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 A daily, Bible-based perspective of hope, encouragement and exhortation. Home About Us Archives Free email subscription  Listen to these messages  Text only for printing Follow Daily Encouragement on Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn     See here for more info. <Previous Message · Archive edition Friday, February 20, 2015  Yesterday we passed this old farm along Meadow Spring Road in Lancaster County. It is very unusual to find rundown barns like this in our area. "The Ultimate Lightning" Listen to this message on your audio player."For the Son of Man in His day will be like the lightning, which flashes and lights up the sky from one end to the other" (Luke 17:24).  We awoke this morning to bitterly cold temperatures with a realfeel* temperature of -27 degrees Fahrenheit. The projected high today is only 13 degrees. Today, for the first time this year, I dealt with some frozen water pipes in a section of our home subjected to the howling winds coming from the west. Thankfully I was able to easily unthaw the pipes. Yesterday I spoke to Jesse, an Amish dairy farmer, who is having a great deal of trouble with frozen pipes in his dairy barn. Now that is a real problem!We indeed are in the extremely low temps of winter and many in our area long for warmer climes. But this season will soon pass as many locals remind themselves by counting down to spring (28 days)! In the meantime we resolve to enjoy the variety in God's creation.  In the internet world becoming "viral" is highly sought after. That happens when an email, Facebook meme or video is forwarded on and on and on. For instance a viral video is a video that becomes popular through a viral process of Internet sharing, typically through video sharing websites such as YouTube, social media and email.Early this week a video became viral of Jim Cantore, a weather reporter for the Weather Channel demonstrating his unrestrained excitement and marvel at snow thunder while reporting during a snowstorm in New England. We are quite sure some of our readers have seen it. (See below for link to view.) If you've ever experienced lightning and thunder during a snow storm you recall it is one nature's marvels. Just last week Ester heard thunder during one of our snowfalls, a first for her, and she was excited to hear it. Cantore ends his report by exclaiming, "You can have your 500 million dollar jackpot in Powerball, but I'll take this baby!!!" Now that's an interesting perspective but let us consider a far greater lightning show that awaits us who believe in and follow Christ. Let us consider it the ultimate lightning!  The subject of snow thunder got me to musing about future demonstrations of lightning and thunder. One day, with great certainty, I declare the Scriptural truth that there will be a cosmic event with lightning which flashes and lights up the entire sky from one end to the other. The first daily text is from a teaching where the Lord is proclaiming His second coming. The NASV heads the section, "Second Coming Foretold". When it comes to the end times earnest Christians may differ in regard to specific details. There are a variety of views that expound the way things will unfold. Based upon my studies I have a particular outlook, but I realize others who have earnestly studied these things may have a different one. The specifics are not something I am dogmatic about. But with certainty we look forward to the glorious time when the event our Lord Himself describes in the daily text will take place. "For the Son of Man in His day will be like the lightning, which flashes and lights up the sky from one end to the other." It will happen, perhaps today. That's a perspective we want to live with and encourage you to do the same! Weather reporter Jim Cantore was excited about snow thunder. How will we respond to the ultimate lightning described in our daily text! Will we be as excited? A great hymn that we so enjoy is titled "One Day" and it goes through the life of Christ from His birth to His second coming. It has a triumphant final verse that declares: One day the trumpet will sound for His coming; One day the skies with His glories will shine; Wonderful day, my beloved ones bringing; Glorious Savior, this Jesus is mine! Living He loved me; Dying He saved me; Buried He carried my sins far away; Rising, He justified freely forever; One day He's coming, O glorious day! Be encouraged today, Stephen & Brooksyne Weber  Daily prayer: Lord Jesus, I want to live today in glorious anticipation of Your second coming. Because You buried my sin into the deepest part of the ocean I do not live in condemnation. Rather I am freely pardoned by Your completely selfless and merciful death upon the cross. It brings unspeakable joy because You have broken the bondage of sin that held me