Free email subscription: Join thousands
of readers all over the world who
receive the free daily email.
Welcome to
Daily
Encouragement Net!
Stephen
and
Brooksyne Weber
"We
want to encourage
you daily in your walk with Christ!"
Each
weekday this
website is updated with an encouraging new message
prepared by Stephen and Brooksyne.
Will you please
help us continue this free
daily encouragement ministry that is impacting thousands all over the
world?
Donations
are tax deductible and will be receipted directly by my chaplaincy
endorsing ministry. Click
here for details.
(2008
YTD financial offerings
through 12/31/08:
$21,766.00) Personal
Ministry Update
(Revised
10/21/08) Worldwide
mission impact Reader
comments Powerpoint presentation
used at
churches and conferences to present this ministry.
Sign
up for a free
email subscription to this daily
message. You will
receive a
confirmation email to the address you subscribed to. Merely follow the
simple instructions in this email
(essentially just
reply to it) and you will be added to the mailing list immediately and
will receive the next message. We hope the messages will be a
blessing!
Privacy
Statement:
"Your e-mail address is held in strict confidence in a
password-protected mail list and is not used for any other purpose but
this daily encouragement. You may easily unsubscribe at any
time." Daily
prayers:
A selection of prayers written by Brooksyne used in these
messages. Listen
to WDAC "Music for the Heart"
(Streaming HD radio from our local Christian station)
Agora:
Articles concerning ministry at work. Resources
for Ministers:
Helps and ideas for pastors and others in
ministry.
Hymn
Story Net: Stories and
backgrounds behind the great
hymns. Scripture Memory Songs: A
selection of Scripture verses we
recorded in our home with
some friends. The words are
set to familar music
as an aid to memorization in a discipleship training class. Music:
Songs recorded in my home studio.
Perspectives:
Articles on various contemporary issues.
"A
Little Foolishness" I
invite daily encouragement readers to visit our
blog which is a collection of humorous and satirical
stories
drawn
mostly from our years of ministry, as well as my sometimes fertile
imagination. We also welcome submissions from readers. Humor:
Have a laugh based on real experiences we have had as well as stories
submitted
by readers.
These are a
selection of books that Brooksyne and I have read that have impacted
our walk with the
Lord and we especially recommend to others!
Permissions:
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. I do request that you keep the contact, copyright and
subscription information intact. Ideas
for
spreading this ministry.
Personal
Mission Statement
"I
am created by God to bring
Him glory. Through God’s Son, Jesus Christ, I have been
redeemed and I make it my life’s goal to honor God through my
faith and obedience and prepare myself and all whom I may influence for
eternity."
Daily
Encouragement Net
is an affiliate of
Daily
Encouragement Net
495
Kraybill
Church Road
Mount
Joy, PA
17552 USA Contact
Us
"Look at the birds
of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet
your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than
they?" (Matthew 6:26) "Casting all your cares upon Him, for
He cares for you" (1 Peter 5:7).
As Brooksyne and I have gotten older our interests have changed. When
we were in our twenties and early thirties we were serious tennis
players. We'd often play late into the night and one year we even
played on New Year's Day in northern Pennsylvania in sub-freezing
weather as we carefully dodged the icy patches!
Now we have both become avid bird watchers (binoculars and all); she
more than I. We have an assortment of bird feeders, and when we get
caught up from our recent trip, Brooksyne will likely prepare peanut
butter & seed covered pinecones and suet feeders.
She'll strategically place them where we can watch the birds enjoy
these treats through the window of our home office where today's photo
was taken from.
She studied the variety of birds and how to attract certain species. In
fact when we were at Bass Pro Shop several days ago we considered
buying a device that played the various bird songs. We enjoy
cooperating with the heavenly Father in caring for these tiny
creatures. We see red cardinals, gray-slated juncos, purple
finches, downy woodpeckers and many other varieties that make for a
real show particularly when we have snow.
What meticulous care God exercises to provide for the birds.
But consider how much greater value we are to God than these
birds. Jesus said so! "Are you not much more valuable
than they?" The One who has so marvelously provided for
the birds of the air is certainly more interested in those He made in
His own image. How can we help but sing, "His eye is on the sparrow,
and I know He watches me!"
