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Friday, March 13, 2015
Another beautiful sunset across from our house.
"Famous Or Faithful?"
Listen to this
message on
your
audio player.
Joshua 6:27
So the Lord was with Joshua, and his fame spread throughout the land.
1 Chronicles 14:17
So David’s fame spread throughout every land, and the Lord made all the nations fear him.
"Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful" (1 Corinthians 4:2).
"The House of the Heroes" (Nehemiah 3:16). "Well done, good and faithful servant!" (Matthew 25:23).
We are still in California, at this time up in the Los Angeles area. Yesterday we walked around Hollywood including a nice walk through Runyon Canyon Park. We read that you might just see some famous people walking these trails but we didn't, at least that we recognized!
Hollywood has an interesting tourist attraction called the "Walk of Fame" which is comprised of more than 2,500 five-pointed terrazzo and brass stars embedded in the sidewalks. We walked through that area as well and saw many people searching for a particular star.
Today let us also consider those who are heroes on the local level likely unknown beyond their local sphere of influence. Let us acknowledge the people who have live faithfully and demonstrate character over the long haul of life. Should I name such people in my own life very few readers would recognize their names but that would be the same for you as well, as you recall your own "personal" heroes. Hopefully those who know us well might speak of us as among those who exemplify a spirit-filled life and walk with uprightness of character.
Today's Scripture verse is rarely referenced yet speaks of an intriguing designation. It's found in a rather matter of fact description of the city of Jerusalem as it was being rebuilt after the exile. Regarding this "House of the heroes", other versions use the phrase "the house of the mighty" or such similar expressions. I suppose it was some type of memorial built to honor their great leaders.
Today, let us remember who these real heroes are, both living and deceased, and let us honor them. And finally let us consider what constitutes real heroism and live our lives in such a manner that by the grace of God we might also leave a legacy of faithfulness and other character virtues for those to emulate as they look on or follow behind.
Of course the greatest Hero is Jesus Christ and this very designation was given to Him in a lesser known line in the Battle Hymn of the Republic.
Let the Hero, born of woman,
crush the serpent with His heel,
Since God is marching on.
Be encouraged today,
Stephen & Brooksyne Weber
Daily prayer: Father, we thank You for those who paid the ultimate price in laying down their lives to defend our freedoms. Many of us don't know even one of these faithful warriors by name and yet their sacrifice has freed us from the takeover of our enemies. There are also those who do not know the Person of Jesus who laid down His life to free us from the takeover of our archenemy, the devil. The vast majority give little to no thought of the immense burden Jesus bore as He took our sins upon Himself that we might receive forgiveness. We thank You, Father, for Jesus who is the Hero of heroes in that He gave His all that we might receive Your all; forgiveness for our sins and eternal life in Heaven. We thank You for Your undeserved love and mercy. Amen.
A local church I often pass had a thought-provoking message on their sign recently. "Better to be faithful than famous". Although there are certainly some famous people that are also faithful it occurred to me how often those whom so many recognize as "famous" are certainly not faithful. Merely consider famous names in sports, entertainment and politics.
Yesterday I had an interesting guest visit our home. David Fisher is the chaplain for the Toronto Bluejays (a baseball team). He was down for a weekend series in Baltimore and came up to Lancaster County to visit me. He has been the chaplain since the team was founded in 1977. He shared with me how many managers have come and gone and several of the present players weren't even born when he started. He's faithful; trusting God to make a difference through his life and ministry.
As followers of Christ we've been given a trust. We are stewards of God's truth and it is required that we be faithful. This is fundamentally expressed spiritually but in reality spiritual faithfulness is always expressed in practical ways as well. Are we faithful to our spouse and family? Are we faithful to our church and our ministry responsibilities? What about in regard to our financial commitments? May the Lord help us today keep the commitments we make. In fact the greatest approbation we will ever receive is when we hear the words from our Lord, "Well done, good and faithful servant" (Matthew 25:21). Indeed it's definitely better to be faithful than famous!
Oh, may all who come behind us find us faithful,
May the fire of our devotion light their way.
May the footprints that we leave, lead them to believe,
And the lives we live inspire them to obey.
Oh, may all who come behind us find us faithful. *
Be encouraged today,
Stephen & Brooksyne Weber
Daily prayer:
Fath
"Creation Calls" Video Brian Doerksen
"All Heaven Declares" Video
"The Heavens Declare" Video Matthew West
"Eternity" Video Brian Doerksen
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>
Friday, March 13, 2015
Another beautiful sunset across from our house.
