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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 2014 Stephen C. Weber - All Rights Reserved
Daily Encouragement Net - 495 Kraybill Church Road - Mount Joy, PA 17552 USA
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Monday, July 28, 2014
Mollie is prone to wander
(photo by Ester)
Listen
to us read this
message on
your
audio player.
"Aaron said, 'Do not let the anger of my lord burn; you know the people yourself, that they are prone to evil'" (Exodus 32:22). "With all my heart I have sought You; Do not let me wander from Your commandments" (Psalm 119:10). "My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins" (James 5:19,20).
Oh, to grace how great a debtor daily I'm constrained to be!
Let Thy grace, Lord, like a fetter, bind my wan-d'ring heart to Thee:
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it; prone to leave the God I love.
Here's my heart, Lord, take and seal it; seal it for Thy courts above.
Our dog, Mollie, is prone to wandering. Our lead photo shows her jumping over the back yard gate to the front yard. Although border collies are smart Mollie lacks common sense and her compulsive behavior can lead her to remove all restraints, such as when she sees a squirrel and sets out to chase it across the road oblivious to the dangers. Today let us consider the theme of being prone to wander!
We're spiritually indebted to hymn writers who have written heartfelt expressions of thanksgiving and praise to Almighty God. We find ourselves often limited in our human language and unable to verbally express what we feel emotionally. Then we find the very expression of our hearts described in the text of a hymn, and by singing those words with a genuine heart, we make it our own message to God.
We also appreciate the forthrightness of hymn texts that describe our fallen human condition. It's all too easy to identify with Robert Robinson who in 1758, with blunt candor, writes about our faulty human condition. Buried in the third verse of his famous hymn "Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing" he describes the pulling of his heart strings, "Prone to wander how I feel it, prone to leave the God I love."
Robinson's proneness to wander and live for self rather than the God he professed to love is all too common among the redeemed. Each time I sing this line I'm reminded of the two natures that are always waging war within: the sin nature vs. the spiritual nature. It seems like sin comes crouching at the door of my heart all too often (Genesis 4:7).
Our first daily text describes the Israelites soon after crossing the Red Sea. Moses was on the mountain and the people grew impatient, demanding Aaron to construct a golden calf for them to worship. Aaron, who was surely complicit in the deed, blamed the people, making the observation that they were "prone to evil". That surely describes the entire unregenerate human race!
The Psalmist in our second text expressed an inclination to wander from God's commandments with a resolve to seek God with a whole heart. The way the Bible accurately speaks about the condition of our hearts is further evidence of the inspiration of the Holy Scriptures.
The third text speaks of wandering from the truth, surely the most severe form of wandering, that leads to death.
Jesus, by His grace and by the power given through the Holy Spirit, will give me the will to resist the temptation to wander into deadly enemy territory. There are times when Satan's luring temptations turn into tortuous warfare, but we will remain firm in our faith if we choose to bind our wandering hearts to the God we love.
Be encouraged today,
Stephen & Brooksyne Weber
Daily
prayer: Father,
with my whole heart I have sought You and made You my Lord and Savior.
I have turned my eyes away from worthless things so that my life is
preserved here and now and for all eternity. And yet there is a tug of
war that battles within me from time to time as I journey here below;
the lure of that which satisfies the flesh vs. that which builds me up
in the spirit. May Your grace bind my wandering heart so
that during times of temptation I hold steady and resist the enemy
who seeks to endanger and lead me astray. In the name of Jesus I pray.
Amen.
We had a busy weekend and over the next several days we'll share some photos of our activities.
Yesterday Ester and I drove up to the Lehigh Valley to attend an outdoor service and picnic my brother's church hosted. (Brooksyne did not go since she had already committed to leading the worship service in our home church.) Since my brother has served as pastor there for over 20 years I've come to know several in his congregation. I enjoyed visiting with them, including Rick Reinhart, as we discussed the concept of our proneness to wander. Rick shared an interesting testimony I expect to write about in the future.
The picnic was held in a pavilion in a public park where a baseball tournament was being held. Chris, a large, colorful man who had been an ironworker in NYC and was disabled in the 9/11 cleanup was grilling the meats when he met an out of town baseball team there for the tournament. He invited them to join in a circle of prayer and prayed over them and then invited one of them to pray in Spanish. Then they were all invited to have a meal. I suppose they just might remember that!
I
Today's Suggested Music and Supplemental Resources
"Come Thou Fount Of Every Blessing" Video Fernando Ortega
Mollie is prone to wander
(photo by Ester)
"Prone To Wander"
Listen
to us read this
message on
your
audio player."Aaron said, 'Do not let the anger of my lord burn; you know the people yourself, that they are prone to evil'" (Exodus 32:22). "With all my heart I have sought You; Do not let me wander from Your commandments" (Psalm 119:10). "My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins" (James 5:19,20).
Oh, to grace how great a debtor daily I'm constrained to be!
Let Thy grace, Lord, like a fetter, bind my wan-d'ring heart to Thee:
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it; prone to leave the God I love.
