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Monday, December 12, 2016
Rural Wisconsin
Taken by my cousin Georgia
"Tamar"
Note: This week we will consider the five women mentioned in the genealogy of Christ.
Message Summary: Today we consider Tamar. Perhaps there is something in your past that really is bogging you down. Remember, God has a wonderful plan for your life and whatever may be in your background that is unusual or even sordid is not going to stop Him. Though you may struggle with fully understanding or clearly explaining how it has been used of God, it may possibly enhance Your walk with Him and witness to others!
Listen to this
message on your
audio player.
"Judah the father of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar, Perez the father of Hezron, Hezron the father of Ram" (Matthew 1:3).
Brooksyne gets a lot of comments about her name. Actually it's a hybrid name her mother came up with. She has an older sister and they were hoping for a boy next time. Her father's name was Brooklyn so they planned to name their son Brooklyn Jr. However they had a girl (for which I am sooo grateful) and Brooksyne's mom came up with Brooksyne (pronounced Brook seen'). It's been a good name and for many years she has assisted new acquaintances with the pronunciation by saying, "like the scene of a brook…now turn it around - Brook-scene." She still gets it mispronounced a lot though. She's got a good name both in regard to being interesting and distinct, but much more importantly in her character. (This part written by Stephen.)
Today we want to consider the first of five women mentioned in Matthew's genealogy of Christ. It's not a familiar name though it is still used today. The story is found in Genesis 38 and is surely one of the most sordid accounts in the Biblical record. It's a story with a theme that would be in keeping with the expression, "Truth is stranger than fiction."
I won't go into
the unpleasant details here but merely sum it up by pointing out that
Judah and his sons acted in a very wicked way. Tamar's pregnancy
with Perez and Zerah is the result of a deceptive prostitution alliance
with her father-in-law, Judah. It may be disturbing enough that
such an account is way back in the genealogical record of Jesus Christ,
but Matthew even calls it to our attention in the New Testament!
What should we make of it? One of the outstanding evidences of the reliability of the Bible is the unvarnished record of its main characters, both men and women. Judah is one of the most familiar ancestors of Christ and in the book of Revelation Christ is identified as the "Lion of the tribe of Judah" (5:5). Yet Moses was inspired in Genesis to record this story (taking an entire chapter to do so) and Matthew is inspired to call our attention to it as he opens his gospel.
However there is another thought that comes to mind when pondering this matter. God uses even the most unusual and evil situations to advance His cause. No attempt is made in the record to justify Judah or his son's actions. They are forthrightly presented as acting wickedly.
However that does not stop the fact that Perez and Zerah were conceived and born as a result of that wicked act and Perez is in the genealogical line of Christ. Surely God's ways are at times puzzling to us. The life of faith and obedience often is, but we are called to keep pressing on by faith.
Perhaps there is something in your past that really is bogging you down. Remember, God has a wonderful plan for your life and whatever may be in your background that is unusual or even sordid is not going to stop Him. Though you may struggle with fully understanding or clearly explaining how it has been used of God, it may possibly enhance Your walk with Him and witness to others!
Be encouraged today,
Stephen & Brooksyne Weber
Daily
prayer:
Father, we're so thankful that there is nothing in
our past or future that can separate us from Your love or daily
provision for our lives. You provide the necessary tools to overcome
the difficulties we encounter from earliest childhood to present
day. Though the enemy seeks to disrupt our lives, pollute our
minds and sear our conscience we will not be defeated by evil.
Instead we overcome evil with the steadfast goodness You instill in our
hearts as we hold dearly to the light of Your Word. We say "no"
to ungodliness and worldly passion as we eagerly wait for our great
hope in the second coming of Your Son, Jesus, who will unite us with
You, our Father, in heaven. Keep us faithful and ever
hopeful. Amen.
Here's the account of Tamar: Genesis 38
Tamar was also the name of a daughter of David and sister to Absalom, who ironically was violated sexually. 2 Samuel 13
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.
To donate 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 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
Today's Suggested Music and Supplemental Resources
"O Come, O Come Emmanuel" Video Selah
"I Heard The Bells On Christmas Day" Video Casting Crowns We heard Casting Crowns sing this song in a concert several years ago at the Giant Center in Hershey.
"When Love Was Born" Video Mark Schultz
Each year we share several online resources that we have used over the years and that may be a blessing to families and churches during this Christmas season.
"In Remembrance of Me" pdf This is a passion-filled Scripture reading for two adults. Brooksyne and I have used this reading with great receptivity during Christmas Eve services over the years. We suggest, if possible, a musical background as the message is read. It is also a great lead-in to a Communion service. It should be thoroughly practiced and read with great feeling. Here's a great Communion Hymn for Christmas (Video)
"When Christ Was Born" pdf This is an adaptation to the tune of "How Great Thou Art". It's a great song to sing as a congregation since most are familiar with and love the tune.
Responsive Christmas Scripture readings for church or family:
John 1:1-18 pdf
"O Come Let Us Adore Him" pdf
My First Christmas In Heaven This is a blessed reminder for all who lost a loved one this year. This is the poem that Brooksyne read and wrote about in this message.
