Daily Encouragement (Archive Edition)

The online Bible teaching ministry of Stephen & Brooksyne Weber

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Tuesday, November 10, 2020

Sunset from our home

We've had several days of near perfect weather.

Due to the time change this photo was taken before 5:00 PM.

"Christ Be Magnified!"

Message summary: Above all let us seek that Christ Be Magnified!

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"O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name together" (Psalm 34:3). "This became known to all who lived in Ephesus, both Jews and Greeks; and fear fell upon them all and the name of the Lord Jesus was being magnified" (Acts 19:17).

Brooksyne recently bought a nifty health and beauty device, a lighted magnifying mirror that attaches to our regular vanity mirror by suction. It has a ten times power magnifier which really reveals the aging process which cannot be denied. (Note: The left photo is a model and not Brooksyne.)

Psalm 34:3 is a timeless call that we must still heed, some 3,000 years after its original appearance, "O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name together". This is one of the first Scripture choruses I recall singing in the seventies when I became a Christian. It's so old I can't seem to find an internet version with the same tune we used in the little church in Independence MO, where my faithful pastor was Brother Howard.

But in recent years we've been singing another song with the "magnify" theme titled, "Christ Be Magnified" (link to video below)

When every creature finds its inmost melody
And every human heart its native cry
O then in one enraptured hymn of praise
We'll sing 'Christ be magnified!
O be lifted high, Jesus

When we use the word "magnify" we may tend to think of a magnifying glass but the word also has the sense of "extol", "laud". In our second passage from Acts 19 Luke uses a word that is used only once in the New Testament, emegalyneto based on a word megaluno which comes from the Greek word "megas" - meaning "great") which means "to make or declare great". Of course we don't make God great, but proclaim that He is great! Most commonly in the NT megaluno means to magnify or praise, to cause something or someone in this case to be held in great esteem.

The same word is used in Mary's song in Luke 1 often called the MAGNIFICAT where she says "My soul doth magnify the Lord".

Today so much is being magnified; athletes, celebrities, entertainers and the list goes on and on. We must examine our hearts to see what is being magnified in our own lives or who we are magnifying. But above all let us seek that Christ Be Magnified!

Oh! Christ be magnified
Let His praise arise
Christ be magnified in me
Oh! Christ be magnified
From the altar of my life
Christ be magnified in me

Be encouraged today,

Stephen & Brooksyne Weber

Daily prayer: Father, like John the Baptist we also declare, Jesus must increase, I must decrease, for when I decrease Christ is magnified in and through me. I magnify Him above everything else as Creator of the universe and as Creator of my life. Like the Psalmist, I will praise Your name with a song and I will magnify You, Father, with thanksgiving, for You are worthy of all praise, glory and honor. Amen.

Today's Suggested Music and Supplemental Resources

"Christ Be Magnified" Video Brentwood Benson

Yesterday afternoon we had several of these powered parachutes fly by, hearing them first and then spotting them at the rear of our barn.

Early morning walk scene.

Gus's keystone restaurant, Mount Joy, PA

Yesterday morning I had breakfast with several friends at the Gus's Keystone restaurant here in Mount Joy. I complimented the server as to how nice the decorations at the entrance looked and she told me Gus does that. Gus is a very hardworking Greek, who for many years has a practice of walking through the restaurant greeting each diner and often asking about how they liked the food they ordered. He did so yesterday!

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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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