A daily, Bible-based perspective of hope,
encouragement and exhortation.
Daily
Encouragement on
Wednesday,
February 6, 2019
With
temperatures in the 50's, when we visited Audrey's yesterday
morning, we got spring fever as we walked through the aisles
featuring spring and summer decor.
"Epaphras" (Part 2)
Message
summary:
Let
us be faithful in prayer
for those who have not
yet yielded their lives
to Christ. And let us
also be faithful in
praying for our brothers
and sisters in the
faith. We are grateful
for many of our readers
that uplift us regularly
in prayer, our ministry
as well as our personal
challenges.
Listen to our
message on your audio
player.
"Epaphras,
who is one of you and
a servant of Christ
Jesus, sends
greetings. He is
always wrestling in
prayer for you, that
you may stand firm in
all the will of God,
mature and fully
assured. I vouch for
him that he is working
hard for you and for
those at Laodicea and
Hierapolis"
(Colossians 4:12,13).
Yesterday we wrote about Epaphras, a little-known member of the Colossian church, who is mentioned in both chapter one of Colossians and in today's verse.
Antonio
Figureiredo was a devout
Portuguese believer who
is now with the Lord. He
faithfully attended the
church we served in New
England back in the
nineties Several
years after we moved to
Lancaster County we went
back to visit the
church. What a joy it
was to see Antonio again
as well as others in the
congregation we had
served for over seven
years.
Before the service he warmly shook Brooksyne's hand, looked directly at her with tears welling up in his eyes and meekly said, "I still pray for your family." He then softened his voice in a timid, half-apologetic tone and proceeded to say, "I pray for you every day in my Portuguese language." (As if that made any difference to God! In fact, it was heartening to know that God was hearing prayers offered up for our family in a language unknown to us.)
Our brother's words uplifted us and made us thankful for the spiritual "long snappers" God has placed in our lives (see Monday's message). Long Snappers are by no means prominent in the Body of Christ, but truly a team member who is vital. Another analogy is "the spiritual adhesive that keeps the building blocks of any Christian foundation from crumbling".
Many
of you are familiar with
the term "prayer
warriors", used to
describe those who have
a special passion for
prayer. These prayer
warriors make such a
valuable, unseen
contribution to our
lives and in the life of
a church. I hope we all
can identify these types
of individuals in our
lives who especially
uphold us in prayer.
They have one of the
most important, yet
often under-rated
ministries. We recall Al
and Thata Book, an
elderly missionary
couple who died in a
vehicle accident in
Africa. A stirring
moment at their Memorial
Service came when one of
the grandchildren
reflected upon the
sudden absence of his
grandparents. He, his
siblings and cousins
were assured daily of
their grandparents'
faithful prayers on
their behalf and they
were certainly going to
miss that.
Epaphras is mentioned just three times in the Bible (twice here in Colossians and once in Philemon). It appears that Epaphras initially took the message of Christ to Colossae (1:7), which is located in the southwest corner of modern day Turkey, and there he planted the Colossian church. The missionary journeys recorded in Acts do not mention Paul ever visiting this city. In Philemon Epaphras is mentioned as a fellow prisoner with Paul (perhaps the same person).
Yesterday we wrote about Epaphras, a little-known member of the Colossian church, who is mentioned in both chapter one of Colossians and in today's verse.
Antonio
Figureiredo was a devout
Portuguese believer who
is now with the Lord. He
faithfully attended the
church we served in New
England back in the
nineties Several
years after we moved to
Lancaster County we went
back to visit the
church. What a joy it
was to see Antonio again
as well as others in the
congregation we had
served for over seven
years.Before the service he warmly shook Brooksyne's hand, looked directly at her with tears welling up in his eyes and meekly said, "I still pray for your family." He then softened his voice in a timid, half-apologetic tone and proceeded to say, "I pray for you every day in my Portuguese language." (As if that made any difference to God! In fact, it was heartening to know that God was hearing prayers offered up for our family in a language unknown to us.)
Our brother's words uplifted us and made us thankful for the spiritual "long snappers" God has placed in our lives (see Monday's message). Long Snappers are by no means prominent in the Body of Christ, but truly a team member who is vital. Another analogy is "the spiritual adhesive that keeps the building blocks of any Christian foundation from crumbling".
Many
of you are familiar with
the term "prayer
warriors", used to
describe those who have
a special passion for
prayer. These prayer
warriors make such a
valuable, unseen
contribution to our
lives and in the life of
a church. I hope we all
can identify these types
of individuals in our
lives who especially
uphold us in prayer.
