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online Bible teaching ministry of Stephen
&
Brooksyne Weber
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Monday,
February 28,
2022
We passed
this colorful and well-preserved Chevrolet truck sitting out
in the field on the way home from church.
Scenes like this really make us smile!
"Now And Forever God You Reign"
Message
summary: Remember and have great assurance,
now and forever, God reigns!
Our modern
"devices" (aka smart phones) can be a blessing as well as a
distraction, especially those pesky, but sometimes helpful,
notifications. I always try to remember to turn my phone off
before I get to church, but just before the service yesterday I
glanced at a notification about the heightened world tensions. It
now included the word nuclear, which definitely captured my
attention.But we are in church and although
I can be somewhat of a news junkie (not proud of that), my focus
and praise was to be on the Lord. I don't want my heart to be
pulled in two directions; the current events of the world versus
the eternal truths of Scripture. But I will admit I had the
alarming notification on my mind and won't say I wasn't tempted to
check out more information. As you know one can do that rather
discreetly these days.
But I didn't. What good would it
do? Our service, planned long before the current crisis, was a
blessed reminder of God's control over the affairs of His people
and ultimately everything that happens to us.
We ended the service with "What a
Beautiful Name" that has this powerful declaration of our Lord
Jesus Christ:
You have no rival
You have no equal
Now and forever God You reign
Yours is the kingdom
Yours is the glory
Yours is the Name above all names
You have no equal
Now and forever God You reign
Yours is the kingdom
Yours is the glory
Yours is the Name above all names
"You have no rival, You have no
equal" - Satan is God's ancient adversary but he is not God's
rival and certainly not His equal. No doubt, he would like to
reckon himself as God's rival and equal. If our theology is
deficient we may mistakenly see him that way. But Satan, like us,
is a part of the created order. He is a fallen angel.
Through history many leaders have
set themselves up as gods. It seems this is happening in our own
time as well. Herod learned in a very ignominious way he was not (Acts 5:21-24).
Only God is the almighty Creator
of the universe. He is "God Most High, Creator of heaven and
earth" (Genesis 14:19).
"Now and forever God You reign" -
Reign means "to possess or exercise sovereign power". We find
great comfort and assurance in our daily lives, whether it's a
routine day or earth shattering one, when we lean on this truth,
"Now and forever God You reign".
We haven't seen this for a long
time but years ago the newspaper would actually place the title or
subject for the sermons in local churches in their readership
area. Isn't that an interesting reminder of the value society once
had on the role of churches and pastors in years past?
Back in the day a church notified
the paper that the title for the coming Sunday's sermon was "God
Reigns" but in a misprint the sermon was announced as "God
Resigns". Perhaps whoever edited the title was not familiar with
the word reign and thought they were actually making a correction.
If I was that preacher I would
sure make the most of correcting that misprint. There are many
times we have not understood God's ways and it may seem that He is
silent, but He certainly hasn't resigned. Never confuse resign
with reign! Indeed now and forever God reigns!
We serve the God whose Name is
above every name, the King who is "eternal, immortal,
invisible".
Today lift your eyes and direct your heart:
Stephen & Brooksyne Weber
Daily
prayer: Father, You reign now and
forevermore! It seems I've heard that
statement my whole life and often take it
for granted or repeat it as though it were
simply a cliche'. But when I take to heart
that You reign now and forever it's the
greatest blessing and reassurance to my
believing heart. Robed in majesty and armed
with strength, You established the world,
firm and secure. Your throne was established
long ago; You are from all eternity. Because
of Your almighty grace our sins are forgiven
through our Lord's sacrificial death, making
it possible for us to reside with You for
all eternity. All earthly attainments pale
in comparison to our promised future in
heaven, for which we give You eternal
thanks. Amen.
"The Sin of Silence" Video Dr. Laurence White This is one of the most convicting messages I have ever heard in my entire life. What a powerful introduction as well by a pastor who is a survivor of abortion.
Today lift your eyes and direct your heart:
- to the One who has no rival,
- to the One who has no equal,
- to the One who, now and forevermore, is steadily reigning over the affairs of the universe, over the affairs of nations and over the affairs of your life.
