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Wednesday, August 16, 2017
Yesterday we visited a few minutes with John and Faithe Keefer and saw their tall sunflowers and other healthy vegetation.
"Don't Grow Weary!"
Message summary: "Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up" (Galatians 6:9). "Never Tire Of Doing What Is Right"
Listen to our
message on your
audio player.
"Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers" (Galatians 6:9,10). "And as for you, brothers, never tire of doing what is right" (2 Thessalonians 3:13).
We
could learn from our dog Mollie a characteristic we write about today.
She never tires of playing, especially Frisbee toss. Anytime, day or
night, all we have to do is say or spell F-R-I-S-B-E-E and from wherever she
is she will come bounding ready to go. She is never "not in the mood".
After many tosses she may tire enough to plop down in the yard to chew
on it for a few minutes before getting refreshed for another round.
Inevitably her owners tire out before she does!
Yesterday in the course of our chaplain ministry Brooksyne and I talked to a friend who shared a burden with us regarding his children. He and his wife came to faith prior to their marriage and sought to raise their children for the Lord. However upon reaching adulthood two of their children have departed from the Lord's ways, creating such a heavy, even sorrowful burden for them. We prayed with the brother and encouraged him to stay faithful and keep pressing on in the ways of the Lord.
Those of you who know me personally have likely heard my signature departing exhortation as I often repeat "Stay faithful to God". I've said this for so many years that people now come up to me and offer, "I'm staying faithful!" or they look right in my eyes and ask, "Are you staying faithful?" Several weeks ago Rick, a pastor friend from New England, wrote "God bless and stay ..." Yes, indeed, I am!
We all need to have this truth firmly embedded in our lives.
Much of that which is popular in the world is not right and too often doing the right thing will not be popular with the world.
Today let us each personally consider the Scriptural call to, "Never Tire Of Doing What Is Right".
In the daily text the Apostle Paul is concluding his second epistle to the young Thessalonian believers. The broader context of the passage has to do with some faulty notions these young believers had about the return of Christ. The immediate context deals with living our lives in the daily grind, summarized with the phrase of the daily text "And as for you, brothers, never tire of doing what is right." That's a good word for all of us.
The real stuff of the Christian life is choosing this particular day and every day to never tire of doing what is right. Bible teacher David Guzek comments: There are many excuses one might offer in explaining weariness in doing good, but they should all be rejected.
"Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up" (Galatians 6:9). "Never Tire Of Doing What Is Right" "Don't Grow Weary!"
Be encouraged today,
Stephen & Brooksyne Weber
Daily
prayer: Father,
we enjoy positive results and favorable comments when we do good. But
there are many times that we do good or take a position, in accordance
to the Bible, that results in our being ridiculed, mocked or even
persecuted. Would You increase the importance of eternity in our hearts
so that we don't become weary of doing good and always expect reward
here and now. Help us to remember, in many instances, the proper time
that we reap a harvest will not be on this side but on the other side
of eternity. Above all, remind us through Your Holy Spirit, that we
choose to do good because it pleases You. May the fulfillment of
pleasing You be of much greater importance than pleasing or impressing
those among us. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.
Received this interesting perspective regarding yesterday's message: "Your message today made me think of something that has been on my mind a long time. You spoke of the license and "liberty" that encroaches upon the church regarding alcohol in particular. The pastor and his craft beer blog set me to thinking. Several years ago, I attended an educational forum hosted by Veritas Academy in Pennsylvania. One of the evenings there was a cook out at a local park. The men in administration of this forum were all members of the Reformed faith (Calvinistic) and made much of their liberty to drink (not to excess, of course) and did so openly. They were beer snobs and incredibly obsessed with showing off to mostly tea totalers how cool they were utilizing this "Christian" freedom. This seems to have permeated many churches evidently. I do not personally consider having a glass of wine with dinner a sin, but Christians always need to be mindful of their witness before others and that they are never the cause of anyone stumbling. Thanks for listening. Susan"
It's a blessing to consider those, whom we've had opportunity to impact, demonstrate the evidence of transformation and steadfastness such as expressed in this Facebook post yesterday from a friend of ours in New England:
"Seventeen years ago today I (Wayne) entered a program called Teen Challenge. Jesus Christ used this program to work out the character defects that made me an alcoholic and drug addict. I'm happy to say all these years later He is still working His character in my life. I'm so grateful for the awesome friends and the best leaders in the world that I met there. I'm also thankful for the amazing woman of God that He gave me for a wife who I also met there and who has encouraged me more than anyone over the last eleven years. God moved a mountain and I believe He'll do it again."
