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Friday, March 20, 2009

Photo of Donegal Creek in the Springtime
The first wisps of Spring are seen in our area.
This photo is along Donegal Creek
(Click on photo to enlarge)


ListenListen to us share this message on your audio player.

"Spring Has Arrived!"

"As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease"  (Genesis 8:22). "Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness" (Lamentations 3:22,23).

Today we all experienced another remarkably predictable evidence of God's faithfulness and the order of His providential design. The spring or vernal equinox took place at precisely 7:44 AM EST. At this moment the center of the sun's disk crossed the Celestial Equator from south to north, and those of us who live in the northern hemisphere will experience more hours of daylight than night for the next six months.  Spring has arrived and we are excited about that!

Scientists can determine years ahead when this will occur, and know, for instance, that the Spring or vernal equinox will be at 4:18 PM EST on March 20, 2547 just in case you wanted to get that on your calendar. It's astounding that many of these same scientists are blinded to the Creator behind the design!

Our first daily verse is a portion of the covenant that God made with Noah following the great flood.  This promise would have been given to Noah some three millenniums before Christ came to the earth or now some 5,000 years ago.

Consider the steady, yet often ignored, testimony of God's great faithfulness seen in the changing of the seasons.  Thomas A. Chisolm wrote in the classic hymn, "Summer and winter, and springtime and harvest,  Sun, moon and stars in their courses above,  Join with all nature in manifold witness to Thy great faithfulness, mercy and love."

Photo of Faithfulness plaque

"Everything that God has promised will come to pass.  As Moses wrote, 'God is not a man that He should lie.' His faithfulness guarantees this fact. He does not lie. What He has said in the Bible about Himself is true. Jesus declared, "I am the …Truth." This is extremely important for the followers of Jesus because our hope of eternal life rests upon His faithfulness. He will honor His promise that our sins will be forgiven and that we will live forever with Him." *

A firm, growing grasp of God's faithfulness is an essential source of assurance and peace in the Christian life.  Are you weary today?  Are you feeling "burned out" or a bit overwhelmed?  Are you discouraged? Is there a vexing problem that just seems insurmountable?  If you can - close your eyes and sing, whistle, or hum the tune to "Great is Thy faithfulness".  It will help you consider afresh this wonderful attribute of God's immutable (unchanging) character.


Be encouraged today,


Stephen & Brooksyne Weber

Daily prayer: Father, today we are especially mindful of Your faithfulness in the created order of the universe.  Your great faithfulness, mercy and love is also evident in the sacrificial death of Your Son, Jesus, who became a substitute for our sins.  Your provision for our every need gives us strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow, no matter what challenge we face or difficulty that might arise on this day.  You are truly faithful!  Amen.


Today's Suggested Music
and Supplemental Resources
Click on the link to open and play.
In some cases you may also need to click again to start the song.

"Great Is Thy Faithfulness"  Today for your listening edification we would like to share several online versions of the great hymns.
Audio Brooksyne shares a inspirational devotional she wrote based on this hymn accompanied by Amber Martin on the keyboards and Lauren Gingrich on the viola. (Here's a written version of the hymnstory.)
Video   A version by Fernado Ortega
Video   A piano and saxophone instrumental. This music is also used in the background to today's podcast.
Video   A version from the Gaither homecoming series.
Video   A version by Selah

"New Every Morning" (Lamentations 3:19-23) From the Integrity Scripture Memory series. Open this link and click on "play".

"All Your Promises Are True"  Video
  Shannon Wexelburg  An outstanding reminder of God's faithfulness in keeping His promises! Every song I've heard written by Shannon is excellent.  She reminds me of Twila Paris in the music that she writes.

For further study:
A.W. Pink has an outstanding article on the Faithfulness of God in his little power-packed book "The Attributes Of God".  Here's an online version.

* This quote is from this page, but I am unsure of the specific source. It's a little different than in our message today because Brooksyne slightly edited it thinking it was my original writing, and of course, she's constantly splicing, dicing and adding to my work.

Photo of Donegal Creek Willows
Here's what we expect to see along Donegal Creek in a few months!
Click on photo to view a larger version with Scripture verse.

Send a message to Stephen & Brooksyne.



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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.

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."

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