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Tuesday, March 3, 2015
The Valley Forge Covered Bridge
Click on photo to enlarge
"Finding, As He Promised,
Perfect Peace And Rest"
Listen to this
message on
your
audio player.
"Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on Thee: because he trusteth in Thee" (Isaiah 26:3).
During a chaplain visit last week I walked through a factory and came upon John and Isaiah, two men whom I knew were Christians. I spontaneously gave them a quiz based upon their Bible names. I asked John, "What does John 3:16 say?" He correctly answered "For God so loved the world...." I looked at Isaiah and asked, "What does Isaiah 26:3 say?" Not surprisingly he was stumped, since it's not nearly as familiar as John 3:16.
During
our young dating years in Bible College Brooksyne and I often exchanged
Scripture verses in our written correspondence (long before email,
texting, and cell phones were available). I often shared Isaiah 26:3
which we soon put to memory and have both found this passage to be a
spiritual healing balm when going through troubling circumstances.
There's a lot to dismay us, isn't there? World situations, national tragedies, personal matters; they can all dismay, often concurrently. What dismays you today? What glorious truth our daily Scripture verse conveys!
Isaiah in chapter 26:3 shares a truth held dear by many believers: "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on Thee: because he trusteth in Thee." This is the KJV, which we memorized it in. Other versions state, "You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in you" (ESV) and "You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in You" (NIV). For real comparison use this nifty tool.
"Whose mind is stayed on Thee"; that's the key, and that's where I suspect so many of us have the problem. We keep getting our minds and hearts off the Lord and onto the problem at hand. We approach the problem from every angle and get everyone’s take on it. We go to bed with the problem on our hearts and if sleep does come it may very well be diluted by a dream (or even a nightmare) that relates to the problem. We awaken and the same old problem looms over the new day!
However when we fully trust God problems will not dismay or overwhelm us, for dismay and trust simply cannot coexist. Trying to support both attitudes would be like rubbing coarse sand paper against the grain of fine furniture and expecting beautiful results. Certainly we’re tempted to be dismayed by our troubles, but the key to trust is to turn our hearts to the Lord in prayer as we stand on His promises.
Warren Wiersbe reminds us that "The peace of God is not the absence of
problems; it is the presence of divine sufficiency in the midst of
problems." George Morrison said, "Peace is the possession of adequate
resources" and those resources come from the Lord when you yield your
heart and mind to Him.
Our trust is in the One who is a tested and tried stone, the Solid Rock; the One who is a sure foundation. He is ever trustworthy. He is ever faithful. Put your complete trust in Him today!
Like
Frances Havergal in her song, "Stayed Upon Jehovah", we must fix our
eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith. If we are "stayed upon Jehovah" we
will remain steady even if the earth around us sways.
Be encouraged today,
Stephen & Brooksyne Weber
Daily prayer: Father,
because we place our trust in You as our sovereign Lord we have an
enduring
peace that You are
the Great Deliverer and that You work all things together for good to
those who love You and are called according to Your
purpose. We
seek to glorify Jesus, our Solid Rock, who was put to the ultimate
test and laid an unshakable foundation for our faith, as He remained
true to His mission to provide for our salvation. Our faith is
strengthened and our peace perfected as we keep our minds stayed upon
You, not only on the bright, cheerful days but on the dismal days when
the cloud of discouragement would otherwise obscure the brightness of
Your promise to keep us in perfect peace if we keep our minds stayed
upon You. Amen.
On Sunday we drove through the Valley Forge National Historical Park in Valley Forge, PA about 20 miles northwest of Philadelphia.
These are replicas of the original encampments used by the soldiers.
Valley Forge Barns
We drove through the Valley Forge Covered Bridge (a very different design from the covered bridges in Lancaster County).
As we drove into Lancaster County the snow had really picked up obscuring the beautiful views off Rt 23 near Churchtown.
"Like A River Glorious" Video The Smucker Family
"Perfect Peace" Video Laura Story
"May the Peace of God" Video Stuart Townend
"Wonderful Peace" Video Gaither Homecoming Friends
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>
Tuesday, March 3, 2015
The Valley Forge Covered Bridge
Click on photo to enlarge
Perfect Peace And Rest"
Listen to this
message on
your
audio player."Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on Thee: because he trusteth in Thee" (Isaiah 26:3).