What a joy to talk to Wayne last night! He and his wife, Yvette, presently serve as a pastoral team in a church in Southbridge, Massachusetts. Yvette attended the church I pastored in Taunton, MA and I had to privilege of uniting these two in marriage over ten years ago. (Photo above taken during our visit in June 2016)
Yesterday we visited with Jesse and Wilma Dourte our ninety+ year old friends and took a look at their pantry. They had just canned over 40 quarts of apple sauce and gave most of it to family members. We hope to have that kind of ambition if we reach our nineties!
Jesse Lapp sent a couple more photos over from the Old Windmill Farm. He is a budding photographer with excellent composition in this photo!
Brooksyne sure would like to bring this little goat home, but we just don't have the facilities to raise a goat, so we'll just enjoy the visits and photos.
Today's Suggested Music and Supplemental Resources
"Come Alive (Dry Bones)" Video Lauren Daigle (This song is dedicated to the friend mentioned in today's message and to all parents with prodigal children)
"Hills and Valleys" Video Tauren Wells
Duke, another reader recommended a recovery program I had not heard of before: Rurecover
Send a message to Stephen & Brooksyne
Yesterday we visited a few minutes with John and Faithe Keefer and saw their tall sunflowers and other healthy vegetation.
"Don't Grow Weary!"
Message summary: "Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up" (Galatians 6:9). "Never Tire Of Doing What Is Right"
Listen to our
message on your
audio player."Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers" (Galatians 6:9,10). "And as for you, brothers, never tire of doing what is right" (2 Thessalonians 3:13).
We
could learn from our dog Mollie a characteristic we write about today.
She never tires of playing, especially Frisbee toss. Anytime, day or
night, all we have to do is say or spell F-R-I-S-B-E-E and from wherever she
is she will come bounding ready to go. She is never "not in the mood".
After many tosses she may tire enough to plop down in the yard to chew
on it for a few minutes before getting refreshed for another round.
Inevitably her owners tire out before she does!Yesterday in the course of our chaplain ministry Brooksyne and I talked to a friend who shared a burden with us regarding his children. He and his wife came to faith prior to their marriage and sought to raise their children for the Lord. However upon reaching adulthood two of their children have departed from the Lord's ways, creating such a heavy, even sorrowful burden for them. We prayed with the brother and encouraged him to stay faithful and keep pressing on in the ways of the Lord.
Those of you who know me personally have likely heard my signature departing exhortation as I often repeat "Stay faithful to God". I've said this for so many years that people now come up to me and offer, "I'm staying faithful!" or they look right in my eyes and ask, "Are you staying faithful?" Several weeks ago Rick, a pastor friend from New England, wrote "God bless and stay ..." Yes, indeed, I am!
We all need to have this truth firmly embedded in our lives.
"Doing
what's popular is not always right,
and doing what's right is not always popular."
and doing what's right is not always popular."
Much of that which is popular in the world is not right and too often doing the right thing will not be popular with the world.
Today let us each personally consider the Scriptural call to, "Never Tire Of Doing What Is Right".
In the daily text the Apostle Paul is concluding his second epistle to the young Thessalonian believers. The broader context of the passage has to do with some faulty notions these young believers had about the return of Christ. The immediate context deals with living our lives in the daily grind, summarized with the phrase of the daily text "And as for you, brothers, never tire of doing what is right." That's a good word for all of us.
The real stuff of the Christian life is choosing this particular day and every day to never tire of doing what is right. Bible teacher David Guzek comments: There are many excuses one might offer in explaining weariness in doing good, but they should all be rejected.
* "It takes so much effort to keep doing good" - but you will extend effort towards the things of the world.
