“But you have planted wickedness, you have reaped evil, you have eaten the fruit of deception” (Hosea 10:13).

F. E. Smith was a capable lawyer with a quick wit. He cross-examined a young man who was claiming damages for an arm injury caused by the negligence of a bus driver.

“Will you please show us how high you can lift your arm now as a result of the accident?” asked Smith. The young man slowly raised his arm to shoulder level, his face distorted with pain.

“Thank you,” said Smith. “And now, could you show us how high you could lift it before the accident?”  The young man eagerly shot his arm up above his head.  He lost the case!

Several weeks ago I sent a message with a photo of our neighbor’s peacock and Tom, a friend from Arizona, sent me the stunning peacock photo above. He thought I would enjoy it and wrote: “From everything I could find it’s a real photo.”

I know what he means. New photo and video techniques can doctor photos and videos in astoundingly realistic ways. A satire on a political figure can be ever so realistic. Some can mimic voices that sound so authentic the ear cannot tell the difference.

I noticed today’s Scripture text several weeks ago when I shared a message from the verse preceding it: “Sow for yourselves righteousness, reap the fruit of unfailing love, and break up your unplowed ground; for it is time to seek the LORD, until he comes and showers righteousness on you” (Hosea 10:12).

This verse is immediately followed with the daily text and seems to present a contrast: “But you have planted wickedness, you have reaped evil, you have eaten the fruit of deception.”  I was very intrigued by its timely message and at the time knew it was something I wanted to eventually write on. This passage concerns the northern Kingdom just prior to its destruction by the Assyrians about 2700 years ago.

Notice the parallelism in these two verses:

God’s will is that His children: Sow for themselves righteousness.
But instead: They planted (sowed) wickedness.

God’s will is that His children: Reap the fruit of unfailing love.
But instead: They reaped evil.

But it’s the final phrase that particularly grips my attention: “You have eaten the fruit of deception.”

Deception is misrepresentation and misleading falsehood and it abounds like never before. I firmly believe deception will increase as mankind continues to mock and shrug off God’s commands. One of the final warnings from Jesus to His disciples was: “Let no one deceive you.”

Paul has a solemn warning concerning deception in Colossians 2:8: “See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ.”

Today we need to be on our guard against the many forms of deception that we encounter, particularly spiritual deception that can lead us astray. 

I believe this requires several disciplines:

• A personal relationship with Christ.
• A firm and growing knowledge of the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make us wise unto salvation.
• A sensitivity to the Holy Spirit.
• A solid foundational knowledge in church history and theology. 
• An accountability to others in the body of Christ, particularly our elders.
• A discerning wariness of the “new”.*

Be encouraged today,

Stephen & Brooksyne Weber

Daily prayer:  Father, I pray that You will help me to sow for myself righteousness, so that I will reap the fruit of Your unfailing love.  Break up the unplowed ground of my heart that is stony and hard so that I acknowledge my sins, receive Your forgiveness, and look to You for guidance.  May I thoroughly discern the vain philosophies and empty deception that pervades our society.  I want to seek Your will above man’s agenda so that You shower Your blessings upon me.  Amen.

* Stephen’s Note: I expect the point about having a discerning wariness of the new could get me labeled by some as the dreaded O.F. (Old-fashioned). Yet I have seen so many new things come along that go from unthinkable to bizarre… to tolerated… to accepted… to normal… then perhaps even celebrated in a very short time.  Eventually what was once normal may even be reckoned by some to be abnormal!  On a number of issues I have seen this happen.

