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Wednesday, February 25, 2015
Winter view through our front window
"Listening To God"
Listen to this
message on
your
audio player.
"Whoever is of God hears the words of God" (John 8:47). "I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me" (John 18:37).
This
last Lord's Day we heard Tim Heitz, a friend of ours, preach on
"Listening to God" in which he shared a message from I Samuel 3:1-10.
That's when young Samuel was hearing the Lord speak. Tim began his message with an
interesting illustration.
Back when the telegraph was the fastest method of long-distance communication, a young man applied for a job as a Morse Code operator. Answering an ad in the newspaper, he went to the office address that was listed. When he arrived, he entered a large, busy office. Seven other applicants were already in the waiting area which was filled with noise and clatter, including the sound of the telegraph in the background. A sign on the receptionist’s counter instructed job applicants to fill out a form and wait until they were summoned to enter the inner office.
The
young man filled out his form and sat down. After a few minutes he
stood up, crossed the room to the door of the inner office, and walked
right in. Naturally the other applicants perked up, wondering what was
going on. They muttered among themselves that they hadn’t heard any
summons yet. They assumed that the young man who went into the office
made a mistake and would be disqualified.
Within a few minutes, however, the employer escorted the young man out of the office and said to the other applicants, “Gentlemen, thank you very much for coming, but the job has just been filled.”
The other applicants began grumbling to each other, and one spoke up saying, “Wait a minute, I don’t understand. He was the last to come in, and we never even got a chance to be interviewed. Yet he got the job. That’s not fair!”
The employer said, “I’m sorry, but all the time you’ve been sitting here, the telegraph has been ticking out the following message in Morse Code: 'If you understand this message, then come right in. The job is yours.' None of you heard it or understood it. This young man did. The job is his.”
The young man proved his worthiness for the job by having the ear to hear and understand the Morse Code. He did this amidst the cacophony of other noises in the busy office.
We live in a busy world with a cacophony of sounds. Jesus in His teaching on truth in John 8 states, "Whoever is of God hears the words of God." We so need to hear the "words of God" amidst the noise.
Jesus said to Pilate at His trial, "I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me."
One of the great spiritual responsibilities we have is exercising discernment and teaching those whom we influence to do so as well. There is a cacophony of voices that call out to us to go against the truth. We are exposed to these voices at all ages, but our youth are particularly vulnerable. We need to constantly commit to hearing the voice of God, foundationally through His authoritative, inspired, and inerrant Word, the Holy Scriptures.
Tim finished his message with these words, "When we hear or study God’s Word, when we pray about direction in our life, when we pray about direction in the life of our church, we need to be asking, what could God be trying to tell me through this? Because the closer you get to the Shepherd, the louder His voice will be."
Be encouraged today,
Stephen & Brooksyne Weber
Daily prayer: Loving Father, we
who claim to be Your children recognize Your voice and choose to listen
and follow You. Many other voices beckon and personalities charm but
Your divine love surpasses all earthly images because of Jesus, the
Great Shepherd, who laid down His life for us. Your love so amazing, so
divine demands my soul, my life, my all. I lay it all down, take up the
cross of Jesus and follow after You through Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.
"I Will Listen" Video Twila Paris "I don't know the way to go from here, but I've already made my choice: this is where I stand, until He moves me on, and I will listen to His voice."
"Open Our Eyes" Video Maranatha Singers (This song has the line, "Open our ears Lord and help us to listen")
"Come and Listen" Video David Crowder Band
"Every Promise of Your Word" Video Keith and Kristyn Getty
"I Don't Belong (Sojourner's Song)" Video Buddy Green
"Voice Of Truth" Video Casting Crowns
"The Baby Box" Not related to today's message but extremely moving. Hundreds of babies are abandoned each year in South Korea, prompting a pastor to build a special baby box for them to be left in. Video This remarkable story is also a 3 day movie coming out soon called "The Drop Box".
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 make it my life's goal to please the Lord. My mission in life is to honor God through my faith and obedience and prepare myself and all whom I may influence for eternity."
© Copyright 2015 Stephen C. Weber - All Rights Reserved
Daily Encouragement Net - 495 Kraybill Church Road - Mount Joy, PA 17552 USA
<Previous Message Next Message>
Wednesday, February 25, 2015
Winter view through our front window
"Listening To God"
Listen to this
message on
your
audio player."Whoever is of God hears the words of God" (John 8:47). "I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me" (John 18:37).