* "It takes so much self-denial to keep doing good" - but it is worth it when we consider the reward.
* "It just brings me persecution to do good" - but your persecutions are nothing compared to that which others have suffered.
* "People don't respond and there are little results when I do good" - but remember how slow you were to respond to Jesus Christ.
* "It doesn't earn much gratitude when I do good" - but God sends many blessings even to those who do not thank or appreciate Him.
* "It takes so much self-denial to keep doing good" - but it is worth it when we consider the reward.
* "It just brings me persecution to do good" - but your persecutions are nothing compared to that which others have suffered.
* "People don't respond and there are little results when I do good" - but remember how slow you were to respond to Jesus Christ.
* "It doesn't earn much gratitude when I do good" - but God sends many blessings even to those who do not thank or appreciate Him.
"Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up" (Galatians 6:9). "Never Tire Of Doing What Is Right" "Don't Grow Weary!"
Be encouraged today,
Stephen & Brooksyne Weber
Daily
prayer: Father,
we enjoy positive results and favorable comments when we do good. But
there are many times that we do good or take a position, in accordance
to the Bible, that results in our being ridiculed, mocked or even
persecuted. Would You increase the importance of eternity in our hearts
so that we don't become weary of doing good and always expect reward
here and now. Help us to remember, in many instances, the proper time
that we reap a harvest will not be on this side but on the other side
of eternity. Above all, remind us through Your Holy Spirit, that we
choose to do good because it pleases You. May the fulfillment of
pleasing You be of much greater importance than pleasing or impressing
those among us. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.Received this interesting perspective regarding yesterday's message: "Your message today made me think of something that has been on my mind a long time. You spoke of the license and "liberty" that encroaches upon the church regarding alcohol in particular. The pastor and his craft beer blog set me to thinking. Several years ago, I attended an educational forum hosted by Veritas Academy in Pennsylvania. One of the evenings there was a cook out at a local park. The men in administration of this forum were all members of the Reformed faith (Calvinistic) and made much of their liberty to drink (not to excess, of course) and did so openly. They were beer snobs and incredibly obsessed with showing off to mostly tea totalers how cool they were utilizing this "Christian" freedom. This seems to have permeated many churches evidently. I do not personally consider having a glass of wine with dinner a sin, but Christians always need to be mindful of their witness before others and that they are never the cause of anyone stumbling. Thanks for listening. Susan"
It's a blessing to consider those, whom we've had opportunity to impact, demonstrate the evidence of transformation and steadfastness such as expressed in this Facebook post yesterday from a friend of ours in New England:
"Seventeen years ago today I (Wayne) entered a program called Teen Challenge. Jesus Christ used this program to work out the character defects that made me an alcoholic and drug addict. I'm happy to say all these years later He is still working His character in my life. I'm so grateful for the awesome friends and the best leaders in the world that I met there. I'm also thankful for the amazing woman of God that He gave me for a wife who I also met there and who has encouraged me more than anyone over the last eleven years. God moved a mountain and I believe He'll do it again."
What a joy to talk to Wayne last night! He and his wife, Yvette, presently serve as a pastoral team in a church in Southbridge, Massachusetts. Yvette attended the church I pastored in Taunton, MA and I had to privilege of uniting these two in marriage over ten years ago. (Photo above taken during our visit in June 2016)
Yesterday we visited with Jesse and Wilma Dourte our ninety+ year old friends and took a look at their pantry. They had just canned over 40 quarts of apple sauce and gave most of it to family members. We hope to have that kind of ambition if we reach our nineties!
Jesse Lapp sent a couple more photos over from the Old Windmill Farm. He is a budding photographer with excellent composition in this photo!
Brooksyne sure would like to bring this little goat home, but we just don't have the facilities to raise a goat, so we'll just enjoy the visits and photos.
Today's Suggested Music and Supplemental Resources
"Come Alive (Dry Bones)" Video Lauren Daigle (This song is dedicated to the friend mentioned in today's message and to all parents with prodigal children)
"Hills and Valleys" Video Tauren Wells
Duke, another reader recommended a recovery program I had not heard of before: Rurecover
Send a message to Stephen & Brooksyne
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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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