A daily, Bible-based perspective of hope,
encouragement and exhortation.
Tuesday, October 15, 2019
A big
white barn in southern Lancaster County garnished
with fall mums, gourds and pumpkins.
"Thus
Far Has The Lord Helped
Me!"
Message
summary: Today I proclaim,kk
"Thus far has the Lord helped me!" But the
completion of my goal, to follow Him all the days
of my life, will only
be fully realized
when my time of transition comes, "safely to
arrive at home."
"Then Samuel took
a stone and set it between Mizpah and Shen, and
named it Ebenezer, saying, 'Thus far the Lord
has helped us'" (1 Samuel 7:12).
Here I raise my
Ebenezer;
Here by Thy great help I’ve come; And I hope, by Thy good pleasure, Safely to arrive at home. Last week we attended
a teaching session that had us do a "life map".
Since I was a child I have liked maps; the old
kind you unfolded and spread out to look at; atlas
type maps, globes and in the computer age sites
like Google Earth. I suppose I have an unusual
memory regarding places I have been and can recall
the routes I took even in trips as a child and
many vacations through our marriage. I have
chronicled each airport I have flown into, which
is now up to 51 airports. I remember the train
trips I took.
Since I like maps I thought doing a life map would be an interesting exercise but it was different than a regular map. Essentially in a life map you are to place significant events in your life along a chronological line. I did mine fairly
quickly, noting events like my birth (which was
necessary for the rest), childhood, my salvation
experience, graduations, marriage and major
vocational milestones and so forth. Brooksyne on
the other hand had a much greater amount of detail
in her life map. (She probably did it the way you
were supposed to!) When I was finished I looked
over and saw lots more writing and she was only
into her thirties!
Today is a milestone
point in my life map so this verse and concept
have been on my heart for several days. One
thing each of us could write for each point in our
life map is today's text, "Thus far the Lord
has helped me" (changed to first person
singular)
Most of us have sung
the great old hymn, "Come
Thou Fount Of Every Blessing" with one of the
verses posted above.
However many probably have never considered the
meaning of the words, "Here I raise my Ebenezer"
sung in the second verse to the hymn penned in
1757 by Robert Robinson who was just 22 years old
at the time.
Samuel served God
some 3,100 years ago as the last leader during the
period of the Judges. In fact he anointed both
Saul and David as kings. Samuel served his
generation faithfully, overcoming dangers from
without and apostasy from within (falling away
from the faith).
In today's text Samuel made a tangible memorial to God's faithfulness to himself and the people. He set up a stone and named it Ebenezer (which means "stone of help"), and using that meaning applied it to the nation stating, "Thus far has the Lord helped us". That must have been a wonderful moment and it's my testimony today. I raise my Ebenezer and personally proclaim, "Thus far has the Lord helped me." When Robert Robinson wrote the line "Here I raise my Ebenezer; here by Thy great help I’ve come" he was surely referring to today's Scripture text and declaring his faith and resolve in serving the Lord. Have you placed your
faith in Christ? Are you faithfully serving Him
today? We sure hope so! Won't you raise your
Ebenezer to join Samuel and millions through the
ages in proclaiming, "Thus far has the Lord helped
us!"
Today I proclaim "Thus far has the Lord helped me!" But the completion of my goal, to follow Him all the days of my life, will only be fully realized when my time of transition comes, "safely to arrive at home." Be encouraged today, Stephen & Brooksyne Weber Daily prayer: Father, as I daily partake of the Bread of Life I am led by Your hand. No longer my own, because Your only Son, Jesus, gave His life that I might experience forgiveness for sin and abundant life. Today I victoriously proclaim, "Thus far has the Lord helped me!" even though my heart and my flesh may fail, for You are my strength and my portion for my dwelling on earth and for my eternal home in heaven. Amen. This is a
great place to store some neck pumpkins
as long as you don't need the stairs!
Last
Friday we visited the employees at the
Smucker Home
Improvement and Smucker Laser
Cutting and Metal Fabrication
companies at a community service day
as they provided renovation work to a
former orphanage that now houses Immerse
International, a
ministry to international students.
Crew worked on many phases of
improvement including installing new
windows, carpentry work, lawn cleanup,
etc. Smuckers brought in the food
truck to feed the crew of some 50. We
are pleased to serve this business as
their company chaplains.
These
men were working on a chimney and
had discovered there was a skunk
inside which caused a lot of
commotion,or so they initially
thought. It turned out to be a
squirrel!
Today's Suggested Music and Supplemental Resources "Come,
Thou Fount of Every Blessing"
Video
All Sons & Daughters
Children's
choir leading our worship at the
service yesterday at Calvary Church
Video
"Prone to Wander, Lord
I Feel It" An interesting rest of
the story regarding Robert Robinson
Here I Raise My
Ebenezer! Article on today's text
Finally
today:
Yesterday we attended a funeral service for
Curt Haldeman, a local friend who arrived
safely home after a long battle. Curt was a
salesman who sold equipment like this huge
New Holland sprayer which was parked in the
church's lawn during the service. Years ago
we shared an experience that Curt had and a
spiritual application he gleaned from it.Curt sang
bass in the men's quintet called "Pleasant
Passage". They sang a
specially themed song written for a local
tractor day by Mike Book who sings tenor
with the group. It's titled "Life
is like a Farmer's Parcel" Video (the
tune is from "Life is Like a Mountain
Railroad" made popular by Johnny Cash.)
Pardon the poor audio on this video. I had
just learned to use the video record
function on my "smart" phone and
apparently kept covering the tiny
microphone with my finger!
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. Donate directly online here. This will open to a page that designates the offering to: WEBER,STEPHEN CHAP, Specialized Chaplaincy Ministry ID: 700001-237376 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 |