Daily Devotional; formerly Chaplains Corner

[BlackEagle]

Thanks again, Terry.

[ampaterry]

Thank you, guys -

For today:

The Edge Of Adventure said a few words about that old TV show ‘Cheers’. The neighborhood bar is a counterfeit of the fellowship Christ wants to give his church. The bar is an imitation dispensing liquor instead of grace, escape rather than reality, but it is permissive, it is accepting and it is an inclusive fellowship. It is unshockable. It is democratic.
You can tell people secrets and they usually don't tell others or even want to. The bar flourishes not because most people are alcoholics, but because God has put into the human heart, the desire to know and be known, to love and be loved. ‘You want to go – where everybody knows – your name’ as the ‘Cheers’ theme song says.

The Word of God tells us about the REAL fellowship of Christ:

Acts 2:42-47 (KJV);
“And they continued stedfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers. And fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles. And all that believed were together, and had all things common; And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need. And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart, Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.”

1 Peter 1:22 (KJV);“Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently”

Come to church Sunday! You KNOW you desire fellowship, and the bars are closed on Sunday, so come to church and find the REAL thing.

[BlackEagle]

And the fellowship we have as Christians here on earth is a pecursor of the fellowship we will have in Heaven.

Big Amen, Terry.

[skullfr]

I do miss the last one I was a member at.I still havent found one like it.All I find is me centered churches.I know God has a place for me to go and enjoy great fellowship and able to work for the Lord.You know you hear about the mansions and stuff but all I want is to have just a small lil spot where I can hear the Word of God from Himself.I use to drive a church bus fore I lost my leg.Man I miss those days.I missed a few services and worked on the old bus on my time off,but those were some of the greatest times of my life bringing them so they could hear the Word.Thanks for that Terry

[jack404]

Fellowship is a funny thing , very different folks coming together with a common goal and wish ..

Heres's one service we are starting up again

Fridays , outside the Mosque ( GLT HQ is in the glass building opposite , handy eh! brought two gays back to the fold of humanity last year , we'll try for more this year , we only do it spring summer sadly ) the bacon and egg free BBQ is coming back .. Feed the poor !

[ampaterry]

Black Eagle, you sure are right!
Skullfr, God WILL show you where he wants you to be - no doubt about it.
Jack, GOOD WORK!!


For today:

One of Rabbi Ben Jochai's scholars once asked him, "Why did not the Lord furnish enough manna to Israel for a year all at one time?"

The teacher said, "I will answer you with a parable. Once there was a king who had a son to whom he gave a yearly allowance, paying him the entire sum on the fixed date. It soon happened that the day on which the allowance was due was the only day of the year when the father ever saw his son. So the king changed his plan and gave his son day by day that which was sufficient for the day; and then the son visited his father every morning. How he needed his father's unbroken love, companionship, wisdom and giving! Thus God dealt with Israel and deals with us."

Psalms 68:19 (KJV);“Blessed be the Lord, who daily loadeth us with benefits, even the God of our salvation - Selah”

Proverbs 8:34-35(KJV);“Blessed is the man that heareth me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at the posts of my doors. For whoso findeth me findeth life, and shall obtain favour of the LORD.”

Lamentation 3:22-25(KJV);
“It is of the LORD’S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness. The LORD is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him. The LORD is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him.”

How often do we ask God for something, and only receive partial what we asked for! Have you asked for a HEALING, but instead received a lessening of the problem, but it still persisted? How often have you asked God to deal with a situation, and instead he gives you the strength to continue in it yourself? At those times, remember that this could be God’s way of assuring that you keep in touch with him on a DAILY – or oftener - basis!

Speak to your Father at LEAST once a day – and attend a worship service at LEAST once a week!

