Message Summary: Today, regardless of where we live or what stage of life, let us recognize and contend for the sanctity of life! We will make a difference!

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"For behold, when the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby leaped in my womb for joy" (Luke 1:44).

Today we are bracing for a big storm here in the Northeast with up to 2 or more feet of snow forecast for our area beginning this evening. Snow storms are a big deal in our area and has sure been a topic of discussion the last several days with the local authority being Joe Calhoun, a local weatherman. But today, like every year since 1974, tens of thousands will gather in Washington DC for the annual "March for Life". Most assuredly, regardless of the weather, there will be a large crowd.

My first exposure to the Pro-Life movement was back in 1975 only two years after the Supreme Court decision known as Roe v Wade. A speaker came to our college and I still recall the passion in his presentation. An obstetrician, Dr. John Willke,* spoke to a handful of students in the basement of Bowie Hall at the small Midwestern College we attended. Dr. Willke, who passed away last year, is considered the father of the Pro-life movement.

I have participated in the March many times beginning back in the eighties when I served a church in northern Pennsylvania. Although I did not go this year I thank the Lord for those who literally stand and march for life.

Last year I went with my older brother and three years ago with Brooksyne. It's a wearisome undertaking though I live relatively close. For me it's just a couple of hours away. But busses come in from all over the country. For many years my Aunt Mary, a devout Catholic, joined a group from western Missouri. Waiting for the pre-march rally, the peaceful march itself, and then the long walk back to the bus is quite exhausting and it's often very cold in Washington at this season!

We may wonder if our efforts make any difference when we take a visible stand for righteousness and against evil. Elijah wondered that on Mount Carmel. Though he'd just witnessed a mighty demonstration by Almighty God he felt alone and  exclaimed, "I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too" (1 Kings 19:10). But God spoke to Elijah: "Yet I reserve seven thousand in Israel--all whose knees have not bowed down to Baal" (1 Kings 19:18).

As we stand for Christ and reject the baals of our day we might feel alone but God will always have a reserve of faithful and devoted followers! Let us be among them. 

Postmodernism and progressivism have contributed greatly to the devaluing of life in our age. We would expect "Consumer Reports", a magazine that reviews consumer products, to be apolitical but years ago it had a review that candidly dealt with birth control and also touched on the subject of abortion. According to the CR review the procedure is said to remove "uterine contents." Is that a new low in Orwellian doublespeak or what! Look at the photo to the right of a preborn baby in the uterus and say with a straight face, "That's just uterine contents."

The word "infant" is a very interesting Greek word, "brephous". It is the word used in our daily text to describe John while he was in his mother's womb. "For behold, when the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby leaped in my womb for joy" (See here). John was not simply "uterine contents" but a tiny developing baby, who grew up to make a mighty impact in fulfilling the purpose for which God made him.

There's another use of this word brephous in a powerful truth expressed by Paul in 2 Timothy when he writes, "how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures" (2 Timothy 3:15). Timothy had a godly mother and grandmother (2 Timothy 1:5). They apparently made known the Holy Scriptures to Timothy even as an infant. Timothy was impacted by the Holy Scriptures from infancy, which certainly is prenatal development as well. Even many in the world recognize the intricate development that takes place in the womb, not only physically but in many other ways as well.

Today, regardless of where we live or what stage of life, let us recognize and contend for the sanctity of life! We will make a difference!


Be encouraged today,


Stephen & Brooksyne Weber

Daily prayer: Father, we thank You for the gift of life. We bless the courageous girls and women who, in the most difficult of circumstances, choose to give life over choosing to dispense of their "problem." We thank You for the vast groups of men and women who lend support to crises pregnancies, to those who take in and raise children who are given up for adoption. We thank You for those who have dedicated their lives to this tremendous cause, keeping it very much alive so that those who view abortion as a viable option since its legalization in 1973, will come to realize that Your Word is the first and final authority on life, not the legislation of our day.

Bless those who speak today, those who march, and those who work among pregnant girls and women who are presently in the very midst of making a life or death decision regarding their unborn child. We also pray for those who made the wrong choice to abort, that they may find Your enduring grace that brings healing and restoration. In many instances, You have used their troubling experience to be an influencing voice for others to make a right choice. We commit the Pro-Life cause to You this day, in Jesus' name.  Amen.

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Yesterday I shared a lesson from my experience on having my tooth extracted and received this interesting comment from a South African reader: "I have empathy for you in the pain caused by a relatively small part of your body mass. To take the lesson further I would venture that greater pain can be suffered from an even smaller part of one's overall body mass, namely a kidney stone, I have experienced both (kidney stones & toothache). I once heard the renal colic which is brought on by a kidney stone described as "an exquisite pain". I can see the lesson which there is in a tooth extraction but I am not sure what lesson can be gleaned from a kidney stone, other than that it would be easier to "pass a camel through the eye of a needle"

Shalom

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"Only God Knows"   Video   Brian Free & Assurance  I, Brooksyne, was moved to tears when I first heard this song several days ago.

"I Want To Be That Man"  Video  Brian Free & Assurance We need men and women who will seek to follow God and walk in His ways!!!

* As best as I can recall it was Dr. Willke, otherwise it was a doctor who already was sounding the alarm regarding the evil of abortion.

Dr. Jack Willke report of his passing in Lifesite news

The article on Dr. Willke in Wikipedia is an example of why many say we should be cautious concerning this resource. It is clearly written by a pro-abortion advocate!

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