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Friday, December 30, 2016
Wisconsin barn
This photo taken by my cousin who wrote,
"Old....and still so beautiful! I just love those really old, stone foundation barns you still see around Wisconsin." And so do we!
"The Blessing Of Trust"
Message summary: Today's message we consider the blessing of trust.
Listen to this
message on your
audio player.
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths" (Proverbs 3:5,6).
We’ve chosen a Proverb for our focus today, our final Daily
Encouragement for 2016. It is often quoted for those who are graduating
or about to embark on a new path. It's also a verse that brings
assurance to our hearts no matter where we are on life's journey, young
or old. And certainly it is a good verse to consider as we face
the transition into a new year. We need to consider trust as a blessing.
The book of Proverbs is full of wise sayings, many that are easily memorized, that will keep us on the right track as we apply them to our lives. A Bible College definition of a Proverb was a "short pithy saying." Pithy is listed in the Microsoft Office dictionary system with synonyms such as "terse, to the point, succinct."
In an overall sense this Proverb always speaks to our situation. However there are those acute times when we desperately need the Lord’s specific direction and this verse becomes even more directive and meaningful in our lives. Many of our readers today are dealing with the inconstancies of life such as a financial crisis, a difficulty at work, an unemployment situation, a troubling family matter or a major health concern that lies heavily on their hearts. In the course of our chaplaincy work as well as emails from Daily Encouragement readers we often hear of these troubling situations. Just last night Brooksyne prayed over the phone with a friend with a recent cancer diagnosis.
This wonderful Proverb has three commands followed by a promise.
The Commands:
1) “Trust in the Lord with all your heart." Trust requires us to have faith and confident assurance that God is working through a matter. It is not in the circumstance or our own heart that we place our trust, but the object of our trust is "in the Lord." Are we to partially trust God and partially rely on our own abilities or wisdom? Not really! God wants us to trust Him with all our heart.
2) “Lean not on your own understanding.” I consider the times when I thought I understood a matter, only to find out later I was wrong. When we lean on our own understanding we often get things wrong. We may start to worry, become afraid, or grow desperate and then we begin to make huge mistakes, make wrong choices, or base our actions on false assumptions. Our understanding is always limited, often flawed, and cannot give us an accurate view of the future.
3) “In all your ways acknowledge Him.” In our thoughts, our speech, and our actions may others see that God is the central figure of our lives. Let there be no doubt as to who or what motivates us to do what we do and say what we say. May Christ be preeminent in everything we do.
For me it's not at all hard to comprehend the meaning of these three clauses, but consistent personal application is another matter! Consider these questions:
* Am I really trusting in the Lord with all my heart?
* (Or) Am I leaning on my own understanding?
* Am I really acknowledging Him (day by day, moment by moment)?
The Promise:
The simple, straightforward promise in the text is that "He shall direct your paths." Our responsibility is to obey His commands. When we do so, we can be absolutely assured that God will direct our paths!
It occurs to us that together we now have nearly 90 years of walking with the Lord! That means in a few years we can say "100". Ouch!!!
But we are still working at fully applying this verse. Frankly, we expect to be working on this until we receive the upward call. But we can testify to the veracity of God’s promise. He directs our paths and we have an assurance that He always will as we trust Him wholeheartedly. Today, as we once again face a transition into 2017 we encourage each reader to accept this truth in regard to your own situation and rejoice with us in His steadfast love and care.
Be encouraged today,
Stephen & Brooksyne Weber
Daily
prayer: Father, when I lean on my own understanding I fall prey
to thinking in the natural and limit the work of the supernatural. But
when I trust You with all my heart I leave no room for second guessing.
Today I want to acknowledge Your presence in every area of my
life…family, work, relationships, health, intellect and every other
area of my life. You will bring to pass the plans You have for me as I
wholeheartedly trust You for all that concerns me and those I love. Amen.
Special Year-end Financial Appeal: We
want to thank all who have financially supported our ministry this past
year. We realize there are many fine ministries
and causes requesting support at this time but if the Lord would lead
you we surely need and appreciate the financial support from our
readers and listeners. We
typically see a spike in giving at the end of the year for
which we are most thankful.