May God bless each one of you -

[skullfr]

That is so true.I have had 3 major surgeries in the past year.I would pray beforehand and just asked to watch over me and guide the hands of the surgeans.Like you said he took care of me and gave me strength to go through it and He let see another beautiful day.Sometimes I feel people ask for the material stuff too much but God has always shown me the way and provided oppurtunities and gave me the strength to ruck up and soldier on.I feel the most important prayer is to ask for forgiveness and strength to act like He wants us to live.We all fall short on His expectations and need to ask Him to guide us down the righteous path.We recieve blessings daily but some are just too self centered and never understand.Kinda like the new obozo thing.You didnt do it-God did that.Thanks Terry and The Lord for giving me oppurtunity this morning to reflect and see where I need to head today and everyday.

On a positive note.When my sister picked me up in Houston monday we had a long talk.I was telling her about some programs I had been involved in to help the needy and she is a greek orthodox and wanted her church to be more involved in community service.God found an oppurtunity and it gave her some good ideas on the way to do something positive for our needy.

[skullfr]

I was on facebook and one of my friends posted this and it seemed so fitting for the message today

[BlackEagle]

In Matthew 6 Jesus teaches us to pray that God would "give us this day our daily bread" (as well as our daily forgiveness).

Paul's thorn in the flesh kept him coming back to God, depending on God.
2 Cor 12...

Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. ” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Thanks again, Terry.

[BlackEagle]

Skullfr, this might be a place to start...
http://www.sermonaudio.com/main.asp

I realise there is no way listening to mp3's can take the place of fellowship with fellow Christians, but it might be a "place holder" until you can find a new church home.

Just trying to be helpful...I know your plight. Finding a new church home takes some adjustment. It seems like nothing can ever replace what you came from. Keep praying, and keep exploring; God will bring you to the right family.

[skullfr]

I use a app on facebook called holy bible and it gives me daily qoutes ,prayers and messages.It aint the same but God's still hanging with me.Still aint nothing like the GOOD BOOK

[jericho]

Thanks Terry.

Skullfr - I pray for forgiveness and strength as well. In addition, I pray for protection from attacks and guidance of my words/thoughts & actions.

God Bless you Terry, Skullfr and BlackEagle. May he Bless this sight and all who visit.

[ampaterry]

For today, an adaptation of a something told by Kenneth Filkins:

A man fell into a pit and couldn't get himself out.
A Subjective person came along and said: "I feel for you, down there."
An Objective person came along and said: "It's logical that someone would fall into that pit."
A Christian Scientist came along: "You only think you are in a pit."
A Pharasee said: "Only bad people fall into a pit."
A Mathematician calculated how he fell into the pit.
A News Reporter wanted the exclusive story on his fall into the pit.
A Fundamentalist said: "You deserve your pit."
Confucious said; "If you had listened to me, you wouldn’t be in that pit."
Buddha said: "Your pit is only a state of mind."
A Realist said: "That's a pit."
A Scientist calculated the force required (kg.) to raise him out of the pit.
A Geologist told him to appreciate the rock strata in the pit.
An Evolutionist said: "You are a rejected mutant destined to be removed from the evolutionary cycle." In other words, he is going to die in the pit so that he cannot produce any "pit-falling offspring."
The County Inspector asked if he had a permit to have a pit.
A Professor gave him a lecture on The Elementary Principles of the Pit.
An Evasive person came along and avoided the subject of the pit.
A Self-Pitying person said: "You should have seen the pit I fell into!"
A Charismatic said: "Just confess that you're not in a pit."
An Optimist said: "Things could be worse."
A Pessimist said: "Things will get worse!!"
Jesus, seeing the man, took him by the hand and lifted him out of the pit.

Psalm 40:1-2 (KJV);
“I waited patiently for the LORD; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry. He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings.”

May God bless you, guys!

[skullfr]

That is so true.I recently heard something that was really profound for me personally.It goes like this,"When faced with stumbling blocks,turn them into stepping stones"I like this pic of the Armour of God

[BlackEagle]

I like that, Terry. I'm going to pass it on.
Thanks.

[ampaterry]

Thank you, guys!

Skullfr, that IS a neat pic!