Like a river, glorious
Is God’s perfect peace,
Over all victorious
In its bright increase;
Perfect, yet it floweth
Fuller every day,
Perfect, yet it groweth
Deeper all the way.
Is God’s perfect peace,
Over all victorious
In its bright increase;
Perfect, yet it floweth
Fuller every day,
Perfect, yet it groweth
Deeper all the way.
During a chaplain visit last week I walked through a factory and came upon John and Isaiah, two men whom I knew were Christians. I spontaneously gave them a quiz based upon their Bible names. I asked John, "What does John 3:16 say?" He correctly answered "For God so loved the world...." I looked at Isaiah and asked, "What does Isaiah 26:3 say?" Not surprisingly he was stumped, since it's not nearly as familiar as John 3:16.
During
our young dating years in Bible College Brooksyne and I often exchanged
Scripture verses in our written correspondence (long before email,
texting, and cell phones were available). I often shared Isaiah 26:3
which we soon put to memory and have both found this passage to be a
spiritual healing balm when going through troubling circumstances.There's a lot to dismay us, isn't there? World situations, national tragedies, personal matters; they can all dismay, often concurrently. What dismays you today? What glorious truth our daily Scripture verse conveys!
Isaiah in chapter 26:3 shares a truth held dear by many believers: "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on Thee: because he trusteth in Thee." This is the KJV, which we memorized it in. Other versions state, "You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in you" (ESV) and "You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in You" (NIV). For real comparison use this nifty tool."Whose mind is stayed on Thee"; that's the key, and that's where I suspect so many of us have the problem. We keep getting our minds and hearts off the Lord and onto the problem at hand. We approach the problem from every angle and get everyone’s take on it. We go to bed with the problem on our hearts and if sleep does come it may very well be diluted by a dream (or even a nightmare) that relates to the problem. We awaken and the same old problem looms over the new day!
However when we fully trust God problems will not dismay or overwhelm us, for dismay and trust simply cannot coexist. Trying to support both attitudes would be like rubbing coarse sand paper against the grain of fine furniture and expecting beautiful results. Certainly we’re tempted to be dismayed by our troubles, but the key to trust is to turn our hearts to the Lord in prayer as we stand on His promises.
Warren Wiersbe reminds us that "The peace of God is not the absence of
problems; it is the presence of divine sufficiency in the midst of
problems." George Morrison said, "Peace is the possession of adequate
resources" and those resources come from the Lord when you yield your
heart and mind to Him.Our trust is in the One who is a tested and tried stone, the Solid Rock; the One who is a sure foundation. He is ever trustworthy. He is ever faithful. Put your complete trust in Him today!
Like
Frances Havergal in her song, "Stayed Upon Jehovah", we must fix our
eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith. If we are "stayed upon Jehovah" we
will remain steady even if the earth around us sways.Stayed upon Jehovah,
Hearts are fully blest;
Finding, as He promised,
Perfect peace and rest.
Hearts are fully blest;
Finding, as He promised,
Perfect peace and rest.
Be encouraged today,
Stephen & Brooksyne Weber
Daily prayer: Father,
because we place our trust in You as our sovereign Lord we have an
enduring
peace that You are
the Great Deliverer and that You work all things together for good to
those who love You and are called according to Your
purpose. We
seek to glorify Jesus, our Solid Rock, who was put to the ultimate
test and laid an unshakable foundation for our faith, as He remained
true to His mission to provide for our salvation. Our faith is
strengthened and our peace perfected as we keep our minds stayed upon
You, not only on the bright, cheerful days but on the dismal days when
the cloud of discouragement would otherwise obscure the brightness of
Your promise to keep us in perfect peace if we keep our minds stayed
upon You. Amen.On Sunday we drove through the Valley Forge National Historical Park in Valley Forge, PA about 20 miles northwest of Philadelphia.
These are replicas of the original encampments used by the soldiers.
Valley Forge Barns
We drove through the Valley Forge Covered Bridge (a very different design from the covered bridges in Lancaster County).
As we drove into Lancaster County the snow had really picked up obscuring the beautiful views off Rt 23 near Churchtown.
Today's
Suggested
Music and Supplemental Resources
"Like A River Glorious" Video The Smucker Family
"Perfect Peace" Video Laura Story
"May the Peace of God" Video Stuart Townend
"Wonderful Peace" Video Gaither Homecoming Friends
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