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To receive the "Daily Encouragement" each Monday-Friday through email see this page to subscribe to our email list. You can also subscribe to the Wordpress rss feed or through a Wordpress email subscription. (See the email subscription on the right side after opening this page.)
Are
our daily encouragement messages a blessing to you? We ask you to
consider making a donation to Daily Encouragement Net so that we can
continue to prepare and provide this daily resource which is
accessed by believers and seekers all over the world. Daily
Encouragement Net relies solely on the generosity and financial support
of its readers and podcast listeners. See here for more information on supporting this
ministry. Gifts are tax deductible.
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
<Previous Message Next Message>
Friday, August 9, 2013
Wooden flowers at the Central Market in Lancaster PA.
"Always Learning"
Listen to this message on your audio player
"Always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth" (2 Timothy 3:7).
We surely live in the most "educated" period in human history. The other night I heard a young man being interviewed who, like so many, was having a hard time getting a job following his graduation from college. He referred to his generation as being the most “academically qualified” in comparison to all previous generations. Now it is my observation that a greater percentage have additional education and even many advanced degrees but certainly this does not necessarily lead to a knowledge of the truth. In fact for many it has shattered their faith in the truth of the Bible.
Always learning can be a commendable trait whether young or old but of infinitely greater importance is coming to the knowledge of the truth!
Today's Bible text is from Paul's second letter to Timothy. He is writing of conditions in the last days in which he describes as perilous.
Among the conditions of people's hearts is deception. Among the characteristics of both deceivers and the deceived is that they are "always learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth." Another version states, "always learning but never able to acknowledge the truth." Could it be that the philosophy of their day was much like ours now – make truth relative so that it conforms to our preferred outlook and resulting lifestyle, rather than accepting truth as originated from Holy Scriptures and conforming to its absolutes.
Information abounds as well as the means to acquire it. Just consider what the internet has done regarding the accessibility of information. The Amplified Bible translates this verse, "They are forever inquiring and getting information, but are never able to arrive at a recognition and knowledge of the Truth." I believe the emphasis and capitalization of "Truth" is significant. Paul is not merely speaking in a general sense as to what is true and what is not, but rather the supreme truth of God's revelation in Christ. So many, many are indeed always learning and attaining knowledge without coming to the knowledge of this truth.
In the first two chapters of Romans we have three responses to the truth: suppression, exchange, and disobedience (1:18,25;2:8). My, these are surely responses that abound in our day.
May it be said of us in regard to our response to the truth that we are learning and fully acknowledging the Truth. If we are doing so we will grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! (see 2 Peter 3:18)
Be encouraged today,
Stephen & Brooksyne Weber
Daily prayer: Father, You grant us
access to Your presence through Your Son, Jesus, who is the Way, the
Truth and the Life. As we come into personal relationship with Him we
begin to know the Truth that sets us free from the deceit and lies of
Satan. Help us to faithfully engraft Your Word into our hearts so that
we will filter all that we see, hear and read to find what You, the
Source and very Essence of truth have to say to our hearts. Help us to
conform to Your will in all matters. Amen.
New Testament references to the phrase "the truth"
The other night we heard an interesting illustration regarding how many of our current generation regard spiritual truth:
A pastor is teaching young students about spiritual truth. He takes a jar full of beans with him. He then gets the students to guess how many beans are in the jar, and writes down their guesses on a notepad. He then asks the class members to list their favorite songs, writing them down alongside the bean estimates. The pastor then returns to the bean guesses, revealing the actual number and then whose guess was closest to being right.
After congratulations have been offered to those whose estimate was closest, attention is then refocused on the song list. “And which one of these is closest to being right?” the Pastor asks. Invariably the students argue that when it comes to “favorite songs” there is no right answer. It’s purely subjective, a matter of taste.
It’s at that point he asks, “When you decide what to believe in terms of your faith, is that more like guessing the number of beans, or more like choosing your favorite song?” Always he gets the same answer: Choosing one’s faith is more like choosing a favorite song.
Thus we see such a demonstration of the loss of objectivity in truth.
Walking through Central Market in Lancaster this morning we came across these wooden flowers that we had to feel to believe they weren't real. Silk flowers have become more and more realistic and now we're seeing hand-made wooden flowers looking more and more like fresh flowers!
Amazing in realistic color and detail!
Larger blooms are wooden flowers.
Today's
Suggested Music and Supplemental Resources
"These Things Are True Of You " Video Kristina Heisey and Tommy Walker
"All I Have Is Christ" Video Sovereign Grace Music
Wooden flowers at the Central Market in Lancaster PA.
