Daily Encouragement

Monday, May 8, 2023

A Pacific Ocean Sunset

"The Honor Of Marriage"

Travel note: Today we return home, arriving in Baltimore around midnight!

Message summary: Today we consider honoring marriage

Note: Due to travel a podcast not prepared for this message.

“For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh” (Genesis 2:24). “Marriage should be honored by all” (Hebrews 13:4a).

Today is a special day for us. Forty-seven years ago on May 8, 1976, following our junior year in Bible College, we tied the marital knot in a sacred ceremony in the little Indian town of Sapulpa, Oklahoma (just west of Tulsa). Today we will spend our anniversary beginning in California, then for a short time in Austin, on to Baltimore, and then driving home.

We are very thankful for a loving, lasting marriage and want to use this occasion to write about the honor of marriage.

God established the marriage of a man and woman as the most fundamental human relationship at the very beginning at Creation. “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh” (Genesis 2:24)

Jesus Christ powerfully and unambiguously affirmed the institution of marriage when He said, “Haven’t you read, that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’?” (Matthew 19:4,5).

The apostle Paul affirmed the sanctity and nature of marriage in several of his writings, “Each man should have his own wife, and each woman her own husband” (1 Corinthians 7:2).

Yet marriage is under terrific attack today by the evil one whose intent is to steal, kill, destroy, and distort all that is sacred. The downward progression has gone from violating marriage (immorality and adultery) and broken marriages (divorce), to redefining what marriage foundationally constitutes (the notion of same sex marriage).

The last is unique to our age. Surely when God’s fundamental human institution is so greatly violated judgment will soon follow. We already see evidence of this as lifestyles and perversions, unimaginable to us at one time, are becoming more and more commonplace. One can only wonder, what’s next? One thing we know and can find great assurance in is the prospect of the rapture. This was the teaching by David Jeremiah in the church service we attended yesterday at Shadow Mountain Community Church!

Hebrews is written to believers under intense persecution to encourage them to remain faithful to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. But in the thirteenth chapter the writer provides some very specific and practical teaching that seems to aim right at the heart of our own generation, with a statement esteeming marriage and a solemn warning against immorality and materialism (see Hebrews 13:4,5).

“Marriage should be honored by all.”

Today we call upon genuine followers of Christ to honor marriage. The statement “by all” is interesting. It’s an inclusive statement regarding each one of us; no matter our age or personal experience, we should honor the sacred God-ordained institution of marriage.

If you’re married; perhaps happily, perhaps not, choose to honor yours and other marriages today.
If you’re single and long for a mate or perhaps you’re single and God has given you the gift of celibacy; honor marriage.
If you’re widowed and the deep, deep grief still lingers; honor marriage.
If you’re divorced and the pain and disappointment still stings; honor marriage.

Today, let us all esteem and honor the sacred institution of marriage as mandated by God!

Be encouraged today, (Hebrews 3:13)

Stephen & Brooksyne Weber

Daily prayer: Father, we thank You for Jesus who is a Friend that sticks closer than a brother or a sister, who never leaves us nor forsakes us. We also thank You for the companionship of a marriage partner who walks alongside us during the ups, downs, and winding pathways of our journey below. Help us to be vigilant in preserving our sacred vows and honoring the institution of marriage. We want to be united as two blending together as one as we live in harmony with You. Amen.

Brooksyne’s Note: Anytime we visit this subject of marriage I am ALWAYS sensitive to those who have had broken marriages, often due to matters beyond their control. We hear from our readers frequently regarding this subject. I am also sensitive to this subject due to my family background where my siblings had multiple divorces and my parents had a great deal of marital strife over the years. It greatly affected my outlook at a young age. I made up my mind in my teen years that I would not marry and experience the same grief I'd witnessed growing up. But I am so grateful for the opportunity I had to attend Bible College and observe godly marriages through our professors and leaders at the time. I also came to understand that we either learn from the mistakes of others or we repeat those same mistakes. Thank God that I chose to learn from the mistakes and also chose to build a marriage based on God’s Word. Our marriage is not perfect, but it is a good, loving foundation from which I continue to grow and find joyful union with a godly mate. I give thanks to God for my husband of 47 years and his devoted love and care toward me.

Following the wonderful gathering of family and friends in Marilyn Thompson's home at Sunset Cliffs Saturday evening, many attendees stepped outside the walls of her home to watch the setting of the sun. If you look carefully you can see that the oversized sliding glass doors open up the walls to her spacious living room (and dining room as well though not visible in photo), so that you can feel like the outdoors is simply an extension of her home. It also gives clearer and more up close views of the pelicans flying by in their familiar V formation, the crashing sound of the waves can fill the house at times. It is a splendid setting, but not the same without our dear friend's physical presence, though we have such a wonderful peace about her being with Jesus, made perfectly whole.

Today's Suggested Music and Supplemental Resources

We attended Shadow Mountain Community Church again yesterday where Bible teacher David Jeremiah is the pastor. He preached on the rapture. We have enjoyed his radio ministry for many years and when attending the church also enjoy the vibrant music. Here's a song from yesterday we have been blessed by on the radio called "He Won't". Click to listen on YouTube If you care to continue to listen there is a brief communion service following the song as well as additional music and then Pastor Jeremiah's message.

47 years!

Our engagement photo was taken among the stately oaks at Central Bible College where we met our Freshmen year of college in 1973. Our first date was on Brooksyne's birthday on October 21, 1973 when I invited her to church on a Sunday evening. At that time local churches sent buses to the campus to pick up students and, as we waited on the bus, her old boyfriend and his mom showed up from Tulsa, (180 miles from campus)! Brooksyne, extremely surprised and embarrassed, felt she must meet with them and got off the bus leaving me to go to church by myself on our very first date. We started dating again three months later. In Brooksyne's defense - she had broken off with her old boyfriend, but I guess his mother thought a surprise visit on her birthday would patch things up, but fortunately (for me) it didn't. We started going steady in the Spring of 1974 and got engaged in the fall of 1975.

Here we are walking down the church aisle as a newly married couple on May 8, 1976 in Sapulpa, Oklahoma. The wedding was held in the church where Brooksyne led Children's Church over the summer months when she wasn't attending CBC in Springfield, MO where we first met.

Forty-seven years later we are still enjoying our union and serving the Lord together.
We enjoyed team ministry even before our marriage when we served together in missions and children's ministries at CBC. This photo was taken yesterday here in San Diego, California.

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