"Encourage
one another
daily"
(Hebrews 3:13).
A
daily, Bible-based
perspective of
hope, encouragement and exhortation. Thursday,
April 14, 2005
"Our Heavenly Citizenship" "But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ" (Philippians 3:20). Here in the USA it's tax time. I have a friend that assists me with my tax preparation and early this morning I prepared the material for mailing. At this time of year I always have to take a deep breath, fortify myself with some powerful Biblical truths and pray. I fulfill the legal obligation to "render unto Caesar" but not necessarily joyfully! Throughout the process I must purposefully recall my heavenly citizenship. I consider myself blessed to live in America, but when I file my taxes I'm reminded of the corruption and waste that is a part of human government, a stunning evidence of the Fall. Paul, who as a Roman citizen surely had his own issues with the government of his time, enjoined the believers in Philippi with the forthright statement, "But our citizenship is in heaven." This is one of those powerful truths we all need to keep before us. When we keep this perspective in mind we find the reality of God's promised peace. However, when my focus is on my earthly citizenship I find myself experiencing anxiety and at times despair. I find that in my life the source of agitation and anxiety often comes from placing too much stock in this present life or failing to realize where my primary and ultimate citizenship lies. What issues are you facing today? What has the potential of robbing you of the blessing of God's peace and promised abundant life? Undoubtedly for some of you, like me, it will be taxes. But there are many other matters that concern us. Today remember Paul's words to the Philippian believers. Chained and imprisoned he nevertheless was able to express and encourage joy more in this short epistle than in any other. He wrote, "So you too should be glad and rejoice with me" (Philippians 2:18). It just seems like he's bubbling over with the joy of the Lord. If he can have joy in his horrible surroundings, I can have joy while sending out these forms and you can have joy regardless of what you are facing today! Once you were an alien people, Strangers to God's heart of love, But He brought you home in mercy, Citizens of heaven above. Let His love flow out to others, Let them feel the Father's care, That they too may know His welcome And His countless blessings share. * Be encouraged today, Stephen C. Weber Note from Brooksyne: After reading Stephen's devotional today I'm glancing at the other side of the room to see if Stephen's joy is bubbling over as he puts the stamp on our tax returns. I can't say it's real evident but then I'm reminded that joy comes from within and is not always visible outwardly! * "Church Of God Elect And Glorious" Seddon, James E. / Taylor, Cyril V. © 1982 Hope Publishing Company CCLI License No. 2005306 |
ADMINISTRATIVE
INFORMATION
Support
- Is
this ministry a blessing to you? Your support is needed and
appreciated.
Ministry update - An update of my ministry situation for my family, friends and any who choose to read it! Home About
Us Archives
Listen
(stream) MP3
(download) Print
Join:
To receive
the
"Daily
Encouragement" e-mail devotional merely send a blank e-mail to this address.
Or if you prefer use our online
web form.
(Some ISPs now use e-mail filtering software that allows you to add e-mail addresses to your 'buddy', 'safe', or 'approved' list. To insure delivery please add our address to this list.) Welcome letter (comes with new subscriptions.) Privacy Statement: Your e-mail address is held in strict confidence in a password-protected mail list and is not used for any other purpose but this daily encouragement. You may easily unsubscribe at any time. RSS: To subscribe to RSS feed enter this url into your feed reader: http://mail.byrss.com/pages/35149.xml Leave: To cancel your address from this mailing list merely send a blank email to the failsafe "leave" address below. (To change addresses cancel old address and then join again using your new address.) Weekly Version: The weekly version is comprised of the devotionals from the week and mailed out in a single email on Friday. To receive the weekly version, send a blank email to this address. Audio files:
I enjoy periodically
place audio
files on this site as a musical supplement to the daily message. I am
aware that these may not work on every computer system and I also get
confused by legal type issues and certainly want to do all things well.
Here's a separate
page concerning this.
Pass
it on! - If you find
this email
devotional perspective to be a blessing please pass it on! I do request
that you keep the copyright and subscription information intact and
place a personal note above it. Please do not send it regularly to the
same address unless you are sure they want to receive it. After all
anyone can join if they desire! I specifically request that this
material not be forwarded to a group list, since many times these types
of unsolicited group forwards are unwanted and an annoyance. If you
received this but don't know how, it has probably been passed on to you
by a friend. You are not subscribed to this list unless your specific
email address is at the very bottom footer. Also note the print
link
for a print ready page. Here are some other ideas
to use this
ministry
in conjunction with your ministry.
How to become a child of God Your
comments are welcome!
If you
are the original recipient (a member of the mailing list) merely reply
to this email. If not or you would prefer to use a webform please visit
the comments
page.
I
sure appreciate the
input and read each comment and am so often encouraged.
However
due to the volume of email I receive I am not necessarily able to reply
personally to each one. I regret this since often readers will share a
particular need or have a specific question. I certainly do pray when I
receive a prayer request and often my wife Brooksyne joins me.
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. Used by
permission;
and the King James Version.
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."
© Copyright 2005 Stephen C. Weber - All Rights Reserved Daily
Encouragement
Net - PO
Box 714 - Mount Joy, PA 17552
"Living today anchored in God's solid foundation" |