But it's our keen awareness that the particulars of the future are
undisclosed to us that often leads our thinking to turn into
worry. It's been said that worrying may shorten one's life,
but not as quickly as it once did. The ancestor of the word "worry" in
Old English wyrgan,
literally meant "to strangle." Its Middle English descendant, worien, kept this
sense and developed the new sense "to kill or injure by biting and
shaking" much like a wolf or dog might attack and slowly kill a
sheep.
Worrying in some ways resembles the ancestry of these Old English words
in that worry can feel like a slow but persistent strangling of hope or
a bright outlook toward the future. Jesus, in the
same context of our daily text, said "O you of little faith"
(Matthew 6:30). We lack trust in our heavenly Father when we
look to our own strength or limited resources instead of His loving
care and unlimited provisions.
God's love for us is abundantly demonstrated in the way He cares and
provides for His creation. My prayer is that you will
experience the wonderful peace of God today as you rest in the divine
care of our loving Father. Worry can be such a detriment in our walk of
faith and it will definitely rob us of the peace that God intends for
His children. Perhaps today you will want to personalize this truth by
properly proclaiming, "I
will not be afraid, for I am worth more than many sparrows."
And you sure are!
Today I want the birds to be a lesson that indeed our heavenly Father
cares and provides for our needs. Some of you reading this
are beset by worries. These may be legitimate concerns since our
ability to consider and prepare for the future is a God-given dimension
of our humanity. But when a thought about uncertainties of the future
brings on stress or anxiety the problem lies with us and not with God.
Part of the abundant life that Christ gives to the believer is the
peace that our heavenly Father cares and provides for our every need.
My prayer is that each reader is filled with God's wonderful customized
assurance today!
Why should I feel discouraged? Why should the shadows come?
Why should my heart be lonely, And long for heav'n and home,
When Jesus is my portion? My constant Friend is He.
His eye is on the sparrow and I know He watches me.
"Let not your heart be troubled," His tender words I hear.
And feasting on His goodness, I lose my doubt and fear.
Though by the path He leadeth but one step I may see.
His eye is on the sparrow and I know He watches me.
I sing because I'm happy, I sing because I'm free.
For His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me.
Be encouraged today,
Stephen & Brooksyne Weber
Daily
Prayer:Father,
along with the Psalmist David, we pray for relief from our
distress. We pray that the light of Your face would shine
upon us, for You have filled our hearts with greater joy than when
grain and new wine abound. You give us a sense of security
when we lie down so that we can sleep in peace; for You alone, O Lord,
make us dwell in safety. We lie down and sleep and we wake
again, because You sustain us. We will not fear the tens of
thousands drawn up against us on every side. From You, O God,
comes deliverance and You shower Your blessings upon Your people. Thank
You for caring for us, for sustaining us, and for providing for
us. Amen.
(Prayer is adapted from selected verses from Psalm 3 &
4)
Brooksyne's added
note about faith: I believe it was D.L. Moody
who once said, "I can go to heaven in 2nd class which is, 'When I am
afraid I will trust in You'. Or I can go to heaven in 1st
class which is, 'I will trust in You'." We do make a choice
don't we – I prefer first class!
Today's
Suggested Music
and
Supplemental Resources
(Click
on the link to open and play. In some cases you may also need to click
again to start the song.)
Yesterday I shared concerning a store I especially enjoy where I took a
photo of Brooksyne with a bear. It
was taken at a Bass Pro Shop near Richmond VA,
although quite a few readers guessed Cabella's.
Actually we have both nearby and it could have been either!
In fact if we were near Freeport, Maine it could have been LL Bean.
FREE
EMAIL SUBSCRIPTION: Join
thousands of readers from all
over the
world who
receive the free daily email version of this message! To receive
these
daily messages merely use our online form. You will receive a
confirmation email to the address you subscribed to.
Merely follow the simple instructions in this email
(essentially just
reply to it) and you will be added to the mailing list immediately and
will receive the next message. We hope the messages will be a
blessing! Privacy
Statement: "Your
e-mail address is held in a password-protected mail list and is not
used for any other purpose but this daily encouragement. You
may
easily unsubscribe at any time." If you are having trouble getting
subscribed or you are subscribed but are not getting the encouragement
in your email see: Subscription
information
"Living
securely today anchored
in
God's solid foundation"
