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Tuesday, January 17, 2017
Titmouse
(photo by Doris High)
"When Your Grip Slips"
Message summary: Are you losing your grip? Here's encouragement!
Listen to this
message on your
audio player.
"He (God) gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak" (Isaiah 40:29). "Therefore, strengthen the hands that are weak and the knees that are feeble" (Hebrews 12:12).
Most
all of us can recall our Physical Education classes from Elementary
through High School. I thoroughly enjoyed my PE classes at Truman
High School in Independence, MO since I was reasonably athletic.
One of the optional conditioning exercises included several large thick climbing ropes that hung down from the gymnasium ceiling. Students would take turns shimmying up the ropes to the top of the gym and then back down. As I recall I needed to use my legs as well, unlike the man in the photo!
Do schools still provide these climbing ropes? It does seem like there could be a safety factor and thus dreaded liability since, in my high school days, it was just the climber and the rope. However I don't recall hearing of any accidents. Now they probably have all kinds of tethering.
Yesterday we wrote a message about "holding on with a tight grip". But today we consider what happens if your grip slips. Any analogy of the Christian life will likely have some deficiency. One of my favorites is a race, a marathon race which we wrote about last Friday. This is a Scriptural analogy since several passages liken our journey here below to a physical race.
So let's consider another use with a climbing rope. God in His grace provided a rope for each of us. By faith we take hold of the rope and begin our climbing journey of Biblical instruction, faith, obedience and perseverance. The children's song, "Climb, climb up sunshine mountain", comes to mind although they're climbing a mountain rather than a rope!
Climbing
a rope is not easy and the ascent will challenge the climber whose duty
it is, with just the grip of his or her hands and arm strength, to
pull one's entire body weight in one motion. Perspiration, due to
holding tightly to the rope may even cause one's grip to lose traction.
Over time callouses will form and when inflamed the rope will burn.
Weakness or the seeming impossibility of getting to the top can easily
discourage even an experienced climber. Distractions below may beckon
us back down, but our call is to keep on climbing!
We may lose our grip and
start to slip down a bit. Perhaps the writer of Hebrews had this in
mind when he challenged his readers to, "strengthen the hands that are weak and the knees that are feeble" (Hebrews 12:12). The New Living Translation states here, "So take a new grip with your tired hands and stand firm on your shaky legs."
"The experience of 'hitting the wall' in a Marathon is a picture of
weak hands, feeble knees. The exhortation implies that the readers are
acting as though spiritually paralyzed. This means to restore to
straightness ... to reinvigorate. The command to 'strengthen'
comes from the word from which we derive our English word orthopedic."
(Precept Austin commentary)
Stephen Escedy, a longtime friend who is now with the Lord, was a part of the church we pastored in upstate Pennsylvania. Stephen was an alcoholic prior to his commitment to Christ and had a lot of hurts in his past. He once told me, "I am hanging on a rope and at times slide down it a little but at the end of the rope Jesus has placed a strong knot."
Are your hands weak or your knees feeble today? Are you dealing with
setbacks that weary you along the way? Strengthen and lift up your hands
today in faith and praise toward God. This must primarily be an act of
willful obedience rather than an emotional response.
As you lift them up in obedience I believe you will experience the uplifting spiritual, physical and mental revitalization that Isaiah writes about in 40:29, "He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak."
Be encouraged today,
Stephen & Brooksyne Weber
Daily
prayer:
Father, the
journey is long, the obstacles are many, and the endurance needed to
live by faith is the challenge given to every believer. In
ourselves we are ill-equipped physically, mentally, and emotionally to
endure to the end. But You give strength to the weary and increase the
power of the weak. Our brothers and sisters help strengthen our weak
hands and our feeble knees.
With the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus we find the
strength to press onward and upward. It is in Jesus' name that we press
on. Amen.
We
want to thank all who supported our ministry this last year, whether it
was your faithful readership or sharing our message with others,
whether it was your financial support, or whether it was your prayers
for our ministry and family needs. Perhaps it was a part or combination
of all the above - we thank You for being such a vital part of our
Daily Encouragement "family". We are grateful for your support in any
way, and we too remember you in our daily prayers.
Total 2016 offerings: $27,025.00
Total donors: 86
Offerings came from 25 states and Hong Kong, Singapore, United Kingdom and South Korea.
These offerings are very appreciated and are a critical source of our ministry funding. The time required for preparing these messages and sending/posting them is roughly equivalent to a full-time job shared between us (about 40 hours weekly +/-).
Since we prepare these messages from our home office there are very little direct, unique expenses required soley used for Daily Encouragement. Since we already would need computers and internet access for our other ministries (including corporate chaplaincy) these unique expenses, which include the fees for listserve and podcast server, are less than $1,000 annually.
Means of distribution of Daily Encouragement:
And so, we begin another year with our YTD accounting that we've used for many years! 2017 YTD offerings to Daily Encouragement Net: $322.00
"Press On" Video Selah
"Climb, Climb Up Sunshine Mountain" Video Cedarmont Kids
"Be Strong & Take Courage" Video Don Moen
Send a message to Stephen & Brooksyne
(photo by Doris High)
"When Your Grip Slips"
Message summary: Are you losing your grip? Here's encouragement!
Listen to this
message on your
audio player."He (God) gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak" (Isaiah 40:29). "Therefore, strengthen the hands that are weak and the knees that are feeble" (Hebrews 12:12).
When the valley is deep
When the mountain is steep
When the body is weary
When we stumble and fall
When the mountain is steep
When the body is weary
When we stumble and fall
Most
all of us can recall our Physical Education classes from Elementary
through High School. I thoroughly enjoyed my PE classes at Truman
High School in Independence, MO since I was reasonably athletic.One of the optional conditioning exercises included several large thick climbing ropes that hung down from the gymnasium ceiling. Students would take turns shimmying up the ropes to the top of the gym and then back down. As I recall I needed to use my legs as well, unlike the man in the photo!