Brooksyne’s Note:  As I consider the message today I feel like many of us, as Christians, have built-in shock absorbers much like a vehicle has.  I remember one of my first cars as a teen that was very inexpensive (fixer upper) and came with no shock absorbers.  Every bump in the road would lift me from my seat until my dad finally got around to putting them on my car.  The bumps were still in the road but I didn’t notice them as much.  Eventually I didn’t notice them at all except for the large pot holes.  When we hear something shocking to the discerning mind that is in violation to God’s Holy Word we initially cringe and reject its message.  But, given time, and hearing it repeated often enough or touted by people we’ve come to admire over the years it grows on us.  We may not fully embrace it on a personal level, but we no longer outright reject it lest we appear to be “old-fashioned.”   In doing so we apply our shock absorbers and get on with life as it is in 2008 and let the chips fall where they may.  It is my earnest prayer that I not absorb error or bad theology, but that I always cringe when God’s truths are violated.  May God help me not to blend in but to stand up and be counted for Him just as Daniel did among his godless peers.

I have also tinkered around with digitally editing photos using a rather basic program. People from a church I served in an interim role a couple of years ago enjoyed this photo taken at a men’s breakfast which I “doctored” .  Red is a colorful senior member of the church with a large white beard. There really is no one else that looks quite like him so I placed his head photo on the other bodies and teased that the men are all “Red Wanna-be’s.” Can you tell who the real “Red” is in the photo? The actual photo is here. The photo was taken by Jesse Lapp, my Amish friend, who had joined us that morning.

Yesterday we were blessed to have a long time reader from California stop by and join us for lunch. Marilyn shared the story of how she came across our online ministry and we always find these stories interesting. Marilyn shared a name and asked if we knew them. I assumed she meant a personal acquaintance of ours and we did not recall the name.  It was a friend in Califiornia who had initially shared the message with her about eight years ago during a very difficult period in her life.  Marilyn responded to us sharing her need and Brooksyne wrote back and shared a prayer and this began a long-term online friendship, although yesterday was the first time we met personally. An interesting detail: I looked up the list and this friend is still on it so I hope Clare reads this message and is blessed!

Marilyn’s son Dean and daughter-in-law Jill and their children, Hilliard and Josie Page were along as well. They are on the way to their native Canada (Ottawa) for a visit with family.

On our evening walk yesterday we noted that the geese couple have had their six gosslings (apparently in the last several days).  It makes for a nice family picture!

“But if you fail to do this, you will be sinning against the LORD; and you may be sure that your sin will find you out” (Numbers 32:23).

David Fisher is a sports chaplain and fellow encourager friend of ours from Canada.  Several years ago we met after he stopped by our home and joined us for dinner. He was here for a game when the Toronto Blue Jays played Baltimore. Today I want to share an illustrative experience that David sent us regarding a visit to a Canadian Drive Thru restaurant:

“Recently I was with several family members and we stopped for a coffee at Canada’s favorite watering hole, “Tim Hortons”.  We didn’t go into the coffee shop; we went through the famous Drive Thru.

We paused to give the attendant our order and waited for what seemed like an eternity, but nobody was coming on the intercom to take our order.  One of us began to murmur and complain using phrases like: “They are awfully slow here.”  “I’ve had trouble here before.”   “There’s nobody else in line.”  “What’s the problem?”  I added that I had experienced a few “slow” attendants at this particular Tims. The driver was getting very exasperated.

It was then that I observed and realized, much to our chagrin, that we had stopped at the menu board, not at the place with the microphone and speaker where you place your order. We were “barking up the wrong tree” so to speak. We drove ahead a few feet, placed our order and were on our way in moments. Great service…and quick, once we got to the right spot!”

The above illustration indicates that there was some misunderstanding among David’s family members.  They had drawn the wrong conclusion regarding where to place their order.  I have to admit I’ve made the same mistake at drive through windows, but caught on  just a bit quicker than his party!  We can so easily draw the wrong conclusions and make faulty assumptions in life.

Chapter 32 of Numbers has some interesting thoughts about misunderstandings and assumptions in human relationships.  Let’s consider the historical background: the new generation of Israelites is camped east of the Jordan. Leaders from the tribes of Reuben and Gad made a request to Moses to settle and consider as their inheritance the lands east of the Jordan, which were suitable for livestock.  Moses initially misunderstood their request, assuming they were attempting to dodge their responsibilities in the conquest of Canaan. 

