Daily Devotional; formerly Chaplains Corner

[ampaterry]

Thank you, cutter! Every one of us is SO blessed, yet now and then we need something to shed perspective on our situation.

And our trials, like all things in our lives, have a purpose. Christians need to give comfort to those that are suffering even when - and perhaps especially when - they are themselves in affliction.

If we would be better than we are now, we must accept everything God sends us to develop and expand our spiritual life. We are so content to stay where we are that God often has to compel us to rise higher by bringing us face to face with situations that we cannot meet without much greater measures of His grace. It is as if God found us comfortably living in the swamps, and had to send a tidal wave to flood those low wetlands where we dwell to force us to move into the hills beyond. God, like the mother bird, sometimes has to tear up the comfortable, downy nest, letting us drop into empty space. There we must either learn to use an entirely new and higher method of support or sink into failure and loss. We must fly or fall to our destruction.

The Word of God addresses the fact that parents who discipline their children do so out of LOVE, and that it is the refusal to chastise them which is the sign of a lack of love for them:

Proverbs 13:24 (KJV);
"He that spareth his rod hateth his son: but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes."

And it tells us that discipline is only given to IMPROVE them while they are able to be improved on, but we must expect the child to be upset, angry, and protesting about the chastening which we give them:

Proverbs 19:18 (KJV);
"Chasten thy son while there is hope, and let not thy soul spare for his crying."

God gives us these directions for dealing with OUR children, and in so doing he also explains his own dealings with us, by making us realize that he is our father and we are his children.

May the Lord bless each one of you -

[jack404]

try explaining that to a 4 year old , oh well they understand now and that's the main thing

cheers Terry

[ampaterry]

A daunting task indeed, Jack. Possibly the most difficult one we face is explaining to a child why bad things happen to good people. Holding them close is more important than words - and the same is often true when dealing with adults.

A much lighter message today -

This morning at oh-dark-thirty, we set our clocks back an hour, bringing the end to “daylight savings time” for 2011 in most areas of the United States. Today, we discover we have three kinds of stand-alone or built-in clocks.

First, we have the simplest manual ones that require us to re-set the time manually. These do what you tell them to do, regardless of the rest of the world.

Second, we have the more intelligent kind. These have a setting which adjusts the time automatically to begin and end DST, but they are not aware of the change in the law that extended DST, so they re-set themselves on the wrong schedule. Some of these are “atomic”, meaning they synchronize themselves with the universal time signal broadcast from NIST.

Third, we have the most intelligent kind that adjust for DST according to the new schedule. Some of these are also tied to NIST, and therefore are completely 'hands off' on a permanent basis.

In our house we have all three kinds, but my internal clock is only of the first kind. It does not matter to my body what the clock on the wall says, I will rise before sun-up and desire to go to bed shortly after sundown. I will be ready to eat lunch at eleven instead of noon, and will be ready to watch Jeopardy an hour before it is broadcast.

This daylight savings time idea was originally proposed by Benjamin Franklin, who thought that firing cannons at dawn would wake people up and thereby force them to start their day earlier, go to bed earlier as a result, and therefore save candle burning hours.

I tend to agree with the wise old Native American who said: “Only the Government would think that you can cut a foot off the top of a blanket, sew it on the bottom and think you have a longer blanket"

Jesus tells us:
Luke 20:25 (KJV);
And he said unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which be Caesar's, and unto God the things which be God's.

The government decrees that the time of sunrise today is an hour earlier than it was yesterday. So be it. But the sun, created by God, remains unchanged in spite of this.

God bless you, guys!

[jack404]

dimwits are always trying to improve God's Creation

He must be splitting a gut up there watching it all ..

whats time anyway ? if i have a good nights sleep i'm up at 4-5 am if a bad night 5-6 at the latest then i'm up , makin coffee, loadin up and heading out with my thermos and rifle , gotta get them skins and pelts and pay them bills

and theres nothing the Gov can do besides shoot me that'll change that

Cheers again Terry

[reflex1]

Thanks again Terry - again I had to "borrow" and let my friends know!

Jack - good on ya!

[lonewolf204]

Amen, Thanks Terry!

