Daily Encouragement

Friday, December 30, 2022

"I Have Hope!"

Note: Our messages have been later getting out. We are a two person team and rather overwhelmed with end of year correspondence, accounting and reporting. What's more an old sports injury is really flaring up over the last week. It's a hernia from a baseball injury in little league exacerbated by my bike accident this last Spring. It has been repaired numerous times as recently as 2009 but I have a feeling I messed something up in the bike accident as well as the surgeries I had in 2002 as mentioned in the following message. At the time of my accident the biggest concern was the torn rotator cuff which has improved significantly. So I am preaching to myself the message we share today!

Message summary: As we say farewell to 2022 our prayer for each of you is that you will be filled with hope because of God's unchanging character

Listen to our message on your audio player.

“But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness” (Lamentations 3:21-23).

Each December I choose a verse to focus on for the new year. This past year it was Romans 15:13, "May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit". I have used this verse in my email sig line and in direct encouragement to others over the past year.

When I consider an annual verse Earl Martin comes to mind. Earl, an elderly preacher, stood up in the rural church we attended in early January 2003 and shared his theme verse for the coming year, "The joy of the Lord is my strength" from Nehemiah 8:9. This verse brings a great spiritual perspective to one's youth or senior years, as was the case for Earl.

Little did we know that Sunday morning that Earl would be with the Lord by summer and this verse was a backdrop for the theme of his funeral which added special personal meaning.

This year, 2023, only two days away, my theme verse is today's daily text. I am teaching our ABF class this Sunday and will share a message titled, "Five Assurances for the New Year" based on this text as well as the next several verses. I expect to share each of these assurances as a Daily Encouragement next week.

We need assurance because we don't know what the New Year will hold on the national/international level. It sure feels like we are in a period similar to that of the people in 2 Chronicles 36 which is in the time our daily verse was written.

In our own country a heavy cloud of darkness seems to be increasing. The sexual anarchists are taking a jackhammer to any remaining common sense and decency. We seem to live in a make-believe world and are expected to join the deceived in their deception or "whatever makes you happy" mindset. It seems any sense of financial responsibility is long gone, especially on our federal level. There's an attitude that we can sow whatever we want and everything will still work out fine. But this violates a fundamental principle. (See Galatians 6:7,8)

At our age we just scratch our heads and say, "How in the world has it come to this???" (The answer is that this is the consequence of spiritual lawlessness which will continue to increase as man's rebellion against God intensifies. See 2 Thessalonians 2)

We also need assurance because we don't know what the New Year will hold in our personal lives. We don’t pick our problems nor do we schedule them (based on our preferred time to deal with them).

Let's consider illustrations from several changes over years:

As 1999 ended do you recall all the hype about Y2K? That sure fizzled out real quickly! We lived in New England at the time and I did store up some water just in case. I was relieved that the power didn't go out and the internet still worked, connected by my new blazing fast 56 kbit/s dial-up modem!

As 2000 ended we elected a new president after contentious election results that took several weeks to sort out. I resigned from the New England church I had served for nearly 8 years. I had expected a chaplain position to open but that door closed and I was in a pickle. I was even prepared to move my family to North Carolina and work at Lowes, if needs be. But before we had our final Sunday service another door opened and this led us to Lancaster County where we now live and have both had chaplaincy roles over the past twenty two years. At the turn of that year could we even have imagined the events what would take place on September 11, 2001?

As 2001 ended we were still recovering from September 11 and there was a sense of renewed hope and unity nationally. But on a personal level later in 2002 I had the worst health crisis in my life resulting in four major surgeries and long recoveries from Nov. 2002-December 2003. I thank God I made it through that turbulent period.

Some of these illustrations impacted each one of us. Others are personal, and you have your own personal stories of changes, surprises, disappointments and victories.

Today let's just consider how our Scripture text begins, “But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope".

What did Jeremiah call to mind? The immutable character of God!

What was the result? Jeremiah declared, “therefore I have hope”.

As we say farewell to 2022 our prayer for each of you is that you will be filled with hope because of God's unchanging character which we will further develop in our series next week.

Be encouraged today, (Hebrews 3:13)

Stephen and Brooksyne Weber

Daily prayer: Father, like Jeremiah, we too give thanks that we are not destroyed because Your great mercies are extended to us. And just like Jeremiah, we too, have to look away from the troubling circumstances visible from every direction and turn our eyes to You, the God of renewed hope. Even in the severity of Your correction You enable Your children to endure because You are a God of compassion and steadfast love. I'm so glad we can trust You no matter the circumstances that surround us or the individual struggles we are dealt. When we look to You, You renew our hope because You are at work on our behalf and for our good. Amen.

Today's Suggested Music and Supplemental Resources

"The Steadfast Love Of The Lord" Video The daily verse set to music, a great way to place it to memory.

"He Will Hold Me Fast" Video Keith & Kristyn Getty

"Faithful Now" Video From a service at Calvary Church (includes our pastor's prayer) Today, I speak to my fears and preach to my doubts the immutable message of God's steadfast love and care.

A Scripture reference Quiz (Test key)

Yesterday we shared a quiz based on what for many will be very familiar, often memorized passages using only the numeric part of the reference. Just as 3:16 brings to mind John 3:16.

Please note these are the verses that I associate the numbers with. Obviously as long as there is such a reference there is not an incorrect answer and in several cases are also quite well-known such as Romans 10:10 when I was considering John 10:10.

Romans 8:28
Ephesians 2:8,9
Jeremiah 29:11
Genesis 1:1 or John 1:1 (I think of both when I consider 1:1)
Matthew 6:33
Acts 1:8
Acts 16:31
John 10:10
Romans 3:23
Isaiah 40:31
1 Corinthians 13:1
Hebrews 11:6
Psalm 23:1
Micah 6:8 (This was probably the most obscure verse but an excellent three point sermon.)
Psalm 119:105 (This is the only 119:105 in the entire Bible!)

Special Year-end Financial Appeal

We want to thank all who have financially supported our ministry this past year (and some for many years!). Like most ministries, we typically see a spike in giving at the end of the year for which we are most thankful. We realize there are many fine ministries and causes requesting support at this time but if you would like information about making a donation to our ministry see here.

In considering support we are so pleased when we hear from you, our readers, that our messages are a source of teaching and encouragement to you. We also urge you to consider the mission aspect of these daily teachings that are freely available and read by many all over the world.

To donate directly online click here. (This will open to a page that designates the offering to: STEPHEN & BROOKSYNE WEBER - 700001-237376 SERVING IN SPECIALIZED CHAPLAINCY)

If you desire you can also donate directly through PayPal using this link. This will open to a page that states "Brooksyne Weber". We keep this option available due to the familiarity, convenience, for international supporters, and for those who may not need an official receipt. You can also set up for recurring donations.

Thank you,

Stephen & Brooksyne

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