A daily, Bible-based message of hope and encouragement.
 A daily, Bible-based message of hope, encouragement and exhortation. Click here to donate online.The online Bible teaching ministry of Stephen & Brooksyne Weber. <Previous Message · Archive edition Thursday, November 29, 2012  A foggy morning in Lancaster County (Photo by Doris High)  Listen to this message on your audio player."Friends Below and Friends Above" "For the Lord Himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage each other with these words" (1 Thessalonians 4:16-18). We enjoy singing the typical Thanksgiving hymns and one often associated with Thanksgiving, but certainly appropriate year round, is "For The Beauty Of The Earth". This year, when we sang it the Sunday before Thanksgiving, a line especially caught my attention though I've sung it many times. Since then I have been pondering the following underscored phrase, from this stanza: For the joy of human love, Brother, sister, parent, child; Friends on earth and friends above, For all gentle thoughts and mild; Lord of all, to Thee we raise This, our hymn of grateful praise.  On Thanksgiving Day Ester was reading notes from earlier Thanksgivings in which we, as a family, had written about our blessings over the previous year. One she read from the year 2000 stated, "I am thankful I got to see the tall ships and Brother Bill". Ester had written that note, as an eleven year old, referring to a trip we took into Boston where we saw the tall sailing ships and saw our dear friend, Bill Shibilo, who was in the hospital at the time. He went to be with the Lord shortly after our visit. Bill and his wife Veda were very supportive members of the church we served in Massachusetts. Bill had a real servant's heart and was one the kindest persons I have ever known. The photo to the left shows him with Ester as he is turning over the soil in our small garden plot beside our church building. We stay in contact with Veda who to this day bears a prayer burden for Ester, for which we are very grateful. Veda served as my secretary practically the entire time we lived up that way and continues to serve in that role to this day. "Friends below and friends above." The older you get the more meaningful this phrase becomes. We have many friends here below but an increasing number who are now above. We consider some of our very elderly readers who just may have more friends above than below! Our daily text speaks of a future event all believers look forward to. It's a familiar passage dealing with the rapture. I want to consider especially these words, "we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air." This describes a great reunion unlike any other; a time when "friends below and friends above" will converge together with Jesus in their midst. It will be the ultimate reunion and will include several notable, distinct features, unlike any family reunion held here on earth:
Be encouraged today, Stephen & Brooksyne Weber  Daily prayer: Heavenly Father, I pray that You will capture our minds and draw our hearts to that which has been prepared for us. May we, with child-like anticipation, keep our attention drawn to the eternal truths of Your Word that remind us of our future inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. It will lift our face toward heaven; our future home where we will enjoy a sinless atmosphere, never-ending fellowship with our brothers and sisters and the majesty of Your presence forever. Amen.Today's Suggested Music and Supplemental Resources "For The Beauty Of The Earth" Video This is the hymn tune I am accustomed to singing and includes the lyrics on screen with beautiful photos. "For The Beauty Of The Earth" Video This is not the hymn tune I am accustomed to but a more high church version that maintains the same lyrics. "For The Beauty Of The Earth" Video Here's a beautiful instrumental version with the tune we are most familiar with. (This also used as the background for today's podcast. "How Beautiful Heaven Must Be" Video Danny Funderburk "When We All Get To Heaven" Video Gaither Gospel Group "Won't It Be Wonderful There" Video Ordinary folks Doris High's "Day to Day" photo collection from which today's foggy morning photo came from. She has some amazing bird photos. Doris is a local friend I met several years ago when I worked for a short time with Transport For Christ. Doris and her husband Cerwin also work in that ministry. Send a message to Stephen & Brooksyne. |
 Stephen and Brooksyne Weber (Click on photo to enlarge) "We want to encourage you daily in your walk with Christ!" Personal Ministry Update (Revised 10/12)  Are our daily encouragement messages a blessing to you? Each weekday morning Brooksyne and I prepare these messages and distribute them at no cost to you and many others all over the world. We ask you to consider an offering to Daily Encouragement Net so that we can continue to prepare and provide this daily resource which is accessed by believers and seekers all over the world. Daily Encouragement Net relies solely on the generosity and financial support of its readers and podcast listeners. See here for more information on supporting this ministry. Gifts are tax deductible. Click here to donate online. 2012 financial offerings to Daily Encouragement Net as of 11/28/12: $15,671.00. We express thanks to all who support 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 to our email list. These messages are never sent by us unsolicited. It was sent to you because you either signed up to receive it OR it was forwarded it to you. You can also subscribe to the Wordpress rss feed or as an email subscription through Wordpress email subscription. (See the email subscription on the right side after opening this page.)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! Our other blogs: "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!) (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. 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 2012 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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