"Famous Or Faithful?"
Listen to this
message on
your
audio player.Joshua 6:27
So the Lord was with Joshua, and his fame spread throughout the land.
1 Chronicles 14:17
So David’s fame spread throughout every land, and the Lord made all the nations fear him.
"Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful" (1 Corinthians 4:2).
"The House of the Heroes" (Nehemiah 3:16). "Well done, good and faithful servant!" (Matthew 25:23).
We are still in California, at this time up in the Los Angeles area. Yesterday we walked around Hollywood including a nice walk through Runyon Canyon Park. We read that you might just see some famous people walking these trails but we didn't, at least that we recognized!
Hollywood has an interesting tourist attraction called the "Walk of Fame" which is comprised of more than 2,500 five-pointed terrazzo and brass stars embedded in the sidewalks. We walked through that area as well and saw many people searching for a particular star.
Today let us also consider those who are heroes on the local level likely unknown beyond their local sphere of influence. Let us acknowledge the people who have live faithfully and demonstrate character over the long haul of life. Should I name such people in my own life very few readers would recognize their names but that would be the same for you as well, as you recall your own "personal" heroes. Hopefully those who know us well might speak of us as among those who exemplify a spirit-filled life and walk with uprightness of character.
Today's Scripture verse is rarely referenced yet speaks of an intriguing designation. It's found in a rather matter of fact description of the city of Jerusalem as it was being rebuilt after the exile. Regarding this "House of the heroes", other versions use the phrase "the house of the mighty" or such similar expressions. I suppose it was some type of memorial built to honor their great leaders.
Today, let us remember who these real heroes are, both living and deceased, and let us honor them. And finally let us consider what constitutes real heroism and live our lives in such a manner that by the grace of God we might also leave a legacy of faithfulness and other character virtues for those to emulate as they look on or follow behind.
Of course the greatest Hero is Jesus Christ and this very designation was given to Him in a lesser known line in the Battle Hymn of the Republic.
Let the Hero, born of woman,
crush the serpent with His heel,
Since God is marching on.
Be encouraged today,
Stephen & Brooksyne Weber
Daily prayer: Father, we thank You for those who paid the ultimate price in laying down their lives to defend our freedoms. Many of us don't know even one of these faithful warriors by name and yet their sacrifice has freed us from the takeover of our enemies. There are also those who do not know the Person of Jesus who laid down His life to free us from the takeover of our archenemy, the devil. The vast majority give little to no thought of the immense burden Jesus bore as He took our sins upon Himself that we might receive forgiveness. We thank You, Father, for Jesus who is the Hero of heroes in that He gave His all that we might receive Your all; forgiveness for our sins and eternal life in Heaven. We thank You for Your undeserved love and mercy. Amen.
A local church I often pass had a thought-provoking message on their sign recently. "Better to be faithful than famous". Although there are certainly some famous people that are also faithful it occurred to me how often those whom so many recognize as "famous" are certainly not faithful. Merely consider famous names in sports, entertainment and politics.
Yesterday I had an interesting guest visit our home. David Fisher is the chaplain for the Toronto Bluejays (a baseball team). He was down for a weekend series in Baltimore and came up to Lancaster County to visit me. He has been the chaplain since the team was founded in 1977. He shared with me how many managers have come and gone and several of the present players weren't even born when he started. He's faithful; trusting God to make a difference through his life and ministry.
As followers of Christ we've been given a trust. We are stewards of God's truth and it is required that we be faithful. This is fundamentally expressed spiritually but in reality spiritual faithfulness is always expressed in practical ways as well. Are we faithful to our spouse and family? Are we faithful to our church and our ministry responsibilities? What about in regard to our financial commitments? May the Lord help us today keep the commitments we make. In fact the greatest approbation we will ever receive is when we hear the words from our Lord, "Well done, good and faithful servant" (Matthew 25:21). Indeed it's definitely better to be faithful than famous!
Oh, may all who come behind us find us faithful,
May the fire of our devotion light their way.
May the footprints that we leave, lead them to believe,
And the lives we live inspire them to obey.
Oh, may all who come behind us find us faithful. *
Be encouraged today,
Stephen & Brooksyne Weber
Daily prayer:
Fath
Today's
Suggested
Music and Supplemental Resources
"Creation Calls" Video Brian Doerksen
"All Heaven Declares" Video
"The Heavens Declare" Video Matthew West
"Eternity" Video Brian Doerksen
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