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"Satan disguises himself as an angel of light" (2 Corinthians 11:14). "Don't be deceived, my dear brothers" (James 1:16).
I
recall a time when Brooksyne left for a meeting after having cleaned
the kitchen. I noticed the coffeemaker was still on and figured she had
made herself some fresh coffee prior to going to the meeting so I
poured myself a cup. I took one drink and started coughing, spitting it
out as I repulsed at the horribly sour acidy taste. Turns out it was
coffee
flavored hot vinegar!
I told her about the horrible vinegar/coffee drink in the coffee pot when she came home. After I finally convinced her I was not teasing she had a good laugh. She had run some vinegar through the coffeemaker and mistakenly left old coffee grounds in the basket so the vinegar "looked" like coffee as it poured through.
She wasn't trying to disguise her cleaning process or deceive me although she normally empties out the carafe prior to running the vinegar solution into it. I should have been more observant at the light brownish color of the "coffee", since we tend to like our coffee on the stronger side!
This reminds me of another form of deception, but this one is quite intentional. It is a deception that we, as Christ's followers, need to be on our constant guard against. Today's first Scripture forthrightly states, "Satan disguises himself as an angel of light." Essentially in this deception Satan seeks to steal the identity of an angel of light, a good angel. The word translated "disguises" is very interesting. Other translations use the words "transform" or "masquerade" to translate the Greek word "metaschēmatizō", which means "to change in fashion or appearance."
From the very beginning Satan has used disguises in various forms as a means of deception, as in the garden he disguised himself as a serpent. Jesus, in His most lengthy teaching on Satan said, "He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies" (John 8:44).
A great line in the hymn "A Mighty Fortress" expresses it this way:
But still our ancient foe doth seek to work us woe,
His craft and power are great and armed with cruel hate
On earth is not his equal.
Thank God for the remainder of the great old hymn which reminds us of God's provision to overcome our enemy through the infinitely greater power of Jesus Christ. Today I encourage you to turn fully to Christ and be ever vigilant against our enemy. Heed the simple words from James 1:16, "Don't be deceived."
Be encouraged today,
Stephen & Brooksyne Weber
Daily prayer: Father,
keep us alert and vigilant since our enemy, the devil, runs around like
a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. We don't want to be enslaved
by him who is the father of lies. His deceit has brought down
scores of godly people because they were not on their guard. We
know the way to protect ourselves is by wearing the armor of God
mentioned in Ephesians 6, practicing discernment, and being prayerful
in every situation. It's in Jesus' name that we pray. Amen.
The other night coming home from our midweek prayer meeting we passed our friends Oren and Naomi with a quaint sight reminding us of yesteryear and a slower pace, sitting out on the covered porch, surrounded by the beautiful geraniums, on a lovely summer evening!
We experienced some interesting traffic yesterday on Martindale Road in eastern Lancaster County.
It was finally our turn to pass, right on the bridge crossing the Conestoga River. It appears to be an old-order Mennonite family taking watermelons to market.
We took our turn in passing and then took this photo as they approached us.
We stopped by the Glenwood Produce stand and I heard one of my favorite sounds in life, the putt putt of an old John Deere tractor. Turns out the farmer had attached an airplane propeller to a belt powered by the flywheel on the tractor and was drying onions!
Here
I am in front of our home on a 1942 John Deere with the great putt putt
sound. If you care to listen here's how it sounds click here.
Any idea why Brooksyne is soaking flowers in a small swimming pool?
Send a message to Stephen & Brooksyne.
Friday, July 8, 2011
Yesterday morning we passed through Lancaster City, which has old upright pianos in public places available for people to play. Brooksyne is on Penn Square playing "Jesus Loves Me" while a homeless man looks on and immediately smiled with recognition. She purposely chooses a song that might be recognized by one who may have lost their way but remembers their childhood songs from church. "Amazing Grace" is another great hymn of recognition she often plays.