For today, I thought about a testamonial given by an evangelist some years ago. In it, he described his mother as being love personified. As a boy he found her sitting at the table with an old tramp one day. Apparently she had gone shopping, met the tramp along the way, and invited him home for a warm meal. During the conversation the tramp said, "I wish there were more people like you in the world." Whereupon his mother replied, "Oh, there are. But you must look for them." The old man simply shook his head, saying. "But, lady, I didn't need to look for you. You looked for me." When that mother reflected her Christian kindness toward the tramp she did something more than simply offer him welfare. It was a compassion that went out of its way to love the unlovely.

Matthew 15:30 (KJV);
“And great multitudes came unto him, having with them those that were lame, blind, dumb, maimed, and many others, and cast them down at Jesus’ feet; and he healed them:”

Luke 4:18 (KJV);
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,”

Luke 19:10 (KJV);
“For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.”

And that's the story of our Savior's life, death and resurrection. He came looking for us in the sick, the maimed, the lame, the bruised, the broken hearted, the wretched wanderer, the poor and forgotten, the prisoner, and the lonely rich. It is here that he finds those that need him most, that seek him without knowing what it is they seek. It is here that he found me. Has he found you? He wants to, you know. He seeks you constantly; he only requires that you receive him.

May God bless you, guys -

[skullfr]

That was great.I so look forward to the messages I recieve here.Reminds me I need to not only help provide mortal comfort but comfort to the soul of my brother.I get fired up about the evil in the world and lose sight of what I really need to do.I know God will guide me and pray I follow but sometimes I just want to smash the evil doers.We as Christians are slowly getting smaller in numbers as Satan spews his lies to the masses.Thanks for reminding me to be more humble in my dealings with man.

[jericho]

The lady in the story sounds like my wife. She works with homeless women and children at a shelter. After that, she has befriendsed a number of the homeless living in hiding in our suburban county.

[skullfr]

Seems like that was a message for me today from the Lord.I have heard and seen things today along this line and it must be God teaching me humility.A good friend posted this on facebook and I thought you may like it.God does have many ways to speak to us if you listen with an open heart.I have always been classed as white trash.The cajuns were considered that and then being a backwoods reneck didnt help.When I came home I built a chopper and then fell into the scooter trash category.When I got into management I had to cut my hair(19 inch braided ponytail)and clean up my appearence.I got involved in the mud truck scene and spent my free time with the good ole boys.Alot of folk are quick to laugh but these folk will get out of bed at 2am and spend hours getting a bud out of a mudhole.I know I been there.When ready to fight my fellow bikers would back me without hesitation.People need to learn to look at the heart instead of the outside.They look at the homeless and look down thier nose.This could be them.Anyone can be in this situation especially with the economy today.Thanks Terry for being Gods messenger.

[ampaterry]

Thank you, guys! Skullfr, that is a great image!

For today:

When H. M. Stanley went to Africa in 1871 to find and report on David Livingstone, he spent several months in the missionary's company, carefully observing the man and his work. Livingstone never spoke to Stanley about spiritual matters, but Livingstone's loving and patient compassion for the African people was beyond Stanley's comprehension. He could not understand how the missionary could have such love for and patience with the backward, pagan people among whom he had so long ministered. Livingstone literally spent himself in untiring service for those whom he had no reason to love except for Christ's sake. Stanley wrote in his journal, "When I saw that unwearied patience, that unflagging zeal, and those enlightened sons of Africa, I became a Christian at his side, though he never spoke to me one word."

What does this tell us about – us? It tells us that the most effective witness we can give is to live each day according to the teachings of Jesus Christ. It tells us that people will not be converted according to the eloquence of our words, nor by the power of our persuasive arguments, nor by the might of our powerful testimony! It tells us that people will be converted by the eloquence of our DEEDS, and the power of our righteous living, and the might of our love for God and Man.

Matthew 5:16 (KJV);
“Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.”

Colossians 3:12-14 (NRSV);
“As God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. Bear with one another and, if anyone has a complaint against another, forgive each other; just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.”

May God richly bless you, guys!

[skullfr]

Amen to that.We need to be examples of Gods love and compassion and provide comfort to the soul.

[jericho]

That ought to be our wakening prayer each morning.

