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Friday, August 7, 2015
Swallowtail Butterfly
Brooksyne took this photo yesterday in our front flower garden.
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.)
Are
our daily encouragement messages a blessing to you? We ask you to
consider making a donation to Daily Encouragement Net so that we can
continue to prepare and provide this daily resource which is
accessed by believers and seekers all over the world. Daily
Encouragement Net relies solely on the generosity and financial support
of its readers and podcast listeners. See here
for more information on supporting this
ministry. Gifts are tax deductible.
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.
Text only version for printing: To make a text only version for printing (without photos or any of the supplemental materials)
1) Open the basic text editor that comes with all computers (known as wordpad, textpad, etc.) You can also use a program like Word and select paste text only.
2) Select and copy the text from the portion of the message you want to print.
3) Paste into the text pad. (The photos won't show up but you will have a brief text description of the photo which you can delete or just ignore.)
4) Format if you desire (change font, increase or decrease size, etc.)
5) Print!
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 2015 Stephen C. Weber - All Rights Reserved
Daily Encouragement Net - 495 Kraybill Church Road - Mount Joy, PA 17552 USA
<Previous Message Next Message>
Friday, August 7, 2015
Swallowtail Butterfly
Brooksyne took this photo yesterday in our front flower garden.
"Humility And Thankfulness"
Podcast not available for this message
"Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love" (Ephesians 4:2). "And be thankful" (Colossians 3:15).
Comfort is affected by both heat and humidity. Often when a weather report is given the announcer will give both the temperature and humidity. Brooksyne was listening to WDAC, our local Christian radio station, as the announcer gave a brief weather update. After giving the temperature the announcer added "and we have 75% humility." He immediately recognized his misspeak and corrected the word to "humidity", but then made a quip about the Bible saying we should be completely humble.
Just as temperature and humidity are two qualities that greatly impact the weather we consider two qualities that greatly impact our temperament; thankfulness and humility.
A great aid to humility is thankfulness which is a means of acknowledging our dependency on God and others. Yesterday was trash day in our neighborhood. When I am home and outside I try to express my appreciation to the trash men for their service which I think they need to hear.
When the truck stopped to pick up our trash I hollered out, "Thank you for your hard work, you guys do a great job!" All three smiled at me and waved, but one hollered back, "Thank you for talking to us!" It occurred to me how many essentially ignore those who do this kind of work. After all, many reason that these men are paid for their labor and, frankly, some feel that those who do such "dirty work" are beneath them in status.
However when we express thanks we are also exercising humility. Our thankfulness to God places us in the position of recognizing our dependence on God and our dependence on others who exercise gifts and skills.
The Biblical standard for humility is not 50% or 75% but 100%. Notice in the first daily Scripture text Paul writes, "Be completely humble." This is an aspiration that I suppose few of us have attained. Are any of you reading this completely humble? Actually it seems to me that anyone making such a claim would be proud of their humility thus negating being completely humble!
The apostle Peter wrote, "All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble" (1 Peter 5:5). Let us resist pride and clothe ourselves in humility, however God chooses to bring that about!
Humility and thankfulness are two qualities we can all strive for each day.
Be encouraged today,
Stephen & Brooksyne Weber
Daily prayer: Father, none of us are 100% humble since we
are clothed in these mortal, fallible bodies. But we do know that Jesus
is the model of One completely humble in His humanity though supreme in His divinity. He
did not consider equality with You, our Father, something to be grasped
but took on His personhood as a man and became obedient to death, even death on the
cross. We look to Jesus as the supreme example of humility, obedience, and sacrifice.
As we clothe ourselves in Your righteousness we will resist pride
that is ever before us. Expressing an
attitude of humility and thankfulness is the daily antidote for resisting haughtiness and ingratitude. When we
acknowledge that everything we have and all that we are is due to Your
merciful blessings we are humbled and grateful to You, the Giver of
every good and perfect gift. Amen.
Today we share several photos Brooksyne took yesterday in our flower garden.
All our garden photos today will open to a larger version if clicked.
Another view of the swallowtail butterfly enjoying the zinnias just beyond our front porch.
We don't know what kind of tree this is. A commercial grower gave it to us years ago and it has grown very well.
Petunias amidst sweet potato vine on the north side of our house.
Coleus Plant, one of Stephen's favorites since all its leaves are colorful like flower blooms!
Today's Suggested Music and Supplemental Resources
"Humble Yourself" Video Maranatha Singers
"Humble Thyself In The Sight Of The Lord" Video Maranatha Singers
Finally today:
When we were out on a chaplain visit Tuesday afternoon we passed these team horses on an Amish farm on Harvest Road north of Mount Joy. They were at the corner of the farm and seemed to be posing for us. They didn't budge though we drove up right up next to the team. Unfortunately the lighting was poor, but we felt the photo was interesting nevertheless.