- His is the Kingdom.
- His is the glory.
- His is the Name above all names!
Our pastor concluded the service
yesterday making this point, "When we come to Him in praise and
prayer it resets our perspective no matter what is happening in
our lives or all around the world. He is sovereign, He is in
control and we look to Him and Him alone."
Be
encouraged today, (Hebrews 3:13)
Stephen & Brooksyne Weber
Daily
prayer: Father, You reign now and
forevermore! It seems I've heard that
statement my whole life and often take it
for granted or repeat it as though it were
simply a cliche'. But when I take to heart
that You reign now and forever it's the
greatest blessing and reassurance to my
believing heart. Robed in majesty and armed
with strength, You established the world,
firm and secure. Your throne was established
long ago; You are from all eternity. Because
of Your almighty grace our sins are forgiven
through our Lord's sacrificial death, making
it possible for us to reside with You for
all eternity. All earthly attainments pale
in comparison to our promised future in
heaven, for which we give You eternal
thanks. Amen. See
Psalm 93
Today's
Suggested
Music and Supplemental Resources
"What
A Beautiful Name" Video
This is the concluding song from our
worship service yesterday at Calvary
Church in Lancaster and is the song that
has the lines we quoted above. Note:
I have this video cued to when the song
begins but have noticed they have been
editing the videos later by removing the
pre-service material, which throws the
cued point off! If this does not open to
where the song begins with a few lines
from the Lord's prayer you can click on
this cued video link
from several years ago when our choir
sang the same song.
"God and God Alone"
Video
Choir not identified
"God and God Alone"
Video
Passion with Chris Tomlin (This
is a different song with same title)
"The Sin of Silence" Video Dr. Laurence White This is one of the most convicting messages I have ever heard in my entire life. What a powerful introduction as well by a pastor who is a survivor of abortion.
We continue to follow and
pray for world conditions, especially
the grave situation in Ukraine.
- We pray for the people and
specifically for the church and
fellow brothers and sisters in
Christ in both countries. The vast,
vast majority of people do not want
war. Even the Russian solders were
deceived. War is driven by a
megalomaniac leader.
- Lancaster County and our
church is home to many immigrants
and our pastor reminded us yesterday
that there were both Ukrainians and Russians in our
service, prompting us to consider
both Ukrainians and Russians we have
met in the course of our ministry.
We also consider Daily Encouragement
readers in each of these countries.
- We pray that the Russian
leader will either have a Saul to
Paul like conversion or have a
"mene, mene, tekel" moment. (See
Daniel 5, especially verses 25,26 and
following).*
- We pray for sane and competent leadership in all countries, especially for those with a heart to please the Lord.
- We don't forget countries
that aren't in the news such as
Nigeria and specific readers like a
man named Sunday who lives in that
country where for many years there
has been great persecution of
Christians from Muslim extremists.
- Today our Senate is set to
vote on a sweeping, utterly evil
pro-abortion bill, surely hastening
our judgment as a country, should it
be approved.
* In studying this passage
(Belshazzar's judgment in Daniel 5) I
noticed a detail I don't recall ever
considering or I just forgot!
Following Daniel's bold
pronouncement of judgment,
Belshazzar "gave the command,
and Daniel was clothed with
purple, a chain of gold was put
around his neck, and a
proclamation was made about him,
that he should be the third ruler
in the kingdom" (v.29). What
an interesting way to reward a man
who had just pronounced judgment on
him! But "that very night
Belshazzar the Chaldean king was
killed" (v.30).
Following Belshazzar's
death "Darius the Mede received
the kingdom, being about sixty-two
years old" (v.31) and Daniel
served in a high position under his
rule (6:1ff).
Finally today:
Saturday afternoon I stopped
by to visit Nick Nichols, who is
recovering from surgery. Nick came
across our ministry several years
after we moved to Lancaster County.
He's one of many friends we have met
through our writing ministry. However
only a small percentage live near us
where we can actually visit them in
person! Lancaster attracts many
tourists and we are delighted when a
DE reader looks us up while visiting
our area. Please keep us in mind when
making travel plans this summer.
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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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