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Wednesday, October 9, 2024

Seyfert Orchards fall display
The fall display at Seyfert Orchards farm store in Lebanon County PA brings autumn color and fresh life to the old stone wall.

"Drawing Near"

Message summary: The call to draw near to God is a lifelong call and a deliberate choice we make, day after day.

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“Let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith” (Hebrews 10:22).

Twelve times in the book of Hebrews the author introduces a phrase with the gentle invitation, "Let us".  When I read or hear a preacher use this invitation I am especially encouraged, as it seems the author or preacher is leading me.  By including himself he’s not pointing a finger at me, he’s not pushing, and he’s not exalting himself in his position. He’s indicating, "We’re in this together". In fact I try to preach my messages this way.

One of the first sermons I ever preached when we planted a church in northern Pennsylvania was based on a selection of passages in Hebrews that began with, “Let us”.  Following the message a friend from the congregation told me, "You should call that the Salad Sermon". He was referring to the repetitive use of “Let us [lettuce]!” Actually it is technically known as the hortative voice.  Interestingly HORTatory and exHORTive both have the sense of encouraging.

Today’s short Scripture portion is so very encouraging and greatly needed. By repeating it over and over it can be memorized in a fairly short time. You can draw strength from the writer’s encouraging invitation throughout the day. There are so many distractions, so many issues that beckon our attention, creating stress and anxiety. Let us break it down phrase by phrase:

“Let us draw near to God”. The Psalmist declared, “But it is good for me to draw near to God: I have put my trust in the Lord GOD, that I may declare all thy works” (Psalm 73:28). James taught us about the warm reciprocating nature of this relationship, “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you” (James 4:8).

The call to draw near to God is a lifelong call and a deliberate choice we make, day after day. Far too many are casual about their relationship with God which can easily lead to a falling away from the one true God.  As the saying goes, “If you don’t stand for something, you’ll fall for anything".

“With a sincere heart”. There is no room for counterfeit or deceit when we come into the holy of holies to meet with God. “Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight.  Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of Him to whom we must give account” (Hebrews 4:13). Our relationship with God is foundationally taught in Scripture to be expressed from the heart, our innermost being. But the writer of Hebrews specifies a necessary quality, “sincere”. 

"In full assurance of faith".  Assurance is one of the greatest blessings we have. In fact one of the great hymns of the church declares, “Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine.” Assurance comes from the word sure and means that we can fully depend and rely on God’s promises; that He will empower, sustain and guide us all our days. Our relationship is faith-based as God ordained: “Without faith it is impossible to please God” (Hebrews 11:6).

Oh, how we need to draw near to God! And by God’s glorious grace we can do so "with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith".  Let us draw near to God today and the next and the next and.....!

Be encouraged today, Hebrews 3:13


Stephen & Brooksyne Weber

Praying man Daily prayer: Father, we draw near to you with a clear conscience because our hearts are sprinkled with the cleansing blood of Jesus Christ.  Because of His sacrificial death we can approach Your throne with full assurance and have audience with a holy God.  We can bring nothing artificial nor can we cover up that which is within our hearts because You see everything, for everything is uncovered and laid bare before Your eyes to whom we must give account.  We choose to draw near to You with sincere hearts, fully assured, that You also will draw near to us.  Amen.


Today's Suggested Music and Supplemental Resources

"Blessed Assurance" Listen on YouTube  Harpeth Gospel Quartet Traditional hymn

"Blessed Assurance" Listen on YouTube  CityAlight  A new song with a timeless message.

"Draw Me Nearer" Listen on YouTube  Ernie Haase & Signature Sound

"Only A Holy God" Listen on YouTube  CityAlight  Another tremendous CityAlight song we sang in our church service this last Sunday

Sunset Outlet entrance
Entrance to the Sunset Outlet Store in Lebanon County. How many of you see a Scripture verse when you enter your grocery store?