Podcast not available for this message
"Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love" (Ephesians 4:2). "And be thankful" (Colossians 3:15).
Comfort is affected by both heat and humidity. Often when a weather report is given the announcer will give both the temperature and humidity. Brooksyne was listening to WDAC, our local Christian radio station, as the announcer gave a brief weather update. After giving the temperature the announcer added "and we have 75% humility." He immediately recognized his misspeak and corrected the word to "humidity", but then made a quip about the Bible saying we should be completely humble.
Just as temperature and humidity are two qualities that greatly impact the weather we consider two qualities that greatly impact our temperament; thankfulness and humility.
A great aid to humility is thankfulness which is a means of acknowledging our dependency on God and others. Yesterday was trash day in our neighborhood. When I am home and outside I try to express my appreciation to the trash men for their service which I think they need to hear.
When the truck stopped to pick up our trash I hollered out, "Thank you for your hard work, you guys do a great job!" All three smiled at me and waved, but one hollered back, "Thank you for talking to us!" It occurred to me how many essentially ignore those who do this kind of work. After all, many reason that these men are paid for their labor and, frankly, some feel that those who do such "dirty work" are beneath them in status.
However when we express thanks we are also exercising humility. Our thankfulness to God places us in the position of recognizing our dependence on God and our dependence on others who exercise gifts and skills.
The Biblical standard for humility is not 50% or 75% but 100%. Notice in the first daily Scripture text Paul writes, "Be completely humble." This is an aspiration that I suppose few of us have attained. Are any of you reading this completely humble? Actually it seems to me that anyone making such a claim would be proud of their humility thus negating being completely humble!
The apostle Peter wrote, "All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble" (1 Peter 5:5). Let us resist pride and clothe ourselves in humility, however God chooses to bring that about!
Humility and thankfulness are two qualities we can all strive for each day.
Be encouraged today,
Stephen & Brooksyne Weber
Daily prayer: Father, none of us are 100% humble since we
are clothed in these mortal, fallible bodies. But we do know that Jesus
is the model of One completely humble in His humanity though supreme in His divinity. He
did not consider equality with You, our Father, something to be grasped
but took on His personhood as a man and became obedient to death, even death on the
cross. We look to Jesus as the supreme example of humility, obedience, and sacrifice.
As we clothe ourselves in Your righteousness we will resist pride
that is ever before us. Expressing an
attitude of humility and thankfulness is the daily antidote for resisting haughtiness and ingratitude. When we
acknowledge that everything we have and all that we are is due to Your
merciful blessings we are humbled and grateful to You, the Giver of
every good and perfect gift. Amen.Today we share several photos Brooksyne took yesterday in our flower garden.
All our garden photos today will open to a larger version if clicked.
Another view of the swallowtail butterfly enjoying the zinnias just beyond our front porch.
We don't know what kind of tree this is. A commercial grower gave it to us years ago and it has grown very well.
Petunias amidst sweet potato vine on the north side of our house.
Coleus Plant, one of Stephen's favorites since all its leaves are colorful like flower blooms!
Today's Suggested Music and Supplemental Resources
"Humble Yourself" Video Maranatha Singers
"Humble Thyself In The Sight Of The Lord" Video Maranatha Singers
Finally today:
When we were out on a chaplain visit Tuesday afternoon we passed these team horses on an Amish farm on Harvest Road north of Mount Joy. They were at the corner of the farm and seemed to be posing for us. They didn't budge though we drove up right up next to the team. Unfortunately the lighting was poor, but we felt the photo was interesting nevertheless.
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.)
Are
our daily encouragement messages a blessing to you? We ask you to
consider making a donation to Daily Encouragement Net so that we can
continue to prepare and provide this daily resource which is
accessed by believers and seekers all over the world. Daily
Encouragement Net relies solely on the generosity and financial support
of its readers and podcast listeners. See here
for more information on supporting this
ministry. Gifts are tax deductible.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.
Text only version for printing: To make a text only version for printing (without photos or any of the supplemental materials)
1) Open the basic text editor that comes with all computers (known as wordpad, textpad, etc.) You can also use a program like Word and select paste text only.
2) Select and copy the text from the portion of the message you want to print.
3) Paste into the text pad. (The photos won't show up but you will have a brief text description of the photo which you can delete or just ignore.)
4) Format if you desire (change font, increase or decrease size, etc.)
5) Print!
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 2015 Stephen C. Weber - All Rights Reserved
Daily Encouragement Net - 495 Kraybill Church Road - Mount Joy, PA 17552 USA