[ampaterry]

Thank you guys, and I am glad you are enjoying these!

For today:

A topic which comes up fairly often is one which we really need to think about. We are all Christians, right? But what does that mean?
Virginia Stem Owens wrote:
"It doesn't make any more sense to call myself a Christian writer than it would for me to call myself a Christian carnivore or my genetic material Christian chromosomes. In fact, I am always suspicious when the word "Christian" is employed as an adjective instead of a noun. It is in such cases usually being used either to sell something or as an excuse for second-rate work, as though piety could make up for poor quality."

The Bible tells us where we got this name, Christians:
Acts 11:26 (KJV);
"And when he had found him, he brought him unto Antioch. And it came to pass, that a whole year they assembled themselves with the church, and taught much people. And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch."

But it is not some kind of magic word, like Abracadabra, the using of which will bring miracles on command! Remember the seven sons of Sciva who thought they could use it this way in casting out demons, and were instead themselves cast out:
No – but the proper use of the name is to write it on our HEARTS, not on our lips only, not around our necks in a cross necklace only, not on our wrist in a What Would Jesus Do bracelet only, not on a bumper sticker only – for although we can WITNESS in those ways, it is only by writing his name on our HEARTS that we ourselves are truly – Christians.

Phillipians 2:9-11 (KJV);
"Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."

May God bless each one of you -

[Songman]

This is perfect! In being a Christian, we share our faith through our testimony, and there is no better testimony that the way we live our lives. I am often skeptical when I see a business that incorporates 'Christian' into their business name or slogan. Not that it is anything to be ashamed of, but in too many cases it is just used as a business tool.

[ampaterry]

One of my nicest surprises came AFTER I had ordered some merchandise for the lab at work. It was a good price, and as I opened the boxes and examined it, I found it was also excellent quality. From each box, I removed the paperwork and laid it aside. When everything was unpackaged and ready to use, I went through the paperwork, and included in it was a small booklet that gave the history of the company. It told how the founder had found Jesus Christ, and started tithing on the profits of the company. Their success was such that he increased the tithe over the years until he reached the point where he lived on the tithe, and gave the other 90% into God's work.
Now THAT was a company to deal with! Unfortunately, they made mainly industrial plasticware, so I did not have a chance to deal with them again, and the intervening years have removed their name from my memory - -

For today:

Today, in the US, is Election Day. Here in Houston County TN, we have nothing to decide today, but some areas do. I remember well when I reached 21 and was allowed to vote for the first time. I was in the service at the time, and the complaint that many young people in the service had at that time was that we could fight and die for our country at 18, but we could not vote in an election to have some influence on who we fought until we were 21.

Now, the age to vote has been reduced to 18, so this inequity has been resolved. And how is this privilege being received by these new young voters? In 1972, 50% of those 18-21 registered and voted. By 2010, a non-presidential year, with the overall voter turnout at 37%, the young voter turnout was only 20% . It seems that with the end of the Vietnam War era, interest in voting among young people has waned. Yet, many nations in the world are considering lowering the age yet again, this time to 16, and some have already done so.

When I was a kid, my older brother got a drivers license when he was 14. By the time I reached 14 seven years later, the age had been raised to 16. Now, there is talk of raising it to 18 due to the much higher accident rate among younger drivers.

These two issues bring a question to my mind. Why are younger people considered to be less able to drive a car, yet more able to make decisions regarding the governing of our nation?

There is an old saying that comes from Chicago, IL: “Vote early, and vote often!” There is controversy over the exact source of that saying, but having been born and raised in IL, I assure you that it is taken to heart there in Cook County. And I will repeat it;

Vote early, so you don't get shut out by closing polls.

Vote as often as we have any election.

Too many brave people laid down their lives to obtain and preserve this privilege for any one to ignore it.

Luke 16:1-2 (KJV);
And he said also unto his disciples, There was a certain rich man, which had a steward; and the same was accused unto him that he had wasted his goods. And he called him, and said unto him, How is it that I hear this of thee? give an account of thy stewardship; for thou mayest be no longer steward.

If you do not exercise your right to vote, you could lose it!

May God bless each one of you!

