✝ Daily Encouragement (10/3/22) "Spiritual Clutter"
Published: Mon, 10/03/22
A daily, Bible-based perspective of hope, encouragement and exhortation. The online Bible teaching ministry of Stephen & Brooksyne Weber.
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Monday, October 3, 2022
"Spiritual Clutter"
Note: Brooksyne is in Tulsa visiting with her family along with Ester and they will be returning Wednesday afternoon. This weekend they were in Arkansas. Thus these messages won't have the benefit of her input and editing and I will be reading the podcast solo!
Message summary: Today we consider the ultimately worthless. When viewed through spiritual eyes all the neat stuff of this present life that is so visually appealing and sought after is worthless in comparison to that which really matters from an eternal perspective. That's what we need to constantly remember.
"Turn my eyes away from worthless things; preserve my life according to your Word" (Psalm 119:37). "But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for Whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ--the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith" (Philippians 3:7-9). All I once held dear, built my life upon
All this world reveres, and wars to own All I once thought gain I have counted loss Spent and worthless now compared to this Gordon Stewart, a man in England died when he apparently became lost in the midst of the clutter in his home. According to the article the compulsive hoarder is believed to have become disorientated inside the clutter and was unable to find his way out — then he collapsed from dehydration. It seems that the police crawled around the tunnel network until they uncovered his body. (What a job!)
Now I have heard of people keeping lots of stuff but this surely takes the cake. I realize comparatively how uncluttered we are at the Weber house! Consider forms of clutter in our lives. Brooksyne enjoys volunteering at a local mission thrift shop in Mount Joy and while serving manages to find nice bargains as well. Then several times a year we load up the van and take bags of “extras” to the very same thrift shop and donate it for resale. I know some of it is what she brought home months earlier! (Brooksyne’s acknowledges this true.) But what about spiritual clutter? The Psalmist makes a powerful plea to God; “Turn my eyes away from worthless things.” The KJV uses the term “vanity” here. The Hebrew word also connotes useless, false, desolating, and is used figuratively for idolatry. Our home and other possessions are a blessing but we must keep a perspective on their comparative value to that which is supremely important. Consider the first daily verse as a personal prayer: "Turn my eyes away from worthless things; preserve my life according to Your word."
It is found in the midst of the longest chapter in the entire Bible, Psalm 119. Sometimes when reading through a longer section of the Bible we can easily miss some spiritual nuggets. There's a tendency to dutifully read the entire passage without pondering each phrase and considering the deeper or further meaning. I have a good minister friend who did a verse by verse study on this long chapter which reminded me of the importance of chewing on each precious morsel of God's Word. Today's text is, of course translated a bit differently in other translations. The Amplified Bible sheds further light, "Turn my eyes away from vanity [all those worldly, meaningless things that distract—let Your priorities be mine], and restore me [with renewed energy] in Your ways". When viewed through spiritual eyes all the neat stuff of this present life that is so visually appealing and sought after is worthless in comparison to that which really matters from an eternal perspective. That's what we need to constantly remember. What "worthless things" was the Psalmist was referring to? One commentary states "idols and idolatry". Interestingly the final verse in 1 John is, "Dear children, keep yourselves from idols". These worthless things might be similar to that which was written by Isaac Watts in his classic hymn, "When I survey the wondrous cross" where he states, "All the vain things that charm me most". Although each generation has had these worthless and vain things (which can be idols) we have a feeling they are far more prominent in our day than they were three thousand years ago when David lived or three hundred years ago when Isaac Watts lived. In our generation we are exposed to a whole lot more "worthless things" and a much greater variety! The Psalmist was wise in identifying this truth and making it a request. Do you see these worthless things surrounding you today? Many are not necessarily bad, indeed many are a blessing from God and we should be thankful for them, but compared to those things that matter most from an eternal perspective they are indeed "worthless." Consider the Apostle Paul's perspective on this matter: "But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ--the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith." We need to clear the spiritual clutter with the ongoing renewing of our minds and determine this day that we will live our life in faith and obedience to God, offering our life as a living sacrifice!
Knowing you, Jesus, knowing you
There is no greater thing You're my all, you're the best You're my joy, my righteousness And I love you, Lord Be encouraged today, (Hebrews 3:13)
Stephen & Brooksyne Weber
![]() Today's Suggested Music and Supplemental Resources
"All I Once Held Dear" Video Shane & Shane
Some more photos from our New England trip last week. We went from the White Mountains in New Hampshire to coastal Maine last Sunday. The Sunday River covered bridge near Bethel Maine is quite unlike covered bridges here in Lancaster County.
Here's a creative way to have a mailbox in rural Maine. Looks like he also has some backups if one gets hit by the snowplow!
![]() This sign may indicate the closest we will ever be to being world travelers.
Actually all of these are town names in Maine!
We stopped by to visit with Jeff and Linda Reid, friends from the church we served in Taunton Massachusetts about 25 years ago. What a joy that they are remaining faithful and active in their church near Paris (Maine) They both got saved watching Christian programming on TV in the 80's.
Jeff has an interesting practice of noting each message he hears in his Bible on the page the main text was from and showed me his notes from one of the first sermons I preached in that church. I checked my notes and the message was titled, "Why God Hates Sin" based on Genesis 3:1-24. I am also heartened to see the reference to Bro. Rick M. (Masciantonio) who was in our church at that time but now serves the Nauset Baptist Church way out on Cape Cod.
Tomorrow I'll share some more photos from our trip as we visited the rocky Maine seacoast.
Finally today:
On Saturday afternoon I attended a memorial service for Pat Stillman who was an esteemed business leader in our area. It was heartening to hear the many
tributes and memories and evidence of spiritual impact he made. In fact when you signed the register they offered a Gospel of John in his memory.
This morning I read an interesting perspective from Pastor Richard Dresselhaus on his "One For The Road" blog titled "In Memory"
In memory. What will people say about you after you have died?
Jehoram…king of Judah…was a very wicked king. He murdered family members…worshipped idols…and was despised by the people. When he died…here is what the record reports. “He passed away, to no one’s regret…” (2 Chronicles 21:20) It is important to think about this. You will want to live in a way that contributes positively to the lives of others. But it goes deeper. What will God think about you at your passing? What does His record show? It’s that which matters most. Long after you have passed…may both heaven and earth record that you lived a godly life –and were a blessing to many. |