The online Bible teaching
ministry of Stephen & Brooksyne Weber
A
daily, Bible-based perspective of hope, encouragement and
exhortation.
Monday,
January
24,
2022
The Knox Covered Bridge is in the Valley Forge National Historical Park
Click on photo to enlarge
"Trust
and Confidence"
Message summary: What a tremendous blessing it is to place our trust in the living God. Yesterday our service opened with the classic hymn, "My Faith Has Found a Resting Place". We made that declaration with blended voices as we sang the familiar words and tune (familiar to the older ones and probably unknown to the younger ones)! The claims of Christ are tested daily and have been by millions throughout the ages. Indeed, "Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in Him".
Listen to this message on your audio player.
“But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in Him” (Jeremiah 17:7).
Years ago we
went to a family reunion at a ski resort in Colorado.
After the reunion we drove through Colorado to visit some
other family members and stopped at several notable
tourist sites throughout the state. Today we consider a
memory of
the Royal Gorge Bridge, built in 1929, which for many
years was the highest bridge in the world with a deck
height of 955 feet, measured from the deck to the Arkansas
River surface below. (That's over 3 football fields!)
I parked our
rental van on the west side of the canyon. We slowly
approached the bridge on foot and with a knot in my
stomach proceeded to walk across. My fear is not really
heights but being near or looking out over any edge. Well,
as you already know, I made it across safely and we
visited the various attractions on the east side.
We rode the world’s steepest incline railway down into the canyon and back up, and crossed the gorge in the world’s longest aerial tram suspended by what appeared to be a thin wire. My confidence was rising! By the time I walked back across the bridge to the van I could look over the edge.
We rode the world’s steepest incline railway down into the canyon and back up, and crossed the gorge in the world’s longest aerial tram suspended by what appeared to be a thin wire. My confidence was rising! By the time I walked back across the bridge to the van I could look over the edge.
But I still
had my biggest challenge; driving the van across the
bridge. I could either do that or backtrack about fifty
miles.
I put my trust in a lot of brilliant engineering, quality materials, competent construction, diligent maintenance, conscientious inspections, and ultimately in God. My confidence grew as I saw other vehicles crossing safely and analytically considered how many thousands of vehicles had crossed that bridge safely since it was built. I mustered my courage and slowly drove across but must say how relieved and grateful I was to be back on solid ground on the other side!
I put my trust in a lot of brilliant engineering, quality materials, competent construction, diligent maintenance, conscientious inspections, and ultimately in God. My confidence grew as I saw other vehicles crossing safely and analytically considered how many thousands of vehicles had crossed that bridge safely since it was built. I mustered my courage and slowly drove across but must say how relieved and grateful I was to be back on solid ground on the other side!
Since late
2016, the highest bridge is China's Beipanjiang Bridge Duge with a deck
height of 1,854 feet. If I ever get over that way I can
test my bridge crossing faith once again. Wherever we live
and whatever years the Lord gives to us we have plenty of
opportunities to place our trust and confidence in God for
that which tests our faith.
Our daily
text was written by Jeremiah in the historical context of
the Southern Kingdom’s final years. God’s judgment was
imminent and Jeremiah was one of the faithful prophets
proclaiming this unpopular truth of God's pending
judgment. People preferred the type of false prophets
Jeremiah describes, "They dress the wound of my people
as though it were not serious. ‘Peace, peace,’ they say,
when there is no peace" (Jeremiah 6:14). Isn't that
true of our day as well?
But the
terrible message of judgment also had within it a
tremendous message of hope: "But blessed is the man
who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in Him".
When we look around and consider all that enriches our lives we may fail to consider our trust in the Lord as a blessing. People outside the faith might count their possessions, health, and perhaps other people as blessings in their lives. Those of us who follow Christ would certainly consider these to be blessings as well, but the tremendous dimension of our salvation in Christ should be at the top of our list and every blessing associated with that. Of course that would make the list infinitely long! In fact God has “blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ” (Ephesians 1:3). "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him (I Corinthians 2:9).
When we look around and consider all that enriches our lives we may fail to consider our trust in the Lord as a blessing. People outside the faith might count their possessions, health, and perhaps other people as blessings in their lives. Those of us who follow Christ would certainly consider these to be blessings as well, but the tremendous dimension of our salvation in Christ should be at the top of our list and every blessing associated with that. Of course that would make the list infinitely long! In fact God has “blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ” (Ephesians 1:3). "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him (I Corinthians 2:9).
What a
tremendous blessing it is to place our trust and
confidence in the living God. Yesterday our service opened
with a classic hymn, "My Faith Has Found a Resting Place".
We made that declaration with blended voices as we sang
the familiar words and tune (familiar to the older and
probably unknown to many of the younger)! The claims of
Christ are tested daily and have been by millions
throughout the ages. Indeed we declare, "Blessed is
the man who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in
Him".
Be encouraged today, (Hebrews 3:13)
Stephen & Brooksyne Weber
Daily
prayer: Father, the
greatest blessing in trusting You is the
confidence we walk in as we look to You for
everything that we have need of. Jeremiah draws
the contrast of those who depend on humans for
strength and have stopped trusting in You. They
don't know about the good things that You can give
because they are unwilling to surrender their all
to You. But we who have walked across the bridge
of salvation chose to place our trust in You. We
have found You to be faithful. In place of
cringing fear we walk in confident faith because
it is not in ourselves that we trust but in the
Living God who is trustworthy in all areas of our
lives. But still we ask for grace to trust You
even more. Amen.Today's
Suggested
Music and Supplemental Resources
Saturday
evening Stephen had the privilege of officiating
the wedding of Harry Hess and Ruth Brandt. When I
volunteer at the Mount Joy Gift and Thrift Store I
often see Ruth busily arranging donor items in
such attractive displays and she has many other
duties as well. Ruth and Harry have been
widowed for several years and Harry's sister, also
a volunteer cashier, introduced the two of them
and it must have been love at first sight. What a
delightful evening to participate in their
marriage service and the reception that followed.
We visited with many of their family and friends
who are also our friends, but we didn't know it
before the wedding.
Brooksyne's
note: Our church has three worship services
and on our appointed Sunday the choir and
orchestra sings in all three services. Yesterday
we arrived at 6:45 AM for check-in and by 7 am
choir and orchestra are on the platform running
through all our songs. This particular Stephen and
Ester decided to come along with me for all the
services.
(Arriving at that early hour reminds me of the old
days when Stephen was a pastor and we arrived
every Sunday bright and early and were the last
ones to leave!) Yesterday, during one of the
breaks between services, Stephen got acquainted
with Bill who is the most senior choir
member. I got acquainted with Bill
about four years ago, shortly after joining the
choir. You wouldn't know by looking but Bill, in
just a few weeks, will turn 97 years old. With
excellent posture he stands at least 6' and only
in the past two years has started walking with a
cane. Twice widowed Bill has lived at Brethren
Village for decades and has a spirit of exuberant
joy that is contagious. What a blessing he is to
our congregation, to the choir, and to the kingdom
of God.
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a message to Stephen
& Brooksyne
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