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<Previous Message Next Message> Wednesday, January 9, 2013 ![]() ![]() "A Great Saviour" "This is what the LORD says: 'Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom or the strong man boast of his strength or the rich man boast of his riches, but let him who boasts boast about this: that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight,' declares the LORD" (Jeremiah 9:23-24). "One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!" (John 9:25). ![]() What do you know today? Well, surely that varies among our readers. Some of you know a little about a lot of different subjects; others know a whole lot about only a few subjects. I just hope we all have an experiential knowledge about the most important matter in life: our heart's condition with God and His remedy for that condition. Using the message of our first daily text we, who are of the faith, are among those, "who understand and know that He is the LORD, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth." In fact God delights in these virtues. They're a stark contrast to the bullying, injustice and ungodliness that are daily captions in our newspapers or major stories in the news media. John 9 records the miraculous healing of the man blind from birth. Although the account clearly deals with a literal physical healing it is very instructive in regard to the spiritual healing as well. Jesus had wondrously healed and saved the man who then became the subject for various attacks against Christ. ![]() Yet his response to the critical, negative religious leaders is so powerful: "One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!" This is experiential knowledge. He knew the physical condition of his life before the healing and he certainly experienced its radically changed condition afterwards. He could now see! Attacks against our faith in Christ abound just as they always have. This is especially true today as we're seeing more and more attacks through the media, entertainment and academia. Sadly our own government and public education system here in America is increasingly part of the attack. People of faith in Christ are portrayed as ignorant, old-fashioned, and downright naive. As the pace of decadence hastens, sometimes referred to as the moral cliff, those who hold to Biblical standards are portrayed as hateful, mean-spirited and intolerant.* The attacks will also come as you live out your Christian experience. How vital to have a bedrock knowledge of the spiritual reality and assurance of our salvation. Much like a machine gun the devil barrages us with his bullets of fear, doubt, jealousy, strife and a host of other emotions seeking to diminish our hope and lead our soul astray. In response to the enemy's attacks let us declare along with the healed blind man, "One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!" Amazing grace! how sweet the sound, That saved a wretch like me! I once was lost, but now am found, Was blind, but now I see. (Newton) My chains are gone, I've been set free My God, my Savior has ransomed me. And like a flood His mercy reigns Unending love, amazing grace. (Tomlin) If we remember nothing more at the end of our lives than this spiritual truth: "I am a great sinner and Christ is a great Saviour" we have remembered the most important truth of our human existence. It loosens our chains that held us captive to sin and is the key to life evermore with our Great Savior where we will experience His unending love, His amazing grace, and His splendid provisions for all eternity. Be encouraged today, Stephen & Brooksyne Weber ![]() * Among the more astounding forms of attack is the attempt to designate groups and churches holding to Biblical and traditional values as "hate groups". Presently there is a petition for the Catholic Church to be designated a hate group due to the Pope's remarks regarding the redefinition of marriage. (see here) 2013 Pennsylvania Farm Show In early January we usually visit the Pennsylvania Farm Show in Harrisburg, a huge indoor agricultural exposition similar to state fairs in other states. Ester and Brooksyne know this is something I just like to do. On Monday afternoon we visited the show and shared several photos yesterday and will do so again today. ![]() Antique Tractor at the 2013 Pennsylvania Farm Show ![]() The main exhibition hall has a lot of machinery, new and old. I (Stephen) enjoy antique machinery! ![]() A mean-looking hot potato man! ![]() Here's a great way to put some old work boots to use! These boots remind us of the one we have in our front yard. It's a boot that our farmer friend, Galen wore out. His wife Nancy didn't throw his boots out but used them instead for planting hen and chicks and blessed us with one years ago. Because these plants take very little water and live over the winter the boot planter is pretty much self-sufficient! ![]() Here's an interesting idea we may try this spring. Sections of slightly sloping gutter are used as a plant box along a wall. The rain water runs through the gutter and waters the plants. Today's Suggested Music and Supplemental Resources ![]() ![]() 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." © Copyright 2013 Stephen C. Weber - All Rights Reserved Daily Encouragement Net - 495 Kraybill Church Road - Mount Joy, PA 17552 USA |