The
online Bible teaching ministry of Stephen
& Brooksyne Weber
A daily, Bible-based perspective of hope, encouragement and exhortation.
A daily, Bible-based perspective of hope, encouragement and exhortation.
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Friday,
July 9,
2021
This forest trail near Cedar Falls, Iowa beckons
for a nice, relaxing and observant hike!
Steve Ephraim, a reader from that area, shared
this photo.
(Click on photo to enlarge)
(Click on photo to enlarge)
"Who
We Are"
Note:
Tomorrow morning we will head out to the Midwest visiting
family and friends and attending family gatherings in
Missouri, Oklahoma and Arkansas. Although we expect to get
several messages out during this time
we will not prepare regular Daily
Encouragement messages due to long travel days, early
departures and in some cases limited internet access such as
when we will spend several days in a mountain cabin in
Arkansas. We will also not be preparing the daily podcast
during our time away from home.
Listen
to this message on your audio player.
"Then
King David went in and sat before the Lord, and he said:
“Who am I, Lord God, and what is my family, that
you have brought me this far?" (1 Chronicles 17:16).
"The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we
are God’s children" (Romans 8:16). "Now if we
are children, then we are heirs—heirs of
God and co-heirs with Christ" (Romans 8:17). "No, in all
these things we are more than conquerors through
Him who loved us" (Romans 8:37).
On Tuesday
we shared a message titled "He Will Hold Me Fast" and referred
to our longtime friends, Jim and Wendy Gambini. Jim was
our pastor twenty years ago when we first moved to
Lancaster County in 2001. He is also a musician and quoted
this thought-provoking line from a 1985 Michael W. Smith
song titled "I'm Up":
"If
the Word of God is any indication, I am doing even better
than I know!"
I had never
heard of the song or phrase before but it sure got me
thinking. What does the Word of God say about who we
are as His redeemed people?
King David, in contemplating
God's goodness and leading in his life, began a powerful
prayer with, “Who am I, Lord God, and what is my
family, that You have brought me this far?" The
prayer that follows in I Chronicles 17:17ff is worshipful as David
chronicles the Lord's blessings to him.
But today let's examine
Romans 8 for just three of many statements as to who we are
according to the Word of God and why we are really doing
better than we often may feel due to our hearts being set on
earthly things:
1) We are God’s children
(8:16). Paul wrote in the previous verse that
it is by God's Holy Spirit, given to us when we became His
children through faith in Christ, that we call out to God
as "Abba" or Father. Paul gave another name to the Spirit:
"Spirit of adoption." God adopted us into His family. An
old song we still enjoy declares, "I'm a child of the
King":
I’m
a child of the King,
A child of the King:
With Jesus my Savior,
I’m a child of the King.
A child of the King:
With Jesus my Savior,
I’m a child of the King.
2) We
are heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ
(8:17). An heir is one who receives or is
entitled to receive some endowment or quality from a
parent or predecessor. The believer's heirship is not
merely a future hope but a present reality. Even now in
this present life we have the right as God's children to
look forward to the full possession of that which we now
possess only in principle. And this future inheritance
serves to motivate us to godliness for as C.S. Lewis
wrote… A continual looking forward to the eternal world is
not a form of escapism or wishful thinking, but one of the
things a Christian is meant to do. It does not mean that
we are to leave the present world as it is. If you read
history, you will find that the Christians who did the
most for the present world were also those who thought
most of the next.
3) We
are more than conquerors through Him who
loved us. (8:37) The Precept Austin online
commentary "describes one who is super-victorious, who
wins more than an ordinary victory, and who is
overpowering in achieving abundant victory. It describes a
lopsided victory in which the enemy or opponent is
completely routed. This is not the language of conceit,
but of confidence in Christ. Christ’s love conquered
death, and because of His love, we are can be more than
conquerors through Him."
You're
a Good, Good Father
It's who You are, it's who You are, it's who You are
And I'm loved by You
It's who I am, it's who I am, it's who I am
It's who You are, it's who You are, it's who You are
And I'm loved by You
It's who I am, it's who I am, it's who I am
Today as we
consider who we are may we be filled with joy, peace and
great assurance!
Be
encouraged today, (Hebrews 3:13)
Stephen &
Brooksyne Weber
Daily
prayer: Father, how blessed we are to walk in
our new nature which Christ imparted to us when we
put to death our sin nature. Our soul is alive and
well, not walking after the flesh but after Your
Spirit. We want to live by our higher calling and
recognize that we are more than conquerors through
Christ who loves us and conquered death on our
behalf. The enemy of our soul wants us to see
ourselves as losers for Christ, but we shall not and
cannot be losers but rather we are heirs with You
and co-heirs with Christ. What higher or more joyous
position can one gain in this life or the next!
Though the enemy wants to defeat us we defeat him by
wholeheartedly believing and declaring from
Scripture, "We are loved with an everlasting love."
And we are eternally grateful! Amen.
Daily
prayer: Father, how blessed we are to walk in
our new nature which Christ imparted to us when we
put to death our sin nature. Our soul is alive and
well, not walking after the flesh but after Your
Spirit. We want to live by our higher calling and
recognize that we are more than conquerors through
Christ who loves us and conquered death on our
behalf. The enemy of our soul wants us to see
ourselves as losers for Christ, but we shall not and
cannot be losers but rather we are heirs with You
and co-heirs with Christ. What higher or more joyous
position can one gain in this life or the next!
Though the enemy wants to defeat us we defeat him by
wholeheartedly believing and declaring from
Scripture, "We are loved with an everlasting love."
And we are eternally grateful! Amen.Today's
Suggested Music and Supplemental Resources
"Child Of The King" Video Gaither Vocal
Band
"Good, Good Father" Video Housefires
"More Than Conquerors" Video
Rend Collective
Finally today:
Ryan is a plumber
at JK Mechanical and also a musician in his
church. He told me he is on the worship team this
coming Lord's Day. I asked him what songs they
were going to sing and among them was a song we
have sure been blessed by called "Battle
Belongs" Video.
I asked Ryan "Where
are you fighting?", having in mind a line in the
song that states,
"So when I fight
I’ll fight on my knees
With my hands lifted high
Oh God the battle belongs to You"
With my hands lifted high
Oh God the battle belongs to You"
Well, Ryan didn't
connect my question with the lyrics in the song
but still gave a great response as to where he was
fighting, "On the front lines".
I think I will be
working on a message titled "Frontline
Christianity".
This morning I
passed the Corn Wagon in New Danville where we
purchase corn picked fresh from the fields only
moments before it arrives at the produce site. We
sure do enjoy this seasonal blessing from year to
year, as I'm sure many of you do in your neck of
the woods.
Our
forty-fifth
anniversary
photo taken in
Harpers Ferry,
WV
(Click on photo for larger view)
(Click on photo for larger view)
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states "Brooksyne 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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