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Monday, March 19, 2018
Pineapple Fountain in Charleston, South Carolina
"The Thrill Of Our Ultimate Victory"
Personal note: We stopped by Charleston, SC this weekend following our visit with my sister and her husband in Jacksonville, FL. We are visiting two sets of friends in the Charlotte, NC area and the Billy Graham Library. Tomorrow we get off to an early start and do not expect to post a message. Hopefully we'll be home and resume daily messages on Wednesday!
Message summary: Hide this truth deep in your heart. We may struggle at times, some more than others, but God's eternal Word declares that what really matters has already been taken care of. "We are (present tense) more than conquerors." Is Jesus Christ your Saviour and Lord today? Ultimately this is the only thing that matters in winning the one thing in life that really does matter.
Due to travel we did not prepare a podcast for this message.
"Though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, obtaining as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls" (1 Peter 1:8,9). "In all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us" (Romans 8:37).
In America for several weeks in March our national sports interest turns to the NCAA basketball tournament, popularly called "March Madness". This last weekend while visiting Charleston, South Carolina on Friday evening the College of Charleston basketball team was playing in the first round of the tournament and the town was abuzz with excitement. Their record for the season was 26 wins, 8 losses and their team had won their conference. After walking through the college grounds we strolled through the tourist areas nearby. The game was playing on many huge screens as we passed by the restaurants packed with large crowds, mostly college students, nervously watching and cheering loudly when their team scored.
However
the College of Charleston team lost and their basketball season is now
over. We toured the town again on
Saturday (walking some 8 miles). Upon returning to our hotel late
Saturday afternoon we
once again walked through the campus back to our hotel. Some tall men
carrying sports duffle bags were walking slowly together
with little conversation. I told Brooksyne they were probably the
basketball team so I asked them and sure enough it was. but they were
not exhibiting much joy. There was no welcoming party from
the fans we saw cheering them on the evening before. Feeling their pain
I tried to let them know we recognized their hard work and one fella
spoke up seeming to appreciate it.
That's the nature of competitive sports: the thrill of victory, the agony of defeat. Life is also like that on the "plane" that we live on, as the song goes. We have all had victories in life and we have all had defeats. We've known and experienced the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat.
I read this illustration many years ago:
This ultimate victory is assured on the basis of Christ's finished work. We don't have to wait to celebrate the victory; He wants us to enjoy victory right here and now.
Peter, who had seen Jesus, wrote to second generation followers who had not seen Him but had a faith relationship like us: "Though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory." Remember, Jesus came so that we "might have life, and that we might have it more abundantly"! (John 10:10).
Paul, who also came to faith in Christ after His resurrection wrote: "In all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us." This is a great truth for every one of us. This absolutely reliable source informs us, "We win!" Paul is writing to the Roman believers and here in chapter eight he comes to a crescendo in his thought. The context of "all these things" includes just about all that can go wrong in life, most of which we have never experienced (Romans 8:35).
Every word in this verse is rich with meaning but let's consider just the phrase "more than conquerors". This actually translates a single Greek word "hupernikomen." This word is linguistically known as a "hapax legomenon", a term used for words that occur only once in a body of literature (in this case the New Testament). In fact it's so rare that it's possible that Paul devised it to express his thought. Brooksyne has told me on more than one occasion that I make up words as I preach so I can understand such a theory.
It is actually a combination of two more familiar words; "huper" from whence we get "hyper" and nikao from whence "Nike" gets its name. "Nikao" is often translated "overcome" and is found most frequently in Revelation. I like to compare translations and I suppose for this verse I'm most blessed by the rendering in the NASV which states "we overwhelmingly conquer." Now let that bless your soul today, fellow overcomer!
An overcomer is what we are, through Him who loves us, and today I urge you to drink deeply from the spiritual reservoir we have in Christ. Even in the midst of your present trial declare, "I am more than victorious through Him who loves me!"
Hide this truth deep in your heart. We may struggle at times, some more than others, but God's eternal Word declares that what really matters has already been taken care of. "We are (present tense) more than conquerors." Is Jesus Christ your Saviour and Lord today? Ultimately this is the only thing that matters in winning the one thing in life that really does matter.
