A daily, Bible-based perspective of hope,
encouragement and exhortation.
Daily
Encouragement on
Monday, July 22,
2019
Stump
Planter at the Oregon Dairy
(Click
to enlarge)
Note: This morning I (Stephen) am headed to California to meet my older brother Michael. I left for the Baltimore airport at 3:30AM. He will pick me up at the San Francisco airport at 1:00 PM (Pacific time) and we will immediately begin a road trip east to a family reunion in eastern Nebraska, stopping numerous times along the way on the some 1,800 mile journey.
Mike recently turned 74 and wanted to drive to the reunion and then visit his daughter and family in Saint Louis, MO. I felt he might need/enjoy the company and extra driver for the long trip.
I hope to post a few brief daily encouragements during the journey using the Constant Contact app on our iPad and possibly update to Wordpress site since there's an app for that as well. However I am not taking the laptop so the website will not be updated during this time nor will we prepare a podcast. There's probably an app for doing that but I haven't found it, especially since I need a very simple WYSIWYG editor. However all that takes a lot more time.
Note: This morning I (Stephen) am headed to California to meet my older brother Michael. I left for the Baltimore airport at 3:30AM. He will pick me up at the San Francisco airport at 1:00 PM (Pacific time) and we will immediately begin a road trip east to a family reunion in eastern Nebraska, stopping numerous times along the way on the some 1,800 mile journey.
Mike recently turned 74 and wanted to drive to the reunion and then visit his daughter and family in Saint Louis, MO. I felt he might need/enjoy the company and extra driver for the long trip.
I hope to post a few brief daily encouragements during the journey using the Constant Contact app on our iPad and possibly update to Wordpress site since there's an app for that as well. However I am not taking the laptop so the website will not be updated during this time nor will we prepare a podcast. There's probably an app for doing that but I haven't found it, especially since I need a very simple WYSIWYG editor. However all that takes a lot more time.
We'll
head out early each morning and most days have 300-400
miles of travel. I will fly back from Omaha next week.
Brooksyne and Ester will be staying back in PA to manage the home front.
Brooksyne and Ester will be staying back in PA to manage the home front.
"A Perspective
On Forever"
Message
summary: He
is forever God!
Forever past,
forever future. From
everlasting to
everlasting He is
God.
Listen to our message on your audio player.
"Before the mountains were born or You brought forth the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting You are God" (Psalm 90:2).
Years ago we visited family and friends in North Carolina and then stayed several days at a resort near Gatlinburg, Tennessee right on the border of the Great Smoky Mountain National Park. We were blessed by the immense beauty of the mountains.
A condition to our reduced cost resort lodging was that we had to endure a rather brutal 2 hour long time share sales pitch. The saleswoman had many years of experience and was quite persuasive throughout her presentation. (However we didn't buy.)
Following our tour of the property she took us out on the balcony and pointed toward the breath-taking view of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. She enthusiastically exclaimed, "Just look at this view. It will be here for your children and grandchildren forever." (She was correctly pointing out that the undisturbed beauty of the preserved national park will remain that way, unlike the non-preserved hills all around Gatlinburg that are dotted with all kinds of development.)
However when she confidently used the word "forever" that struck me. I considered the true nature and definition of "forever" which is a whole lot longer than our kids and grandkids will be around on this tired earth! My thinking immediately took me to a more important locale than an attractive resort and even the grandeur of a beautiful mountain region created by God. How beautiful heaven must be!
Listen to our message on your audio player.
"Before the mountains were born or You brought forth the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting You are God" (Psalm 90:2).
Years ago we visited family and friends in North Carolina and then stayed several days at a resort near Gatlinburg, Tennessee right on the border of the Great Smoky Mountain National Park. We were blessed by the immense beauty of the mountains.
A condition to our reduced cost resort lodging was that we had to endure a rather brutal 2 hour long time share sales pitch. The saleswoman had many years of experience and was quite persuasive throughout her presentation. (However we didn't buy.)