[ampaterry]

There is a lot of discussion regarding God's will for us; how do we KNOW what that is?
I think about a story that Charles Spurgeon wrote many years ago concerning this. Spurgeon was asked once by a student in his Bible College what words of advice he would give to a young man just preparing to enter the ministry. Spurgeon told him to stay out of the ministry! Dig ditches, wash dishes, do ANYTHING to keep out of the pulpit! The young man was naturally shocked at such advice from the founder of the bible college he was attending! Then Spurgeon finished his advice - If, in spite of all of your best efforts, you find yourself thrust into the pulpit anyway - then you know you were called!

This advice has applied well to my own experience! I wanted to open Bethany as a church again, but never dreamed of entering the pulpit! I searched for someone to preach it, and found some willing to do so for brief periods, but every time things seemed to be settling down, something would come up to keep them from preaching it, and I found myself repeatedly being thrust into the pulpit. Since I was being forced over and over to step into the pulpit, I started studying preaching and preachers, and it is in that study that I found this story of Spurgeon's advice. I realized that this was me; I had done everything in my power to avoid it, but found myself there anyway - so I know I was called.

Every one of us has a specific plan for our lives that has been developed by God. Although he will not force you to do his will - I could have, after all, just let the church close rather than preach it - he will remove the most likely alternatives, leaving you with his way as the only one that looks right to you. The right way will probably be the hardest way, but it will be the only one left that looks right to you.

Revelation 3:20 (KJV);
"Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me."

May God bless you, guys -

[jack404]

Cheers Terry

He dont force , but He nag's well

[ampaterry]

LOL!! He does indeed, Jack!

For today:

Eve had a lump removed from her breast. Shortly after the operation, talking to her sister, she said that she found it upsetting to have been cut into, and that looking at the stitches was distressing because they left a seam that had changed the contour of her breast. Her sister said, "I know. When I had my operation I felt the same way."

But when Eve told her husband, Mark, how she felt, he said, "You can have plastic surgery to cover up the scar and restore the shape of your breast."

Eve was comforted by her sister, but she was not by Mark. Quite the contrary, he upset her more. "I'm not having any more surgery!" she protested. "I'm sorry you don't like the way it looks."

Mark was hurt and puzzled, unable to figure out what had gone wrong in that conversation.

This communication difficulty is something I have experienced on many, many occasions.

In this story, Mark assumed the role of problem solver, whereas Eve simply wanted sympathy.

I have been a problem solver my entire life, working as an industrial electrician, factory representative, and design engineer. In each of these positions, I was always respected and well paid for my ability to spot a problem and figure out how to fix it. Judy, my beloved wife of 48 years yesterday, has come to me with a problem which she wants sympathy for, and instead of giving her that sympathy, I’ve told her how to fix the problem. With enough years of this, I have begun to suppress my natural tendency to FIX everything, and just be a good listener, providing sympathy for the problem being discussed.

Now the problem is that she comes to me occasionally with something she wants fixed, and I express sympathy for the problem, and leave it at that.

Brothers, your wife is a gift from God - love her enough to work VERY hard to determine what it is she needs, beyond what she says, and provide it.

Sisters, you and your husband are one flesh, but his half is not as discerning as your half. If you tell him plainly what it is you want, he will do his best to meet that need.

The Word of God tells us:
John 13:34 (KJV);
"A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another."

May God bless you, guys -

[jack404]

Cheers Terry

and how you doin ??

[ampaterry]

I am doing good today, and get to see the surgeon this afternoon -

For today:


Today is Veterans Day. Originally, this was Armistice Day, the official end of WWI, which was then known as the end of the war to end all wars. This proved to be false, and the name of this day was changed in 1954 to Veterans day, the day to honor veterans and active members of all branches of the service.

