A daily, Bible-based perspective of hope,
encouragement and exhortation.
Daily
Encouragement on
Monday, May 27,
2019
Last
Friday morning I saw this family riding in a spring
wagon heading to shop at BB's in Quarryville.
(Click on
photo to enlarge)
"Never Once Did We
Ever Walk Alone!"
Message
summary:
This Memorial Day
above all let us
consider the
faithfulness of our
Lord and continue to
sing of the mercies
of the Lord forever.
Never once did we
ever walk alone.
With our mouths and
with our lives let
us make known His
faithfulness to all
generations!
Listen to our
message on your
audio player.
"I will sing of the mercies of the LORD for ever: with my mouth will I make known thy faithfulness to all generations" (Psalm 89:1). "One generation will commend Your works to another" (Psalm 145:4).
In the USA today we celebrate Memorial Day. Its origin dates back to the period following our Civil War in the 1860's and is primarily a remembrance of those who died in that war and all the wars that have followed. Let us hope we never lose that focus.
But it has expanded in the sense many tend to remember all who have gone before us. Certainly today we will be remembering those in our own family, as Brooksyne and I have each seen our parents pass on to their eternal reward. Brooksyne and Ester have been visiting with family in Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas since last week and connecting with her brothers and sister and extended families on both sides. We are reminded of the progression of life and to our own imminent transition from this present life.
Moses, in his final message prior to his death, hearkens the people to "Consider the generations long past". A powerful oral history had been maintained about the creation and the origin of their national identity (children of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.) That was about 3,500 years ago and I believe his words are still very appropriate for the people of God. We need to remember those who have gone on before us before and during our lifetime.
The writer of Hebrews speaks of these men and women as "a great cloud of witnesses". They indeed witness and testify to the power of faith and of the faithfulness of God. This great cloud is surely comprised of all the Biblical greats that are mentioned in Hebrews 11 and others in the Bible period.
But I believe it also includes all those throughout the ages of the church who have died in faith; people such as great men and women of church history like Evangelist D.L Moody and Songwriter Fannie Crosby. Today, I am thankful for the impact in my generation of nationally (and perhaps internationally) known people like D. James Kennedy, Bill Bright and Larry Burkett, and many others who influenced my life and in recent years have gone on to their reward.
But the cloud of witnesses surely also includes the many, many throughout the ages who have lived their lives for Christ in relative obscurity, serving Him faithfully in their work settings, their homes and churches. They loved their family, sought to raise their children right, worked hard, served as Sunday School teachers, janitors, nursery workers and the list goes on.
My life would be so different without the impact of the list of relative unknowns. These are the people whom I have really known, and I believe God has ordained that we are to live with those in close community that He has placed in our lives, giving and receiving. Our friend, Doris High, had a thought-provoking saying on her blog: "There is no way of belonging to Jesus Christ except by belonging gladly and irrevocably to the glorious ragbag of saints who make up the Church!"
You have some wonderful folks who have gone before you who made known God's faithfulness to remember today, don't you? If they're now in the great cloud of heavenly witnesses thank God for them! If they're still living seek to thank them.
But above all let us consider the faithfulness of our Lord and continue to sing of the mercies of the Lord forever. Never once did we ever walk alone! With our mouths and with our lives let us make known His faithfulness to all generations!
"I will sing of the mercies of the LORD for ever: with my mouth will I make known thy faithfulness to all generations" (Psalm 89:1). "One generation will commend Your works to another" (Psalm 145:4).
In the USA today we celebrate Memorial Day. Its origin dates back to the period following our Civil War in the 1860's and is primarily a remembrance of those who died in that war and all the wars that have followed. Let us hope we never lose that focus.
But it has expanded in the sense many tend to remember all who have gone before us. Certainly today we will be remembering those in our own family, as Brooksyne and I have each seen our parents pass on to their eternal reward. Brooksyne and Ester have been visiting with family in Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas since last week and connecting with her brothers and sister and extended families on both sides. We are reminded of the progression of life and to our own imminent transition from this present life.
Moses, in his final message prior to his death, hearkens the people to "Consider the generations long past". A powerful oral history had been maintained about the creation and the origin of their national identity (children of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.) That was about 3,500 years ago and I believe his words are still very appropriate for the people of God. We need to remember those who have gone on before us before and during our lifetime.
The writer of Hebrews speaks of these men and women as "a great cloud of witnesses". They indeed witness and testify to the power of faith and of the faithfulness of God. This great cloud is surely comprised of all the Biblical greats that are mentioned in Hebrews 11 and others in the Bible period.
