Daily Encouragement Net Header
The online Bible teaching ministry of Stephen & Brooksyne Weber
A daily, Bible-based perspective of hope, encouragement and exhortation.
Home   About Us  Archives   Free email subscription   ListenListen to these messages
 
Print Text only for printing
  Bookmark and Share  

Donate
 See here for more info.
<Previous Message                                                    Next Message

Thursday, October 28, 2010

Smoky Mountain Vista
The Great Smoky Mountains

ListenListen to this message on your audio player.

Note: We are visiting in the Smoky Mountains. Since the internet connection is slow and we are sharing a single portable computer we are not posting messages daily. We're accustomed to using two computers as we prepare each morning so it essentially doubles the time it takes us to prepare in addition to the slow and spotty connection!

"Mark My Words!"

Micaiah declared, "If you ever return safely, the LORD has not spoken through me." Then he added, "Mark my words, all you people!" (2 Chronicles 18:27).

Our last message was about a little-known prophet who took a stand for the Lord.  Today we want to share another insight from the account. The kings had consulted the prophets regarding their battle plans.  "Go," they answered, "for God will give it into the king's hand."  In fact one of them by the name of Zedekiah added some flamboyant visual effects, similar to the style of some very showy evangelists of our time!

But Micaiah stated, "As surely as the LORD lives, I can tell him only what my God says" (2 Chronicles 18:13). What God had directed Micaiah to say was certainly not well received. His prophetical word is summed up in this simple pronouncement: "The LORD has decreed disaster for you." That's certainly not what Ahab wanted to hear,  yet his riches, his alliance with Jehoshaphat, and his kingly position did not change such a deadly pronouncement!

After receiving Micaiah's news of disaster Ahab attempted to silence the prophet with these orders: "Put this fellow in prison and give him nothing but bread and water until I return safely."

The king's order for imprisonment and food deprivation would surely force Micaiah to modify his original prophecy.  And yet in his parting prophetic statement he boldly added: "If you ever return safely, the LORD has not spoken through me." Then he added, "Mark my words, all you people!" (2 Chronicles 18:27).

Notice the responsibility Micaiah took. He forthrightly stated that if Ahab did not return safely, "the LORD has not spoken through me." Over my lifetime I have heard some who claim to speak for the Lord and miss the mark in situations that parallel our story today. Yet they make excuses or go on to try again and again. Guess enough on the issues and at some point they're going to get it right!  This is true of astrologists as well.

Ahab ignored the counsel and died on the battlefield, validating Micaiah's prophecy.  An amazing detail about Scripture that intrigues me is that the very last we read about Micaiah is that he's in prison. There's no record of what happened to him after Ahab's body was recovered from the battlefield.  Micaiah is one of the lesser known prophets that I want to talk to when I get to heaven. I'm anxious to hear "the rest of the story"!

The main encouragement to end this message with is this:  Let us be faithful in declaring God's Word regardless of the cost.


Be encouraged today,


Stephen & Brooksyne Weber

Daily prayer: Father, far too often we want quick fixes or to know the exact means in which You are going to work in our lives.  But even as the Gospel is in ways a mystery unfolding, so is Your leading in our lives. If we had it all figured out and knew exactly how everything was going to fall into place, we'd be walking by sight rather than trusting by faith.  We know that "faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we cannot see."   Reassure our hearts  as we keep the words of Solomon before us, "In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps."  May Your Voice of Truth always be our guide in testing the spirits of those who are quick to say, "Thus saith the Lord" or "God told me…" If they are truly Your prophetic messengers their actions and words will be confirmed through Scripture.  Amen.

Read today's Bible story in its entirety online 2 Chronicles 18



We are in Pigeon Forge Tennessee in the Great Smokies and today we will share several photos of the area.

Smoky mountains
Many of our views are cloud covered due to the high elevation.

Smoky mountain auto road
The beauty of tall stately trees along the winding paths is a beauty to behold whether we're walking or driving.

Smoky mountain stream
Fast moving mountain streams are abundant no matter what route we take through or near the park.

Bear in tree Smoky Mountains
You have to look very closely on your screen to see this black bear nestled in the crevice of the two major branches of the tree.  You have to wonder if the bear enjoys watching  people make such a fuss  over them.  Many had pulled their cars over and got out to take photographs.

Cesar & Genelle, Gatlinburg, TN
Yesterday we walked through Gatlinburg with Stephen's sister Genelle and her husband Cesar who joined us from their home in Greensboro, NC. We've been eating way "too good" including a meal in a Mexican Restaurant the other night where Cesar took a photo of us with sombrero hats.

We are in this area making arrangements for our 2011 Steincross family reunion in August which my Mom's side will host.

Old Mill Inn Pigeon Forge TN
The Old Grist Mill Restaurant is just above the falls where we've enjoyed eating breakfast the past couple days.  Perhaps this looks like an insert of our faces with a background photo in a studio, but we are, in fact, standing on the bridge in front of the falls!



Today's Suggested Musi
c and Supplemental Resources
(Click on the link to play)

"The Voice Of Truth"  Video


Send a message to Stephen & Brooksyne.


Sign up here for the free daily email encouragement.

Permissions: Please feel free to pass on, reproduce and distribute any material on Daily Encouragement Net, in part or in whole, in any format, provided that you do not alter the wording in any way or charge a fee beyond the cost of reproduction. It is our desire to spread this material, not protect or restrict it. I do request that you keep the contact, copyright and subscription information intact.

Text only version for printing: To make a text only version for printing (without photos or any of the supplemental materials)
1) Open the basic text editor that comes with all computers (known as wordpad, textpad, etc.)  You can also use a program like Word and select paste text only.
2) Select and copy the text from the portion of the message you want to print.
3) Paste into the text pad. (The photos won't show up but you will have a brief text description of the photo which you can delete or just ignore.)
4) Format if you desire (change font, increase or decrease size, etc.)
5) Print!

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."

Daily Encouragement Net is an affiliate of Christianbook.com 
© Copyright 2010 Stephen C. Weber - All Rights Reserved
Daily Encouragement Net - 495 Kraybill Church Road - Mount Joy, PA 17552  USA

Home
www.dailyencouragement.net
Contact us


Chaplaincy MinistriesNew feature: I am not much for publishing website statistics but sure enjoy geography. When I saw this widget that counts visitors by nation and state I thought it would be interesting to some of our readers. I installed the international widget 4/16/10 and the state widget 4/19/10 (thus the disparity in US state totals).  This widget only counts visits to the main page and daily archive.
free counters



Free counters!


"Living securely today anchored in God's solid foundation"