us.  We stopped by the Glenwood Produce stand and I heard one of my favorite sounds in life, the putt putt of an old John Deere tractor. Turns out the farmer had attached an airplane propeller to a belt powered by the flywheel on the tractor and was drying onions!  Here I am in front of our home on a 1942 John Deere with the great putt putt sound. If you care to listen here's how it sounds click here.  Any idea why Brooksyne is soaking flowers in a small swimming pool? Today's Suggested Music and Supplemental Resources "A Mighty Fortress" Video GLAD 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. 2011 financial offerings to Daily Encouragement Net as of 7/6/11: $6,735.00 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. Daily Encouragement on Facebook and Twitter:  The daily message and prayer on Facebook. The daily message and prayer on Twitter.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 |
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