Christmas Knowledge Test
We have also posted two Christmas carol quizzes here (scroll down).
Send a message to Stephen & Brooksyne
Rural Wisconsin
Taken by my cousin Georgia
"Tamar"
Note: This week we will consider the five women mentioned in the genealogy of Christ.
Message Summary: Today we consider Tamar. Perhaps there is something in your past that really is bogging you down. Remember, God has a wonderful plan for your life and whatever may be in your background that is unusual or even sordid is not going to stop Him. Though you may struggle with fully understanding or clearly explaining how it has been used of God, it may possibly enhance Your walk with Him and witness to others!
Listen to this
message on your
audio player."Judah the father of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar, Perez the father of Hezron, Hezron the father of Ram" (Matthew 1:3).
Brooksyne gets a lot of comments about her name. Actually it's a hybrid name her mother came up with. She has an older sister and they were hoping for a boy next time. Her father's name was Brooklyn so they planned to name their son Brooklyn Jr. However they had a girl (for which I am sooo grateful) and Brooksyne's mom came up with Brooksyne (pronounced Brook seen'). It's been a good name and for many years she has assisted new acquaintances with the pronunciation by saying, "like the scene of a brook…now turn it around - Brook-scene." She still gets it mispronounced a lot though. She's got a good name both in regard to being interesting and distinct, but much more importantly in her character. (This part written by Stephen.)
Today we want to consider the first of five women mentioned in Matthew's genealogy of Christ. It's not a familiar name though it is still used today. The story is found in Genesis 38 and is surely one of the most sordid accounts in the Biblical record. It's a story with a theme that would be in keeping with the expression, "Truth is stranger than fiction."
What should we make of it? One of the outstanding evidences of the reliability of the Bible is the unvarnished record of its main characters, both men and women. Judah is one of the most familiar ancestors of Christ and in the book of Revelation Christ is identified as the "Lion of the tribe of Judah" (5:5). Yet Moses was inspired in Genesis to record this story (taking an entire chapter to do so) and Matthew is inspired to call our attention to it as he opens his gospel.
However there is another thought that comes to mind when pondering this matter. God uses even the most unusual and evil situations to advance His cause. No attempt is made in the record to justify Judah or his son's actions. They are forthrightly presented as acting wickedly.
However that does not stop the fact that Perez and Zerah were conceived and born as a result of that wicked act and Perez is in the genealogical line of Christ. Surely God's ways are at times puzzling to us. The life of faith and obedience often is, but we are called to keep pressing on by faith.
Perhaps there is something in your past that really is bogging you down. Remember, God has a wonderful plan for your life and whatever may be in your background that is unusual or even sordid is not going to stop Him. Though you may struggle with fully understanding or clearly explaining how it has been used of God, it may possibly enhance Your walk with Him and witness to others!
Be encouraged today,
Stephen & Brooksyne Weber
Daily
prayer:
Father, we're so thankful that there is nothing in
our past or future that can separate us from Your love or daily
provision for our lives. You provide the necessary tools to overcome
the difficulties we encounter from earliest childhood to present
day. Though the enemy seeks to disrupt our lives, pollute our
minds and sear our conscience we will not be defeated by evil.
Instead we overcome evil with the steadfast goodness You instill in our
hearts as we hold dearly to the light of Your Word. We say "no"
to ungodliness and worldly passion as we eagerly wait for our great
hope in the second coming of Your Son, Jesus, who will unite us with
You, our Father, in heaven. Keep us faithful and ever
hopeful. Amen.Here's the account of Tamar: Genesis 38
Tamar was also the name of a daughter of David and sister to Absalom, who ironically was violated sexually. 2 Samuel 13
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.
To donate 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 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
Today's Suggested Music and Supplemental Resources
"O Come, O Come Emmanuel" Video Selah
"I Heard The Bells On Christmas Day" Video Casting Crowns We heard Casting Crowns sing this song in a concert several years ago at the Giant Center in Hershey.
"When Love Was Born" Video Mark Schultz
Resources
for Christmas Celebrations
(We will leave these resources posted below our daily messages through Christmas)
Each year we share several online resources that we have used over the years and that may be a blessing to families and churches during this Christmas season.
"In Remembrance of Me" pdf This is a passion-filled Scripture reading for two adults. Brooksyne and I have used this reading with great receptivity during Christmas Eve services over the years. We suggest, if possible, a musical background as the message is read. It is also a great lead-in to a Communion service. It should be thoroughly practiced and read with great feeling. Here's a great Communion Hymn for Christmas (Video)
"When Christ Was Born" pdf This is an adaptation to the tune of "How Great Thou Art". It's a great song to sing as a congregation since most are familiar with and love the tune.
Responsive Christmas Scripture readings for church or family:
John 1:1-18 pdf
"O Come Let Us Adore Him" pdf
My First Christmas In Heaven This is a blessed reminder for all who lost a loved one this year. This is the poem that Brooksyne read and wrote about in this message.
Christmas Knowledge Test
We have also posted two Christmas carol quizzes here (scroll down).
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."
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