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daily, Bible-based perspective of hope, encouragement and
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Send a message to Stephen & Brooksyne
Wednesday,
February
10,
2021
One of many of Audrey's signs hanging in her warehouse spotted yesterday during our chaplain visit. This prompted our daily message!
"Reminiscing
A Good Meal"
Message summary: Today
we want to encourage our readers to do some
reminiscing about partaking of a meal in a
memorable setting. Then we want you to consider a
meal in the Bible that surely became a source of
lifelong reminiscing to those who partook.
Listen
to this message on your audio player
"And he (the Philippian jailer) brought them into his house and set food before them, and rejoiced greatly, having believed in God with his whole household" (Acts 16:34).
We increasingly enjoy
reading a magazine called "Reminisce", a nostalgic
magazine, historically focused on the many
memories people contribute from the 1930s through
the early 1970s. It has many engaging stories
about what we loved in the past and how it shaped
our lives. When we were younger we saw it as the
way our parents or grandparents lived, but now
many of the reminiscings are very recognizable of
a time when we were younger, with some of them in
the seventies when we were in college and got
married! (We never saw that coming when we, as a
newly married couple, might simply glance at the
covers of "Reminisce" as they were piled on our
parents' coffee table.)
Brooksyne has a book titled
"Reminisce Around The Table-Fond Memories of Food,
Family and Friends". It is an assortment of short
stories chronicling memorable meals, "real-life
stories told by people who live them, capturing
the best of the past with cherished family photos,
vintage ads and favorite dinner prayers". Since
many of the stories took place in the sixties, in
our childhood years, we could especially identify,
prompting some of our reminiscing.
"Nostalgia" is a sentimentality for the past, typically for a period or place with happy personal associations. "Reminisce" implies a casual often nostalgic recalling of experiences long past and gone.
Today we want to encourage our readers to do some reminiscing about memorable meals and then consider with us a meal written about in the Bible that surely became a source of lifelong reminiscing to those who partook.
Have you ever tried to tally how many meals you've eaten? Of course in most cases it will only be an estimate but based on our age we figure we've each had some 70,000 meals (give or take several thousand). That's just based on our age and three meals a day and doesn't even include munching! We don't remember the vast majority of meals but we certainly have had some memorable ones, whether it's for their tastiness or lack thereof.
Listen
to this message on your audio player"And he (the Philippian jailer) brought them into his house and set food before them, and rejoiced greatly, having believed in God with his whole household" (Acts 16:34).
We increasingly enjoy
reading a magazine called "Reminisce", a nostalgic
magazine, historically focused on the many
memories people contribute from the 1930s through
the early 1970s. It has many engaging stories
about what we loved in the past and how it shaped
our lives. When we were younger we saw it as the
way our parents or grandparents lived, but now
many of the reminiscings are very recognizable of
a time when we were younger, with some of them in
the seventies when we were in college and got
married! (We never saw that coming when we, as a
newly married couple, might simply glance at the
covers of "Reminisce" as they were piled on our
parents' coffee table.) Brooksyne has a book titled
"Reminisce Around The Table-Fond Memories of Food,
Family and Friends". It is an assortment of short
stories chronicling memorable meals, "real-life
stories told by people who live them, capturing
the best of the past with cherished family photos,
vintage ads and favorite dinner prayers". Since
many of the stories took place in the sixties, in
our childhood years, we could especially identify,
prompting some of our reminiscing."Nostalgia" is a sentimentality for the past, typically for a period or place with happy personal associations. "Reminisce" implies a casual often nostalgic recalling of experiences long past and gone.
Today we want to encourage our readers to do some reminiscing about memorable meals and then consider with us a meal written about in the Bible that surely became a source of lifelong reminiscing to those who partook.
Have you ever tried to tally how many meals you've eaten? Of course in most cases it will only be an estimate but based on our age we figure we've each had some 70,000 meals (give or take several thousand). That's just based on our age and three meals a day and doesn't even include munching! We don't remember the vast majority of meals but we certainly have had some memorable ones, whether it's for their tastiness or lack thereof.
I
still good-naturedly tease Brooksyne about one
meal flop that took place early in our marriage. A
friend gave her a new Mexican recipe for Chicken
Mole' and she was excited to make it. The dish was
memorable because it tasted so bad that neither of
us could finish it. She otherwise is an excellent
cook and based upon our 40+ years of married life
I figure she has prepared over 40,000 meals, give
or take a few, due to our eating out and dining in
other's homes.
