A daily, Bible-based perspective of hope, encouragement and exhortation.
Home About Us Archives Free email subscription
Listen to these
messages
Text only for
printing
See
here for more info.
<Previous
Message
Next
Message
I took this photo when I was on a boat with a friend on the Susquehanna River near Harrisburg, PA. I was intrigued by this lone tree, which has managed to grow on a long abandoned bridge pier; an example of perseverance!
Listen to this message on
your
audio player.
"Then Agrippa said to Paul, 'Do you think that in such a short time you can persuade me to be a Christian?'" Paul replied, "Short time or long—I pray God that not only you but all who are listening to me today may become what I am, except for these chains" (Acts 26:28,29).
I met with a group of chaplains in a Cracker Barrel restaurant
and we were discussing our work together. One chaplain shared about a ministry
opportunity he had immediately following our meeting. For some
time he had sought to be an influence to a particular person but the man had been extremely resistant to any kind of Christian
witness. But he had developed cancer that was determined to be
terminal. My friend had felt led to call him that morning and see if
they could get together. The man agreed and stated that he himself had
actually intended to call the chaplain!
Before we went our separate ways we prayed around the table that the Lord would give this man an openness to receive the Lord. We requested a call from the chaplain with a report back about how the meeting went. We had a long drive and when we were almost back we received word that the man had been receptive to the gospel message and had received the Lord as his Savior!
We all have long term, "hard" cases don't we? These are the people (often family members and friends) whom we have witnessed to for years; those whom we earnestly long to see come to Christ. So many are resistant and hardened, so much so, that at times we just feel like giving up. But we must not. We must persevere!
The
daily Scripture portion is an account of a personal witnessing
opportunity that the Apostle Paul had. Paul had faithfully shared his
testimony and sought to challenge Agrippa (and others listening) to
believe and become a Christian. Agrippa's response is a reminder of how many people respond to
the Gospel, "Do you think that in such a short time you can persuade me to be a Christian?"
"Almost Persuaded," is a hymn written in 1871 by Philip P. Bliss which was inspired by a sermon he heard. During the sermon the evangelist quoted Acts 26:28 and declared, "He who is almost persuaded is almost saved, and to be almost saved is to be entirely lost!"
Agrippa properly recognized that Paul was seeking to persuade him to be a Christian. That's significant. It wasn't a sneaky, back door approach that Paul used. Agrippa knew just what Paul was doing.
That is our mission as we seek to impact others for Christ and His Kingdom. His Kingdom is never to be advanced by physical force, but rather by persuasion, as we demonstrate His love and care to a fallen world and present, as Paul did, the Gospel. Paul's missionary heart is so evident in the verse that follows: "Short time or long--I pray God that not only you but all who are listening to me today may become what I am, except for these chains."
Agrippa is never again mentioned in Scripture following this account. But what type of seed did Paul plant? How did this seed impact Agrippa in the days, months and years that followed? Who else had an opportunity to persuade him? Did he eventually become a Christian? What about others who were listening to Paul that day?
We'll have to wait till heaven to hear the rest of this story. And that's really the way it is with so much of our attempted impact for Christ. So let us persevere in our efforts to persuade people to follow our Lord!
Be encouraged today,
Stephen & Brooksyne Weber
Daily prayer: Lord, help us as we share our testimony and Your message with the world around us. We find so many who are like Agrippa; uninterested, unpersuaded, and often times hardened. Help us to persevere and not give up or become discouraged. We pray that you would soften the hearts of those we seek to reach for You. Just like You did for Lydia open their hearts to receive our message of hope and salvation. In Jesus' name. Amen.
Thursday, May 20, 2010
I took this photo when I was on a boat with a friend on the Susquehanna River near Harrisburg, PA. I was intrigued by this lone tree, which has managed to grow on a long abandoned bridge pier; an example of perseverance!
Listen to this message on
your
audio player."Perseverance In Witness"
"Then Agrippa said to Paul, 'Do you think that in such a short time you can persuade me to be a Christian?'" Paul replied, "Short time or long—I pray God that not only you but all who are listening to me today may become what I am, except for these chains" (Acts 26:28,29).
I met with a group of chaplains in a Cracker Barrel restaurant
and we were discussing our work together. One chaplain shared about a ministry
opportunity he had immediately following our meeting. For some
time he had sought to be an influence to a particular person but the man had been extremely resistant to any kind of Christian
witness. But he had developed cancer that was determined to be
terminal. My friend had felt led to call him that morning and see if
they could get together. The man agreed and stated that he himself had
actually intended to call the chaplain!Before we went our separate ways we prayed around the table that the Lord would give this man an openness to receive the Lord. We requested a call from the chaplain with a report back about how the meeting went. We had a long drive and when we were almost back we received word that the man had been receptive to the gospel message and had received the Lord as his Savior!
We all have long term, "hard" cases don't we? These are the people (often family members and friends) whom we have witnessed to for years; those whom we earnestly long to see come to Christ. So many are resistant and hardened, so much so, that at times we just feel like giving up. But we must not. We must persevere!
