Daily Encouragement

Monday, March 28, 2022

We were struck by this bright and cheerful flower arrangement sitting on the hearth during our prayer meeting last Saturday morning. Many people call on the Lord in horrific settings and situations; others gather in lovely and comfortable settings to intercede for our community, country, world, and for those who need the Lord's healing and salvation. We appreciate our hosts, Marty and Janice Witmer, who hold monthly prayer meetings in their home for people from various churches here in Mount Joy.

"The Blessed Hope"

Message summary: Devout believers who take the Bible seriously live their lives in anticipation of the blessed hope and the Lord's most certain return.

Listen to this message on your audio player.

"For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. It teaches us to say 'No' to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for Himself a people that are His very own, eager to do what is good" (Titus 2:11-14).

I (Stephen) grew up in Belton, Missouri a small (at that time) town south of Kansas City. It was during the height of the "Cold War" in the sixties and I have many reminders of the tenuous times when we were especially mindful of the possibility of World War 3.

We lived near an air force base and I attended school with many base kids. It was a Strategic Air Command base meaning it was in support of the nuclear bombers. I remember having drills in school and F-101 fighter jets flying over with a sonic boom. However that ceased (the sonic boom) later in my childhood due to sound regulations.

A poignant memory from that time period took place when I was in first grade. Up to that point I had both sets of grandparents and I didn't know anyone who had died so I had never even thought about death. One December day a huge cargo plane crashed in a field several miles west of our home in Belton, Missouri killing all seven men aboard. When my dad came home from work we drove out to the crash scene and saw the smoldering wreckage. He explained death to me, solemnly pointing out that these men had families who would not see them on Christmas. Daddy had trained as a pilot during World War 2 so perhaps this tragedy also gave him some pause for consideration. It was a sober lesson on life and death I have never forgotten. *See below for an interesting feedback about this experience in a message we shared about ten years ago.

I had a friend named Chuck whose dad was an Air Force officer. They built a fall-out shelter beside their house so that if there was a nuclear war the family would go into the fallout shelter. Another reminder of the times was seeing the Minuteman 2 nuclear warhead missile underground silos near my grandparents' home in rural Missouri. (However all you really saw was a fenced in area with government warning signs.) I link to a video below which shows what these were like inside.

Well, here I am nearly 60 years later and life is still going on, for me and about 8 billion others! The 'Cold War" ended in 1991 and many were hopeful we may have world peace. But as you know there's always some region of our world dealing with conflict, most recently and notably the Russian invasion of Ukraine, although there are plenty of other places where invasions are taking place such as Nigeria. But now with resumed banter about the use of nuclear weapons the dreadful possibility of WW3 is again being discussed causing anxiety for many. Last week I shared about such a concern expressed by a young man who had written to me in this message.

Overall we have had peace and good times for many years here in America and in many other countries. For many it's practically unimaginable that these times will not last and most are confidently hopeful that the good times will last, at least through their lifetime or those of their children and grandchildren! But there will be a generation living that will come under the judgment of God since the Bible repeatedly warns that God will judge the wicked. We see examples of this all through Scripture such as those living during the horrific times of God's judgment at the conquest of Judah by Babylon. This impacted the godly such as Jeremiah, Daniel and many others whose names were not recorded in Scripture.

The Bible describes the earthly rise and fall of kingdoms (nations) one after another. History has demonstrated this throughout the centuries. We just don't know when our leadership and nation will have a "Mene, Mene, Tekel" moment. Here I allude to the writing on the wall in Daniel 5 when the king heard these words which were interpreted by Daniel, "God has numbered the days of your reign and brought it to an end. You have been weighed on the scales and found wanting". (See Daniel 5:25,26)

The Bible also clearly and abundantly teaches us that this world as we know it will come to an end, although this continues to be scoffed at by many. (See 2 Peter 3:2-4.)

There have been many in each generation who wonder and even fervently believe that Christ will return during their lifetime and this is a good and Scriptural outlook to have as we anticipate our Lord's return. But our call, whatever happens and whatever we may providentially be called to live through, is to heed these words:

Devout believers who take the Bible seriously live in joyful anticipation of this blessed hope and the Lord's most certain return.

I am holding onto faith
'Cause I know You'll make a way
And I don't always understand
And I don't always get to see
But I will believe it, I will believe it

That You were faithful then
You'll be faithful now
Oh, You were faithful then
You'll be faithful now

Be encouraged today, (Hebrews 3:13)

Stephen & Brooksyne Weber

Daily prayer: Father, I greatly anticipate the supernatural return of Your beloved Son at the sound of the trumpet call. Help me not to grow weary in the wait but remain vigilant in my Christian journey no matter the travail along the way. May I be found spotless, blameless and at peace with You as I seek to live a holy and godly life in this present age. Knowing of my deficiencies and failings, even as I pursue a godly lifestyle, I find great consolation in the tender mercies of a loving God who welcomes me to a new heaven and new earth. It is at this great transition that the battle of flesh vs. spirit will finally end and we will be fully righteous because of the great sacrifice of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, who died for us. Maranatha! Come, Lord Jesus, come!

Brooksyne's note: I grew up during the same time in rural Oklahoma west of Tulsa and have my own memories of drills for disasters. My childhood fears were more about the danger of tornadoes so prevalent in our area. The ability to forecast tornado warnings was not so available in our childhood years, so a tornado could spring up out of nowhere and present clear and present danger to all who were caught in its path. We did have fire drills and "duck and cover" drills that required us to hide under our desk or line up in the hallway of our school, scrunch down and place our hands over our heads. I'm not sure that I understood what these drills were all about but enjoyed the break from schoolwork to see other class members as we huddled together. Looking back I'm very thankful that it was only a drill and we never had a school fire or bomb attack. (Stephen's note: Is that Brooksyne under that desk?)

Another Scripture pertaining to today's message are these words from the Apostle Peter:

"Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. But in keeping with His promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness. So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with Him" (2 Peter 3:11-14).

Today's Suggested Music and Supplemental Resources

"Battle Belongs/Faithful Now/Great Is Thy Faithfulness" Video We were both blessed by this set of songs yesterday in our church, calling our attention to God and His faithfulness.

"Faithful Now" included in the song set above is one of our favorite

"Missouri's Historic Nuclear Silo" Video (3 minutes) Mentioning these missile sites in our message I came across this video which is quite interesting

"SONIC BOOMS & JETS" Video For those who have never heard a sonic boom or would like a reminder. How many of you saw or heard anything like this directly over your house?

* I shared the story about the plane crash and my dad's teaching on life and death in a message titled "The Last Enemy" about ten years ago. Later I received this email from a man who had apparently come across the message through a search engine.

"I read your story on the Belton Air force accident on December 19, 1961. My Father was on the plane. I was born a few days after the accident on December 27, 1961. Although I never meet my dad it's encouraging that someone still remembers."

This would have been over 50 years after the accident and this man apparently still was searching for news about his father, whom he had never met.

Reminiscing today it occurs to me that for a person in their young twenties born after 2000 reading this story it would be like in my early twenties reading a story about somone whose childhood was before WW1.

Finally today:

Yesterday we attended the visitation for a man who had a stand selling produce at Lancaster's Central Market for over 50 years. We know John and his wife Ethel through her brother, our long time friend Don Musser. For the last year we have sat in front of them in church so we have referred to them as our pew neighbors. We remember seeing this sign at the Central Market with John at the stand although we didn't know him at that time.

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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.

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