They have one of the
most important, yet
often under-rated
ministries. We recall Al
and Thata Book, an
elderly missionary
couple who died in a
vehicle accident in
Africa. A stirring
moment at their Memorial
Service came when one of
the grandchildren
reflected upon the
sudden absence of his
grandparents. He, his
siblings and cousins
were assured daily of
their grandparents'
faithful prayers on
their behalf and they
were certainly going to
miss that.Epaphras is mentioned just three times in the Bible (twice here in Colossians and once in Philemon). It appears that Epaphras initially took the message of Christ to Colossae (1:7), which is located in the southwest corner of modern day Turkey, and there he planted the Colossian church. The missionary journeys recorded in Acts do not mention Paul ever visiting this city. In Philemon Epaphras is mentioned as a fellow prisoner with Paul (perhaps the same person).
1)
"Epaphras, who is one
of you and a servant
of Christ Jesus, sends
greetings."
- "who is one of you" likely means he was from Colossae. What a connection Paul was making here. Wherever we reside we consider a special connection to people that were or are from our home town. In Epaphras' case he had taught them the Word of God.
- "and servant of Christ Jesus" which essentially repeats a point Paul had made in the first chapter, "a faithful servant of Christ" (v.8).
- "sends greetings". What a blessing these two words must have been to the original recipients in Colossae.
2) "He is
always wrestling in
prayer for you, that
you may stand firm in
all the will of God,
mature and fully
assured."
This gives us
a glimpse into his
prayer life and we note
two aspects: its
intensity and
purpose.
Intensity:
Paul says "he is
always wrestling in
prayer for you".
What a powerful
description of
intercessory prayer!
The word the NIV
translates "wrestling"
is "agonizomai" from
which we get our
English "agony". The
original conveys "to
struggle, to compete
for a prize", and
figuratively "to
contend with an
adversary." In using
this word Paul is
telling the Colossians
how earnestly Epaphras
is holding them up in
prayer. What an
example for us as we
pray for those to whom
we minister and for
those who minister to
us. I believe the
wrestling aspect of
prayer is often
experienced when we
personally know of the
battle our brothers
and sisters are
waging. Or when the
Spirit heavily burdens
our hearts to pray
vigilantly for one who
is struggling against
temptation, sin,
difficulties, or
unbelief. When we want
to breeze hurriedly
along in our prayer
time it is rather easy
to pray, "Bless 'em"
type of prayers.
Purpose: But the purpose of Epaphras' prayer is so unlike the typical "bless 'em" prayers we might quickly say for another in the faith. Intercessory prayer was a priority in his walk with God. So much so that his spirit wrestled in prayer as he regularly engaged in a spiritual tug of war with the devil, the believer's combative enemy. To examine each of the elements of content in this prayer would violate a fundamental premise of this devotional (brevity). But I want you to take note of the rich spiritual interest that he expressed in the phrase, "that you may stand firm in all the will of God, mature and fully assured".
Purpose: But the purpose of Epaphras' prayer is so unlike the typical "bless 'em" prayers we might quickly say for another in the faith. Intercessory prayer was a priority in his walk with God. So much so that his spirit wrestled in prayer as he regularly engaged in a spiritual tug of war with the devil, the believer's combative enemy. To examine each of the elements of content in this prayer would violate a fundamental premise of this devotional (brevity). But I want you to take note of the rich spiritual interest that he expressed in the phrase, "that you may stand firm in all the will of God, mature and fully assured".
Charles
Spurgeon describes
wrestling in prayer for
the unbeliever like
this: "If sinners be
damned, at least let
them leap to Hell over
our bodies. If they will
perish, let them perish
with our arms about
their knees. Let no one
go there unwarned and
unprayed for."
Let us be
faithful in prayer for
those who have not yet
yielded their lives to
Christ. And let us also
be faithful in praying
for our brothers and
sisters in the faith. We
are grateful for many of
our readers that uplift
us regularly in prayer,
our ministry as well as
our personal challenges.
Be encouraged today,
Stephen & Brooksyne Weber
Daily
prayer: Father,
we want to stand
firm in Your
will, maturing
in our faith,
and we desire
full assurance
that You will
lead us in the
paths of
righteousness
for Your name's
sake. Just like
Epaphras who
wrestled in
prayer for his
brothers and
sisters in the
faith, help us
to wrestle in
prayer for our
loved ones, and
our brothers and
sisters in the
faith who wage
war against the
enemy. Our
intercessory
prayers are not
waging war
against
flesh-and-blood
enemies, but
against evil
rulers and
authorities of
the unseen
world. How
reassuring that
You have the
ultimate
authority to
intervene and
give us victory
in these ongoing
struggles with
good and evil.
