Daily Devotional; formerly Chaplains Corner

[ampaterry]

That is very generous of you, Jack, and THANK YOU!!

[Python]

Originally Posted by ampaterry

Therefore, it is necessary for you to obey, not only because you're afraid of God's anger but also because of your own conscience.
May God bless each and every one of you -

The only time that we are to disobey mans laws are when mans laws contradict the laws of God. God honors His word above His name, and "obedience" above sacrifice.

[ampaterry]

Right on, Python -
Render to Caesar that which is Caesars, and to God that which is God's.

And when those two are in conflict, screw Caesar.

Not quite KJV, but the meaning is right I believe -

[jack404]

Originally Posted by ampaterry

Right on, Python -
Render to Caesar that which is Caesars, and to God that which is God's.

And when those two are in conflict, screw Caesar.

Not quite KJV, but the meaning is right I believe -

thats how i see it , obedience to the state is one thing , if the state is corrupt and Godless like now ..

amazing how many folks read that as obey the state NO MATTER WHAT ..

its all there, why cant folks see??

[Python]

Originally Posted by jack404

thats how i see it , obedience to the state is one thing , if the state is corrupt and Godless like now ..

amazing how many folks read that as obey the state NO MATTER WHAT ..

its all there, why cant folks see??

A lot of people see only what they want to see.

[ampaterry]

Good morning, Guys!
A different perspective this morning, partly taken from Marriage Matters by Keith Krell.

Directly or indirectly, subtly or not so subtly, we have the conviction that singles are unfinished business. We say in groups and in private conversations, "Aren't you married yet?"
"What's a nice girl like you doing unmarried?"
"What you need is a good wife."
"Found anybody to date yet?"
"I'm praying the Lord will lead you to a good guy."
"It's too bad he's not married."
Parents say that; relatives say that. Every family get-together brings comments like those. Books and articles are written from a Christian viewpoint that say, "If you will only commit your life to Christ, God will give you a marriage partner." Christ didn’t say that. He said he will lead you to a life of meaning and purpose and fulfillment. He never said he would give you marriage.
We need to accept the legitimacy of singleness. Simple mathematics says there are more women than men in this world, and there always will be. We need to accept it because there are some people whose circumstances involve singleness, and they have no opportunity to change. Others prefer not to change. We need to accept the legitimacy of singleness primarily because the Bible does. If we do not know that, we have not read the Bible as carefully as we should have.

Paul wrote to the Corinthians:
1 Corinthians 7:1-2 (KJV);
"Now concerning the things whereof ye wrote unto me: It is good for a man not to touch a woman. Nevertheless, to avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband."

I Corinthians 7:6-8 (KJV);
"But I speak this by permission, and not of commandment. For I would that all men were even as I myself. But every man hath his proper gift of God, one after this manner, and another after that. I say therefore to the unmarried and widows, It is good for them if they abide even as I."

I Corinthians 7:27 (GWT);
"Do you have a wife? Don't seek a divorce. Are you divorced from your wife? Don't look for another one."

May God bless you in whatever state you are in, guys -

[Python]

Yep, sometimes better to have loved and lost, far better!

[Brisk44]

There are quite a few jobs that GOD has for people that requires them to remain single and unattached.

[Python]

Originally Posted by Brisk44

There are quite a few jobs that GOD has for people that requires them to remain single and unattached.

Such as?

[jack404]

some folks are great soldiers , till they have kids , that i've seen a few times , folks think too much sometimes and that can get you hurt ..

do your stuff and retire to a cushy posting and have a mob is best for some thats for sure , must be other cases too out there , my experience is limited ..

[ampaterry]

Yesterday, I spoke of the fact that marriage is simply not for everyone on this planet, nor even for all Christians. The majority, however, do find the marriage partnership to be a wonderful relationship.
I read a story about a young woman named Julie who met a young man, Mark, while they were working on a ranch in Colorado. After Julie came home, Mark decided to pursue the relationship and came to visit her. They went to her church together, and the pastor, while greeting visitors from the pulpit, welcomed the young man as "Julie's future husband, Mark."
Embarrassed, Julie leaned over and whispered, "I'm sorry, Mark."
Mark whispered back, "Why?"
She replied, "Because, you've never asked me to marry you."
He said, "Will you?"
She said, "Yes," and they were engaged.
They were married in that same church.
Now, the question is - did the minister make a mistake, and it only turned out to be true due to pure chance? Or was the pastor prompted by the Holy Spirit to introduce Mark this way, to give impetus to the marriage? Or, did the Pastor, through a Word of Wisdom, KNOW that Julie and Mark were going to get married?