Do schools still provide these climbing ropes? It does seem like there could be a safety factor and thus dreaded liability since, in my high school days, it was just the climber and the rope. However I don't recall hearing of any accidents. Now they probably have all kinds of tethering.
Yesterday we wrote a message about "holding on with a tight grip". But today we consider what happens if your grip slips. Any analogy of the Christian life will likely have some deficiency. One of my favorites is a race, a marathon race which we wrote about last Friday. This is a Scriptural analogy since several passages liken our journey here below to a physical race.
So let's consider another use with a climbing rope. God in His grace provided a rope for each of us. By faith we take hold of the rope and begin our climbing journey of Biblical instruction, faith, obedience and perseverance. The children's song, "Climb, climb up sunshine mountain", comes to mind although they're climbing a mountain rather than a rope!
Climbing
a rope is not easy and the ascent will challenge the climber whose duty
it is, with just the grip of his or her hands and arm strength, to
pull one's entire body weight in one motion. Perspiration, due to
holding tightly to the rope may even cause one's grip to lose traction.
Over time callouses will form and when inflamed the rope will burn.
Weakness or the seeming impossibility of getting to the top can easily
discourage even an experienced climber. Distractions below may beckon
us back down, but our call is to keep on climbing!We may lose our grip and
start to slip down a bit. Perhaps the writer of Hebrews had this in
mind when he challenged his readers to, "strengthen the hands that are weak and the knees that are feeble" (Hebrews 12:12). The New Living Translation states here, "So take a new grip with your tired hands and stand firm on your shaky legs.""The experience of 'hitting the wall' in a Marathon is a picture of
weak hands, feeble knees. The exhortation implies that the readers are
acting as though spiritually paralyzed. This means to restore to
straightness ... to reinvigorate. The command to 'strengthen'
comes from the word from which we derive our English word orthopedic."
(Precept Austin commentary)When the choices are hard
When we're battered and scarred
When we've spent our resources
When we've given our all
When we're battered and scarred
When we've spent our resources
When we've given our all
Stephen Escedy, a longtime friend who is now with the Lord, was a part of the church we pastored in upstate Pennsylvania. Stephen was an alcoholic prior to his commitment to Christ and had a lot of hurts in his past. He once told me, "I am hanging on a rope and at times slide down it a little but at the end of the rope Jesus has placed a strong knot."
Are your hands weak or your knees feeble today? Are you dealing with
setbacks that weary you along the way? Strengthen and lift up your hands
today in faith and praise toward God. This must primarily be an act of
willful obedience rather than an emotional response.As you lift them up in obedience I believe you will experience the uplifting spiritual, physical and mental revitalization that Isaiah writes about in 40:29, "He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak."
In Jesus' name, we press on
Dear Lord, with the prize
Clear before our eyes
We find the strength to press on
To press on
Dear Lord, with the prize
Clear before our eyes
We find the strength to press on
To press on
Be encouraged today,
Stephen & Brooksyne Weber
Daily
prayer:
Father, the
journey is long, the obstacles are many, and the endurance needed to
live by faith is the challenge given to every believer. In
ourselves we are ill-equipped physically, mentally, and emotionally to
endure to the end. But You give strength to the weary and increase the
power of the weak. Our brothers and sisters help strengthen our weak
hands and our feeble knees.
With the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus we find the
strength to press onward and upward. It is in Jesus' name that we press
on. Amen.We
want to thank all who supported our ministry this last year, whether it
was your faithful readership or sharing our message with others,
whether it was your financial support, or whether it was your prayers
for our ministry and family needs. Perhaps it was a part or combination
of all the above - we thank You for being such a vital part of our
Daily Encouragement "family". We are grateful for your support in any
way, and we too remember you in our daily prayers.Total 2016 offerings: $27,025.00
Total donors: 86
Offerings came from 25 states and Hong Kong, Singapore, United Kingdom and South Korea.
These offerings are very appreciated and are a critical source of our ministry funding. The time required for preparing these messages and sending/posting them is roughly equivalent to a full-time job shared between us (about 40 hours weekly +/-).
Since we prepare these messages from our home office there are very little direct, unique expenses required soley used for Daily Encouragement. Since we already would need computers and internet access for our other ministries (including corporate chaplaincy) these unique expenses, which include the fees for listserve and podcast server, are less than $1,000 annually.
Means of distribution of Daily Encouragement:
- Website with each message archived since 2005
- Daily email list
- Weekly email list
- Podcast
- Facebook page
- Wordpress (entire message)
- Wordpress (prayer only)
Today's
Suggested
Music and Supplemental Resources
"Press On" Video Selah
"Climb, Climb Up Sunshine Mountain" Video Cedarmont Kids
"Be Strong & Take Courage" Video Don Moen
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.)
We
want to thank all who financially support our ministry. We realize there are many fine
ministries
and causes requesting support but if the Lord would lead
you we surely need and appreciate the financial support from our
readers and listeners. Our ministry labor is comprised of half our
time to Daily
Encouragement and the other half to our chaplaincy ministry to
companies for which we receive a fee (of course this percentage of time
varies
week by week). Each of these ministries essentially is the same as a
part-time job (20+ hours weekly) for each of us. Our goal for many
years is that each phase would provide half of our ministry expenses
and
income. If you would like to make a donation to our ministry see here
for more information. Donations through my chaplaincy endorsing ministry are tax deductible and will
be receipted directly by them. Thank you!
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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 make it my life's goal to please the Lord. My mission in life is to honor God through my faith and obedience and prepare myself and all whom I may influence for eternity."
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