"This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it" (Psalm 118:24).

Today many are aware of the unusual date that designates this day. Today is 06-06-06 or 666. This is interesting based on a Bible verse dealing with the antichrist in Revelation 13:18, where this is specified as the number of the beast. However, this date has appeared on the calendar before.  In fact it does so every one hundred years.  But for the vast majority of readers it's probably the only time it will happen in our lifetime!

I don't pay much attention to this any more than other days such as Halloween that man has placed devilish meaning to. I rather choose to declare the Word, "This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it."  Most of you have surely heard the verse put to music in a simple chorus and if you're like me have sung it hundreds of times.

"This is the day the LORD has made." That's a simple proclamation of truth that we can all declare each and every day. It's always true. God makes every day and what blessedness results when faith arises and we recognize this and joyfully declare it like Brooksyne and I did on our early morning walk.

"Let us rejoice and be glad in it."  That’s a decision we make. No doubt some readers have great burdens today and issues which overwhelm. We may focus on these issues and find ourselves down and discouraged.

But we can make a volitional choice that today we will rejoice and be glad. The apostle Paul declared in his letter to the Philippians, "I rejoice greatly in the Lord" even though he was imprisoned and surely had distressing circumstances.  The real key is a focus on Jesus and the spiritual and eternal perspective. This day let us seek to keep this focus!


Be encouraged today,


Stephen C. Weber

Brooksyne's prayer: Jesus, I rejoice in You as this new day unfolds.  I have assurance today that Your way is perfect and Your timing is flawless. Your ways are higher than any other and Your wisdom far exceeds that of man.   You are a shield for all who come to You for refuge.  You arm me with strength and You perfect my ways.  You make my feet like the feet of a deer and enable me to stand on the heights.  You give me Your shield of victory and sustain me by Your right hand.  Therefore I rejoice in You and praise You Jesus, Name above all Names, as You show Your unfailing love and kindness to me on this blessed day.  Amen.

Personal note: Yesterday's message mentioned a problem I had with other websites linking to photos on my site and using them in contexts I certainly don't approve of.

Several readers were curious as to how I knew this and some might wonder if I was visiting these sites!   Let me explain.

Web statistics provide information about other websites that link to your site or use posted photos. This is known as a referring site. You can click on that referring site and see who they are. In most cases I am happy to have other sites link or refer to mine. It's a way of sharing my ministry.

But in some cases they will use a photo such as I mentioned yesterday and yet their site itself may be very inappropriate, though the website address may not indicate that it is an objectionable site for discerning viewers. Yesterday I mentioned a site from myspace.com that used one of my favorite photos I took of a sunrise over the Atlantic Ocean (the same photo I use for the header of this message). This is known as hotlinking. Certainly, I would not intentionally go to an objectionable website and I should have further clarified my opening illustration yesterday.

Let me illustrate. The photo below is of a wood carving by a long-time supporter of this ministry. (I have his permission to demonstrate this.) 

The actual photo is not on my website but on his, Tom's Wood Art.  Many years ago he sent me the wood carving that is used at the top of today's message. I took a photo of it this morning and this photo is on this website! But in looking at this webpage you can't tell the difference whether the photo is on the host site or anyplace else on the web.

So essentially what happens is that someone may come across one of my photos in a search, find out the file location on my website and design their website so it uses the photo and it appears that it is actually on their website!!!

I can ban individual sites that abuse this or actually can ban the practice entirely. Since most sites that use my photos in this way are not malicious I have not done so but rather periodically examine the referring stats and ban individual sites which abuse.