Following our tour of the property she took us out on the balcony and pointed toward the breath-taking view of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. She enthusiastically exclaimed, "Just look at this view. It will be here for your children and grandchildren forever." (She was correctly pointing out that the undisturbed beauty of the preserved national park will remain that way, unlike the non-preserved hills all around Gatlinburg that are dotted with all kinds of development.)
However when she confidently used the word "forever" that struck me. I considered the true nature and definition of "forever" which is a whole lot longer than our kids and grandkids will be around on this tired earth! My thinking immediately took me to a more important locale than an attractive resort and even the grandeur of a beautiful mountain region created by God. How beautiful heaven must be!
How
beautiful heaven
must be
Sweet home of the happy and free;
Fair haven of rest for the weary,
How beautiful heaven must be.
Sweet home of the happy and free;
Fair haven of rest for the weary,
How beautiful heaven must be.
Another song declares in the chorus, "My God He was, my God He is, my God He's always gonna be." As we, through faith, ride out the tumultuous waves of life's ups and downs awaiting our time of transition we need to regularly recall this absolute truth, "From everlasting to everlasting You are God."
Even before the mountains were born or God brought forth the earth and world, He was God. Psalm 90 was written by Moses and in this phrase he looks back to eternity past. He considers the creation account in Genesis 1 and the majestic phrase, "In the beginning".
"From everlasting to everlasting You are God." This truth is taught abundantly in the Scriptures. It expresses one of God's attributes or characteristics known as His "eternality". Theologically the eternality of God refers to His timeless nature. God has no beginning, and will have no end. This is one of the foundational beliefs of Christianity. Our God surpasses time as we define it here on earth.
The eternal, almighty God has revealed Himself to us and sent His only begotten Son to pay the price for our redemption as fallen sinners. He alone is from everlasting to everlasting. Let's praise Him today and rest in His steadfast care, no matter the turbulence of life we face on this day or what lies ahead in future days! He is forever God!
My
Savior loves, my
Savior lives
My Savior's always there for me
My God He was, my God He is
My God He's always gonna be
My Savior's always there for me
My God He was, my God He is
My God He's always gonna be
Be encouraged today,
Stephen & Brooksyne Weber
Daily
Prayer: Almighty
God, all the
universe declares
Your glory who
creates, sustains,
and watches over
Your creation.
Though the earth
will someday be
destroyed You
created us with a
soul that will exist
for all eternity.
While the
foundations are
being destroyed here
on earth we, the
redeemed, find great
comfort and immense
hope in Your eternal
foundation. It is
from eternity past
and will exist in
eternity future,
with no beginning
and no end! Only a
loving God like You
would choose to
include us in Your
vast plan and find
delight in us, in
all our humanness.
You are worthy to
receive glory,
honor, and praise in
this life and for
all eternity. Amen.Further study:
A.W. Pink, a Bible teacher from the last century, wrote on this subject of eternality, which is very difficult to comprehend. Warning: this is very heavy material, but I believe it will bless you if you mentally trudge through it!
"In the
beginning, God"
(Genesis 1:1).
There was a time,
if 'time' it could
be called, when
God, in the unity
of His nature
(though subsisting
equally in three
Divine Persons),
dwelt all alone.
'In the beginning,
God.' There was no
heaven, where His
glory is now
particularly
manifested.
There was no earth
to engage His
attention. There
were no angels to
sing His praises;
no universe to be
upheld by the word
of His power.
There was nothing,
no one, but God;
and that, not for
a day, a year, or
an age, but 'from
everlasting.'
During eternity
past, God was
alone:
self-contained,
self-sufficient,
self-satisfied; in
need of
nothing. Had
a universe, had
angels, had human
beings been
necessary to Him
in any way, they
would also have
been called into
existence from all
eternity. The
creating of them
when He did added
nothing to God
essentially. 'He
changes not'
(Malachi 3:6),
therefore His
essential glory
can be neither
augmented nor
diminished. God
was under no
constraint, no
obligation, no
necessity to
create. That He
chose to do so was
purely a sovereign
act on His part,
caused by nothing
outside Himself,
determined by
nothing but His
own mere good
pleasure; for He
'worketh all
things after the
counsel of His own
will' (Ephesians
1:11). That He did
create was simply
for His
manifestative
glory. God is no
gainer even from
our worship. He
was in no need of
that external
glory of His grace
that arises from
His redeemed, for
He is glorious
enough in Himself
without that. What
was it that moved
Him? It was, as
Ephesians 1:5
tells us,
'according to the
good pleasure of
His will'."
