A
daily, Bible-based perspective of hope, encouragement and
exhortation.
Send a message to Stephen & Brooksyne
Tuesday,
February
9,
2021
The Laughlin Mill in Cumberland County, PA.
"Let Us Stay
Faithful!"
Message summary: Throughout the
centuries people must choose between the gods of
the age or the one eternal true God. Today, let us
reverence the Lord our God and renounce the many
false gods of our age. Let us determine that we
will faithfully serve Him with all our heart,
soul, mind and strength!
Listen
to this message on your audio player
“But they were unfaithful to the God of their fathers and prostituted themselves to the gods of the peoples of the land” (1 Chronicles 5:25).
Yesterday
I bought and installed a new smoke alarm,
replacing one installed by the previous owner over
20 years ago. The old one seemed to work OK but I
read they should probably be replaced every ten
years, so it was long overdue.
A false alarm from a smoke detector can be very annoying and our new alarm claims to reduce false alarms. But with an alarm you would sure rather have a false alarm than a real event with no warning!
Listen
to this message on your audio player“But they were unfaithful to the God of their fathers and prostituted themselves to the gods of the peoples of the land” (1 Chronicles 5:25).
Yesterday
I bought and installed a new smoke alarm,
replacing one installed by the previous owner over
20 years ago. The old one seemed to work OK but I
read they should probably be replaced every ten
years, so it was long overdue.A false alarm from a smoke detector can be very annoying and our new alarm claims to reduce false alarms. But with an alarm you would sure rather have a false alarm than a real event with no warning!
Wherever you are today you are surrounded by
warnings and cautions. In fact we are so flooded
with warnings that we may tend to ignore even
reading them since they generally state the
obvious. Even a tube of toothpaste has a
warning.
Some warnings are needed; many others are imposed by the legal system as a precaution against a potential lawsuit. Some warnings ignore common sense (in part due to the fact that many lack it) and others might even be illogical, even humorous such as these:
Some warnings are needed; many others are imposed by the legal system as a precaution against a potential lawsuit. Some warnings ignore common sense (in part due to the fact that many lack it) and others might even be illogical, even humorous such as these:
- Warning on a small Ziploc bag: Do not climb inside this bag and zip it up. Doing so will cause injury and death.”
- Warning label on a baby
stroller: Remove child before folding.
- Warning label on a wheelbarrow: Not intended for highway use.
- Warning label on Apple’s website: Do not eat iPod Shuffle.
- Warning label on a carpenter’s electric drill: This product not intended for use as a dental drill.
- Warning label on a dishwasher:
Do not allow children to play in the dishwasher.
But
there's nothing funny about the warnings of
Scripture, even though for many they are a source
of mockery. We must never grow hardened,
indifferent or neglectful of these warnings.
Today’s verse is certainly not the typical
Scriptural promise of encouragement we normally
use in this devotional series, but we can be
thankful for God’s warnings and should actually
see them as evidence of His love. The apostle Paul
wrote in 1 Corinthians 10:6 regarding the
spiritual failures of people in the past, "These
things occurred as examples to keep us from
setting our hearts on evil things as they did".
Today’s verse is an historical record regarding the descendants of the half tribe of Manasseh. They had a reputation as being "brave warriors, famous men, and heads of their families" (v. 24). But spiritually they had failed miserably as bluntly described in our daily text, "They were unfaithful to the God of their fathers and prostituted themselves to the gods of the peoples of the land".
We may on the surface consider this verse to be a mere record of the apostasy (falling away) of an ancient people (this happened some 3000 years ago). Surely such a crude and graphic expression of apostasy would not apply to our day would it?
Well, let’s open our eyes! The character of God has not changed. His holiness and hatred of sin has not diminished one iota. "For I am the LORD, I change not" (Malachi 3:6). Surely His assessment of the condition of modern humanity would be the same as that of today’s verse, although the "gods of the people of the land" are modernized to reflect our time period. In our estimation we may feel that we’re more sophisticated than past peoples.
Throughout the centuries people must choose between the gods of the age or the one eternal true God. Today, let us reverence the Lord our God and renounce the many false gods of our age. Let us determine that we will faithfully serve Him with all our heart, soul, mind and strength!
Be encouraged today,
Stephen & Brooksyne Weber
Today’s verse is an historical record regarding the descendants of the half tribe of Manasseh. They had a reputation as being "brave warriors, famous men, and heads of their families" (v. 24). But spiritually they had failed miserably as bluntly described in our daily text, "They were unfaithful to the God of their fathers and prostituted themselves to the gods of the peoples of the land".
We may on the surface consider this verse to be a mere record of the apostasy (falling away) of an ancient people (this happened some 3000 years ago). Surely such a crude and graphic expression of apostasy would not apply to our day would it?
Well, let’s open our eyes! The character of God has not changed. His holiness and hatred of sin has not diminished one iota. "For I am the LORD, I change not" (Malachi 3:6). Surely His assessment of the condition of modern humanity would be the same as that of today’s verse, although the "gods of the people of the land" are modernized to reflect our time period. In our estimation we may feel that we’re more sophisticated than past peoples.
Throughout the centuries people must choose between the gods of the age or the one eternal true God. Today, let us reverence the Lord our God and renounce the many false gods of our age. Let us determine that we will faithfully serve Him with all our heart, soul, mind and strength!
Be encouraged today,
Stephen & Brooksyne Weber
Daily
prayer: Father, we want to serve You with all
our heart loving You above everything and
everyone. We want to serve You with all our soul,
as it lives for all eternity. We want to serve You
with our mind as we acknowledge that You are
the Dispenser of wisdom, knowledge, and
understanding. We want to serve You with all our strength,
knowing that when our strength weakens it is then
that we truly find strength. We want to be faithful
to You, the God of our fathers, so that we are not
tempted to sell our souls to the gods of the peoples
of our land. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.Today's
Suggested Music and Supplemental
Resources
"This Little
Child" Video Scott
Wesley Brown This song is from
1988 and is prophetic in light of what
we have seen over the last 30 + years.
Many years have
come and gone
Yet this world remains the same
Empires have been built and fallen
Only time has made a change
Nation against nation
Brother against brother
Men so filled with hatred
Killing one another
And over half the world is starving
While our banner of decency is torn
Debating over disarmament
Killing children before they're born
And fools who march to win the right
To justify their sin
Oh ev'ry nation that has fallen
Has fallen from within
Yet in the midst of this darkness
There is a hope a light that burns
This little child the King of kings
Some day will return
Yet this world remains the same
Empires have been built and fallen
Only time has made a change
Nation against nation
Brother against brother
Men so filled with hatred
Killing one another
And over half the world is starving
While our banner of decency is torn
Debating over disarmament
Killing children before they're born
And fools who march to win the right
To justify their sin
Oh ev'ry nation that has fallen
Has fallen from within
Yet in the midst of this darkness
There is a hope a light that burns
This little child the King of kings
Some day will return
A helpful
warning: Do not use Gorilla
Glue for hair spray
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a message to Stephen
& Brooksyne
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Weber".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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