In my case, there is no doubt whatsoever in my mind that my marriage to Judy is what God had planned all along. Without her, I would have been of no use to him whatsoever.

The Word of God speaks of marriage frequently:
Genesis 2:24 (GWT);
"That is why a man will leave his father and mother and will be united with his wife, and they will become one flesh."

Mark 10:9 (KJV);
"What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder."

Hebrews 13:4 (NCV);
"Marriage should be honored by everyone, and husband and wife should keep their marriage pure. God will judge as guilty those who take part in sexual sins."

And again, may God richly bless each one of you in whatever state you are in.

[ampaterry]

Today is Epiphany. Originally, this holiday was celebrated January 6th, but it has been moved to Sunday in the US so the date is not fixed.

Epiphany is the celebration of the revelation of Jesus Christ to the gentiles. It has been tied to the Magi seeing Jesus, Jesus' baptism, his first miracle at the Cana wedding, all of which supposedly happened January 6th.

I don't pay much attention to traditions; if I don't find it in scripture, I simply do not attach any Christian importance to it. I doubt the wise men arrived at the stable twelve days after Christ was born. Considering the country they had to go through and the distance they had to travel, I am pretty sure it took longer than just a couple of weeks.
Add to that the fact that when the king wished to make sure he killed Jesus following his conversation with the wise men, he had all children under 3 years of age killed. If it was only a few days after Jesus birth, he would have no need to kill children up to three years old. In Matthews account of their arrival at the place of Jesus, it says they entered the house. A house is not a stable -

How should we celebrate this holiday in keeping with scripture? Read Romans chapter 11. For clarity, here is GW translation of part of it.
Romans 11:25-31 (GW);
Brothers and sisters, I want you to understand this mystery so that you won't become arrogant. The minds of some Israelites have become closed until all of God's non-Jewish people are included. In this way Israel as a whole will be saved, as Scripture says, “The Savior will come from Zion. He will remove godlessness from Jacob. My promise to them will be fulfilled when I take away their sins.” The Good News made the Jewish people enemies because of you. But by God's choice they are loved because of their ancestors. God never changes his mind when he gives gifts or when he calls someone. In the past, you disobeyed God. But now God has been merciful to you because of the disobedience of the Jewish people. In the same way, the Jewish people have also disobeyed so that God may be merciful to them as he was to you.

Today, let us be thankful to God that the Jewish people rejected Christ so that he came to save you – and me. This is the TRUE epiphany! And let us thank God that the Jewish people, his chosen, will be saved as well!

May God bless each one of you -

[BlackEagle]

Thanks, Terry;
It reminded me of something I observed a while ago:
The reason Jeuss was born to live among us was to die on the Cross to take the penalty for our sins on Himself. (With His stripes we are healed.) When He died "the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom," Mark 15:38.
That curtain was what separated the public area of the temple from the Holy of Holies, and it was very thick, heavy duty material. This area was where the High Priest went to meet with God once a year. It was so sacred that nobody was allowed in except the High priest. A rope was tied around his ankle to drag him out in case of emergency. When Christ died, that curtain was torn from top to bottom.
This says to me that it was God who tore it--from top to bottom, not man tearing it from bottom to top. The holy of holies was now open to public view and public access. That says to me that God was opening up the way for man to come directly into His presence, eliminating the need for high priests to come between God and man--all men, Jews and Gentiles both.
Maybe this is more of an Easter note, but Christmas looks forward to Easter.

[ampaterry]

I agree completely, BlackEagle - that is exactly how I have interpreted the tearing of the curtain as well. We have direct access to God!

For today, I will talk a bit about a second recognition for yesterday: the feast of the Baptism of the Lord. This is the day when the celebration is held in the Catholic Church for the event of Jesus being baptized in the river Jordan by John the Baptist. Once celebrated as part of the Epiphany, the feast was instituted as a separate one by Pope Pious XII in 1955, and the day was established as the first Sunday after January 6th by Pope John Paul VI in 1969.

As protestants, most of us do not celebrate this day with any particular ceremonies, but I believe there is something important for us to recognize here: Jesus Christ set such importance on the ceremony of Baptism that he, God incarnate, subjected himself to it.

Just think about that for a minute.

Try to imagine the necessity for God to walk the aisle in a church. Try to comprehend God confessing Jesus as his savior. Imagine God feeling he really should take Communion. Can you picture God feeling he really should pay his tithe?

Of all the things which we as Christians are supposed to do, there is only this ONE which was of such importance that God himself felt he should subject himself to it. In light of that, what should we do about it? What should OUR attitude be towards baptism?

