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Friday, September 27, 2013
We've had several days of beautiful weather.
We took this photo of our decorated garden cart yesterday afternoon.
Listen to this message on
your audio player.
"The LORD knows the thoughts of man" (Psalm 94:11). "You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar" (Psalm 139:2). "This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in His presence whenever our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than our hearts, and He knows everything" (1 John 3:19,20).
Longtime readers have heard a lot about our three pets over the years. Our oldest is 12 year old Dottie who has the stereotypical personality of a cat regarding interaction with humans and among her "peers". She's content with a few minutes of petting daily. Her greatest interest in life is finding a new cozy place to sleep.
Our older dog Roxie whom we've had since early 2005 is very loyal and always wants to be near us, especially Brooksyne. She's getting older and no longer has the boundless energy she once had in her youth. (I know that feeling.) However, she still enjoys long walks.
But our two year old dog, Mollie, abounds with energy and always
wants to play, even in the middle of the night. Her favorite game is
frisbee. Oh, how she loves to run after the frisbee and catch it no
matter how bad the throw, unlike my response to end the game if my
frisbee partner doesn't know how to properly throw back the frisbee. If
I get up from my office chair she assumes that means, "Let's play".
However she also responds to verbal suggestions such as
"Mollie, do you want to play Frisbee?" Or I may spell it out, "Mollie,
F-R-I-S-B-E-E" and she will scurry to the door by the time I get to F-R-.
But my favorite way to get her excited is when I look at her, move my eyebrows up and down twice, and ask softly, "Mollie, are you thinking what I'm thinking?" She cocks her head sideways with one ear turned back and looks me in the eyes as she appears to be thinking what I'm thinking. She then grabs the nearest throw toy, runs to the door, and barks for me to join her in play. (In the photo you will see Mollie breaks in every frisbee by chewing a hole in the middle so she can carry it easily.)
Now I don't think Mollie is ever really thinking what I'm thinking; that is, unless I'm thinking about playing with her. But in a far more serious and supreme way our Father knows every thought that crosses our mind, even when we don't speak it aloud. "You are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue You, Lord, know it completely" (Psalm 139: 3b,4).
Attributes are what theologians call the characteristics of God. The Psalmist declares several attributes of God in Psalm 139. Today we consider the One who always knows our thoughts. This is an expression of the divine attribute known as God's omniscience. "You know when I sit and when I rise; You perceive my thoughts from afar." The Psalmist responded, "Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain" (v.6).
God knows us and has a divine plan for our lives even before we were born. He knows us better than we know ourselves. Matthew 10:30 tells us that even the hairs on our head are numbered. No matter how carefully we may keep our thoughts from others, we have no secrets from God.
God knows everything about us, both good and bad, and He still loves us. God understands how we feel when we are going through hard times because He knows our thoughts and feelings.
Is there anyone else to whom we could comfortably entrust our thoughts. Thankfully, He knows us, He loves us, He guides us and He too is awaiting the day when we will see Him face to face.
Be encouraged today,
Stephen & Brooksyne Weber
Daily prayer: Father,
You love us so completely and have a wonderful plan for our lives that
is revealed to us through the Scriptures and in our life's experiences.
You know us intimately; you know our thoughts before we even speak a
word. To grasp the scope of Your awesome power is more than we can
comprehend, but
we
walk by faith and grow in our knowledge of You as a personal God. You
know when we sit and when we rise; You perceive our thoughts from afar.
You are greater than our hearts and You know everything. Amen.
Note: Because of scheduling changes in our chaplaincy visitation due to Ester's recuperation we were unable to complete a Daily Encouragement message yesterday (9/26/13).
Family Note: Ester is continuing to recuperate from her recent surgery. She's now able to get up out of a chair on her own, and with the assistance of PaPa Steincross' (her great-grandfather) cane she is regaining strength as she walks around the house and up and down our driveway. Thank you so much for your interest and prayers. Next week she has a follow-up appointment to check her new pacemaker.
Today's Suggested Music and Supplemental Resources
"He Knows My Name" Video Maranatha Singers
"As High As The Heavens" Video Marty Nystrom
"I Exalt Thee" Video Alleliua Singers
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
<Previous Message Next Message>
Friday, September 27, 2013
We've had several days of beautiful weather.