We remember other meals
due to eating with special people or in a special
place such as the Casey Jones Dining Car. This
photo was taken when we had a meal with Mike,
Kathy and Tina, our friends since 1977.
Today's text records what surely became a memorable meal for those involved, a future memory to reminisce. It's about the marvelous conversion of the Philippian jailer who was spared from suicide and redeemed through salvation. The jailer immediately demonstrated evidence of his conversion by taking his maximum security prisoners, Paul and Silas, into his family's household, by tending to their fresh wounds, and by being baptized. The last Scriptural reference to this jailer is seen in our daily text when he joined Paul and Silas for a late night meal together. "And he brought them into his house and set food before them, and rejoiced greatly, having believed in God with his whole household" (Acts 16:34).
"And he brought them into his house." Of course we don't know how far the house was from the jail but assume it was close. What a change for Paul and Silas who, a short time earlier, had their robes torn off them, were beaten with rods, thrown into an inner cell and had their feet fastened in stocks. Now, they were to experience the warm fellowship of a home and meal presented by the prison warden, no less. Was the jailer married and if so what did his wife think when she saw him bringing these beaten prisoners into their home in the middle of the night?
"And
set food before them." Paul and Silas
had been severely beaten the day before and there
is no record of any meal in the prison. Even if
there had been it's hard to imagine it being very
tasty since prison food usually doesn't rate a 5
star review. The only appealing food in a jail
setting I've ever considered was the fried
chicken, mashed potatoes and biscuits from Aunt
Bee's kitchen she often prepared for jailbirds on
the "Andy Griffith Show". The food basket she
lined with a linen napkin and carried on her
arm into the sheriff's office making the jail
setting all the more cozy and appealing. (Imagine
prisoners getting linen napkins for their food
clean-up!)
But back to our non-fiction text now, this was a middle of the night meal, with no detail as to who prepared it or how elaborate it was. One thing's for sure, they couldn't call in for a pizza delivery! However, the meal was prepared and whatever food was set before them, it surely was tasty on an empty stomach. Eating in a comfortable home setting is far superior to eating in a dingy jail cell with your feet in stocks as the guards looked on.
"And rejoiced greatly, having believed in God with his whole household." Let's consider the descriptive setting that followed the service of the food. The text says they "rejoiced greatly". Now, good food can bring on some pleasant compliments expressed to the host, but the text makes clear the overriding reason for their great time of rejoicing was due to the jailer who turned from a sinful life to, "having believed in God with his whole household". The real source of joy was their faith in Christ.
Paul and Silas sung praises while in jail and we may consider what songs they might have sung and how this might have made an impact on the jailer. Now, as they completed their time together at this late night/early morning meal and before the jailer and his family fade into Scriptural oblivion, do you think Paul and Silas taught the family household a hymn before departing? Though the following hymn was written many centuries after the jailer's conversion, it's an upbeat, testimonial hymn and one that brings rejoicing to a new believer's heart as well as those of us who have served the Lord for a good many years:
Be encouraged today,
Stephen & Brooksyne Weber
We remember other meals
due to eating with special people or in a special
place such as the Casey Jones Dining Car. This
photo was taken when we had a meal with Mike,
Kathy and Tina, our friends since 1977.Today's text records what surely became a memorable meal for those involved, a future memory to reminisce. It's about the marvelous conversion of the Philippian jailer who was spared from suicide and redeemed through salvation. The jailer immediately demonstrated evidence of his conversion by taking his maximum security prisoners, Paul and Silas, into his family's household, by tending to their fresh wounds, and by being baptized. The last Scriptural reference to this jailer is seen in our daily text when he joined Paul and Silas for a late night meal together. "And he brought them into his house and set food before them, and rejoiced greatly, having believed in God with his whole household" (Acts 16:34).
"And he brought them into his house." Of course we don't know how far the house was from the jail but assume it was close. What a change for Paul and Silas who, a short time earlier, had their robes torn off them, were beaten with rods, thrown into an inner cell and had their feet fastened in stocks. Now, they were to experience the warm fellowship of a home and meal presented by the prison warden, no less. Was the jailer married and if so what did his wife think when she saw him bringing these beaten prisoners into their home in the middle of the night?