[sub-moa]

I heard a story a few years ago that I will never forget, and if I may, I would like to share it with those of you that may not have heard it.
There was a young man that had recently moved into a new town and though he was tired of moving furniture when Sunday came his mind was on Church. So he arose early, and having nothing else to wear, put on his best blue jeans and T-shirt then he took off walking to find a service to attend.
He had walked for some time but finally found a very stately well kept Church at the edge of town. He could already here the pastor speaking but he walked in quietly and peered around at the inside and saw a completely full gallery of people all dressed in expensive suits and beautiful dresses. In an instant every eye was on him. He felt very out of place but his desire for a Sunday sermon was stronger than his fear. As he slowly walked up the center isle looking left and right for an empty spot to sit, he could feel the stares from the well dressed mature congregation and he heard whispers, no doubt remarking about his modest attire.
When he reached the front pews and still found no empty seat, he stood for a moment and then to everyone’s surprise he sat down in the center isle, right in the floor. Well he heard a collective gasp, and immediately two Deacons started up front towards the young man. Halfway up they were met by a third Deacon, a giant man, that everyone new as Ben who whispered in a rough voice “I’ll handle this” and waved the others off. The entire room got quiet, waiting for Deacon Ben to “handle it.” As he reached where the young man was sitting he leaned down and placed one large hand on the young man’s shoulder and whispered something to him. The man looked up and nodded yes. Then to everyone’s amazement Deacon Ben sat down next to the young man, in the floor. The Pastor was quiet for a few more moments and then spoke.
“Well I’m at a loss. I had an hour long sermon prepared that none of you would remember tomorrow, and now we have witnessed a sermon that none of us will ever forget.”

[Krogen]

Colossians 3:12-14! Ding! Ding! Ding! Thanks for today's message, Terry. I needed to read that one. I return to work next Monday after some time off. One of the guys on the team is, "a challenge." I really haven't been looking forward to dealing with him again. No need for the details here, but I can get quite frustrated with him. This passage in Colossians is spot on. Now, if only I can adhere to the directive.

[ampaterry]

Guys, THANK YOU for the support here!
Submoa, that is a great story -
The BEST sermons are often without words at all -
Krogen, we all can work on that one, at times.

This is another recognized day. Today, the Jewish people observe Tisha Be'Av. Numbers 13 describes Moses sending spies into the land which the Lord had promised. Numbers 14 describes the rebellion of the people, fearing the inhabitants of this new land. The Lord punished them by having them wander one year in the wilderness for each of the 40 days the spies had investigated the land he had sent them to, long enough for those rebellious ones to die and not see the promised land. The day on which the people rebelled was the 9th of Av. Today.

In 586 BC the first temple in Jerusalem was destroyed. In 780 AD the destruction of the second temple in Jerusalem which began on the 17th of Tamuz was completed. Both were destroyed on the 9th of Av. Today.

In 132 AD the Jewish revolt led by Bar Kokhba was crushed by the Romans, killing over 100,000 Jews. This was on the 9th of Av. Today.

In 133 AD, the Roman commander Turnus Rufus plowed the site of the Temple and the surrounding area. This was on the 9th of Av. Today.

The Jewish people are in their greatest time of sorrow right now. It began on 17th Tamuz and comes to a peak today. This is a fast day; they begin fasting at sundown yesterday, and continue until dark tonight – about 25 hours. In addition to the prohibitions against eating or drinking, they observe prohibitions against washing or bathing, applying creams or oils, wearing leather shoes, or having marital relations. Unlike their Muslim neighbors, this means abstaining from sex altogether. In addition, mourning customs similar to those applicable to the shiva period immediately following the death of a close relative are traditionally followed for at least part of the day, including sitting on low stools, refraining from work, and not greeting others.
In Israel, all restaurants and places of entertainment closed yesterday at sunset, and remain closed today.

Let us pray for our Jewish brothers and sisters today, asking God to relieve their sorrow and bless them in a mighty way as their persecution continues by all of their neighbors.

May God bless each of you -