Our ministry labor is comprised of half our time to Daily Encouragement and the other half to our chaplaincy ministry to companies for which we receive a fee. Each of these ministries essentially is the same as a part-time job (20+ hours weekly) for each of us. Our goal for many years is that each would provide half of our ministry expenses and income.
If you would like to make a donation to our ministry see here for more information.
Make a tax deductible donation directly online here. This will open to a page that designates the offering to: WEBER,STEPHEN CHAP, Specialized Chaplaincy Ministry ID: 700001-237376
Please Note: We also provide this familiar PayPal option
due to the convenience, for international supporters, and for those who
may not be concerned regarding receiving an official tax-deductible receipt. Click here to donate using PayPal. This will open to a page that designates the offering to: "brooksyne@dailyencouragement.net"
"Like A River Glorious" Video The Smucker family Acapella
"Like A River Glorious" Video Chris Rice (Instrumental piano)
"Like A River Glorious" Video Messiah College Concert Choir (Messiah College is a local college about 40 miles from our home.)
"Trust In The Lord" Video Don Moen Although we could not find it online we used to sing this Proverb in our churches to a tune we are sure many that attended would still recall. In fact we could sing it in rounds.
Finally today:
Yesterday we shared this photo of four men pulling a submersible pump out of our next door neighbor's well. A number of our likely rural readers recognized what was going on here!
Send a message to Stephen & Brooksyne
This photo taken by my cousin who wrote,
"Old....and still so beautiful! I just love those really old, stone foundation barns you still see around Wisconsin." And so do we!
Message summary: Today's message we consider the blessing of trust.
Listen to this
message on your
audio player."Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths" (Proverbs 3:5,6).
We’ve chosen a Proverb for our focus today, our final Daily
Encouragement for 2016. It is often quoted for those who are graduating
or about to embark on a new path. It's also a verse that brings
assurance to our hearts no matter where we are on life's journey, young
or old. And certainly it is a good verse to consider as we face
the transition into a new year. We need to consider trust as a blessing.The book of Proverbs is full of wise sayings, many that are easily memorized, that will keep us on the right track as we apply them to our lives. A Bible College definition of a Proverb was a "short pithy saying." Pithy is listed in the Microsoft Office dictionary system with synonyms such as "terse, to the point, succinct."
In an overall sense this Proverb always speaks to our situation. However there are those acute times when we desperately need the Lord’s specific direction and this verse becomes even more directive and meaningful in our lives. Many of our readers today are dealing with the inconstancies of life such as a financial crisis, a difficulty at work, an unemployment situation, a troubling family matter or a major health concern that lies heavily on their hearts. In the course of our chaplaincy work as well as emails from Daily Encouragement readers we often hear of these troubling situations. Just last night Brooksyne prayed over the phone with a friend with a recent cancer diagnosis.
This wonderful Proverb has three commands followed by a promise.
The Commands:
1) “Trust in the Lord with all your heart." Trust requires us to have faith and confident assurance that God is working through a matter. It is not in the circumstance or our own heart that we place our trust, but the object of our trust is "in the Lord." Are we to partially trust God and partially rely on our own abilities or wisdom? Not really! God wants us to trust Him with all our heart.
2) “Lean not on your own understanding.” I consider the times when I thought I understood a matter, only to find out later I was wrong. When we lean on our own understanding we often get things wrong. We may start to worry, become afraid, or grow desperate and then we begin to make huge mistakes, make wrong choices, or base our actions on false assumptions. Our understanding is always limited, often flawed, and cannot give us an accurate view of the future.
3) “In all your ways acknowledge Him.” In our thoughts, our speech, and our actions may others see that God is the central figure of our lives. Let there be no doubt as to who or what motivates us to do what we do and say what we say. May Christ be preeminent in everything we do.
For me it's not at all hard to comprehend the meaning of these three clauses, but consistent personal application is another matter! Consider these questions:
* Am I really trusting in the Lord with all my heart?
* (Or) Am I leaning on my own understanding?
* Am I really acknowledging Him (day by day, moment by moment)?
The Promise:
The simple, straightforward promise in the text is that "He shall direct your paths." Our responsibility is to obey His commands. When we do so, we can be absolutely assured that God will direct our paths!