When you meet a veteran today, active or inactive, give them a “Thank you!” for their service to our country.
There are times when this is not practical or even possible, however, due to intervening crowds or circumstances. For those times, there is a “Thank you!” that started in the Pacific Northwest of the USA and is spreading across the country. It is based upon a hand gesture devised in the 1700's in a school for the deaf in France which meant “Thank you from the bottom of my heart!”.
Place your right hand, palm in, on your heart. Now lower your hand to just above waist level with your hand flat and palm up.
Scott Truitt, the originator of this gesture, said “If you don't like the war, complain to the politicians!”
I agree. The absolute national shame that came out in the Vietnam era where our fine young people who were serving our country were demonized by college kids who, through some sleight-of-hand, turned their cowardice into a moral high-ground, was a horror I never want to see repeated.

For God and Country is a song done by the Smashing Pumpkins.
It is the title of a Dolly Parton Album.
It is a book by James Yee.
It is a feature in the American Legion magazine from February of 2010.
It is a 1943 movie starring Ronald Ragean.
It is a 1994 German movie.
It is a website, www.godandcountry.org, that seems to be one of dozens of cookie-cutter sites owned by one George H. Russell and called the Patriot Network www.patriotnetwork.org.
It is a CBN article about the actions of Seal Team six.
And it is MUCH more than just these. God and Country are intertwined together as the uppermost motives in the hearts, minds and lives of Christian Patriots. The two concepts are almost inseparable.

1 Chronicles 19:13 (KJV); Be of good courage, and let us behave ourselves valiantly for our people, and for the cities of our God: and let the LORD do that which is good in his sight.

THANK YOU to all veterans and active duty and reserve members on this forum.
May God bless each one of you as He has blessed the rest of us through you.

[reflex1]

Thanks Terry and good luck with the doc today!!!

[ampaterry]

Have you heard the story about the school district and Haley's Comet? There is a lesson here:
A school superintendent told his assistant superintendent the following: "Next Thursday morning at 10:30, Halley's Comet will appear over this area. This is an event which occurs only once every seventy-five years. Call the school principals and have them assemble their teachers and classes on their athletic fields and explain this phenomenon to them. If it rains, then cancel the day's observation and have the classes meet in the auditorium to see a film about the comet."

Ass't superintendent to school principals: "By order of the superintendent of schools, next Thursday at 10:30 Halley's Comet will appear over your athletic field. If it rains, then cancel the day's classes and report to the auditorium with your teachers and students where you will be shown films, a phenomenal event which occurs only once every seventy-five years.

Principals to teachers: "By order of the phenomenal superintendent of schools, at 10:30 next Thursday Halley's Comet will appear in the auditorium. In case of rain over the athletic field, the superintendent will give another order--something which occurs only once every seventy-five years.

Teachers to students: "Next Thursday at 10:30 the superintendent of schools will appear in our school auditorium with Halley's Comet; something which occurs once every seventy-five years. If it rains, the superintendent will cancel the comet and will order us out to our phenomenal athletic field."

Students to parents: "When it rains next Thursday at 10:30 over the school athletic field, the phenomenal seventy-five-year-old superintendent of schools will cancel all classes and appear before the school in the auditorium accompanied by Bill Haley and the Comets."

What is the lesson in this? The closer to the source, the more accurate the information. never take someone else's word for what God has to tell us in the Bible - much less what someone thinks someone says about it - always read it for yourself!

May God bless each of us with a better understanding of what he has to tell us -

[jack404]

its pretty much all there , Cheers Terry

[ampaterry]

I long for the days when street sweepers were called street sweepers, and not sanitation engineers. I would like to find a single medical specialist whose exact field title was in English instead of Latin. It is confusing! Several years ago at the VA hospital, being buried in Latin phrases and the strings of initials that the military loves so much, I asked for directions to Obstetrics - which brought quite a round of laughter from the assembled veterans in the waiting room. Obstetrics is pretty close to Osteopathy, to me. If we just called it a pregnancy clinic and a bone clinic, there would be no confusion.

Still, everyone seems to want to advance themselves by inventing more and more complicated sounding titles. And there is also the incentive for employers to pass out titles in lieu of money at review time.

Maybe you saw the "Wizard of Id" comic strip the day the King came down to check with the Royal Technicians at work on the space project. The King says, "How's the Royal Space Project progressing?" And the technician replies, "We've run into a problem. There's been a major malfunction of the primary propulsion system in the first stage vehicle." The King asks, "What does that mean?" And the technician replies, "It means the rubber band broke."

