A daily, Bible-based message of hope and encouragement.
 A daily, Bible-based message of hope, encouragement and exhortation. Click here to support our ministry.The online Bible teaching ministry of Stephen & Brooksyne Weber. <Previous Message · Archive edition Thursday, March 21, 2013  Lancaster County farmhouse  Listen to this message on your audio player."With All My Heart" "I will praise you, O LORD, with all my heart" (Psalm 138:1).  Last weekend there was a fatal bus accident along the Pennsylvania Turnpike. A bus was carrying the Seton Hill Women's Lacrosse team from Western PA to play a match against Millersville University here in Lancaster County. The bus driver and Kristina Quigley, the Seton Hill Lacrosse coach, along her unborn baby, were killed.I am touched by the sportsmanship of our local college (Millersville) who are selling wristbands to help raise funds for Kristina's remaining child. Especially touching has been a clip our local news outlets have been playing of our Millersville coach tearfully expressing compassion for her deceased colleague. Death is so often an ugly intruder but especially gripping when it impacts the young.  This brings to mind an interesting testimony I heard several years ago at my brother's church in Easton, PA. In 1988 a bus accident in Kentucky devastated a large group of church young people. The bus collided with a pickup truck traveling in the wrong direction on an interstate highway, being driven by a man under the influence of alcohol. As a result of the collision the bus caught fire and quite a number of young people and several adults were killed and many others seriously injured, though the driver of the truck escaped unharmed. We have passed the sign marking the site of the crash along I-71 in our travels.Martha Tennison, the wife of the pastor of the church at that time, shared with the congregation how a deep heaviness came over their church in the months following the accident that just wouldn't lift. Among those killed in the accident was the associate pastor who left a widow and three children. Their oldest daughter was burned over 65% of her body and her mother had spent week after week in the hospital caring for her before returning to church. She was on the worship team on this particular Sunday when they began singing "Hallelujah, Praise the Lamb" though she sang with a very heavy heart. Both physically and spiritually weak she felt unable to offer praise, but also sensed the Lord speaking these words to her heart, "Offer Me a sacrifice of praise". She began to raise her hands in full surrender and whole-hearted praise. As she did so, the heaviness lifted and the visitation of the Holy Spirit refreshed not only this sister's heart but He moved throughout the congregation leading to a time of extended praise for five hours! The simple statement in the daily text should be a practice of all believers. The Psalmist exclaimed, "I will praise you, O LORD, with all my heart" (Psalm 138:1). Among the certainties of God's will for each of our lives is that we are called to praise the Lord. Interestingly the final verse in all the Psalms exclaims, "Let everything that has breath praise the LORD. Praise the LORD" (Psalm 150:6). Today some of you surely have a heavy heart and find God's call to praise Him very hard and you may even be resisting this call to praise. You've been deeply hurt and just don't understand God's ways in regard to your circumstances at all. The call to praise is not conditioned upon our ability to understand all His ways. We urge you today to join the Psalmist and scores of believers through the ages in a simple proclamation; "I will praise you, O LORD, with all my heart." Hallelujah! Praise the Lamb! Hallelujah! Praise the Lamb! My heart sings His praise again, Hallelujah! Praise the Lamb! * Be encouraged today, Stephen & Brooksyne Weber  Daily prayer: Father, we want to bless You at all times and in all circumstances. May praise continually be uttered from our lips as it overflows from our heart. Whatever we are going through, and however long its duration may it not deter us from giving You praise and thanksgiving for who You are and all that You do on our behalf. As we seek You we find Your all-sufficiency to be our strength, power and might. In the wonderful name of Jesus we pray. Amen.Yesterday we visited Lee, a friend of ours who lives in the yellow farmhouse, featured in our daily photo. He is restoring a portion of the old barn on his property and has left exposed the original wood beams which I found particularly interesting.  Here is a closeup of a support beam which is notched where a rafter beam is set and attached with a large square iron nail. When we lived in New England I enjoyed visiting the Tremont Nail Company which is the oldest nail manufacturer in the country still making nails. Here's an interesting history.  Here is a mortise joint with the wood peg exposed. The beam with the tenon joint was removed leaving the hole open. It's interesting to consider given our being accustomed to modern power tools the labor that went into a process of this single visible joint and there are many joints like this in the barn. Lee has used a finish that brings out the natural color and richness of the wood grain.  The home is next door to an Amish home and Lee took this photo of the Amish gathering for a church service from an attic window of his home. I don't suppose too many of us have this view on a Sunday morning from our home! For a larger photo see here. Today's Suggested Music and Supplemental Resources "Hallelujah, Praise The Lamb" Video Homecoming series "I Will Praise Him, Still" Video Fernando Ortega "Blessed Be Your Name" Video Matt Redman "This is The Promise" Video The Martins Seton Hill Lacrosse bus accident Kentucky bus accident Thoughtful readers! Several months ago we wrote a message about being "The Fragrance Of Life" and inquired at the time that finding songs referring to fragrance was hard. Yesterday I was visiting with Mark, an IT friend in one of our companies, who recalled this query and suggested the song "There's Something About That Name" due to this line, "like the fragrance after the rain" Video This version has the powerful narration by Gloria Gaither. |
 Stephen and Brooksyne Weber (Click on photo to enlarge) "We want to encourage you daily in your walk with Christ!" Personal Ministry Update (Revised 12/31/12)  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.2013 YTD financial offerings to Daily Encouragement Net as of 3/20/13: $4,195.00. 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. Other versions are also occasionally used. © Copyright 2013 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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