It occurs to us that together we now have nearly 90 years of walking with the Lord! That means in a few years we can say "100". Ouch!!!
But we are still working at fully applying this verse. Frankly, we expect to be working on this until we receive the upward call. But we can testify to the veracity of God’s promise. He directs our paths and we have an assurance that He always will as we trust Him wholeheartedly. Today, as we once again face a transition into 2017 we encourage each reader to accept this truth in regard to your own situation and rejoice with us in His steadfast love and care.
We may trust Him fully all for us to do.
They who trust Him wholly find Him wholly true.
They who trust Him wholly find Him wholly true.
Be encouraged today,
Stephen & Brooksyne Weber
Daily
prayer: Father, when I lean on my own understanding I fall prey
to thinking in the natural and limit the work of the supernatural. But
when I trust You with all my heart I leave no room for second guessing.
Today I want to acknowledge Your presence in every area of my
life…family, work, relationships, health, intellect and every other
area of my life. You will bring to pass the plans You have for me as I
wholeheartedly trust You for all that concerns me and those I love. Amen.Special Year-end Financial Appeal: We
want to thank all who have financially supported our ministry this past
year. We realize there are many fine ministries
and causes requesting support at this time but if the Lord would lead
you we surely need and appreciate the financial support from our
readers and listeners. We
typically see a spike in giving at the end of the year for
which we are most thankful.Our ministry labor is comprised of half our time to Daily Encouragement and the other half to our chaplaincy ministry to companies for which we receive a fee. Each of these ministries essentially is the same as a part-time job (20+ hours weekly) for each of us. Our goal for many years is that each would provide half of our ministry expenses and income.
If you would like to make a donation to our ministry see here for more information.
Make a tax deductible donation directly online here. This will open to a page that designates the offering to: WEBER,STEPHEN CHAP, Specialized Chaplaincy Ministry ID: 700001-237376
Please Note: We also provide this familiar PayPal option
due to the convenience, for international supporters, and for those who
may not be concerned regarding receiving an official tax-deductible receipt. Click here to donate using PayPal. This will open to a page that designates the offering to: "brooksyne@dailyencouragement.net"
Thank you
Stephen & Brooksyne
Stephen & Brooksyne
Today's
Suggested
Music and Supplemental Resources
"Like A River Glorious" Video The Smucker family Acapella
"Like A River Glorious" Video Chris Rice (Instrumental piano)
"Like A River Glorious" Video Messiah College Concert Choir (Messiah College is a local college about 40 miles from our home.)
"Trust In The Lord" Video Don Moen Although we could not find it online we used to sing this Proverb in our churches to a tune we are sure many that attended would still recall. In fact we could sing it in rounds.
Finally today:
Yesterday we shared this photo of four men pulling a submersible pump out of our next door neighbor's well. A number of our likely rural readers recognized what was going on here!
Send a message to Stephen & Brooksyne
To receive the "Daily Encouragement" each Monday-Friday through email see this page to subscribe to our email list. You can also subscribe to the Wordpress rss feed or through a Wordpress email subscription. (See the email subscription on the right side after opening this page.)
We
want to thank all who financially support our ministry. We realize there are many fine
ministries
and causes requesting support but if the Lord would lead
you we surely need and appreciate the financial support from our
readers and listeners. Our ministry labor is comprised of half our
time to Daily
Encouragement and the other half to our chaplaincy ministry to
companies for which we receive a fee (of course this percentage of time
varies
week by week). Each of these ministries essentially is the same as a
part-time job (20+ hours weekly) for each of us. Our goal for many
years is that each phase would provide half of our ministry expenses
and
income. If you would like to make a donation to our ministry see here
for more information. Donations through my chaplaincy endorsing ministry are tax deductible and will
be receipted directly by them. Thank you!Please Note:
Our chaplain agency is unable to provide a receipt
if the donation is made through PayPal. However we provide this option
due to the convenience, international supporters, and for those who
may not be concerned regarding receiving an official receipt. Click here
to donate using PayPal.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.
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."
© Copyright 2016 Stephen C. Weber - All Rights Reserved
Daily Encouragement Net - 495 Kraybill Church Road - Mount Joy, PA 17552 USA