Amen.
Be encouraged today,
Stephen & Brooksyne Weber
Daily
prayer: Father,
we want to stand
firm in Your
will, maturing
in our faith,
and we desire
full assurance
that You will
lead us in the
paths of
righteousness
for Your name's
sake. Just like
Epaphras who
wrestled in
prayer for his
brothers and
sisters in the
faith, help us
to wrestle in
prayer for our
loved ones, and
our brothers and
sisters in the
faith who wage
war against the
enemy. Our
intercessory
prayers are not
waging war
against
flesh-and-blood
enemies, but
against evil
rulers and
authorities of
the unseen
world. How
reassuring that
You have the
ultimate
authority to
intervene and
give us victory
in these ongoing
struggles with
good and evil.
Amen.Our
message got long
today but for
those still with
us let us
examine the
final phrase
from our daily
text:
3)
"I vouch for
him that he is
working hard
for you and
for those at
Laodicea and
Hierapolis."
- "I vouch for him"! What a blessing for Epaphras to have the commendation from Paul.
- "That
he is working
hard for you"
The sense in
which he was
working hard
is difficult
to understand
since he was
in prison with
Paul, though
much could be
gleaned by
Paul during
conversation
with Ephaphras
during their
time of
captivity.
What's more
prayer is hard
work!
- "And for those at Laodicea and Hierapolis" This reveals his big heart. Although Epaphras was from Colossae his ministry extended beyond that city to the region. Both Laodicea and Hierapolis" were in the same region as Colossae and relatively close by (Laodicea is about 9 miles west (here on a Google map) and Hierapolis is about 12 miles north (here)
Yesterday
we shared a
photo of a new
mailbox in our
neighborhood
and thought we
would also
post a head-on
view since
viewers glean
ideas for
their own home
projects. As I
took the photo
I noticed the
solar light
attached to
the log
cabin/mailbox
and even the
vented cupola
on top.
These
two turkeys
cause Ester to
panic each
time we stop
in at the Old
Windmill Farm.
She always has
Brooksyne or
me shooing
them away
until she can
safely reach
the house.
It's the
ruffling of
their some
3500 feathers
or their
incessant
gobbling that
sends shivers
up Ester's
spine. But,
really,
turkeys are
much like dogs
that run and
bark when
visitors
arrive; only
turkeys strut
and gobble.
Today's
Suggested
Music and Supplemental Resources
"Sunday
Morning Gospel Jubilee"
Video
Brooksyne's note: This
song sure caught my attention
yesterday as I heard it for the
first time. Growing up in Tulsa,
OK we always turned on "The
Gospel Jubilee" on Sunday
mornings as we got ready for
church. Southern Gospel groups
like "The Happy Goodmans", "The
Florida Boys", "The Singing
Rambos", "The Downings" and many
other groups sang gospel songs
for half an hour.
We had a
small house so we'd turn up the
TV so we could hear the singing
even as we got dressed in our
bedrooms. It sure added to the
joy of getting up on a Sunday
morning and helped prepare our
hearts for worship with fellow
believers after we arrived at
church. These
singing groups made their way to
downtown Tulsa for concerts
fairly regularly and we attended
many of them.
Thankfully, Bill Gaither
featured many of these singers
over the past 30 years in his
homecoming videos before most of
them took up residency in
heaven.
"And
Can It Be" Video
Calvary Church Choir and
Orchestra Another
note: This is one of my
favorite songs that so
inexplicably describes the
amazing grace that saves us so
completely from the penalty of
sin: "Amazing Grace, how can it
be, that Thou my God, shouldst
die for me." The choir leads our
congregation in this song and I
believe it will bless your soul
as it did mine when I sang with
the choir this past Sunday.
From
a reader: Yesterday
we shared a photo that
Ester took from
our front window of
a curious squirrel. David
Penley, a friend from Texas
wrote:
"You
are absolutely right about
making pets out of squirrels.
However, when I was a boy, my
grandfather, who lived on a farm
in central Florida gave me a
baby squirrel that had fallen
out of a tree. He taught me how
to take care of it, using a toy
baby bottle at first to give it
milk, quickly going to crushed
nuts, and then to nuts in
shells, which he instinctively
knew how to open. Part of God's
amazing plan. We tried to let
him go, but he kept coming back,
so my dad and I built him a
squirrel house on our
screened-in back porch. He loved
to go play in the palm trees in
our back yard, but always came
back in the evenings to his
home. He would come sit on my
shoulder, climb on my head, and
so forth any time I was outside
or he came in. So that's as
close to a pet as you can get
with a squirrel."
Send a message to Stephen & Brooksyne
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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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