A daily, Bible-based perspective of hope,
encouragement and exhortation.
Send a message to Stephen & Brooksyne
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!"
Last week we attended a teaching session that had us fill in 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. I've never been on a cruise ship but have been on a short day cruise on the Mississippi River in Saint Louis.
Since I like maps I thought doing a life map would be an interesting exercise but it was very 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!
Yesterday was a mile-marker point in my life map (a birthday) 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). We expect to be able to make that proclamation till the Lord calls us safely home.
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 join us in raising 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 my future eternal dwelling n heaven where I
will safely arrive at home. Amen.
Today's Suggested Music and Supplemental Resources
Sunday afternoon 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.
Send a message to Stephen & Brooksyne
Note:
We were unable to post a message yesterday due to
internet problems in the morning and a scheduled
activity.
Message summary: 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."
Listen
to this
message on your audio player.
"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).
Message summary: 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."
Listen
to this
message on your audio player."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.
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 fill in 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. I've never been on a cruise ship but have been on a short day cruise on the Mississippi River in Saint Louis.
Since I like maps I thought doing a life map would be an interesting exercise but it was very 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!
Yesterday was a mile-marker point in my life map (a birthday) 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). We expect to be able to make that proclamation till the Lord calls us safely home.
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 join us in raising 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 my future eternal dwelling n heaven where I
will safely arrive at home. Amen.This
is a great place to store some neck
pumpkins as long as you don't need the
stairs!
We
never weary of the autumn displays in
our area. After all it's a relatively
short season. This one is at the
Hershey Farms Restaurant.
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.
Crews 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 since 2011.
These
men were working on a chimney and
had discovered there was a skunk
inside, or
so they initially thought, which caused a lot of
commotion. 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 Sunday 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:
He
also shared this perspective at a men's
retreat.
Curt
sang bass in a 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!
"Love
The People That God Gave You"
Video We dedicate this song
to Curt's family and all who have
experienced recent loss.
Send a message to Stephen & Brooksyne
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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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Daily Encouragement Net - 495 Kraybill Church Road - Mount Joy, PA 17552 USA