Be encouraged today,
Stephen & Brooksyne Weber
Daily prayer: Father, we recognize that we are overcomers because we
are children of God. The battles we conquer and the ultimate victory
we attain is wholly because of the power of Christ at
work in us. We are more than conquerors through Jesus who loves us and
gave His life for our sins. Thank you for the inexhaustible supply of
Your grace, power, and provision for our salvation and the ensuing battles of daily life. Amen.
Some scenes from our Charleston visit
Of course we took a Charleston carriage tour! John was our tour guide who told us alot about the history of Charleston.
A huge cruise ship was in the harbor on Saturday and we watched the departure. I was hoping that we might see a container ship come through as they are humongous. Some locals describe it as looking like a city floating on the water. Unfortunately it was not to be.
Charleston SC has many huge, stately homes along with beautiful flower boxes and gardens. Even a smaller home in the midst of these famous historic settings can cost up to ten million dollars. We certainly enjoyed the historic beauty of the past which has been preserved for the present. Many of the homes that were in ruins or great distress have been restored to beauty at a very high dollar amount. Gas lanterns burn day and night in place of typical porch lights adding even more authenticity to the original time these "dwellings" were erected.
The downtown is filled with stores, restaurants, and businesses that maintain the original architecture along one of Charleston shopping streets.
We visited Charleston on Saint Patrick's Day and witnessed a bagpipe parade through the huge city market; kilts, bagpipes, drums, you name it!
Last night we enjoyed a Mexican dinner with our long-time friends, Bob and Linda Southard, who live in the Charlotte area; a couple who are wholly devoted to Christ and have been an inspiration to us for many years.
Pineapple Fountain in Charleston, South Carolina
"The Thrill Of Our Ultimate Victory"
Personal note: We stopped by Charleston, SC this weekend following our visit with my sister and her husband in Jacksonville, FL. We are visiting two sets of friends in the Charlotte, NC area and the Billy Graham Library. Tomorrow we get off to an early start and do not expect to post a message. Hopefully we'll be home and resume daily messages on Wednesday!
Message summary: Hide this truth deep in your heart. We may struggle at times, some more than others, but God's eternal Word declares that what really matters has already been taken care of. "We are (present tense) more than conquerors." Is Jesus Christ your Saviour and Lord today? Ultimately this is the only thing that matters in winning the one thing in life that really does matter.
Due to travel we did not prepare a podcast for this message.
"Though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, obtaining as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls" (1 Peter 1:8,9). "In all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us" (Romans 8:37).
Lord, lift me up, and let me stand
By faith on heaven’s tableland;
A higher plane than I have found,
Lord, plant my feet on higher ground.
By faith on heaven’s tableland;
A higher plane than I have found,
Lord, plant my feet on higher ground.
In America for several weeks in March our national sports interest turns to the NCAA basketball tournament, popularly called "March Madness". This last weekend while visiting Charleston, South Carolina on Friday evening the College of Charleston basketball team was playing in the first round of the tournament and the town was abuzz with excitement. Their record for the season was 26 wins, 8 losses and their team had won their conference. After walking through the college grounds we strolled through the tourist areas nearby. The game was playing on many huge screens as we passed by the restaurants packed with large crowds, mostly college students, nervously watching and cheering loudly when their team scored.
However
the College of Charleston team lost and their basketball season is now
over. We toured the town again on
Saturday (walking some 8 miles). Upon returning to our hotel late
Saturday afternoon we
once again walked through the campus back to our hotel. Some tall men
carrying sports duffle bags were walking slowly together
with little conversation. I told Brooksyne they were probably the
basketball team so I asked them and sure enough it was. but they were
not exhibiting much joy. There was no welcoming party from
the fans we saw cheering them on the evening before. Feeling their pain
I tried to let them know we recognized their hard work and one fella
spoke up seeming to appreciate it.That's the nature of competitive sports: the thrill of victory, the agony of defeat. Life is also like that on the "plane" that we live on, as the song goes. We have all had victories in life and we have all had defeats. We've known and experienced the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat.
I read this illustration many years ago:
"Imagine that
your team is in the NCAA Championship game but you have to work and
can't watch the game, so you record it intending to watch it later. You
want to experience the suspense of not knowing the outcome. But as you
leave work someone spills the beans and informs you that your team won
the game. You are thrilled to hear this but you still decide to watch
the game even though you know the outcome. However you quickly find
yourself stressing out as you watch the game play-by-play. You must
mentally pause to remind yourself, "This is only a recording, my team wins!"