John
Keefer, a pastor
friend, replied to
Friday's message
concerning the
first moon landing
with this memory:
"I remember well 50
years ago when I was
18 when my
grandmother lived
with us. I was
upstairs with her
when we heard the
news of men walking
on the moon. I was
excited but Grandma
flatly stated, "I
don't believe it. If
God wanted us on the
moon He'd have put
us there." Nothing
said would change
her mind.
Luis is
a man we see in
the course of our
chaplaincy visits
who works at White
Oak Display and
Design, a company
that designs
flooring displays.
He installed our
new laminate floor
and also assisted
me with several
other home
projects the last
several weeks. He
is a follower of
Christ.
This
room had been a
single stall
garage when we
moved into our
home in 2002.
Later that year we
converted it into
a room for
Stephen's mom
which she used
till she died in
2005. (That's why
it has the fridge
and sink.) Since
2006 we have used
it as our home
office.
Here's a
photo of our
office with our
new floor. The
large glass area
is where the
garage door had
been. As you can
see we have a very
nice view outside,
although with the
heat and bright
sun we are keeping
the blinds closed!
In rural
Lancaster County you
never know what type
of traffic you will
come upon. Last
Thursday we saw this
Amish farmer moving
his elevator north of
New Holland, PA.
We have an
Amish one room
schoolhouse being
built here on Kraybill
Church Road. The Amish
men are gathering to
build the school and
that explains why we
have seen an increase
in wagon traffic the
last several weeks.
Today's
Suggested
Music and
Supplemental Resources
"How Beautiful
Heaven Must Be"
Video
Mitchel
Jon
"My
Savior, My God "
Video
Aaron Shust
Choir selection from our service yesterday Video
Yesterday's
message was from a Mark
Farnham, a professor at
Lancaster Bible College, and
we believe will especially
minister to any of our
readers going through a
painful season. Video should
start here.
Finally
today:
Brooksyne
with baby goats on the
Old Windmill Farm
"You can take
the girl out of the
country,
but you can't
take the country out of
the girl! (The young girl
next to Brooksyne is
Michaela Charest, daughter
of missionaries Joel and
Adrienne Charest.)
Actually we will
share a few more recent
photos since we will not
be posting daily the next
two weeks.
Ester took this
photo from inside the
Hunsecker's Mill covered
bridge early yesterday
morning. We had dropped
Brooksyne off for choir
sound check and took a
short jaunt through the
country.
We came upon
this buggy with the Amish
children looking at the
traffic.
(Photo by Ester)
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 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 approximately half our time to Daily Encouragement and the other half to our chaplaincy ministry to companies for which we receive compensation. 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 would provide half of our ministry expenses and income.
If you would consider making a donation to our ministry see here for more information.
Please Note:
We also provide this easy option due to the
convenience, for international supporters, and
for those who may not be concerned regarding
receiving an official tax deductible receipt. Click here
to send an offering using PayPal. This
will open to a page that states "Brooksyne
Weber"Permissions: Please feel free to pass on, reproduce and distribute any material on Daily Encouragement Net, in part or in whole, in any format, provided that you do not alter the wording in any way or charge a fee beyond the cost of reproduction. It is our desire to spread this material, not protect or restrict it. We do request that you keep the contact, copyright and subscription information intact.
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."
© Copyright 2019 Stephen
C. & Brooksyne Weber - All Rights Reserved
Daily Encouragement Net - 495 Kraybill Church Road - Mount Joy, PA 17552 USA
Daily Encouragement Net - 495 Kraybill Church Road - Mount Joy, PA 17552 USA