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Wednesday, November 13, 2013
Today's photo of the surging stream was taken by my cousin, Georgia,
who lives in Wisconsin.
Send a message to Stephen & Brooksyne
To receive the "Daily Encouragement" each Monday-Friday through email see this page to subscribe to our email list. You can also subscribe to the Wordpress rss feed or through a Wordpress email subscription. (See the email subscription on the right side after opening this page.)
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."
© Copyright 2013 Stephen C. Weber - All Rights Reserved
Daily Encouragement Net - 495 Kraybill Church Road - Mount Joy, PA 17552 USA
<Previous Message Next Message>
Wednesday, November 13, 2013
Today's photo of the surging stream was taken by my cousin, Georgia,
who lives in Wisconsin.
"What Grace Teaches"
Listen to this message on
your audio player.
"For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It (grace) teaches us to say no to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope—the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for Himself a people that are His very own, eager to do what is good" (Titus 2:11-14).
In yesterday's message we shared about the power of God's grace to teach us to fear God and the consequences of sin. We shared a familiar line from the hymn, "Amazing Grace", "'Twas grace that taught my heart to fear."
Today we want to study this topic a bit more, considering another aspect of grace as a teacher. It seems to us that many in the modern church have lost this message and too often see grace as a mere "get out of hell free card".
"For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men."
We thank God for His unmerited favor or as the familiar acrostic states:
God's
Riches
At
Christ's
Expense
God's grace brings salvation. It is the free, undeserved gift available to the entire human race. Our response is to accept and believe. (John 3:16)
But the full teaching of Holy Scripture concerning grace includes the
truth that God's transforming grace is a result of salvation. In fact "Transforming Grace" is the title of an
excellent book written by Jerry Bridges I read many years ago.
We both have committed the daily Scripture portion to memory and encourage you to do the same. It is a solemn reminder of the very essence of living a life that pleases God as a result of God's grace. I find it helpful to slightly reword it to make it personal: "For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to me. God's grace teaches me to say "No" to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live a self-controlled, upright and godly life in this present age, while I wait for the blessed hope—the glorious appearing of my great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for me to redeem me from all wickedness and to purify for Himself a person that is His very own, eager to do what is good."
The barrage of ungodliness that abounds in this world can easily pull me down in my emotions and spirit when the sordid details of evil fill the pages of the newspaper or airwaves. It's hard to look upon evil after we have been redeemed from such wickedness. We must choose to keep a heavenly focus by living a self-controlled, godly life so that the dark things of this world will be overpowered by the bright light of God's glory and grace!
As recipients of God's grace we allow it to teach us. It teaches us to
"say 'No' to ungodliness and worldly passions", which abound in this
fallen world of which we are inhabitants. Next week we plan to share concerning a little verse buried deep in the Psalms, "The wicked freely strut about when what is vile is honored among men" (Psalm 12:8). As those who seek to please
the Lord we are called "to live self-controlled, upright and godly
lives in this present age." This is what grace teaches us! The question is are we learning? And, if so, are we obeying?
Be encouraged today!
Stephen & Brooksyne Weber
Daily prayer: Father, we thank You for Your grace that meets our most
pressing needs. It also helps us to say "no" to those temptations that
are common to all and purifies us to be Your holy people who are eager to do that which
is good. Your grace helps us to rise above the struggles of this world
and most especially when we focus on the perfect, everlasting life to
come when the glorious appearing of Jesus is seen by those He
redeemed. Fill us with anticipation and expectancy, Father. In Jesus'
name we pray. Amen.
Current events note: We can observe from our website statistics the countries where our readers visit and or subscribe. In the last several years we have had nearly 5,000 from the Philippines. We pray for these dear people and their horrific loss of family members and friends, also the devastation of their physical loss. How good it is to read of Christian relief ministries hard at work in coming to their aid. Let us pray daily during this most difficult time for our Philippine brothers and sisters and those who seek to assist.