"Always Learning"
Listen to this message on your audio player"Always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth" (2 Timothy 3:7).
We surely live in the most "educated" period in human history. The other night I heard a young man being interviewed who, like so many, was having a hard time getting a job following his graduation from college. He referred to his generation as being the most “academically qualified” in comparison to all previous generations. Now it is my observation that a greater percentage have additional education and even many advanced degrees but certainly this does not necessarily lead to a knowledge of the truth. In fact for many it has shattered their faith in the truth of the Bible.
Always learning can be a commendable trait whether young or old but of infinitely greater importance is coming to the knowledge of the truth!
Today's Bible text is from Paul's second letter to Timothy. He is writing of conditions in the last days in which he describes as perilous.
Among the conditions of people's hearts is deception. Among the characteristics of both deceivers and the deceived is that they are "always learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth." Another version states, "always learning but never able to acknowledge the truth." Could it be that the philosophy of their day was much like ours now – make truth relative so that it conforms to our preferred outlook and resulting lifestyle, rather than accepting truth as originated from Holy Scriptures and conforming to its absolutes.
Information abounds as well as the means to acquire it. Just consider what the internet has done regarding the accessibility of information. The Amplified Bible translates this verse, "They are forever inquiring and getting information, but are never able to arrive at a recognition and knowledge of the Truth." I believe the emphasis and capitalization of "Truth" is significant. Paul is not merely speaking in a general sense as to what is true and what is not, but rather the supreme truth of God's revelation in Christ. So many, many are indeed always learning and attaining knowledge without coming to the knowledge of this truth.
In the first two chapters of Romans we have three responses to the truth: suppression, exchange, and disobedience (1:18,25;2:8). My, these are surely responses that abound in our day.
May it be said of us in regard to our response to the truth that we are learning and fully acknowledging the Truth. If we are doing so we will grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! (see 2 Peter 3:18)
Be encouraged today,
Stephen & Brooksyne Weber
Daily prayer: Father, You grant us
access to Your presence through Your Son, Jesus, who is the Way, the
Truth and the Life. As we come into personal relationship with Him we
begin to know the Truth that sets us free from the deceit and lies of
Satan. Help us to faithfully engraft Your Word into our hearts so that
we will filter all that we see, hear and read to find what You, the
Source and very Essence of truth have to say to our hearts. Help us to
conform to Your will in all matters. Amen.New Testament references to the phrase "the truth"
The other night we heard an interesting illustration regarding how many of our current generation regard spiritual truth:
A pastor is teaching young students about spiritual truth. He takes a jar full of beans with him. He then gets the students to guess how many beans are in the jar, and writes down their guesses on a notepad. He then asks the class members to list their favorite songs, writing them down alongside the bean estimates. The pastor then returns to the bean guesses, revealing the actual number and then whose guess was closest to being right.
After congratulations have been offered to those whose estimate was closest, attention is then refocused on the song list. “And which one of these is closest to being right?” the Pastor asks. Invariably the students argue that when it comes to “favorite songs” there is no right answer. It’s purely subjective, a matter of taste.
It’s at that point he asks, “When you decide what to believe in terms of your faith, is that more like guessing the number of beans, or more like choosing your favorite song?” Always he gets the same answer: Choosing one’s faith is more like choosing a favorite song.
Thus we see such a demonstration of the loss of objectivity in truth.
Walking through Central Market in Lancaster this morning we came across these wooden flowers that we had to feel to believe they weren't real. Silk flowers have become more and more realistic and now we're seeing hand-made wooden flowers looking more and more like fresh flowers!
Amazing in realistic color and detail!
Larger blooms are wooden flowers.
"These Things Are True Of You " Video Kristina Heisey and Tommy Walker
"All I Have Is Christ" Video Sovereign Grace Music
Send a message to Stephen & Brooksyne
To receive the "Daily Encouragement" each Monday-Friday through email see this page to subscribe to our email list. You can also subscribe to the Wordpress rss feed or through a Wordpress email subscription. (See the email subscription on the right side after opening this page.)
Are
our daily encouragement messages a blessing to you? We ask you to
consider making a donation to Daily Encouragement Net so that we can
continue to prepare and provide this daily resource which is
accessed by believers and seekers all over the world. Daily
Encouragement Net relies solely on the generosity and financial support
of its readers and podcast listeners. See here for more information on supporting this
ministry. Gifts are tax deductible.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