However, the leaders further clarified their proposal indicating that they would indeed be sending their fighting men to assist the other tribes and pledging that they would not return until the conquest was complete.  Moses’ tone changed with the clarification and he accepted their proposal, but reminded them of the consequences of failing to keep their word in our daily verse.  Tracking through the history of the conquest we see they did indeed keep their word and were commended by Joshua for their faithfulness in Joshua 22.

There’s a lot of good teaching in this chapter but let me just focus on the initial faulty assumption and reaction by Moses.  I believe it typifies situations that occur frequently in life which leads to strife-filled relationships in the home, church, work and elsewhere.  When the tribal leaders approached Moses he drew the wrong conclusion, assuming they were not going to do their part.  (Perhaps the tribal leaders also erred in not being clearer in their initial proposal.) 

Have you ever been like Moses and come to the wrong conclusion?  I sure have.  Communication and clarification can do a lot to bring healing and understanding in relationships.  May God help us today to listen to one another and clarify as needed.  And be careful with assumptions, you just may be “barking up the wrong tree!”

Be encouraged today,

Stephen & Brooksyne Weber

Daily prayer: Father, help us to be slow to speak, quick to listen, and eager to give the benefit of the doubt to others.  We often jump to conclusions that are erroneous due to our own preconceived ideas or based on our past experiences.  Give each of us an understanding heart and discerning spirit in our relations with others we intersect with on our daily paths.  In the name of Jesus we pray, amen.

We met the Haldemans shortly after moving to Lancaster County seven years ago. Their daughter, Julie, recently returned from a YWAM missions trip to Cambodia and Thailand where she worked with children. Yesterday afternoon she shared a slide presentation of her trip. Her adventures were many and it is evident that God is doing a spiritual work in her life.

The photo of the above hymn (How Great Thou Art) is from a Vietnamese hymnal! A company where we serve as chaplains has quite a few Vietnamese employees and we have been unable to communicate with them each week (apart from a friendly smile and handshake) over the past year. NGUYỄN HỮU CƯỜNG (Pastor Dave) serves a Vietnamese Church here in Lancaster County and will be assisting us in this ministry. Yesterday we wanted to meet him in his church.  People in the congregation were very friendly and the atmosphere quite inviting!

“After all that Hezekiah had so faithfully done, Sennacherib king of Assyria came and invaded Judah” (2 Chronicles 32:1).

I consider a friend of mine whom I’ve known for many years. Throughout his life he sought to serve God faithfully but in the last several years he has been dealing with a severe trial of lasting consequences. I speak to him periodically and hope to visit him soon but rejoice that he is staying faithful to the Lord through the trial.  When he shared his story with me it was one of those stories that makes me shake my head and wonder… “Why?”

We often kid about Hezekiah being a book in the Bible (it isn’t). Hezekiah was one of Judah’s greatest kings.  When he became king the nation was in great apostasy (falling away from God’s ways).  His father Ahaz “had promoted wickedness in Judah and had been most unfaithful to the LORD.”  Yet in spite of this example Hezekiah chose to follow the Lord.

2 Chronicles 29-31 records the major reforms made during Hezekiah’s time of leadership, ending with this statement: “This is what Hezekiah did throughout Judah, doing what was good and right and faithful before the LORD His God.  In everything that he undertook in the service of God’s temple and in obedience to the law and the commands, he sought his God and worked wholeheartedly.  And so he prospered” (2 Chronicles 31:20, 21).  That’s a neat summary but the text doesn’t stop there.

The statement in our daily verse immediately follows this and illustrates a powerful spiritual principle:  “After all that Hezekiah had so faithfully done, Sennacherib king of Assyria came and invaded Judah.” 

That principle is this: A time of greater testing often follows obedience and blessing.  The remainder of chapter 32 records Hezekiah’s response to this invasion.

We desire to live our lives with a clear, sensible cause and effect relationship regarding what we face.  But it doesn’t always work that way, does it?  Hezekiah was faithfully serving God at the time of the enemy’s attack.