The
daily Scripture portion is an account of a personal witnessing
opportunity that the Apostle Paul had. Paul had faithfully shared his
testimony and sought to challenge Agrippa (and others listening) to
believe and become a Christian. Agrippa's response is a reminder of how many people respond to
the Gospel, "Do you think that in such a short time you can persuade me to be a Christian?""Almost Persuaded," is a hymn written in 1871 by Philip P. Bliss which was inspired by a sermon he heard. During the sermon the evangelist quoted Acts 26:28 and declared, "He who is almost persuaded is almost saved, and to be almost saved is to be entirely lost!"
Agrippa properly recognized that Paul was seeking to persuade him to be a Christian. That's significant. It wasn't a sneaky, back door approach that Paul used. Agrippa knew just what Paul was doing.
That is our mission as we seek to impact others for Christ and His Kingdom. His Kingdom is never to be advanced by physical force, but rather by persuasion, as we demonstrate His love and care to a fallen world and present, as Paul did, the Gospel. Paul's missionary heart is so evident in the verse that follows: "Short time or long--I pray God that not only you but all who are listening to me today may become what I am, except for these chains."
Agrippa is never again mentioned in Scripture following this account. But what type of seed did Paul plant? How did this seed impact Agrippa in the days, months and years that followed? Who else had an opportunity to persuade him? Did he eventually become a Christian? What about others who were listening to Paul that day?
We'll have to wait till heaven to hear the rest of this story. And that's really the way it is with so much of our attempted impact for Christ. So let us persevere in our efforts to persuade people to follow our Lord!
Be encouraged today,
Stephen & Brooksyne Weber
Daily prayer: Lord, help us as we share our testimony and Your message with the world around us. We find so many who are like Agrippa; uninterested, unpersuaded, and often times hardened. Help us to persevere and not give up or become discouraged. We pray that you would soften the hearts of those we seek to reach for You. Just like You did for Lydia open their hearts to receive our message of hope and salvation. In Jesus' name. Amen.
Today's
Suggested Music and Supplemental Resources
Click
on the link to open and play.
(In some cases you may also need to click again to start the song.)
(In some cases you may also need to click again to start the song.)
"Almost Persuaded" Audio and lyrics
"Come To Jesus" Video Chris Rice
"Come Just As You Are" Video
Those
who regularly read this series know I enjoy both photography and old
stuff. Part of the reason I like Cracker Barrel Restaurants
(along with the country fried steak) is the old stuff hanging on the
walls. Well, I found this special page on their website with photos of
the stuff, along with an explanation of what it is. For those,
like me, who are terminally curious see here.
Finally today: Yesterday Brooksyne wrote about a humorous gaffe she made and Lou, a chaplain friend from New Jersey, sent this story:
Not too long ago I called Home Depot and inquired about a special part I needed for a ceiling fan. I spoke with a man named John and he stated that he thinks he had what I was looking for and when I came to the store, I ask for him. I went to the store that afternoon and said to the greeter at the door, "Is there a John that works here?" She pointed me to aisle six and said "go straight to the back." When I got there is was the rest room. :) It's funny how what we say is not exactly what we mean.
"Come To Jesus" Video Chris Rice
"Come Just As You Are" Video
Those
who regularly read this series know I enjoy both photography and old
stuff. Part of the reason I like Cracker Barrel Restaurants
(along with the country fried steak) is the old stuff hanging on the
walls. Well, I found this special page on their website with photos of
the stuff, along with an explanation of what it is. For those,
like me, who are terminally curious see here.Finally today: Yesterday Brooksyne wrote about a humorous gaffe she made and Lou, a chaplain friend from New Jersey, sent this story:
Not too long ago I called Home Depot and inquired about a special part I needed for a ceiling fan. I spoke with a man named John and he stated that he thinks he had what I was looking for and when I came to the store, I ask for him. I went to the store that afternoon and said to the greeter at the door, "Is there a John that works here?" She pointed me to aisle six and said "go straight to the back." When I got there is was the rest room. :) It's funny how what we say is not exactly what we mean.
Send
a message to Stephen &
Brooksyne.
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!
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."
Daily
Encouragement Net is an affiliate of Christianbook.com
©
Copyright 2010
Stephen C. Weber - All Rights Reserved
Daily Encouragement Net - 495 Kraybill Church Road - Mount Joy, PA 17552 USA
Daily Encouragement Net - 495 Kraybill Church Road - Mount Joy, PA 17552 USA
Home
www.dailyencouragement.net
Contact us
New feature:
I am
not much for publishing website statistics but sure enjoy geography.
When I saw this widget that counts visitors by nation and
state I thought it would be interesting to some of our readers. I
installed the international widget 4/16/10 and the state widget
4/19/10 (thus the disparity in US state totals). This widget only counts visits to the main page and daily
archive."Living securely today anchored in God's solid foundation"