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Friday,
November 29,
2019
"What
Are You Craving Today?"
Message summary: So, what are you craving for today?
Listen
to this
message on your audio player.
"One thing I ask of the LORD, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to seek Him in His temple" (Psalm 27:4).
David sums up what life's highest craving (aspiration) should be in Psalm 27:4: "One thing I ask of the LORD, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to seek Him in His temple." To gaze or meditate upon the beauty of the Lord brings peace and assurance as one who has been forgiven and placed in right relationship with God.
Be encouraged today,
Stephen & Brooksyne Weber
Daily
prayer: Father,
as Your children we need to regularly examine our
hearts to see if there are things, pursuits, or
attitudes that are drawing us away from Your heart and
thrusting us once again into the mindset of the world.
Our heart’s examinations are not intended to condemn
us but to rid us of impurities and distractions, to
refresh our spirit, and to remind us of our godly
heritage. Like newborn babies help us to crave pure
spiritual milk, so that by it we may grow up in your
salvation, remaining steadfast in our walk all the
days of our life. Amen.
Message summary: So, what are you craving for today?
Listen
to this
message on your audio player."One thing I ask of the LORD, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to seek Him in His temple" (Psalm 27:4).
I’d rather have Jesus
than silver or gold;
I’d rather be His than have riches untold;
I’d rather have Jesus than houses or lands;
I’d rather be led by His nail-pierced hand.
I’d rather be His than have riches untold;
I’d rather have Jesus than houses or lands;
I’d rather be led by His nail-pierced hand.
We had a nice
Thanksgiving Day with our friends Jim and Dorothy
Schmidt and Jesse and Anna Lapp along with six of their
seven children, totaling 13 around our big dinner table.
Of course we had plenty to eat, more than we needed for
sure.
Prior to our gathering
Brooksyne prepared some word games for us to enjoy after
the big meal. One game was a word scramble that related
to the Thanksgiving/fall season. (We'll post the list of
mixed up words below.)
One of the scrambled
words was revca which unscrambled was intended to be
"carve", of course related to carving the turkey.
When Brooksyne revealed
the answers, Jesse spoke up that he had written "crave"
instead, which is how many of us look forward to our big
meal thus "crave" fit nicely into the Thanksgiving
theme!
"Crave" is also a
descriptive word for the day after Thanksgiving in
America; a very, very busy shopping day for those who
"crave" a bargain. Many of the big stores had already
opened at 6 pm on Thanksgiving and the parking lots were
filled as we took our friends home around 8:30 pm last
night. But today is the biggest day in retailing,
known as "Black Friday" because it's the day that gets
the store in the black financially. Retailers work very
hard to get people craving today's deals. Have you
noticed the increase in sales fliers, web ads and emails
coming your way? Here's a subject line from an email
this morning: BLACK FRIDAY SALE: Shop Huge Savings
TODAY! (of course it was in bold)
What are you craving
for? Today many crave for that great deal. But in the
bigger picture there are many pursuits people crave such
as wealth, fame, beauty, prestige, youthful vitality,
and many other objectives that appeal to our base
instincts.
A sad observation on
craving is found in Psalm 78:29: "They ate till they
were gorged—He had given them what they craved."
The apostle John
describes craving with the following summary in 1 John
2:16: "the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his
eyes and the boasting of what he has and does."
But none of these meet our deepest and greatest need.
On the other hand,
craving can also have a positive aspect: "Like
newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by
it you may grow up in your salvation" (1 Peter 2:2).
David sums up what life's highest craving (aspiration) should be in Psalm 27:4: "One thing I ask of the LORD, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to seek Him in His temple." To gaze or meditate upon the beauty of the Lord brings peace and assurance as one who has been forgiven and placed in right relationship with God.
So, what are you craving
for today?
Be encouraged today,
Stephen & Brooksyne Weber
Daily
prayer: Father,
as Your children we need to regularly examine our
hearts to see if there are things, pursuits, or
attitudes that are drawing us away from Your heart and
thrusting us once again into the mindset of the world.
Our heart’s examinations are not intended to condemn
us but to rid us of impurities and distractions, to
refresh our spirit, and to remind us of our godly
heritage. Like newborn babies help us to crave pure
spiritual milk, so that by it we may grow up in your
salvation, remaining steadfast in our walk all the
days of our life. Amen.Here's
the game that Brooksyne prepared. Unscramble the
following words that are descriptive of the
Thanksgiving season.
- lalf
- ggniivknhaTs
- mlPas 010
- seevla
- socnra
- rracrynbe
- onrc
- gimrlpi
- stehvra
- tfololab
- mPlyhotu
- ekar
- ingrghtae
- ertkyu
- ffutsngi
- ppnimuk
- kstcimrud
- revca
- tfsae
- mha
When we unscrambled these words last night, both children and adults got stuck on a few of them, but Brooksyne gave us little hints that got us unstuck! Since you don't have that advantage we'll provide the answers in Monday's Daily Encouragement.
Brooksyne's
Note: I've been teasing that we had a rowdy
bunch yesterday. When you mix active children with
boisterous men and chatty women and throw in three
excited pets you get a loud, rowdy household. Once we
were settled around the table again, following our meal,
we individually shared at least one thing we were
thankful for though we didn't get all the way around
because much discussion followed each time a child or
adult mentioned what they were thankful for.
Each of the children offered that they were thankful to be raised in a Christian home. Neither Jim or Dorothy had that experience which gave them an opportunity to share their remarkable salvation story. They also told us about their Christian doctor in Lancaster who often prays for them in his office. Dr. I* who is very popular in our area grew up in Iran and never heard the word, Bible, before he was twenty years old. He came to Baltimore to study medicine and was invited to a Bible Study, which he had no idea what it even meant. He eventually came to know Christ and has a remarkable story of salvation.
After hearing his story I was especially thankful for the Bible along with the accessibility to hear the word of truth and read it anytime I want.
Each of the children offered that they were thankful to be raised in a Christian home. Neither Jim or Dorothy had that experience which gave them an opportunity to share their remarkable salvation story. They also told us about their Christian doctor in Lancaster who often prays for them in his office. Dr. I* who is very popular in our area grew up in Iran and never heard the word, Bible, before he was twenty years old. He came to Baltimore to study medicine and was invited to a Bible Study, which he had no idea what it even meant. He eventually came to know Christ and has a remarkable story of salvation.
After hearing his story I was especially thankful for the Bible along with the accessibility to hear the word of truth and read it anytime I want.
Today's
Suggested Music and Supplemental Resources
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