We took this photo of our decorated garden cart yesterday afternoon.
"He Knows All Things"
Listen to this message on
your audio player."The LORD knows the thoughts of man" (Psalm 94:11). "You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar" (Psalm 139:2). "This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in His presence whenever our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than our hearts, and He knows everything" (1 John 3:19,20).
Longtime readers have heard a lot about our three pets over the years. Our oldest is 12 year old Dottie who has the stereotypical personality of a cat regarding interaction with humans and among her "peers". She's content with a few minutes of petting daily. Her greatest interest in life is finding a new cozy place to sleep.
Our older dog Roxie whom we've had since early 2005 is very loyal and always wants to be near us, especially Brooksyne. She's getting older and no longer has the boundless energy she once had in her youth. (I know that feeling.) However, she still enjoys long walks.
But our two year old dog, Mollie, abounds with energy and always
wants to play, even in the middle of the night. Her favorite game is
frisbee. Oh, how she loves to run after the frisbee and catch it no
matter how bad the throw, unlike my response to end the game if my
frisbee partner doesn't know how to properly throw back the frisbee. If
I get up from my office chair she assumes that means, "Let's play".
However she also responds to verbal suggestions such as
"Mollie, do you want to play Frisbee?" Or I may spell it out, "Mollie,
F-R-I-S-B-E-E" and she will scurry to the door by the time I get to F-R-.But my favorite way to get her excited is when I look at her, move my eyebrows up and down twice, and ask softly, "Mollie, are you thinking what I'm thinking?" She cocks her head sideways with one ear turned back and looks me in the eyes as she appears to be thinking what I'm thinking. She then grabs the nearest throw toy, runs to the door, and barks for me to join her in play. (In the photo you will see Mollie breaks in every frisbee by chewing a hole in the middle so she can carry it easily.)
Now I don't think Mollie is ever really thinking what I'm thinking; that is, unless I'm thinking about playing with her. But in a far more serious and supreme way our Father knows every thought that crosses our mind, even when we don't speak it aloud. "You are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue You, Lord, know it completely" (Psalm 139: 3b,4).
Attributes are what theologians call the characteristics of God. The Psalmist declares several attributes of God in Psalm 139. Today we consider the One who always knows our thoughts. This is an expression of the divine attribute known as God's omniscience. "You know when I sit and when I rise; You perceive my thoughts from afar." The Psalmist responded, "Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain" (v.6).
God knows us and has a divine plan for our lives even before we were born. He knows us better than we know ourselves. Matthew 10:30 tells us that even the hairs on our head are numbered. No matter how carefully we may keep our thoughts from others, we have no secrets from God.
God knows everything about us, both good and bad, and He still loves us. God understands how we feel when we are going through hard times because He knows our thoughts and feelings.
Is there anyone else to whom we could comfortably entrust our thoughts. Thankfully, He knows us, He loves us, He guides us and He too is awaiting the day when we will see Him face to face.
He knows my name
He knows my every thought
He sees each tear that falls
And hears me when I call
He knows my every thought
He sees each tear that falls
And hears me when I call
Be encouraged today,
Stephen & Brooksyne Weber
Daily prayer: Father,
You love us so completely and have a wonderful plan for our lives that
is revealed to us through the Scriptures and in our life's experiences.
You know us intimately; you know our thoughts before we even speak a
word. To grasp the scope of Your awesome power is more than we can
comprehend, but
we
walk by faith and grow in our knowledge of You as a personal God. You
know when we sit and when we rise; You perceive our thoughts from afar.
You are greater than our hearts and You know everything. Amen.Note: Because of scheduling changes in our chaplaincy visitation due to Ester's recuperation we were unable to complete a Daily Encouragement message yesterday (9/26/13).
Family Note: Ester is continuing to recuperate from her recent surgery. She's now able to get up out of a chair on her own, and with the assistance of PaPa Steincross' (her great-grandfather) cane she is regaining strength as she walks around the house and up and down our driveway. Thank you so much for your interest and prayers. Next week she has a follow-up appointment to check her new pacemaker.
Today's Suggested Music and Supplemental Resources
"He Knows My Name" Video Maranatha Singers
"As High As The Heavens" Video Marty Nystrom
"I Exalt Thee" Video Alleliua Singers
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