Here's my heart, Lord, take and seal it; seal it for Thy courts above.
Our dog, Mollie, is prone to wandering. Our lead photo shows her jumping over the back yard gate to the front yard. Although border collies are smart Mollie lacks common sense and her compulsive behavior can lead her to remove all restraints, such as when she sees a squirrel and sets out to chase it across the road oblivious to the dangers. Today let us consider the theme of being prone to wander!
We're spiritually indebted to hymn writers who have written heartfelt expressions of thanksgiving and praise to Almighty God. We find ourselves often limited in our human language and unable to verbally express what we feel emotionally. Then we find the very expression of our hearts described in the text of a hymn, and by singing those words with a genuine heart, we make it our own message to God.
We also appreciate the forthrightness of hymn texts that describe our fallen human condition. It's all too easy to identify with Robert Robinson who in 1758, with blunt candor, writes about our faulty human condition. Buried in the third verse of his famous hymn "Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing" he describes the pulling of his heart strings, "Prone to wander how I feel it, prone to leave the God I love."
Robinson's proneness to wander and live for self rather than the God he professed to love is all too common among the redeemed. Each time I sing this line I'm reminded of the two natures that are always waging war within: the sin nature vs. the spiritual nature. It seems like sin comes crouching at the door of my heart all too often (Genesis 4:7).
Our first daily text describes the Israelites soon after crossing the Red Sea. Moses was on the mountain and the people grew impatient, demanding Aaron to construct a golden calf for them to worship. Aaron, who was surely complicit in the deed, blamed the people, making the observation that they were "prone to evil". That surely describes the entire unregenerate human race!
The Psalmist in our second text expressed an inclination to wander from God's commandments with a resolve to seek God with a whole heart. The way the Bible accurately speaks about the condition of our hearts is further evidence of the inspiration of the Holy Scriptures.
The third text speaks of wandering from the truth, surely the most severe form of wandering, that leads to death.
Jesus, by His grace and by the power given through the Holy Spirit, will give me the will to resist the temptation to wander into deadly enemy territory. There are times when Satan's luring temptations turn into tortuous warfare, but we will remain firm in our faith if we choose to bind our wandering hearts to the God we love.
Be encouraged today,
Stephen & Brooksyne Weber
Daily
prayer: Father,
with my whole heart I have sought You and made You my Lord and Savior.
I have turned my eyes away from worthless things so that my life is
preserved here and now and for all eternity. And yet there is a tug of
war that battles within me from time to time as I journey here below;
the lure of that which satisfies the flesh vs. that which builds me up
in the spirit. May Your grace bind my wandering heart so
that during times of temptation I hold steady and resist the enemy
who seeks to endanger and lead me astray. In the name of Jesus I pray.
Amen.We had a busy weekend and over the next several days we'll share some photos of our activities.
Yesterday Ester and I drove up to the Lehigh Valley to attend an outdoor service and picnic my brother's church hosted. (Brooksyne did not go since she had already committed to leading the worship service in our home church.) Since my brother has served as pastor there for over 20 years I've come to know several in his congregation. I enjoyed visiting with them, including Rick Reinhart, as we discussed the concept of our proneness to wander. Rick shared an interesting testimony I expect to write about in the future.
The picnic was held in a pavilion in a public park where a baseball tournament was being held. Chris, a large, colorful man who had been an ironworker in NYC and was disabled in the 9/11 cleanup was grilling the meats when he met an out of town baseball team there for the tournament. He invited them to join in a circle of prayer and prayed over them and then invited one of them to pray in Spanish. Then they were all invited to have a meal. I suppose they just might remember that!
I
In
the Lehigh Valley they play a sport quite popular called
quoits (pronounced "kwāts"). The photo above shows our friends Larry and Tina Kester who are
competing against
each other. Quoits are
similar to horseshoes but as you can see in Larry's hand they are small
round disks. This game uses two one-pound rubber quoits per player,
which are pitched at a short metal pin mounted on a very heavy 24x24x1 inch
slab of slate 18 feet apart.
Of course you strive for a ringer but disks that stay on the board can also count for points. The real skill seems to be getting the disks to land flat on the slate board without sliding or bouncing off! (photo taken last summer)
Tomorrow we will share some photos from the Lancaster Barnstormers baseball game we attended Saturday evening and a special feature, Cowboy Monkey Rodeo! Video
Of course you strive for a ringer but disks that stay on the board can also count for points. The real skill seems to be getting the disks to land flat on the slate board without sliding or bouncing off! (photo taken last summer)
Tomorrow we will share some photos from the Lancaster Barnstormers baseball game we attended Saturday evening and a special feature, Cowboy Monkey Rodeo! Video
Today's Suggested Music and Supplemental Resources
"Come Thou Fount Of Every Blessing" Video Fernando Ortega
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 2014 Stephen C. Weber - All Rights Reserved
Daily Encouragement Net - 495 Kraybill Church Road - Mount Joy, PA 17552 USA