Today many of you are dealing with difficult situations in your life. You’ve sought to honor God and faithfully serve Him and you too may wonder, “Why?” 

Many of these questions will not be answered till we get to the other side but here’s a Scripture to meditate upon:  “The Lord disciplines those He loves” (Hebrews 12:6).  He is with us in the midst of His discipline and He provides soothing medicine for our wounded hearts through His Holy Scriptures.  Rejoice in God’s faithfulness and steadfast love in the midst of His discipline!

Be encouraged today,

Stephen & Brooksyne Weber

Daily prayer:  Father, we are but clay in Your hands.  May You break down the hardened walls of our heart and reshape us into a useful vessel that is fully yielded to Your workmanship.  As we are crafted by the Master Potter, painful as it may be, let our confidence be founded upon the Rock of Ages rather than the shifting sands of our circumstances.  May we be faithful and obedient so that You pour out Your glory and honor through us, Your yielded vessels.  In the name of our Savior, Jesus Christ, we pray, amen.

“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up” (Galatians 6:9).

Last night I watched a few minutes of a broadcasted committee hearing held in our state capitol in Harrisburg. A group was presenting their case for a very sensible moral position, one which would have not  been an issue less than 10 years ago.  The lead spokesperson was a mild-mannered lady who thoughtfully and graciously presented her case. 

One of the state senators, a vile man who is “retiring” due to his involvement with corruption, lashed out at her in a vicious and cynical verbal attack that I found extremely difficult to watch. I felt for this lady and scores of others who seek to do good in a culture that is in a deep and rapid moral decline. It’s easy to become discouraged and weary under these circumstances.

Today is “National Day of Prayer” here in the USA.  Daily Encouragement is sent to believers in many different countries all around the world and is written for the spiritual edification of all true believers regardless of where they live.  I am unaware if other countries have official national days of prayer, but I hope that they do. I genuinely believe this is a very important day in our country where God has providentially ordained that I should live out my life here on this earth.

Organized efforts for prayer are held in large and small communities throughout the U.S.   Here in Lancaster County we have a very well organized and focused prayer task force.  The event began last night with a countywide youth rally and all through today there will be Bible reading and intercessory prayer at a large city park.  Of course many communities have events as well all through the county and country.

Is it worth it?  I’m sure I am not the only one who turns that question over in my mind at times.  After all, the moral and spiritual state of our country continues to decline.

I believe the daily verse, although not specifically related to prayer addresses this question:  “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up” (Galatians 6:9). In prayer (as in other acts of obedience to God) we are “sowing” in a manner ordained by the Lord. 

When we pray earnestly to the true God of heaven, through His Son Jesus Chris,t in faith and humility we are “doing good.”  Prayer does not always result in an immediate harvest but we have a wonderful promise that “we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”  This harvest (reaping) will take place in the “proper time” ordained by God.

The “we” in the text are the people of God.  The harvest is ultimately spiritual and eternal. The moral decline may very well continue and judgment will most certainly come. The people of God in past generations saw their countries experience God’s judgment as a result of their sins. Consider the godly remnant who lived at the time of the fall of Jerusalem during the time of Jeremiah.  They lived through horrendous conditions yet in this very context Jeremiah declared “Great is Thy faithfulness.”

So let me encourage you today, wherever you live, to continue to call out to the one true God.  Whatever your circumstances, however serious your situation, regardless of how long you’ve waited;  keep believing and obeying.  Keep praying, for we will reap a harvest, if we do not give up.

Be encouraged today,

Stephen C. Weber

Daily prayer:  Father, we ask you to be merciful to our land because You are a loving, forgiving God.  You have called on us, Your children, to be a people of prayer and devotion.   We pray for our land to repent of neglect and defiance of Your commands.  We come against the powers of darkness that seek to extinguish the light of Your salvation that brings help and hope to weary souls in this life and secures their eternal place in heaven.  Help us not to grow weary in our intercession, for we want to be faithful in prayer so that, at a future date, we will witness the harvest of souls.  We pray for Your will to be accomplished in the name of Jesus, amen.