This
last Lord's Day we heard Tim Heitz, a friend of ours, preach on
"Listening to God" in which he shared a message from I Samuel 3:1-10.
That's when young Samuel was hearing the Lord speak. Tim began his message with an
interesting illustration.Back when the telegraph was the fastest method of long-distance communication, a young man applied for a job as a Morse Code operator. Answering an ad in the newspaper, he went to the office address that was listed. When he arrived, he entered a large, busy office. Seven other applicants were already in the waiting area which was filled with noise and clatter, including the sound of the telegraph in the background. A sign on the receptionist’s counter instructed job applicants to fill out a form and wait until they were summoned to enter the inner office.
The
young man filled out his form and sat down. After a few minutes he
stood up, crossed the room to the door of the inner office, and walked
right in. Naturally the other applicants perked up, wondering what was
going on. They muttered among themselves that they hadn’t heard any
summons yet. They assumed that the young man who went into the office
made a mistake and would be disqualified.Within a few minutes, however, the employer escorted the young man out of the office and said to the other applicants, “Gentlemen, thank you very much for coming, but the job has just been filled.”
The other applicants began grumbling to each other, and one spoke up saying, “Wait a minute, I don’t understand. He was the last to come in, and we never even got a chance to be interviewed. Yet he got the job. That’s not fair!”
The employer said, “I’m sorry, but all the time you’ve been sitting here, the telegraph has been ticking out the following message in Morse Code: 'If you understand this message, then come right in. The job is yours.' None of you heard it or understood it. This young man did. The job is his.”
The young man proved his worthiness for the job by having the ear to hear and understand the Morse Code. He did this amidst the cacophony of other noises in the busy office.
We live in a busy world with a cacophony of sounds. Jesus in His teaching on truth in John 8 states, "Whoever is of God hears the words of God." We so need to hear the "words of God" amidst the noise.
Jesus said to Pilate at His trial, "I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me."One of the great spiritual responsibilities we have is exercising discernment and teaching those whom we influence to do so as well. There is a cacophony of voices that call out to us to go against the truth. We are exposed to these voices at all ages, but our youth are particularly vulnerable. We need to constantly commit to hearing the voice of God, foundationally through His authoritative, inspired, and inerrant Word, the Holy Scriptures.
Tim finished his message with these words, "When we hear or study God’s Word, when we pray about direction in our life, when we pray about direction in the life of our church, we need to be asking, what could God be trying to tell me through this? Because the closer you get to the Shepherd, the louder His voice will be."
Be encouraged today,
Stephen & Brooksyne Weber
Daily prayer: Loving Father, we
who claim to be Your children recognize Your voice and choose to listen
and follow You. Many other voices beckon and personalities charm but
Your divine love surpasses all earthly images because of Jesus, the
Great Shepherd, who laid down His life for us. Your love so amazing, so
divine demands my soul, my life, my all. I lay it all down, take up the
cross of Jesus and follow after You through Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.
Today's
Suggested
Music and Supplemental Resources
"I Will Listen" Video Twila Paris "I don't know the way to go from here, but I've already made my choice: this is where I stand, until He moves me on, and I will listen to His voice."
"Open Our Eyes" Video Maranatha Singers (This song has the line, "Open our ears Lord and help us to listen")
"Come and Listen" Video David Crowder Band
"Every Promise of Your Word" Video Keith and Kristyn Getty
"I Don't Belong (Sojourner's Song)" Video Buddy Green
"Voice Of Truth" Video Casting Crowns
"The Baby Box" Not related to today's message but extremely moving. Hundreds of babies are abandoned each year in South Korea, prompting a pastor to build a special baby box for them to be left in. Video This remarkable story is also a 3 day movie coming out soon called "The Drop Box".
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 make it my life's goal to please the Lord. My mission in life is to honor God through my faith and obedience and prepare myself and all whom I may influence for eternity."
© Copyright 2015 Stephen C. Weber - All Rights Reserved
Daily Encouragement Net - 495 Kraybill Church Road - Mount Joy, PA 17552 USA