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
See here
for more info.
<Previous Message Next Message>
Friday, June 29, 2012
Ester works the old water pump at the
Longenecker Farm in Lancaster County
Listen to this message on your
audio player.
"Lessons From Plowing"
"But this is not true of my servant Moses; he is faithful in all my house" (Numbers 12:7). "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God" (Luke 9:62).
Our friends Don and Kathy Eaton joined us for dinner last night. Don and Kathy came down from New England twenty years ago to start Eaton Farms, a family run business north of Reading PA, that grows trees and plants for the wholesale market. The farm covers some 200 rolling acres where one can view tens of thousands of growing trees and other plants in various stages of development.
They are both committed Christians, seeking to live their lives and operate their business in a manner that pleases the Lord. I have assisted them with their chaplaincy service and work with Keith Rodriques their farm chaplain. Due to the distance and many Hispanic laborers we are unable to provide direct care.
Don loves plants and brought us a couple of trees last night along with his pruners and some good growing advice. We walked through our yard and picked his brain!
I am blessed whenever I receive an email from Don. As a tag line he quotes a Scriptural concept based on today's second verse. "Keep your hand to the plow."
Jesus used this agricultural illustration to teach the
vital importance of staying focused, persistent and faithful. "No one
who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the
kingdom of God" (Luke 9:62). The apostle Paul seems to share this same
concept in Philippians 3:13: "Brethren, I do not regard myself as
having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies
behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead."
Many
of you who know me personally have often heard me say farewell with one
of two phrases; "Stay faithful" or "Keep your hand to the plow."
I've done this for many, many years and now people often anticipate and
reciprocate. One time I was working in a large printing plant and a man
jumped off the catwalk around a huge web press, walked right up to me
and asked, "Are you staying faithful?"
God said regarding Moses, "He is faithful in all my house". What a gratifying affirmation to receive from God Himself!
In a parable in Matthew Jesus gives us a glimpse of what we'll hear when we finish the race:"Well done, good and faithful servant!" (Matthew 25:23). And in the book of Revelation we have a recognition of His "called, chosen and faithful followers" (17:14).
Indeed let us keep our hand to the plow and "stay faithful"!
Be encouraged today,
Stephen & Brooksyne Weber
Daily
prayer: Father,
we desire to remain faithful to You all the days of our life. We join with others of the Christian faith who hold
unswervingly to the hope we profess even as we spur one another on
toward love and good deeds. Disappointments, seemingly unanswered prayers, loved ones who oppose
us, spiritual lethargy, temptations and trials pull at our hearts and
tempt us to look back just like the Israelites who were freed from
slavery. They who greatly rejoiced at their new found freedom found
themselves longing to return after the going got tough. Give us
strength and firm resolve to plow through the hard soil and bumpy rocks
of life all the while fixing our eyes on our eternal dwelling place as
we hold unswervingly to the hope we profess in Christ Jesus our Lord.
It is in His name that we pray. Amen.
This
week we have featured photos of Bill and Peggy Longenecker's farm here
in Lancaster County. This is where we took the photo at the top of our
message of Ester working
the water pump. Our last photo in this series indicates the meticulous
detail of Bill and Peggy as the entire grounds are so well groomed
demonstrated by this photo of the bridge.
"Hand To The Plow" Video Paul Clark This is from an album made the year we got married.
"I Know Whom I Have Believed" Video A great hymn based on 2 Timothy 1:12.
Eaton Farms Our association with Don is through Convene.
<Previous Message Next Message>
Friday, June 29, 2012
Ester works the old water pump at the
Longenecker Farm in Lancaster County
Listen to this message on your
audio player."Lessons From Plowing"
"But this is not true of my servant Moses; he is faithful in all my house" (Numbers 12:7). "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God" (Luke 9:62).
Our friends Don and Kathy Eaton joined us for dinner last night. Don and Kathy came down from New England twenty years ago to start Eaton Farms, a family run business north of Reading PA, that grows trees and plants for the wholesale market. The farm covers some 200 rolling acres where one can view tens of thousands of growing trees and other plants in various stages of development.
They are both committed Christians, seeking to live their lives and operate their business in a manner that pleases the Lord. I have assisted them with their chaplaincy service and work with Keith Rodriques their farm chaplain. Due to the distance and many Hispanic laborers we are unable to provide direct care.
Don loves plants and brought us a couple of trees last night along with his pruners and some good growing advice. We walked through our yard and picked his brain!
I am blessed whenever I receive an email from Don. As a tag line he quotes a Scriptural concept based on today's second verse. "Keep your hand to the plow."
Jesus used this agricultural illustration to teach the
vital importance of staying focused, persistent and faithful. "No one
who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the
kingdom of God" (Luke 9:62). The apostle Paul seems to share this same
concept in Philippians 3:13: "Brethren, I do not regard myself as
having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies
behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead."Many
of you who know me personally have often heard me say farewell with one
of two phrases; "Stay faithful" or "Keep your hand to the plow."
I've done this for many, many years and now people often anticipate and
reciprocate. One time I was working in a large printing plant and a man
jumped off the catwalk around a huge web press, walked right up to me
and asked, "Are you staying faithful?"God said regarding Moses, "He is faithful in all my house". What a gratifying affirmation to receive from God Himself!
In a parable in Matthew Jesus gives us a glimpse of what we'll hear when we finish the race:"Well done, good and faithful servant!" (Matthew 25:23). And in the book of Revelation we have a recognition of His "called, chosen and faithful followers" (17:14).
Indeed let us keep our hand to the plow and "stay faithful"!
Be encouraged today,
Stephen & Brooksyne Weber
Daily
prayer: Father,
we desire to remain faithful to You all the days of our life. We join with others of the Christian faith who hold
unswervingly to the hope we profess even as we spur one another on
toward love and good deeds. Disappointments, seemingly unanswered prayers, loved ones who oppose
us, spiritual lethargy, temptations and trials pull at our hearts and
tempt us to look back just like the Israelites who were freed from
slavery. They who greatly rejoiced at their new found freedom found
themselves longing to return after the going got tough. Give us
strength and firm resolve to plow through the hard soil and bumpy rocks
of life all the while fixing our eyes on our eternal dwelling place as
we hold unswervingly to the hope we profess in Christ Jesus our Lord.
It is in His name that we pray. Amen.Today's
Suggested Music
and
Supplemental Resource
"Hand To The Plow" Video Paul Clark This is from an album made the year we got married.
"I Know Whom I Have Believed" Video A great hymn based on 2 Timothy 1:12.
Eaton Farms Our association with Don is through Convene.
We
want to encourage readers wherever you may live to participate in a
special prayer time this coming Lord's Day in falling to our knees and
praying for our nation and world. For more information see this website.
Are
our daily encouragement messages a blessing to you? We ask you to
consider making a donation 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.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 2012 Stephen C. Weber - All Rights Reserved
Daily Encouragement Net - 495 Kraybill Church Road - Mount Joy, PA 17552 USA