Daily Encouragement (11/04/14) "Righteousness or Sin, Exaltation or Disgrace"

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The on line Bible teaching ministry of Stephen & Brooksyne Weber 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 Tuesday, November 4, 2014 Listen to this message on your audio player. "Righteousness or Sin, Exaltation or Disgrace" "Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a disgrace to any people" (Proverbs 14:34 NASV). It's Election Day here in America. Our family will all vote and participate in our constitutional right. Our polling place is in a Bible believing church and, although there is no electioneering by the church, it's still interesting to pass through the foyer area on the way to the polling place. It's a blessing to be exposed to expressions of Biblical truth and righteousness! When we pastored in New England our church was on a very busy US highway in our city and was also used as a polling place. We had a large road sign with a changeable message at the entrance. On Election Day, Veda Shibilo, my dedicated church secretary placed this message on both sides of the sign: "Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a disgrace to any people" (Proverbs 14:34). For many voters, especially in that region of the country, that was probably the extent of their exposure to Scripture! Hopefully some paused to consider the truth in that short phrase. Half a century ago Peter Marshall made the following prophetic statement: "No nation has ever made any progress in a downward direction. No people ever became great by lowering their standards. No people ever became good by adopting a looser morality. It is not progress when the moral tone is lower than it was. It is not progress when purity is not as sweet. Whatever else it is, it is not progress!" We are being disgraced as a nation.  To be sure sin has always been present but we are seeing such an increase, approval and even endorsement of behavior described in the Bible as sin. The disgrace of sin abounds, yet so many are blind to it. As I prepare this message I consider my grandmother who died in the early seventies. As best as I can determine she is a strong link in my spiritual lineage. Could she even have imagined the spiritual apathy and moral decadence we are seeing today? Righteousness fundamentally is attained when individuals, families and churches turn to Christ and live daily in submission to His will. This has an accumulative impact on our community, state and entire nation. Thus a nation's leadership reflects the righteousness or unrighteousness of the people. I often refer to our Scripture text which is so powerful. Today I want to share it in a variety of translations that vary the wording slightly but may provide further insight: "Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin condemns any people." (NIV) "Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people." (KJV) "Uprightness and right standing with God (moral and spiritual rectitude in every area and relation) elevate a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people" (Amplified) The political leadership chosen today certainly may influence the fate of our nation, but the greatest need is for individuals, families, churches, and communities to follow the pattern of 2 Chronicles 7:14 that teaches us to humble ourselves, pray, seek God's face and turn from our wicked ways. We each individually have the decision regarding the fate of our soul.  I urge you all to accept or reaffirm your personal decision to follow Christ today and experience God's great hope and peace as a citizen of heaven! I emphasize again and again the most important decision that we will make in this life is to love and serve Jesus this day and every day and forever. If we do we will seek to please the Lord and obey His commands, thereby doing our part to make our country righteous! Be encouraged today, Stephen & Brooksyne Weber Daily prayer: Father in heaven, as we approach our national election, I pray that your people will vote, and that they will vote with a sense of thankfulness for a democratic system that at least partially holds in check the folly and evil in all our hearts so that power which corrupts so readily is not given to one group or person too easily. I pray that we would know and live the meaning of being in the world, but not of it, doing politics as though not doing them, being on the earth, yet having our lives hidden with Christ in God, rendering to Caesar the things that are Caesars, and to God the things that are God’s;  that we would discern what truths and values should advance by being made law and which should advance only by the leavening of honest influence;  that your people would see what love and justice and far-seeing wisdom demand in regard to the issues of education, business and industry, health care, marriage and family, abortion, welfare, energy, government and taxes, military, terrorism, international relations, and every challenge that we will face in the years to come; and above all, that we will treasure Jesus Christ, and tell everyone of His sovereignty and supremacy over all nations, and that long after America is a footnote to the future world, he will reign with His people from every tribe and tongue and nation. Keep us faithful to Christ’s all important Word, and may we turn to it every day for light in these dark times. In Jesus’ name,  Amen. (Prayer adapted from a "A Payer For The Election" by John Piper Another view of the veranda at the Shawnee Inn in the Poconos we visited last weekend. It was pleasant view but a bit cold, due to high winds! A view of the village of Jim Thorpe from a vista high above the town. See this map for location and some more photos. Jim Thorpe has a lot of interesting old buildings. This year we didn't ride the train but I sure enjoyed watching it! Today's Suggested Music and Supplemental Resources "If My People"   Video  This song was popular when we were young in the seventies. "If My People"  Video  Promise Keepers "Heal Our Land"  Video  Randy Rothwell 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 10/21/13) 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. 2014 YTD offerings to Daily Encouragement Net: $10,697.00 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. 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. Your answers are anonymous and I we are unable to respond. 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 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 2014 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

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!

