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"He will be the sure foundation for your times, a rich store of salvation and wisdom and knowledge; the fear of the LORD is the key to this treasure" (Isaiah 33:6).
Have
you ever held a billiard ball in your hand? It is about as smooth as
you can imagine. Interestingly I've read that proportionately the
surface of the earth is smoother than a billiard ball!
Dr. John O'Keefe (now deceased), a planetary scientist who worked for NASA, stated that the most extreme variations in the earth's surface are roughly on a scale of one part in a thousand. The equivalent bump on a 2 1/4-inch billiard ball would be about two-thousandths of an inch, so most parts of the Earth are a lot smoother.
But
from our perspective, living on it, the earth is quite bumpy! You can also see this when we
view it or even feel it on a raised relief map or globe. But from the
view of Mars those differences are not detectable at all.
This is illustrative as we seek to get a perspective on life, the world situation or even that steep hill or dark valley within our own lives.
What a wonderful truth and rich assurance our daily text provides for the believer! How we need to appropriate its truth deep within our hearts as we especially focus on the first part of the verse: "He will be the sure foundation for your times." The KJV uses the phrase "stability of thy times". The Hebrew word that the prophet Isaiah uses here connotes "firmness, security, fidelity". Truly in God we have a firm foundation for all our times.
Hannah, rejoicing at the miraculous birth of her son Samuel, prayed, "There is no one holy like the LORD; there is no one besides You; there is no Rock like our God" (1 Samuel 2:2).
Life is made up of various times, all of which are ordained of God for His glory and for our growth. Much of our times are spent in abundant blessing. These are the times when we might say, "Life is going smoothly." It is easy to overlook these "smooth" times in our lives and take them for granted, or worse yet, feel that we're entitled to them.
However we can easily recall times of difficulty. Life gets bumpy! For some of you it's that way as you read this. It may be a long-term illness in our home, the loss of a job, a broken relationship or other types of uncertainties that can grip our hearts and fill us with fear. It seems that with constant threats of terrorist attacks and decreasing security our world is entering into a time of increasing trouble and instability. The "perilous times" spoken of in the Scriptures may very well characterize the "last days" in which we live. (See 2 Timothy 3:1.)
God and His Word provide the steady anchor and sure foundation for our spiritual security and peace. Consider again just the opening phrase in our daily verse: "He will be the sure foundation for your times." What kind of "times" are you going through today?
We encourage you to focus on the immutable God whose Word has promised: "You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you. Trust in the LORD forever, for the LORD, the LORD, is the Rock eternal" (Isaiah 26:3,4).
Today, rest in the assurance that in God we have a sure foundation for all our times; the good, the bad, the easy, the difficult, the memorable and that which we would like to forget. We serve a God of absolute stability; One of whom it is said, "There is no Rock like our God".
Be encouraged today,
Stephen & Brooksyne Weber
Daily prayer: Father, thank You for the treasure chest of Your riches; salvation, wisdom, and knowledge. The treasure trove which You invite us to partake of stabilizes our hearts when instability surrounds us. Your salvation, wisdom and knowledge surpass those passing and temporal treasures experienced in this mortal life. We walk by faith and not by sight, so keep us steadfast in our times as we hold to You our sure foundation, for there is no Rock like You, our God. Keep our eyes on the invisible God, for though we cannot see You we love You and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, as we await our glorious union in heaven. Amen.
PS: I have personally found Scripture memorization a very helpful discipline in my life. However I know that some find this discipline easier than others. A suggestion: Consider memorizing only part of a verse such as the selection used in the daily text. I also at times use the 1st person pronoun to personalize the verse. For example, "He will be the sure foundation for my times" or "God will be the sure foundation for my times." I do believe memorizing the reference is important as well.
(In some cases you may also need to click again to start the song.)
"There Is No Rock Like Our God" Video Rita Baloche
"What Grace Is Mine" Video Kristyn Getty
"Faithful God" Video Josh Helms
"Faithful God" Video David Baroni
"Faithful God" Video Gateway Church
"All Your Promises Are True" Video Shannon Wexelburg
The article concerning the earth being smoother than a billiard ball or here.
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Nobska Lighthouse on Cape Cod
When we lived in New England we enjoyed visiting Wood's Hole on the southwest part of Cape Cod where we took the ferry to Martha's Vineyard. We once took the young people in our church swimming at this very beach. Click on the photo for a larger version suitable for a desktop background.