But I believe it also includes all those throughout the ages of the church who have died in faith; people such as great men and women of church history like Evangelist D.L Moody and Songwriter Fannie Crosby. Today, I am thankful for the impact in my generation of nationally (and perhaps internationally) known people like D. James Kennedy, Bill Bright and Larry Burkett, and many others who influenced my life and in recent years have gone on to their reward.
But the cloud of witnesses surely also includes the many, many throughout the ages who have lived their lives for Christ in relative obscurity, serving Him faithfully in their work settings, their homes and churches. They loved their family, sought to raise their children right, worked hard, served as Sunday School teachers, janitors, nursery workers and the list goes on.
My life would be so different without the impact of the list of relative unknowns. These are the people whom I have really known, and I believe God has ordained that we are to live with those in close community that He has placed in our lives, giving and receiving. Our friend, Doris High, had a thought-provoking saying on her blog: "There is no way of belonging to Jesus Christ except by belonging gladly and irrevocably to the glorious ragbag of saints who make up the Church!"
You have some wonderful folks who have gone before you who made known God's faithfulness to remember today, don't you? If they're now in the great cloud of heavenly witnesses thank God for them! If they're still living seek to thank them.
But above all let us consider the faithfulness of our Lord and continue to sing of the mercies of the Lord forever. Never once did we ever walk alone! With our mouths and with our lives let us make known His faithfulness to all generations!
Scars
and struggles on
the way
But with joy our hearts can say
Yes, our hearts can say
Never once did we ever walk alone
Never once did You leave us on our own
You are faithful, God, You are faithful
But with joy our hearts can say
Yes, our hearts can say
Never once did we ever walk alone
Never once did You leave us on our own
You are faithful, God, You are faithful
Be encouraged today,
Stephen & Brooksyne Weber
Daily
prayer:
Father,
we give thanks
for the men
and women who
have given
their lives
for our
freedoms over
the centuries.
We also give
thanks for
those who have
impacted our
spiritual
lives as we
seek to live
faithfully for
You; the
Biblical
saints, the
early church
fathers, the
martyrs of the
faith, the
evangelists,
preachers, and
teachers of
Your Holy
Word, our
family members
and many
others who
showed us the
way and we
thank You for
those
extraordinary
believers who
not only lived
for You but
lived as an
example of
faith to those
of us who were
watching and
learning along
the way. Above
all, we thank
You for the
person of Your
Son, Jesus
Christ, who is
the Way, the
Truth and the
Life to our
eternal Home
in heaven.
Thank you for
Your
faithfulness
and the fact
that never
once did we
ever walk
alone. Amen.Yesterday
after church
service I
headed over to
the Old
Windmill Farm
for an early
afternoon
visit with the
Lapp family.
The
spring-fed Old
Windmill Farm
pond will be
busy this
summer.
Yesterday
the kids swam
in the pond
for the first
time this
season. Jesse
brought in
sand to make
the kids a
beach. What a
blessing to
see this
family
spending time
together and
the love they
have for one
another.
The
children's joy
brought back
memories of
youth and
swimming in
farm ponds in
southern
Missouri.
Five
at once (one
is already in
the water) as
Stephen looks
on. Next year
he'll probably
be joining
them!
A
bird has made
a nest in the
reeds beside
the Old
Windmill Farm
pond and these
baby birds
mistook my
camera for Mom
bringing a
tasty worm!
This is only a
few feet from
the pond beach
with all the
children's
activity so
mother bird
may be
questioning
her choice of
nest
placement!
Yesterday
Brooksyne
visited with
her brother
Jody and
family in this
Arkansas
mountain
cabin. She
returned to
Tulsa last
night and of
course that
area has been
hit with many
tornadoes and
storms. She
returns home
tomorrow
afternoon and
Ester will
return to
Texas with her
aunt for two
weeks.
Today's
Suggested
Music and
Supplemental Resources
"Never Once"
Video
Matt Redman Our
service concluded with this
song yesterday. What a great
expression of God's
faithfulness.
"Never Walk Alone" Video Brian Free and Assurance
I was especially blessed by the message yesterday by our pastor and thought of friends going through hard times. Here's the link directly to the message.
Finally today:
"Never Walk Alone" Video Brian Free and Assurance
I was especially blessed by the message yesterday by our pastor and thought of friends going through hard times. Here's the link directly to the message.
Finally today:
I have been doing
a lot of work around the
property since Brooksyne has
been gone including
installing my deck railing
and making a fire pit. It
was nice to watch the fire
from my swing on my deck
last night.
Send a message to Stephen & Brooksyne
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