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online Bible teaching ministry of Stephen
&
Brooksyne Weber
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Wednesday,
January 18, 2023
"This
Is Not Where I
Belong"
Message
summary: In
the last two
messages we
have written
about the
vital
importance of
maintaining a
tight grip.
But today let
us also
consider a
tremendous
application in
life in
keeping a
loose grip!
When we focus
on the things
pertaining
only to this
life our inner
peace quickly
diminishes.
Frankly, we
would be
driven to deep
despair if we
placed our
hope in seeing
this world's
problems
solved
politically!
Listen
to our message
on your audio
player.
"Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal" (2 Corinthians 4:16-18).
In the last two messages we have written about the vital importance of maintaining a tight grip, using the climbing rope as an illustration. But today let us also consider a tremendous application in maintaining a loose grip! Let me explain with an observation from a meeting I attended here in Lancaster County some 20 years ago.
Larry
Burkett had a
longstanding,
fruitful
ministry
concerning a
Biblical view
of financial
stewardship
that many in
our generation
benefited
from. I went
to a meeting
where he spoke
near the end
of his long
battle with
cancer. He was
very ill and
speaking was a
major effort
for him in his
physically
compromised
condition.
He shared the interesting perspective of having a terminal illness and how it had changed his life. Eight years earlier he had been diagnosed with a very rare form of cancer that is virtually incurable. He shared that, of the 73 people who had been diagnosed with the cancer and were in a medical study with him, 72 had already died. How's that for a dark cloud to live under! Larry passed on about 6 months after that meeting in July of 2003.
"Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal" (2 Corinthians 4:16-18).
In the last two messages we have written about the vital importance of maintaining a tight grip, using the climbing rope as an illustration. But today let us also consider a tremendous application in maintaining a loose grip! Let me explain with an observation from a meeting I attended here in Lancaster County some 20 years ago.
Larry
Burkett had a
longstanding,
fruitful
ministry
concerning a
Biblical view
of financial
stewardship
that many in
our generation
benefited
from. I went
to a meeting
where he spoke
near the end
of his long
battle with
cancer. He was
very ill and
speaking was a
major effort
for him in his
physically
compromised
condition.He shared the interesting perspective of having a terminal illness and how it had changed his life. Eight years earlier he had been diagnosed with a very rare form of cancer that is virtually incurable. He shared that, of the 73 people who had been diagnosed with the cancer and were in a medical study with him, 72 had already died. How's that for a dark cloud to live under! Larry passed on about 6 months after that meeting in July of 2003.
I
was texting
with a friend
yesterday who
was diagnosed
with ALS a few
months ago. I
get concerned
about Larmar's
state of mind
regarding his
most difficult
diagnosis and
sought to
encourage him
in the Lord
yesterday. His
response was
that the Lord
has been so
good to him
and that he
has shown him
ways to
appreciate
some of the
blessings he's
enjoying as a
result of his
diagnosis.
We
are all
terminal as
far as our
physical
bodies are
concerned.
Most of us are
indefinitely
terminal; that
is, we have no
idea of when
we will die
and generally
assume that
our death is
far off; that
we will live
to a ripe old
age.
But a diagnosis of a terminal disease places a definite finality on our physical condition. This is what Larry meant when he shared how his disease had changed his life, living with this perspective from day to day.
Of course in reality this is the perspective we should always live with. Not in a morbid, negative sense but it should motivate us to keep a loose grip on the perishable and a tight hold on the imperishable. As we feed on the Word faithfully our spiritual appetite will be growing and our affections for heaven will be growing as we anticipate our face to face meeting with Jesus as we finally behold Him in all His glory. Just keeping a vision of that glorious moment in our hearts today will deeply impact our attitude in all that we process this day. Paul writes, "Our citizenship is in heaven and we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ" (Philippians 3:20).
Bible
teacher
Richard
Dresselhaus, a
friend from
San Diego,
writes:
But a diagnosis of a terminal disease places a definite finality on our physical condition. This is what Larry meant when he shared how his disease had changed his life, living with this perspective from day to day.
Of course in reality this is the perspective we should always live with. Not in a morbid, negative sense but it should motivate us to keep a loose grip on the perishable and a tight hold on the imperishable. As we feed on the Word faithfully our spiritual appetite will be growing and our affections for heaven will be growing as we anticipate our face to face meeting with Jesus as we finally behold Him in all His glory. Just keeping a vision of that glorious moment in our hearts today will deeply impact our attitude in all that we process this day. Paul writes, "Our citizenship is in heaven and we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ" (Philippians 3:20).
So
when the walls
come falling
down on me
And when I'm lost in the current of a raging sea
I have this blessed assurance holding me.
And when I'm lost in the current of a raging sea
I have this blessed assurance holding me.
Bible
teacher
Richard
Dresselhaus, a
friend from
San Diego,
writes:"Eager
expectation.
The best is
just ahead.
The Apostle
Paul describes
it this way:
'Our
citizenship is
in heaven. And
we eagerly
await a
Savior…who…will
transform our
lowly bodies
so that they
will be like
His.' This is
the blessed
hope of every
believer.
In
the daily text
the Apostle
Paul shares of
the
perspective we
should be
living with
everyday. I am
particularly
intrigued by
the phrase "so
we fix our
eyes".
This
translates a
Greek word
that is in the
present active
meaning "to
fix one's gaze
upon, to
concentrate
one's
attention
upon." That is
the outlook in
which we want
to live our
lives and when
we do so we
experience the
inner peace
that is our
inheritance in
Christ. But
when we focus
on the things
pertaining
only to this
life our inner
peace quickly
diminishes.
Frankly we
would be
driven to deep
despair if we
were to give
any hope in
seeing this
world's
problems
solved
socially or
politically!There's a wonderful description of this outlook in the Faith Chapter in Hebrews, initially written to encourage persecuted believers, that is so illustrative of this "loose grip" that we want to conclude with.
"All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them" (Hebrews 11:13-16).
All
I know is I'm
not home yet
This is not where I belong
Take this world and give me Jesus
This is not where I belong
This is not where I belong
Take this world and give me Jesus
This is not where I belong
Be
encouraged
today,
Stephen & Brooksyne Weber
Stephen & Brooksyne Weber
Daily
prayer: Father,
with great
anticipation I
am looking for
a city with an
eternally
strong
foundation, a
home in the
heavens not
made by human
hands. Help me
to live as an
alien here on
earth since
the benefits
of my
citizenship in
heaven are of
far greater
worth than the
benefits of my
citizenship
here below.
Keep me
tightly
holding onto
Your promise
of the heaven
yet to come so
that I will
loosely grip
the temporal
that is only
for here and
now. I cling
to this great
promise
repeated
throughout the
Bible so that
it gives me a
proper
perspective in
the way I am
to live as a
stranger here
on earth.
Amen.Today's
Suggested
Music and Supplemental
Resources
"This Is Not Where I Belong" Video Building 429 (Lyrics quoted in today's message) Their name is derived from Ephesians 4:29, "Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen."
"Turn
Your Eyes"
Video
Sovereign
Grace Music
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radioPermissions: Please feel free to pass on, reproduce and distribute any material on Daily Encouragement Net, in part or in whole, in any format, provided that you do not alter the wording in any way or charge a fee beyond the cost of reproduction. It is our desire to spread this material, not protect or restrict it. We do request that you keep the contact, copyright and subscription information intact.
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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