Daily Encouragement Net
The online Bible teaching ministry of Stephen & Brooksyne Weber
A daily, Bible-based perspective of hope, encouragement and exhortation.

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Monday, June 28, 2021

Hay wagons
Brooksyne was visiting with our farming neighbors over the weekend and snapped this photo of their labors for the day. For many of you this will bring a memory of freshly cut hay, especially alfalfa.
(Click on photo to enlarge)

"Made From One Blood"

Message summary: Since brothers Cain and Abel and later Jacob and Esau struggled with conflict and division, the human race has been marked by hostility by focusing on that which divides us. May God help us to remember that "He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth".

Listen to this message on your audio player.

"For the life of a creature is in the blood" (Leviticus 17:11). "And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth" (Acts 17:26).

Blood donation
On Saturday morning the bloodmobile returned to JB Hostetter & Sons Hardware Store, here in Mount Joy, where we have donated blood every other month for many years. Since the Corona virus began the bloodmobile units were idled and buildings were used to host the drives. After receiving the bloodmobile announcement in the mail Brooksyne signed us up right away and turns out we were the first donors on the bus early that morning, though the lines were long that followed us!

The Bible states, "For the life of a creature is in the blood" (Leviticus 17:11). That is a medical truth as well. When someone is dying of a serious injury a cause of death is described as "bleeding out". You cannot live without an adequate supply of blood. Those who donate can do so because only a relatively small amount is taken, roughly 1 pint out of the 10 we have and our body quickly recovers. After a donation, the blood volume can be recovered within 24 hours! (See Psalm 139:14)

In Acts 17 Paul was in a discourse with the academic elites in Athens. He makes a very interesting point concerning God's creation: "And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth" (Acts 17:26). The Amplified Bible uses this wording, "And He made from one [common origin, one source, one blood] all nations of men to settle on the face of the earth".

A phlebotomist who was of Indian descent collected my donation on Saturday when a thought occurred to me which he verified. Apart from the variety of blood types we all have (O positive, etc) anyone can donate and receive blood from any other person on earth regardless of race, national origin, religion or any other scores of distinctives that tend to divide us socially, economically, etc. Regardless of these differences we are all made from one blood as descendants of Adam and Eve.

During our lifetime, in our observation, race relationships here in the US seemed to be improving dramatically until about ten years ago. Now sadly there has been an increase in stoking racial division and strife, which is surely the work of the enemy whose goal it is to steal, kill and destroy (see John 10:10). For some, creating division and identity groups are used as a political strategy to drive even deeper wedges in relationships including that of family members.

Albert Barnes writes:

“The best way to produce peace between alienated minds is to bring them to the same Savior. That will do more to silence contentions, and to heal alienations, than any or all other means. Bring people around the same cross; fill them with love to the same Redeemer, and give them the same hope of heaven, and you put a period to alienation and strife. The love at Christ is so absorbing, and the dependence in his blood so entire, that they will lay aside these alienations, and cease their contentions.

The work of the atonement is thus designed not only to produce peace with God, but peace between alienated and contending minds. The feeling that we are redeemed by the same blood, and that we have the same Saviour, will unite the rich and the poor, the bond and the free, the high and the low, in the ties of brotherhood, and make them feel that they are one. This great work of the atonement is thus designed to produce peace in alienated minds everywhere, and to diffuse abroad the feeling of universal brotherhood."

Since brothers Cain and Abel and later Jacob and Esau struggled with conflict and division, the human race has been marked with hostility by focusing on that which divides us. May God help us to remember that "He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth".


Be encouraged today, (Hebrews 3:13)


Stephen & Brooksyne Weber

Praying man Daily prayer: Father, we thank You for Jesus who united Jews and Gentiles into one people when, in His own body on the cross, He broke down the wall of hostility that separated us. Through Christ's supreme sacrifice You made it possible to unite the prosperous and the poor, the black and the white, the educated and uneducated, those who differ from us in nationality and a host of other ways but linked together in the bond of peace by our brotherhood in Christ our Savior as we worship You, our Father, here on earth and throughout eternity. Amen.

See Ephesians 2:14



Today's Suggested Music and Supplemental Resources

"Jesus Loves The Little Children"  Video  Mike Curb Congregation (This includes verses to the familiar children's chorus that we had never heard before.)

"He Is Our Peace"  Video  Maranatha! Music

Additional thoughts:

1) Gerald McDermott in an article entitled "The Bible On Race" contends "The Bible pays no attention to race" (that is our skin color) and makes a powerful argument that skin color was essentially not a cause for division in the Bible times. (The Bible on Race)

2) The key difference between black and white skin relies on the type of melanin produced in these two types of skin. Black skin is a result of the production of eumelanin, which is dark brown to black in color while white skin is a result of the production of pheomelanin, which is red to yellow in color.

Human skin color varies from darkest to the lightest shades. Melanin is the main pigment responsible for skin color in humans. Therefore, genetics also play a major role in determining skin color. Black skin is mainly due to the production of eumelanin while white skin is due to pheomelanin.  Difference Between Black and White Skin

3) On the way to our church service yesterday we listened on our local Christian radio station WDAC, as we often do, to a sermon from Pastor Chris Walker from the Westminster Presbyterian Church in Lancaster, a Bible faithful congregation where a number of our friends attend. His outstanding message was titled "Brought Near" and is similar to our message today. The audio message is posted online here.

4) From God's perspective there are two groups of people (see John 3:16-21):
1) Those who believe and follow God and have accepted His plan for salvation through His son Jesus.
2) Those who have not believed.

5) Mitch Albom in his book "Finding Chika", shares about his experience, along with his wife, of caring for a little girl from Haiti whom they eventually adopted. She was displaced as a result of the massive earthquake in 2010. Now Mitch has lighter colored skin and of course Haitians are very dark. (He writes the book to her, even though she has died.) "I remember the time we stood by a mirror, studying our reflections, and you held your arm up next to mine. I thought you were comparing our skin color. Instead, you pointed to a mole near my wrist and said, 'Mister Mitch, why do you have that bump?' That's all you were interested in."  (Finding Chika) (Video)


Hay harvest on Kraybill Church Road. The older children are working at this harvest but Brooksyne was too far away for a good photo. The youngest one who's 12 was driving the team.

One room schoolhouse
This one room schoolhouse on Garfield Road south of Mount Joy has been repurposed into a house. We took this photo last Friday when we returned from a chaplain visit. The photo on Google maps is very similar. It is not unusual to see these well-built schoolhouses repurposed in our area. We had actually considered this when we were looking to buy a home after we moved to Lancaster County back in 2001 but were advised against it in the school we were looking at. However someone else bought it and made the conversion. (It has a busy 4 lane highway behind it which we were concerned about as well.) But it sure would have had character! Here's the location and photo on Google maps.
(Click on photo to enlarge)

Restored school bell
Our neighbor Marvin is restoring this bell for use in a one room schoolhouse next to his church they are renovating as a multi-purpose building. The bell is so heavy it takes two strong people to lift it.



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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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