The
online Bible teaching ministry of Stephen
& Brooksyne Weber
A daily, Bible-based perspective of hope, encouragement and exhortation. Home About Us Archives Free email subscription ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() <Previous
Message
Next
Message
Monday, January 10, 2011 ![]() Yellowstone National Park Photo taken by our friend Howard Blichfeldt ![]() "So You Want To Go Back To Egypt?" "Would it not be better for us to return to Egypt?" So they said to one another, "Let us appoint a leader and return to Egypt" (Numbers 14:3b,4). "By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a short time. He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward" (Hebrews 11:24-26). ![]() One of his albums was titled, "So you wanna go back to Egypt?" Egypt for those knowledgeable in the Bible was where Moses lead the people out of but where some of them wanted to return (see Numbers 14:3b,4). Egypt represents the old way of life and is a type of the world seeking to draw the believer back to this old way of life. The second daily Scripture portion is found in the "Faith Chapter" and describes Moses. Talk about treasures; he was raised in the palace as Pharaoh's son and was in line to be Prime Minister of Egypt with all the prestige and perks of the most powerful kingdom of that age. About 3,500 years ago, when Moses was 40 years of age, he made a critical decision to identify with God and His people. He correctly realized that the pleasures of sin and the treasures of Egypt paled in comparison to the eternal pleasures and indescribable treasures given by God. Likewise today, and in every generation, all the pleasures and treasures this world has to offer just can't compare with the real deal. Yet so much of man's behavior is driven by the pursuit of earthly pleasures and monetary treasures. The pleasures of sin and treasures of "Egypt" remain a great obstacle to faith for the unbeliever and a constant source of temptation for people of faith in all generations. But Moses "regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt." What a powerful verse! It's an equation that bluntly makes no earthly sense; disgrace being of greater value than treasure. Note that the writer of Hebrews uses the title "Christ" even though Moses lived some 1,400 years before the incarnation and the designation of the title "Christ" to the second person of the Trinity! Of course Christ was alive and always has been in His preincarnate state. He is the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, who always has been, who is, and who always will be. Indeed Egypt offered great treasures for Moses much like the world offers great treasures, especially to those who live in the affluent regions. Oh for the perspective of Moses who "was looking ahead to his reward." That's where I want my focus and energy to be directed also as I serve the same great Christ that Moses served 3,500 years ago. How about you? Be encouraged today, Stephen & Brooksyne Weber ![]() Ester's health update: A few of our readers are aware that Ester's heart matter worsened after Thursday's adjustment to her pacemaker. Her heart rate soared to over 200 BPM on Saturday and she required medical intervention. Doctors in the ER were unable to bring down her heart rate with medication so they had to apply electroshock with the paddles and her heart responded. She continues to be in the hospital today as they are doing testing, giving her new meds and will confer today regarding treatment to help prevent this in the future. Though Ester has ongoing atrial flutter her pacemaker generally brings her pace back into normal range, at least it has over the past four years since she's had her present model. We're uncertain as to what caused her to go back into the very high and dangerous heart rate of the 200's. We sure don't want to go there again and ask for your prayers that the medical team will have the wisdom needed to guide them regarding her ongoing medical challenges. ![]() Jim Gambini, our former Pastor and wife, stopped by to see Ester in the emergency room Saturday night following here shock treatment. That visit cheered her up! ![]() Yesterday afternoon Stan and Deb Miller, Ester's youth leaders, and her friends Jenny and Chelsea dropped by for a visit. I receives this note from Paul, a friend in Maryland regarding Friday's message: Thanks brother for your parallel teaching regarding the pacemaker. I've had a Medtronics pacemaker/defibrillator since January 2007. It saved my life in July 2007 when the defib restored my normal heart rate after an episode. Now it is pacing my lower chamber 100%. I see it as that unique partnership God gives man in His creation. My cardiologist is a committed Christian who knows he is the lesser partner in caring for my heart! It is still an amazing feeling when they check my pacemaker and I feel my pulse rate change in response to the computer!!! On the spiritual side, the Holy Spirit is the pacer for my spiritual heart, my spiritual pacemaker. 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.) "So You Wanna Go Back To Egypt?" Video Keith Green "My Eyes Are Dry" Video Keith Green "Grace By Which I Stand" Video Keith Green "Knowing You Jesus" Video (Singer not identified but I sure like this version.) All I once held dear, built my life upon, All this world reveres, and wars to own, All I once thought gain I have counted loss; Spent and worthless now, compared to this: Knowing You, Jesus, knowing You, There is no greater thing. You're my all, You're the best, You're my joy, my righteousness, And I love You, Lord. 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 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 2011
Stephen C. Weber - All Rights Reserved
Daily Encouragement Net - 495 Kraybill Church Road - Mount Joy, PA 17552 USA Home www.dailyencouragement.net Contact us This device counts unique visitors by nation and
state. I
installed the international version in mid April 2010 and the state version later. They thus register unique
visitors to since then.
"Living securely today anchored in God's solid foundation" |