✝ Daily Encouragement (9/6/23) "Proclaim His Praise In The Islands"

Published: Wed, 09/06/23

A daily, Bible-based perspective of hope, encouragement and exhortation. The online Bible teaching ministry of Stephen & Brooksyne Weber.

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Wednesday, September 6, 2023

A view of Boldt Castle from our boat tour.

Click on photo to enlarge

"Proclaim His Praise In The Islands"

Message summary: Let's rejoice that God's praise is indeed being proclaimed on the islands!

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"Sing to the LORD a new song, His praise from the ends of the earth, you who go down to the sea, and all that is in it, you islands, and all who live in them. Let the desert and its towns raise their voices; let the settlements where Kedar lives rejoice. Let the people of Sela sing for joy; let them shout from the mountaintops. Let them give glory to the LORD and proclaim His praise in the islands" (Isaiah 42:10-12).

This last weekend we took a boat tour of the Thousand Islands area on the Saint Lawrence River between Canada and New York. In fact we actually entered Canadian waters which was a special treat for Ester since she had never been to Canada.

The Thousand Islands area is stunningly beautiful as seen in the photo above (which I did not take). Many have summer homes on them. The river is a playground with many boats, large and small, including huge ocean going freighters. The Thousand Islands constitute a North American archipelago of 1,864 islands that straddles the Canada–US border. To constitute being an island it must have a tree.

All of our island experiences have been to off shore islands accessible by a bridge or ferry on both the Atlantic and Pacific coasts. In New England we enjoyed our visits to Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket.

The population living on the world's islands is over 730 million, which is approximately 10% of the world's total population. Several islands such as Great Britain, Java (Indonesia) Honshu (Japan) and Luzon (Philippines) have very large populations. Most islands are smaller in size and population. Many islands are unpopulated. The Philippines have a whopping 7,641 islands. However surprising (to me, anyway) the country with the most islands is Sweden which has 267,570 islands.

Consider the daily verse: Isaiah is writing about 750 years before Christ. I see no evidence in his writings that he was a traveler and you can imagine the obstacles to travel in those days. Do you suppose he had ever been on an island?

Yet under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit he writes a powerful call to "Sing to the LORD a new song, His praise from the ends of the earth". He includes those living in the desert and on the mountaintops. The passage ends with this phrase, "Let them give glory to the LORD and proclaim His praise in the islands".

Although islands are beautiful and have special appeal to the vacationer, many island locations pose great challenges to ministry. Those that serve often feel isolated and lonely.

The world's second largest island in land mass is New Guinea with 303,381 square miles, which is larger than Texas. This island has many remote, unreached peoples and some of the most sacrificial mission work in the world. Yet ministries like Wycliffe Bible Translators, Ethnos360 (formerly New Tribes Mission) and others have a powerful presence and entire tribes have come to faith in Christ. Brooksyne and I each have a relative working on this island (or preparing to).

Let's rejoice that God's praise is indeed being proclaimed on the islands!

Be encouraged today, (Hebrews 3:13 )

Stephen & Brooksyne Weber

Daily prayer: Father, thank you for the promise of John 3:16 that states, "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have eternal life". Thank you for those who obey Your commission to go into all the world to spread Your Gospel including the most remote islands. Thank you that all around the world God's praise is indeed being proclaimed, even on the islands. Amen.

* The largest island in the world is Greenland with 840,000 square miles but only 56,000 people. Australia seems like an island but is considered a continent!

Today's Suggested Music and Supplemental Resources

"Let the Islands Praise Him" Watch video on YouTube Brother and Sister worship duo, Jessica & Austin Meshell

1000 Islands (Aerial island photo in message from this site)

1000 Islands Gananoque: It Will Take Your Breath Away Video

Boldt Castle

The Countries With the Most Islands

At our family reunion in July we visited with newlyweds, Hadley and Katie Hageman, who are preparing for ministry in Papua, New Guinea with Ethnos 360. Katie is the granddaughter of Stephen's oldest cousin Jeanine.

Dave and Amy Julian along with their two sons, Dan and Ben. Dave is Brooksyne's cousin who are currently serving as missionary associates in Papua New Guinea, since October 21, 2022. They are full-time missionaries who set up health aid posts in strategic locations and train local people in basic medicine and evangelism. The hope is to use these facilities as a tangible example of the gospel to allow them to go into communities where the gospel has not been welcome up to this point and to then be able to plant churches in these areas.

More photos from our trip last weekend to upstate New York. We took a boat tour of the Thousand Islands and Boldt Castle.

Tom Thumb island, the smallest of the Thousand Islands

Boldt Castle has an interesting history. It was started over 100 years ago and then left unfinished for many years due to the death of the owner's wife. After many years the bridge authority bought it and is slowly finishing it to show what it would have looked like should it have been finished at that time period. Here's the dining room.

Boldt Castle kitchen

Boldt Castle powerhouse

When we returned from our 3½ hour boat trip and castle tour Ester climbed up on this giant chair in Clayton New York and took a nap (maybe).

Finally today:

This morning we awoke to our most drastic seasonal view change, the harvest of the corn across from our house!

Today we attended the monthly prayer luncheon with community folks in a local Mount Joy church. Sylvia Handwerk, a retired school teacher, was the speaker who enthusiastically spoke about Bible 2 School, a time release ministry held during the elementary school lunch period, where students are released from the campus for an hour to hear a Bible lesson once a week. She challenged those present to volunteer in some capacity so that more grades can be added. Currently lessons are provided for only two grades and there is a great desire and interest to add two more grades.

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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.

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."

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