I think we were better off when we simply told it like it is, instead of attempting to guild everything in fancy language.
For our faith, we do not need volumes of commentaries. We do not need all the collections of writings from great theologians. Let’s ignore all the frills and go back to basics for just a moment of reflection:

John 3:16 (KJV);
"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."

If you don’t have that, you don’t have anything. There is no reason to debate the biblical teachings on Creation, the timing of the rapture, the meaning of the various phrases in Daniel and Revelation, on the role of the man and the role of the woman in the family, the exact teachings on tithes and offerings, the person of the Holy Spirit, or the different aspects of the Trinity. If you don’t have the basic salvation message, you are wasting your time on anything else.

May God bless each one of us with simple understanding of basic truth.

[reflex1]

And a BIG Amen to that Terry - thank you (and not ty)!

[ampaterry]

Thank you!
I appreciate your support!

A week ago Sunday we had our monthly Communion service at Bethany, and thinking about that brought this devotional:

In the Christian Reader, Priscilla Larson wrote: My brother-in-law, who is a minister, responded to a Red Cross appeal for blood donations. When he didn't come home by the time his young son expected him, the boy asked his mother, "Is Dad going around visiting all the sick people?"
His mother replied, "He's giving blood."
The boy smiled and said "But we know it's really grape juice, don't we Mom?"

Sister Larson has hit on something deep here. What is on your mind when you take communion? Are you thinking ‘it’s only grape juice’, or are you thinking about the REAL blood shed by Jesus Christ for your sins?

Paul tells us in his letter to the Corinthians:
1 Corinthians 11:20-30 (KJV);
"When ye come together therefore into one place, this is not to eat the Lord's supper. For in eating every one taketh before other his own supper: and one is hungry, and another is drunken. What? have ye not houses to eat and to drink in? or despise ye the church of God, and shame them that have not? What shall I say to you? shall I praise you in this? I praise you not.
For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread: And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me. After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me. For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do show the Lord's death till he come. Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup. For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep."

We can never be worthy to take communion, but that is not what is being addressed here. Paul does not say he who is UNWORTHY is in trouble, but he who does this UNWORTHILY. He is not addressing whether we are sinners or not, because we all know that we are all sinners and none is righteous. Paul is addressing how we partake of this ceremony, this memorial service.
Are we thinking about dinner at home on the stove?
Are we thinking about the football game?
Are we thinking "Is this Welches or Great Value?"
Are we oggling the gal in the next pew?
Any of those places us in jeopardy, because we are not doing this in a worthy manner.

We are all sinners, but we can all take part in communion in a worthy manner.
That means that, at least for the few minutes of this service, we have our hearts and our minds on NOTHING but Jesus Christ and the sacrifice he made for each of us.
For my part, the words of a favorite song often run through my mind during this service:

He paid a debt He did not owe -
I owed a debt I could not pay -
I needed someone -
To wash my sins away -

Now I sing a brand new song -
Amazing Grace! -
My Jesus paid the debt -
That I could never pay!

Thank you, Lord!!

May God bless each one of you -

[ampaterry]

Today, I want to speak to you just a bit about independent churches. Independent means that the church is not part of any established denomination like Methodist, Episcopal, Assembly of God, etc. In those churches, some board in some distant location meets and makes decisions regarding the church.

We sat under the preaching of a very good preacher in Fairbanks in the late 60's. The Presbytery required all their preachers in all churches to read a letter to their congregations which said we must acknowledge the 'morality' of those that fled to Canada to avoid the draft. This preacher had a son who was serving in Viet Nam. He read the letter, then said "It is the right of the board to write this. It is their right to require me to read it. It is my right to walk out of this church and never return.” With that, he walked down the aisle and out the door, never to be heard from again.

In Illinois we attended an Assembly of God church which the governing board of, far removed from our church, decided to close. We came to Church Sunday morning to find the doors locked, and many people’s personal possessions commandeered by that same body, which was made up of pastors of large Assembly of God churches. The furniture, etc., was divided up among them.

The only group which we need to be concerned about affiliation with is the group of Christians that make up the universal church! The only authority which we must follow is Jesus Christ!