Life is like that. As God's redeemed children, on the basis of Scripture we know that we are on the winning side. May God give us grace not to stress out in the "play-by-play" of life, worrying about finances, health, world conditions, safety, loneliness, work, home, death, things people do to us, and all the other things that can cause worry. In placing our trust in Christ we are "obtaining as the outcome of our faith the salvation of our souls." *
Life is like that. As God's redeemed children, on the basis of Scripture we know that we are on the winning side. May God give us grace not to stress out in the "play-by-play" of life, worrying about finances, health, world conditions, safety, loneliness, work, home, death, things people do to us, and all the other things that can cause worry. In placing our trust in Christ we are "obtaining as the outcome of our faith the salvation of our souls." *
This ultimate victory is assured on the basis of Christ's finished work. We don't have to wait to celebrate the victory; He wants us to enjoy victory right here and now.
Peter, who had seen Jesus, wrote to second generation followers who had not seen Him but had a faith relationship like us: "Though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory." Remember, Jesus came so that we "might have life, and that we might have it more abundantly"! (John 10:10).
Paul, who also came to faith in Christ after His resurrection wrote: "In all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us." This is a great truth for every one of us. This absolutely reliable source informs us, "We win!" Paul is writing to the Roman believers and here in chapter eight he comes to a crescendo in his thought. The context of "all these things" includes just about all that can go wrong in life, most of which we have never experienced (Romans 8:35).Every word in this verse is rich with meaning but let's consider just the phrase "more than conquerors". This actually translates a single Greek word "hupernikomen." This word is linguistically known as a "hapax legomenon", a term used for words that occur only once in a body of literature (in this case the New Testament). In fact it's so rare that it's possible that Paul devised it to express his thought. Brooksyne has told me on more than one occasion that I make up words as I preach so I can understand such a theory.
It is actually a combination of two more familiar words; "huper" from whence we get "hyper" and nikao from whence "Nike" gets its name. "Nikao" is often translated "overcome" and is found most frequently in Revelation. I like to compare translations and I suppose for this verse I'm most blessed by the rendering in the NASV which states "we overwhelmingly conquer." Now let that bless your soul today, fellow overcomer!
An overcomer is what we are, through Him who loves us, and today I urge you to drink deeply from the spiritual reservoir we have in Christ. Even in the midst of your present trial declare, "I am more than victorious through Him who loves me!"
Hide this truth deep in your heart. We may struggle at times, some more than others, but God's eternal Word declares that what really matters has already been taken care of. "We are (present tense) more than conquerors." Is Jesus Christ your Saviour and Lord today? Ultimately this is the only thing that matters in winning the one thing in life that really does matter.
Be encouraged today,
Stephen & Brooksyne Weber
Daily prayer: Father, we recognize that we are overcomers because we
are children of God. The battles we conquer and the ultimate victory
we attain is wholly because of the power of Christ at
work in us. We are more than conquerors through Jesus who loves us and
gave His life for our sins. Thank you for the inexhaustible supply of
Your grace, power, and provision for our salvation and the ensuing battles of daily life. Amen.Some scenes from our Charleston visit
Of course we took a Charleston carriage tour! John was our tour guide who told us alot about the history of Charleston.
A huge cruise ship was in the harbor on Saturday and we watched the departure. I was hoping that we might see a container ship come through as they are humongous. Some locals describe it as looking like a city floating on the water. Unfortunately it was not to be.
Charleston SC has many huge, stately homes along with beautiful flower boxes and gardens. Even a smaller home in the midst of these famous historic settings can cost up to ten million dollars. We certainly enjoyed the historic beauty of the past which has been preserved for the present. Many of the homes that were in ruins or great distress have been restored to beauty at a very high dollar amount. Gas lanterns burn day and night in place of typical porch lights adding even more authenticity to the original time these "dwellings" were erected.
The downtown is filled with stores, restaurants, and businesses that maintain the original architecture along one of Charleston shopping streets.
We visited Charleston on Saint Patrick's Day and witnessed a bagpipe parade through the huge city market; kilts, bagpipes, drums, you name it!
Last night we enjoyed a Mexican dinner with our long-time friends, Bob and Linda Southard, who live in the Charlotte area; a couple who are wholly devoted to Christ and have been an inspiration to us for many years.
Today's
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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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