Listen
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"Disguise and Deception"
Yesterday morning we passed through Lancaster City, which has old upright pianos in public places available for people to play. Brooksyne is on Penn Square playing "Jesus Loves Me" while a homeless man looks on and immediately smiled with recognition. She purposely chooses a song that might be recognized by one who may have lost their way but remembers their childhood songs from church. "Amazing Grace" is another great hymn of recognition she often plays.
Listen
to this
message on
your
audio player."Disguise and Deception"
"Satan disguises himself as an angel of light" (2 Corinthians 11:14). "Don't be deceived, my dear brothers" (James 1:16).
I
recall a time when Brooksyne left for a meeting after having cleaned
the kitchen. I noticed the coffeemaker was still on and figured she had
made herself some fresh coffee prior to going to the meeting so I
poured myself a cup. I took one drink and started coughing, spitting it
out as I repulsed at the horribly sour acidy taste. Turns out it was
coffee
flavored hot vinegar! I told her about the horrible vinegar/coffee drink in the coffee pot when she came home. After I finally convinced her I was not teasing she had a good laugh. She had run some vinegar through the coffeemaker and mistakenly left old coffee grounds in the basket so the vinegar "looked" like coffee as it poured through.
She wasn't trying to disguise her cleaning process or deceive me although she normally empties out the carafe prior to running the vinegar solution into it. I should have been more observant at the light brownish color of the "coffee", since we tend to like our coffee on the stronger side!
This reminds me of another form of deception, but this one is quite intentional. It is a deception that we, as Christ's followers, need to be on our constant guard against. Today's first Scripture forthrightly states, "Satan disguises himself as an angel of light." Essentially in this deception Satan seeks to steal the identity of an angel of light, a good angel. The word translated "disguises" is very interesting. Other translations use the words "transform" or "masquerade" to translate the Greek word "metaschēmatizō", which means "to change in fashion or appearance."
From the very beginning Satan has used disguises in various forms as a means of deception, as in the garden he disguised himself as a serpent. Jesus, in His most lengthy teaching on Satan said, "He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies" (John 8:44).
A great line in the hymn "A Mighty Fortress" expresses it this way:
But still our ancient foe doth seek to work us woe,
His craft and power are great and armed with cruel hate
On earth is not his equal.
Thank God for the remainder of the great old hymn which reminds us of God's provision to overcome our enemy through the infinitely greater power of Jesus Christ. Today I encourage you to turn fully to Christ and be ever vigilant against our enemy. Heed the simple words from James 1:16, "Don't be deceived."
Be encouraged today,
Stephen & Brooksyne Weber
Daily prayer: Father,
keep us alert and vigilant since our enemy, the devil, runs around like
a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. We don't want to be enslaved
by him who is the father of lies. His deceit has brought down
scores of godly people because they were not on their guard. We
know the way to protect ourselves is by wearing the armor of God
mentioned in Ephesians 6, practicing discernment, and being prayerful
in every situation. It's in Jesus' name that we pray. Amen.Brooksyne's Note: I
told Stephen I had cleaned the coffee pot with vinegar and he was to
run it through again. But he was reading and paid no attention,
thus he had quite a "bitter cup" to swallow after my departure.
Too bad I wasn't there to see the prune like face that would
follow such an unexpected taste in one's mouth!
A Slice of Our LifeThe other night coming home from our midweek prayer meeting we passed our friends Oren and Naomi with a quaint sight reminding us of yesteryear and a slower pace, sitting out on the covered porch, surrounded by the beautiful geraniums, on a lovely summer evening!
We experienced some interesting traffic yesterday on Martindale Road in eastern Lancaster County.
It was finally our turn to pass, right on the bridge crossing the Conestoga River. It appears to be an old-order Mennonite family taking watermelons to market.
We took our turn in passing and then took this photo as they approached us.
We stopped by the Glenwood Produce stand and I heard one of my favorite sounds in life, the putt putt of an old John Deere tractor. Turns out the farmer had attached an airplane propeller to a belt powered by the flywheel on the tractor and was drying onions!
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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Stephen C. Weber - All Rights Reserved
Daily Encouragement Net - 495 Kraybill Church Road - Mount Joy, PA 17552 USA
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