When we lived in New England we enjoyed visiting Wood's Hole on the southwest part of Cape Cod where we took the ferry to Martha's Vineyard. We once took the young people in our church swimming at this very beach. Click on the photo for a larger version suitable for a desktop background.
Listen to this
message on
your
audio player."The Sure Foundation"
"He will be the sure foundation for your times, a rich store of salvation and wisdom and knowledge; the fear of the LORD is the key to this treasure" (Isaiah 33:6).
Have
you ever held a billiard ball in your hand? It is about as smooth as
you can imagine. Interestingly I've read that proportionately the
surface of the earth is smoother than a billiard ball! Dr. John O'Keefe (now deceased), a planetary scientist who worked for NASA, stated that the most extreme variations in the earth's surface are roughly on a scale of one part in a thousand. The equivalent bump on a 2 1/4-inch billiard ball would be about two-thousandths of an inch, so most parts of the Earth are a lot smoother.
But
from our perspective, living on it, the earth is quite bumpy! You can also see this when we
view it or even feel it on a raised relief map or globe. But from the
view of Mars those differences are not detectable at all. This is illustrative as we seek to get a perspective on life, the world situation or even that steep hill or dark valley within our own lives.
What a wonderful truth and rich assurance our daily text provides for the believer! How we need to appropriate its truth deep within our hearts as we especially focus on the first part of the verse: "He will be the sure foundation for your times." The KJV uses the phrase "stability of thy times". The Hebrew word that the prophet Isaiah uses here connotes "firmness, security, fidelity". Truly in God we have a firm foundation for all our times.
Hannah, rejoicing at the miraculous birth of her son Samuel, prayed, "There is no one holy like the LORD; there is no one besides You; there is no Rock like our God" (1 Samuel 2:2).
Life is made up of various times, all of which are ordained of God for His glory and for our growth. Much of our times are spent in abundant blessing. These are the times when we might say, "Life is going smoothly." It is easy to overlook these "smooth" times in our lives and take them for granted, or worse yet, feel that we're entitled to them.
However we can easily recall times of difficulty. Life gets bumpy! For some of you it's that way as you read this. It may be a long-term illness in our home, the loss of a job, a broken relationship or other types of uncertainties that can grip our hearts and fill us with fear. It seems that with constant threats of terrorist attacks and decreasing security our world is entering into a time of increasing trouble and instability. The "perilous times" spoken of in the Scriptures may very well characterize the "last days" in which we live. (See 2 Timothy 3:1.)
God and His Word provide the steady anchor and sure foundation for our spiritual security and peace. Consider again just the opening phrase in our daily verse: "He will be the sure foundation for your times." What kind of "times" are you going through today?
We encourage you to focus on the immutable God whose Word has promised: "You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you. Trust in the LORD forever, for the LORD, the LORD, is the Rock eternal" (Isaiah 26:3,4).
Today, rest in the assurance that in God we have a sure foundation for all our times; the good, the bad, the easy, the difficult, the memorable and that which we would like to forget. We serve a God of absolute stability; One of whom it is said, "There is no Rock like our God".
Be encouraged today,
Stephen & Brooksyne Weber
Daily prayer: Father, thank You for the treasure chest of Your riches; salvation, wisdom, and knowledge. The treasure trove which You invite us to partake of stabilizes our hearts when instability surrounds us. Your salvation, wisdom and knowledge surpass those passing and temporal treasures experienced in this mortal life. We walk by faith and not by sight, so keep us steadfast in our times as we hold to You our sure foundation, for there is no Rock like You, our God. Keep our eyes on the invisible God, for though we cannot see You we love You and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, as we await our glorious union in heaven. Amen.
PS: I have personally found Scripture memorization a very helpful discipline in my life. However I know that some find this discipline easier than others. A suggestion: Consider memorizing only part of a verse such as the selection used in the daily text. I also at times use the 1st person pronoun to personalize the verse. For example, "He will be the sure foundation for my times" or "God will be the sure foundation for my times." I do believe memorizing the reference is important as well.
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.)
"There Is No Rock Like Our God" Video Rita Baloche
"What Grace Is Mine" Video Kristyn Getty
"Faithful God" Video Josh Helms
"Faithful God" Video David Baroni
"Faithful God" Video Gateway Church
"All Your Promises Are True" Video Shannon Wexelburg
The article concerning the earth being smoother than a billiard ball or here.
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a message to Stephen &
Brooksyne.
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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."
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Stephen C. Weber - All Rights Reserved
Daily Encouragement Net - 495 Kraybill Church Road - Mount Joy, PA 17552 USA
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