Plumb Creek Farm sign
Last night we joined our friends Ken and Audrey for dinner at the Plumb Creek Farm near Bernville, PA. I thought this was such a neat sign! Food was great and it is a popular spot among locals and others who visit from the Reading area.

Mollie in prayer
Fond Flashback: Yesterday we mentioned that we said good-bye to Mollie, our border collie lab, on Monday evening and we received emails from a number of readers who have experienced that difficulty and others who were kind in their sympathetic message. In the above photo, nearly 13 years ago, Mollie was praying with Brooksyne to be a good puppy or so we like to imagine since she was a young pup who had developed several problematic behavior issues at the time. In actuality Brooksyne was having her devotions downstairs next to the coal stove and I saw Mollie head her way. Next thing she was joining Brooksyne in a prayerful position so I wanted to capture it on camera. (Brooksyne told me afterward she suddenly sensed a presence next to her as she was praying and was quite surprised to see that it was Mollie who had joined her.) Look carefully and you'll see Roxie, our first dog, who died at 15˝ years in 2020. She was resting her eyes  "before the Lord" as she laid alongside our coal stove, a favorite place for our pets on a cold day. Roxie followed Brooksyne everywhere she sent so it's no surprise to see her in this photo as well.

Resting pets
Before we read our podcast yesterday Brooksyne took the dogs on a two mile walk. After she sat in the chair so we could podcast she looked down to see our three dogs cuddled together in the same bed. Can you tell they're bushed from the walk! The matipoos have been with us almost two years now and it has taken nearly this long to see Rosie and Falcon accept Sadie as another "sibling".

Falcon and Rosie 1st day

For new readers:  Looking Back at how we ended up with four dogs for nearly two years:  Rosie Elizabeth (front) and Falcon Diego (back) are brother and sister maltipoos, two years old in this photo (middle names chosen by Ester). We came to know and love these cuties on our visits to San Diego each time we visited with our dear friend, Marilyn. Circumstances warranted a need to find a new home for them and they wanted to keep them together. When we got the call we were pleased but also very mindful that we already had a house full of pets (two dogs and a cat).

As a family we talked it over and all agreed we could make room for two more and each would be willing to take a share in the extra load. They were put in individual crates which was extremely difficult for this inseparable pair and boarded LAX (Los Angeles) American Airlines at 8:30 am (our time) and arrived in the evening around 9. What a long and arduous voyage day for these two. Amazingly, their beds in the crates were unsoiled. Soon after we got home we introduced them to the rest of their furry family which was not so smooth. We still kept either our original pet members on leashes or the maltipoos leashed when they're together.

If you look carefully at Rosie's side you can see that her hair is shaven. It was shaven in four locations on her back as well. While still in California on Sunday morning before they came she and Falcon slipped under the fence of their caregiver's yard and shortly thereafter met up with two coyotes. Falcon was fiercely trying to attack the coyote who was holding Rosie in its teeth when the caregivers became aware of the situation. They ran to the "crime scene" and started screaming at the coyotes.

With Falcon's persistent defense of Rosie the coyote finally gave up and left. They rushed Rosie to Urgent Care where the doctor shaved hair at the sight of the puncture wounds, applied medication and put her on an antibiotic. He said if the wounds did not get infected she would be able to make the long trip to our place. Also, he said that if the coyote had gone after the neck or stomach area there would not be a good ending to this story. Thankfully, Rosie healed very nicely.

Their frightening experience is why the owners would not split up the pair because they truly are inseparable, sleep in the same crate, lay in the same dog bed, and  walk in each other's shadow. If you invite one to sit on your lap make plenty of room because they will come as a pair and if necessary lay on top of each other to both sit on your lap. It's a challenge to keep our animals quiet during our podcasts so we ask your forbearance when we occasionally deal with those matters. (It reminds me of those who are sitting in church trying to keep their young ones quiet when the pastor is preaching. It is indeed a challenge!)



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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 and a variety of other versions.



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