A
daily, Bible-based perspective of hope, encouragement and
exhortation.
Wednesday,
April
22,
2020
"Lesson
From A Sneaky
Neighbor"
![]() "But when you give to the poor and do acts of kindness, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing" (Matthew 6:3). The other day I caught a neighbor "sneaking" around our place. She had intended to leave an arrangement of tulips with an attached Scripture verse at our door as a "bless and run" form of kindness. However just as she was setting the flowers down in front of our door I pulled into the driveway and her generous gesture was fully exposed! We had a good laugh as she quickly explained what she was up to. I stepped into the house and called for Brooksyne to come down to see her surprise gift. After Brooksyne expressed her surprise and appreciation she grabbed her jacket and went for a walk with our kind neighbor as they have been doing for several years. Our neighbor friend, who would want her name to remain anonymous, felt awkward as she got caught being nice. Her embarrassment at being caught actually led into a humorous dialogue as she tried to explain herself and even apologize for being sneaky. We had a few good laughs as we talked together at a 6' distance, of course. (Brooksyne) Years ago I read a book by Elton Trueblood titled "The Humor of Christ". There may be a tendency to discount this aspect of Christ's personality but we believe He experienced and demonstrated the full range of human emotions and humor was part of that range. We had a man in our church many years ago that just couldn't accept such a view of our solemn Lord. He had come out of a very worldly background and commendably took his faith very seriously. He was quite intense and rather somber about the things of the Lord. However he became so extreme that he bristled at the notion Christ could ever use humor. But the Bible says, "There is a time to laugh" (Ecclesiastes 3:4). Years ago we shared a message titled "The Blessing Of Laughter". ![]() Perhaps Christ's humor is demonstrated in the second part of our daily text "Do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing". Now just try to envision how you would keep your left hand from knowing what your right hand is doing! Of course, the point of the message is the extreme effort needed to not seek attention for our giving. Have you ever been in a setting where fundraising is taking place and the leader makes sure he lets others know the amount on his check, then someone tops that figure, etc. It's really an uncomfortable setting when considering the words of Christ about such attention getting or "showy" giving. Brooksyne saw this frequently in her youth camp and church settings as a youth. Thankfully we have not seen this in our adult years. In the context Christ is teaching how His followers motivation for giving should be in contrast to the motivation of the religious leaders of His time, "Beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them." He called these people hypocrites. "So when you give to the poor, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be honored by men" (Matthew 6:2). ![]() The most touching acts of generosity and kindness are those given from a spirit of selflessness "so that your giving will be in secret; and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you" (Matthew 6:4). Brooksyne's friend intended to leave the tulips and Scripture verse completely anonymously, receiving of course no credit whatsoever. Unwittingly she provided a good lesson and example for all of us from Matthew 6:3! Be encouraged today, Stephen & Brooksyne Weber ![]() Years ago we shared a message titled "The Blessing Of Laughter". Today's
Suggested Music and Supplemental Resources
*
"It's All About Me" Video Sermon Spice for a
good laugh!!!
Or check
this out, "Wrong Worship" Video
"Ho
Ho Ho Hosanna" Video Came to mind in
consideration of humor! A happy song.
I
(Brooksyne) took several walks yesterday spurred on by
the beauty all around us in this spring season. I came
back with some cherry blossoms and grape hyacinths
growing wild along the road.
Our
friend Mary Ann Miller took this photo of a team
baling hay behind her house.
Another friend, Lamar
Dourte, snapped a photo of his Amish neighbor's farm at
sunrise.
Brooksyne got her first
sighting of goslings on her third walk yesterday. There
were ten in this cluster trailing after their mother all
in a neat line, but there are a number of Canada goose
and ducks still nesting so Donegal Creek will soon look
like a nursery with all the goslings in tow as they
carefully stay close to their mother. Usually the father
follows behind the ducklings and goslings and doesn't
hesitate to honk his orders, "Stay away from our
yung'uns".
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 approximately half our
time to Daily Encouragement and the other half
to our chaplaincy ministry to companies for
which we receive compensation. 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 consider making 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 ![]() 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. We 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."
© Copyright 2020 Stephen C. & Brooksyne
Weber - All Rights Reserved
Daily Encouragement Net - 495 Kraybill Church Road - Mount Joy, PA 17552 USA |