"And
set food before them." Paul and Silas
had been severely beaten the day before and there
is no record of any meal in the prison. Even if
there had been it's hard to imagine it being very
tasty since prison food usually doesn't rate a 5
star review. The only appealing food in a jail
setting I've ever considered was the fried
chicken, mashed potatoes and biscuits from Aunt
Bee's kitchen she often prepared for jailbirds on
the "Andy Griffith Show". The food basket she
lined with a linen napkin and carried on her
arm into the sheriff's office making the jail
setting all the more cozy and appealing. (Imagine
prisoners getting linen napkins for their food
clean-up!)But back to our non-fiction text now, this was a middle of the night meal, with no detail as to who prepared it or how elaborate it was. One thing's for sure, they couldn't call in for a pizza delivery! However, the meal was prepared and whatever food was set before them, it surely was tasty on an empty stomach. Eating in a comfortable home setting is far superior to eating in a dingy jail cell with your feet in stocks as the guards looked on.
"And rejoiced greatly, having believed in God with his whole household." Let's consider the descriptive setting that followed the service of the food. The text says they "rejoiced greatly". Now, good food can bring on some pleasant compliments expressed to the host, but the text makes clear the overriding reason for their great time of rejoicing was due to the jailer who turned from a sinful life to, "having believed in God with his whole household". The real source of joy was their faith in Christ.
Paul and Silas sung praises while in jail and we may consider what songs they might have sung and how this might have made an impact on the jailer. Now, as they completed their time together at this late night/early morning meal and before the jailer and his family fade into Scriptural oblivion, do you think Paul and Silas taught the family household a hymn before departing? Though the following hymn was written many centuries after the jailer's conversion, it's an upbeat, testimonial hymn and one that brings rejoicing to a new believer's heart as well as those of us who have served the Lord for a good many years:
What
a wonderful change in my life has been wrought
Since Jesus came into my heart!
I have light in my soul for which long I had sought,
Since Jesus came into my heart!
Since Jesus came into my heart,
Since Jesus came into my heart,
Floods of joy o’er my soul
Like the sea billows roll,
Since Jesus came into my heart.
Since Jesus came into my heart!
I have light in my soul for which long I had sought,
Since Jesus came into my heart!
Since Jesus came into my heart,
Since Jesus came into my heart,
Floods of joy o’er my soul
Like the sea billows roll,
Since Jesus came into my heart.
Be encouraged today,
Stephen & Brooksyne Weber
Daily
prayer: Father, when we consider life before
receiving Christ as our Savior and contrast it with
life after coming to faith, we are profoundly
grateful for the changes it brought. We no longer
flounder in searching for the meaning of life, our
sins no longer master us, and joy replaces the fear
and uncertainty of tomorrow. We rejoice greatly that
our sins are forgiven and that we have an
inheritance in heaven that will never perish, spoil
or fade. With growing anticipation we long for the
greatest fellowship meal of all time when we will be
joined with Christ at the Marriage Supper of the
Lamb. We rejoice greatly that we who are Your
blood-bought children are invited to partake not
only of the heavenly assortment of food but also the
fruit of the vine. The same fruitful beverage that
Jesus offered to His disciples the night of His
betrayal has been reserved for us in heaven where we
will drink it anew with Him in Your kingdom. Keep us
faithful until that most glorious eternal reunion in
heaven. Amen.For
further thought on how we can use our
hospitality for reaching unbelievers:
Commentator Matthew Henry comments: "They had broken
the bread of life to him and his family; and he,
having reaped so plentifully of their spiritual
things, thought it was but reasonable that they
should reap his material things. What have we houses
and tables for but as we have opportunity to serve
God and His people with them?"
Today's
Suggested Music and Supplemental
Resources
"Suppertime" Video Joey+Rory
Reminisce magazine
"Reminisce
Around The Table" is
available on AmazonDinner Grace: Here's a sample of one of many prayers in this book. This one is submitted by Elaine Turner of Frederick, Maryland: As a child I learned this grace at summer Bible camp and taught it to our children when they were young:
"Come Lord Jesus, be our guest,
our morning joy, our evening rest, And with
our daily bread impart, Thy love and peace
to every heart."
Finally today:
We remember many meals due to it
being a special holiday or celebration. This
photo was taken at our home in St. Marys,
Pennsylvania over 30 years ago. My oldest
brother, Mike, took the photo. That meal is
in part special because we have the photo,
unlike most memorable meals over the years,
before we started taking pictures of
practically everything.
Send
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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