I have found a statistic showing that 20% of the houses of worship in the United States were independent. That is a good sign that people realize denominations separate, rather than unite, believers.

1 Corinthians 1:10-13 (KJV);
"Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. For it hath been declared unto me of you, my brethren, by them which are of the house of Chloe, that there are contentions among you. Now this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ. Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you? or were ye baptized in the name of Paul?"

Paul certainly made that clear, didn't he?
We should not think of ourselves as Baptists, Catholics, Mormons,Lutherans, Presbyterians, Episcopalians, or any other such divisive label. We should each be thinking of ourselves and identifying ourselves as CHRISTIANS, not worrying about the "brand", as Jack very descriptively called all such denominational identifiers.
We follow CHRIST, not the rulers of some board somewhere.

God bless you, guys!

[cutter]

Thanks Terry! It is sad that people let greed and power take away the real meaning for what they were trying to acomplish. I ran into that problem in my local church. We lost a very good Pastor. I wish that you were in my area, I would like to hear you speak.
God Bless you Terry and always enjoy reading your post

[ampaterry]

Cutter, I appreciate those kind words -
And I, too, sure wish we lived in the same area. I would very much enjoy getting to know you.

For today:

The acorn doesn't fall far from the tree.
That is an old saying regarding how children seem to grow up to have many of the traits of their parents. We all know exceptions, of course, but it is far more likely for good moral people to come from households where the parents were moral than from homes where the parents exhibit a low moral character. In general, parents who drink to excess, abuse drugs, smoke, and treat others with little respect will raise children that have at least some of those same bad characteristics.

The fruits of the Holy Spirit are largely fruits of sustained interaction with God. Just as a child picks up traits more or less simply by dwelling in the presence of their parent, so the Christian develops tenderheartedness, compassion, humility, forgiveness, joy, and hope through the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, and by dwelling in the presence of God the Father and Jesus Christ his Son.

This is very difficult if one is living among worldly people. We all are IN this world, and must deal with it, and with the people in it.
This interaction is NOT good for our spiritual condition.
It is important, therefore, to make it a point to get together with believers on a REGULAR basis, that we may be regularly exposed to a community of serious believers.

Titus 2:1-8 (KJV);
"But speak thou the things which become sound doctrine: That the aged men be sober, grave, temperate, sound in faith, in charity, in patience. The aged women likewise, that they be in behaviour as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things; That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed. Young men likewise exhort to be sober minded. In all things showing thyself a pattern of good works: in doctrine showing uncorruptness, gravity, sincerity, Sound speech, that cannot be condemned; that he that is of the contrary part may be ashamed, having no evil thing to say of you."

What does all of that mean? Christians need regular church attendance, and the younger the Christian, the more important the fellowship with other believers!

May God bless you, guys -

[reflex1]

Very well put Terry - thank you - I borrowed this one!

[ampaterry]

This devotional is based on the writing of Oswald Chambers.

Have you noticed that Jesus did not say to His disciples: "I have had a most successful time on earth. I have addressed thousands of people and been the means of their salvation; now you go and do the same kind of thing."

No. What he did say was: "If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet, ye also ought to wash one another's feet."

We try to get out of it by washing the feet of those who are not familiar to us. We will wash the heathen's feet in Africa. We will wash the feet of those living in the inner city slums far from home. But will we consider washing the feet of our brother who lives next door? Do you consider washing the feet of your wife? Your husband? Would we consider washing the feet of the minister of our own church? Our Lord said "one another's feet", but that is not how we apply it, is it? It is so much more SANITARY to minister to those who we do not know – those who are far from us, and who we can help without actually touching them with our own hands!

The Word of God tells us of the boundless nature of the love which Christ has for us:
Ephesians 3:17-18 (KJV);
"That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height;"

And Jesus tells us that we are to exhibit that same love for our fellow believers:
John 13:34-35 (KJV);
"A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another."

And we are told that married couples are to deal with each other as Jesus deals with the Church; unbounded love on both sides!
Ephesians 5:22-23 (KJV);
"Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body."

Wash each OTHERS feet, guys -
God WILL bless you for it -