captive for years. I'm also overjoyed in knowing that You, Lord, will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God to take me to be caught up with You in the air. I am greatly encouraged in knowing that I will forever be with You in the presence of Almighty God and the saints who've gone ahead of me. Keep me faithful, trusting, and anticipating that great day. Amen.Note from Brooksyne: I did not make a commitment to Christ until I was nearly 15 years old. I had been raised in church and was often reminded of the Lord's second coming through the many sermons I heard from our pastor and evangelists. I was fearful that I would not be ready should the Lord return suddenly. I Corinthians 15:52 was quoted often that describes the Lord's return as "a flash, in the twinkling of an eye…" In my immaturity (and youthful rebellion) I would practice the words, "Jesus forgive me" as fast as I could recite it while I blinked my eyes. I wanted to get into heaven…but just barely...because I wanted to choose my own way of life which didn't always line up with the Bible. Now, if that's not a rehearsed foxhole prayer I don't know what is. What a tremendous burden was lifted when I finally surrendered my heart to the Lord at a youth camp. I no longer feared the Lord's return nor did I continue to rehearse my quick exit line timed to the "blink of an eye". Instead I have anticipated with great excitement the Lord's second coming ever since. * RealFeel Temperature® "AccuWeather's exclusive RealFeel Temperature® combines more than a dozen factors to provide an accurate measure of how representative the current or forecast weather conditions really "feel" to an appropriately dressed person. In contrast, other indices such as "Feels Like" simply report either the Wind-Chill Index or the Heat Index, depending upon the temperature. Thus they only consider two weather factors: temperature and either wind speed or humidity." Tuesday I shared about my dad's birthday and a special memory of a pickup truck. Yesterday I spoke to both of my older brothers and we reminisced about our own teenage vehicle memories. Mike recalls racing a car down a long stretch that ended in a T and how close he came to being unable to stop which would have taken him headfirst into a ditch. Pat recalls an older pickup and going out one day and having quite a good time making donuts until he looked up and saw Dad, who just happened to be driving by. He recalls really "getting it" when he got home! Those were new stories to me and made me chuckle. Maybe you have some lesser told stories to share with your siblings.  Yesterday we stopped by to visit some friends at a large trucking repair company and they had an interesting project, doing maintenance on an old fire truck! Today's Suggested Music and Supplemental Resources A weather reporter's unabashed excitement at snow thunder Video (The video referred to in our message) "Glorious Day (Living He Loved Me)" Video Casting Crowns This is a modern version of the old hymn quoted today which we both really enjoy. "One Day" Video Dallas Christian Adult Concert Choir A nice rendering of the traditional version "Almost Morning" Video The Perrys "Voice Of a Savior" Video Marshall Hall "Mercy Said No" Video Greg Long "What Salvation's Done For Me" Video The Booth Brothers Send a message to Stephen & Brooksyne  Stephen and Brooksyne Weber (Click on photo to enlarge) About Us "We want to encourage you daily in your walk with Christ!" Personal Ministry Update (Revised 12/10/14) 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.2015 YTD offerings to Daily Encouragement Net: $1,611.00 We express thanks to all who support our ministry! SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION  If this email was forwarded to you, you can subscribe here.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 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: These messages are only sent from us to people who request it; please accept our apologies if it reached you in error. You can unsubscribe from this list at any time. 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If you want to send a personal message use the 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 make it my life's goal to please the Lord. My mission in life is to honor God through my faith and obedience and 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* The phrase "terrestrial ball" is found in the great hymn ... "All Hail The Power Of Jesus Name" Video Paul Baloche 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 2015 Stephen C. Weber - All Rights Reserved Daily Encouragement Net Stephen & Brooksyne Weber 495 Kraybill Church Road - Mount Joy, PA 17552  Endorsed chaplain "Living securely today anchored in God's solid foundation" www.dailyencouragement.net |
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