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Daily Encouragement (11/03/14) "Who Is Your King?"

Daily Encouragement Net
A daily, Bible-based message of hope and encouragement. Having trouble reading this message? 
Read mobile edition online

The on line Bible teaching ministry of Stephen & Brooksyne Weber 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 Monday, November 3, 2014 A colorful autumn display on the veranda of the Shawnee Inn Listen to this message on your audio player. "Who Is Your King?" "We don't want this man to be our king" (Luke 19:14). "The chief priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar” (John 19:15). "God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see. To him be honor and might forever. Amen" (1 Timothy 6:15,16). Taunton, Massachusetts, where we lived in the nineties is less than 25 miles west of Plymouth and was founded by a woman, Elizabeth Pole, in 1636, 16 years after the pilgrims arrived in the new world. There is a prominent statue of Thomas Paine, the city's most famous resident, who was the blatantly anti-Christian voice in the founding era of our country. He wrote a book titled "Age of Reason" attempting to debunk Christianity and sought to exert his influence on the Founding Fathers. At the time he was regarded with disdain and for a time lived in France. Now, of course, Paine's view is held by many and is the dominant expression in government and academia.  But his final words are an apt expression of the futility of life lived without Christ. Listen to the plea of his soul when confronting death: "I would give worlds, if I had them, that Age of Reason had not been published. O Lord, help me! Christ, help me! O God what have I done to suffer so much? But there is no God! But if there should be, what will become of me hereafter? Stay with me, for God's sake! Send even a child to stay with me, for it is hell to be alone. If ever the devil had an agent, I have been that one." * Tragically, the devil has had many agents through the ages and many faithfully serve him today. This last Saturday I attended an Apologetics conference and heard a session concerning modern "scholarship" and those who are respected and esteemed by the world who seek to destroy the faith. The daily verse is taken from The Parable of the Ten Minas which Jesus told shortly before His death recorded in Luke 19:11-27. Today let us especially consider this expression of rejection, "We don't want this man to be our king". Jesus is essentially applying the attitude of the people toward Himself. He had come into this world "to seek and to save that which was lost" (Luke 19:10).Thank God for those who have received His message and been saved. But there are others who doubted it and yet others who violently rejected Christ's message and His provision. Today this continues to be the case and a brief description of many concerning Jesus Christ remains, "We don't want this man to be our king". The apostle John wrote, "He came to that which was His own, but His own did not receive Him" (John 1:11). And for the last 2000 years men and women are given the choice of whom to worship. Pilate placed before the people this question, "What shall I do, then, with Jesus who is called Christ?" And really that remains life's dominant question. Today we have a choice whether to submit to the Lordship and Kingdom of Jesus Christ or reject it and essentially proclaim, "We don't want this man to be our king."  I pray that each reader will join Brooksyne and me in choosing to serve and worship the Lord and joyfully proclaim, "I want this man to be my King!" Jesus! I do now receive Him, More than all in Him I find. He hath granted me forgiveness, I am His, and He is mine. Be encouraged today, Stephen & Brooksyne Weber Daily prayer: Father, You are immortal, invisible, God only wise. All of creation is subject to Your authority so we, along with millions of other committed believers, choose to bow our knee and lift our hands toward You, our blessed and only Ruler, the king of kings and Lord of lords, who alone is immortal. You live in unapproachable light, but we can and do worship You in Spirit and in truth. We worship and honor You in this life and will do through the eons of time. Amen. * There is some contention concerning these being his final words. Most do not feel he recanted of his views. Friday evening we had the Stermer Brothers sweep our chimney and clean our coal stove for another heating season. It's gotten colder and we now have the coal stove on for another season. Saturday I attended an archeology and apologetics conference sponsored by the Associates for Biblical Research. Above is a scale model someone built of Noah's Ark to give an idea of its size next a modern railroad car. We went up to the Poconos Saturday evening and explored the area although it was too cold for any hikes as we had hoped. Above is a view of the Delaware River from the veranda of the Shawnee Inn near Stroudsburg, PA in the Poconos. Today's Suggested Music and Supplemental Resources "Jesus, What a Friend for Sinners"   Video  Gaither Vocal Band "Crown Him King of Kings"  Video  Tom Fettke "Crown Him"  Video  Chris Tomlin & Kari Jobe 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 10/21/13) 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. 2014 YTD offerings to Daily Encouragement Net: $10,697.00 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. 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. Your answers are anonymous and I we are unable to respond. 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 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 2014 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

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.

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