✝ Daily Encouragement (4/22/24) "Life In Our Neighborhood"

Published: Mon, 04/22/24

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

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Monday, April 22, 2024

Early yesterday morning I sat out on our front porch before heading to church and watched a procession of gray Amish buggies pass by heading to their church service being held in our neighbor's home up the street and around the bend.

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"Life In Our Neighborhood"

Message summary: We urge our readers to carefully observe your neighborhood and consider the ways you might help to keep it clean, attractive and peaceful.

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"Now in the neighborhood of that place were lands belonging to the chief man of the island, named Publius, who received us and entertained us hospitably for three days" ( Acts 28:7).

It's another beautiful spring morning here in rural Pennsylvania following a pleasant weekend of sunshine and blue skies. There is peace in our home and in our neighborhood, a welcome disconnect from so much of the unsettling news we read or hear about worldwide.

We considered this when we began to work outside early Saturday morning and observed the sights and sounds of our neighborhood.

Three doors up we heard the sounds of construction as our neighbor Jeff is building his wife a greenhouse.
Next door on one side a couple had come over to voluntarily help our elderly neighbors, Doug and Marion prune their overgrown shrubbery and spread mulch. This was their third visit and Marion told us how they brought along coffee and donuts as part of their blessing.
On the other side Matt worked on some landscaping improvements in his backyard.
Marvin mowed the strip of grass between the farm field and road across from us to keep a tidy neighborhood even though it's not his property.
An elderly man from way up the street was walking his dog and stopped to fill his already bulging plastic bag with more debris collected along the roadside. We often see him starting his walk with an empty bag and returning with a filled garbage bag.

In our neighborhood we help each other out and can always count on some help when we have a need such as borrowing a tool or calling a seasoned farmer to help release an animal trap when our dog, Roxie, got caught in it years ago. We've had neighbors bring us their surplus from their gardens such as corn, green beans, cucumbers, etc. Brooksyne often shares goodies with neighbors as well as her overflow of plants and ground coverings.

I got to thinking about the enjoyment we have living in our home for over 22 years now and part of that enjoyment is the people who live around us. A neighborhood is defined as " one living or located near another" or "a section lived in by neighbors and usually having distinguishingcharacteristics". We realize our readers live in a variety of neighborhoods which are vastly different.

Some readers live in cities which are subdivided into neighborhoods. Kansas City has nearly 240 identified neighborhoods.* Chicago, although a much larger city, has 178 official neighborhoods. I thought of this when hearing from Lisa, a reader in Chicago, and considered how vastly different her neighborhood would be from ours.

Other readers live in suburbs and sub-divisions/developments which, at least from our perspective, is more like a city. I grew up in this type of neighborhood in the Kansas City area.

Then we have those, like us, who live in rural settings where our neighbors are scattered out a bit. We live on a farm lane with an open field in front of us and behind us though we have several neighbors on each side, a row of seven homes with farmland on each side.

Neighborhoods are the most local building block of society beyond our own family and it's such a blessing to live in a good neighborhood. It's a large reason why we added onto our house rather than moving into a new neighborhood with many unknowns about those who lived there. Many of you also live in a neighborhood but perhaps you haven't stopped to think about it for awhile.

Our daily text describes a good neighborhood Paul encountered following a shipwreck: "Now in the neighborhood of that place were lands belonging to the chief man of the island, named Publius, who received us and entertained us hospitably for three days" (Acts 28:7).

Due to the shipwreck Paul and others landed on the island of Malta where he encountered "unusual kindness and welcome" (Acts 28:2) in the neighborhood of Publius. He was providentially placed in the neighborhood where he was received and provided hospitality (v.7). After a time on the island they were honored greatly and provided for, including whatever they needed, for the remainder of the trip (v.10).

I don't know what that neighborhood on Malta is like today but what an example of a great neighborhood as described in Scripture. We urge all our readers to see what you can do to make an ongoing positive contribution to your neighborhood. Publius is a good example!

Be encouraged today, Hebrews 3:13

Stephen & Brooksyne Weber

Daily prayer: Father, You bless us daily by Your multitude of provisions - the air we breathe, the blue skies, the sunshine, the rain and the clouds, the grass at our feet, our home, our families, our Christian brothers and sisters all over the world, and our neighbors beside us, across from us and up the road from us. We thank you for those who make a positive difference in our lives and we pray that we also will make a positive contribution to their lives. For those who are unfriendly or hard to get along with we pray for them, that we would not speak badly of them or avoid them but show us ways that we might influence them for the good and even be an example to them of what it is to be a good neighbor, for You tell us "Love your neighbor as yourself." That's not a simple command, but with Your help we will carry it out and spread the same kind of love we have for ourselves to those around us. Help us to do so we pray, in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Today's Suggested Music and Supplemental Resources

Today in view of not being aware of any Christian songs about neighborhood we share the musical selections from our church service at Calvary Church in Lancaster yesterday beginning with an instrumental prelude from the orchestra followed by the choir leading worship Watch on YouTube

* Neighborhoods of Kansas City, Missouri

Sunset last night from our front porch

Click on photo to enlarge

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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.

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