Today's Suggested Music and Supplemental Resources
"Grace Greater Than All Our Sin" Video Sounds like congregational singing at its best! (IMV)
"But For Your Grace" Video Rita Baloche
"The Gospel Song" Video Sovereign Grace
"Sinner Saved by Grace" Video Gaither Vocal Band
Listen to this message on
your audio player."For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It (grace) teaches us to say no to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope—the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for Himself a people that are His very own, eager to do what is good" (Titus 2:11-14).
In yesterday's message we shared about the power of God's grace to teach us to fear God and the consequences of sin. We shared a familiar line from the hymn, "Amazing Grace", "'Twas grace that taught my heart to fear."
Today we want to study this topic a bit more, considering another aspect of grace as a teacher. It seems to us that many in the modern church have lost this message and too often see grace as a mere "get out of hell free card".
"For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men."
We thank God for His unmerited favor or as the familiar acrostic states:
God's
Riches
At
Christ's
Expense
God's grace brings salvation. It is the free, undeserved gift available to the entire human race. Our response is to accept and believe. (John 3:16)
But the full teaching of Holy Scripture concerning grace includes the
truth that God's transforming grace is a result of salvation. In fact "Transforming Grace" is the title of an
excellent book written by Jerry Bridges I read many years ago.We both have committed the daily Scripture portion to memory and encourage you to do the same. It is a solemn reminder of the very essence of living a life that pleases God as a result of God's grace. I find it helpful to slightly reword it to make it personal: "For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to me. God's grace teaches me to say "No" to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live a self-controlled, upright and godly life in this present age, while I wait for the blessed hope—the glorious appearing of my great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for me to redeem me from all wickedness and to purify for Himself a person that is His very own, eager to do what is good."
The barrage of ungodliness that abounds in this world can easily pull me down in my emotions and spirit when the sordid details of evil fill the pages of the newspaper or airwaves. It's hard to look upon evil after we have been redeemed from such wickedness. We must choose to keep a heavenly focus by living a self-controlled, godly life so that the dark things of this world will be overpowered by the bright light of God's glory and grace!
As recipients of God's grace we allow it to teach us. It teaches us to
"say 'No' to ungodliness and worldly passions", which abound in this
fallen world of which we are inhabitants. Next week we plan to share concerning a little verse buried deep in the Psalms, "The wicked freely strut about when what is vile is honored among men" (Psalm 12:8). As those who seek to please
the Lord we are called "to live self-controlled, upright and godly
lives in this present age." This is what grace teaches us! The question is are we learning? And, if so, are we obeying?Be encouraged today!
Stephen & Brooksyne Weber
Daily prayer: Father, we thank You for Your grace that meets our most
pressing needs. It also helps us to say "no" to those temptations that
are common to all and purifies us to be Your holy people who are eager to do that which
is good. Your grace helps us to rise above the struggles of this world
and most especially when we focus on the perfect, everlasting life to
come when the glorious appearing of Jesus is seen by those He
redeemed. Fill us with anticipation and expectancy, Father. In Jesus'
name we pray. Amen.Current events note: We can observe from our website statistics the countries where our readers visit and or subscribe. In the last several years we have had nearly 5,000 from the Philippines. We pray for these dear people and their horrific loss of family members and friends, also the devastation of their physical loss. How good it is to read of Christian relief ministries hard at work in coming to their aid. Let us pray daily during this most difficult time for our Philippine brothers and sisters and those who seek to assist.
Today's Suggested Music and Supplemental Resources
"Grace Greater Than All Our Sin" Video Sounds like congregational singing at its best! (IMV)
"But For Your Grace" Video Rita Baloche
"The Gospel Song" Video Sovereign Grace
"Sinner Saved by Grace" Video Gaither Vocal Band
Send a message to Stephen & Brooksyne
To receive the "Daily Encouragement" each Monday-Friday through email see this page to subscribe to our email list. You can also subscribe to the Wordpress rss feed or through a Wordpress email subscription. (See the email subscription on the right side after opening this page.)
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."
© Copyright 2013 Stephen C. Weber - All Rights Reserved
Daily Encouragement Net - 495 Kraybill Church Road - Mount Joy, PA 17552 USA