We should be baptized.

Every one of us, without exception, should follow the example that Jesus set for us and be baptized.

We don't have a baptistry at Bethany Church – we are just a plain and simple church that is VERY old. But we have had many baptism ceremonies! We all gather down on the bank of Yellow Creek, and I take the candidate out in the flowing water of that stream just as John the Baptist did in the river Jordan. I question them on their salvation, then pronounce that I am baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The candidate is lowered into the water, symbolic of Christ being put into the grave after his crucifixion. Then I raise the candidate from the water, symbolic of Jesus rising from the dead. They do not come out of the water with all desire for sin removed. They do not come out pure and clean. They come out wet. But they come out obedient to what Jesus has told us to do.

May God bless each one of you -

[Popgunner]

Good morning Terry & thanks as always for you thoughts.
We've been talking recently at our church (Mormon) about Christ's sacrifice & payment for our sins. I think Baptism as he showed us is important & that our willingness to follow him & be obedient is the important thing. I hate getting caught up doing the math on whatever good works we may or may not get done in this life. I think it's more of a willingness & just being as good as we can be. In our church we call it "being anxiously engaged".

[ampaterry]

Popgunner, your church follows that, too.
I have NEVER met an LDS member that was not VERY engaged in the things of God.

[ampaterry]

God’s relationship with the Jewish people is often spoken of as the ‘old’ or the ‘first’ covenant.
His relationship with Christians is spoken of as the ‘new’ or ‘second’ covenant.
Actually, neither of these is correct, as God has made several covenants, not just two.

Let’s have a quiz regarding several covenants, and see how many you know. I think you will find this is considerably easier than the other quizzes I have had!



1. The covenant after the Flood was made not only between God and man, but also between God and the animals and the earth. What did God give as the sign of this covenant?


2. In God's covenant with Abraham, what ceremonial rite was made mandatory for all Abraham's male descendants?


3. In the covenant between God and Israel at Sinai, the agreement was broken almost immediately afterward by the Israelites. What did they do that was an infringement of the covenant?


4. According to Jeremiah's vision, where would the new covenant between God and man be written?


5. In the New Testament, a new covenant is instituted by Jesus. What does he use to symbolize this new covenant?


Answers below








1. A rainbow (Genesis 9:13)

2. Circumcision (Genesis 17:9-14)

3. They built and worshiped a graven image, the golden calf (Exodus 32)

4. On men's hearts (Jeremiah 31:33)

5. Wine, which symbolizes the blood of sacrifice (Mark 14:24)

I hope you enjoyed that!

May God bless each one of you -

[ampaterry]

What is the process that brings a generous person into the state of being a miser? Do they just wake up some morning and say “Enough of this charity stuff – from now on, I am living for myself!”

That is not the case at all; like many sins that man can descend into, the process is slow and gradual.

We all know someone who has suffered from a stroke. This is usually caused by the accumulation of fat deposits in the arteries that feed blood to the brain. Most people attempt to stay on a low cholesterol diet in order to prevent these deposits from accumulating. Eating one serving of bacon or sausage will not kill you, but if you continue to eat fat foods on a regular basis, these accumulations can increase to the point that you will have medical problems from them.

It is like the accumulation of silt in the bed of a river. As the stream comes down from the land, it brings with it sand and earth and deposits much of this in it's own bed, so that by degrees, unless the effort is made to keep it dredged out properly, it will block itself up and leave no water depth sufficient for boats to travel in. By daily deposit it imperceptibly creates a bar which is dangerous to navigation.

Many people, when they begin to accumulate wealth, commence at the same moment to ruin their own soul, and the more they acquire, the more they block up the desire for charity, which is necessary for a truly deep spiritual life. Instead of doing more for God they do less. The more they save the more they want, and the more they want of this world the less they care for the world to come.

While wealth itself is not a sin, the Word of God does address the dangers of riches;
1 Timothy 6:17-19 (KJV);
"Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy; That they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate; Laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life."

May God bless each of you with abundance, and with the desire to bless others through it.

[BlackEagle]

Thanks, Terry;

I enjoyed the quiz.

I like the way Proverbs 30 says it:
7 Two things I ask of you;
deny them not to me before I die:
8 Remove far from me falsehood and lying;
give me neither poverty nor riches;
feed me with the food that is needful for me,
9 lest I be full and deny you
and say, “Who is the LORD?”
or lest I be poor and steal
and profane the name of my God.
The Israelites learned this in the wilderness with the manna: they were to collect one day's worth, except on "Friday" when they were to collect enough for Friday and their Sabbath. If they tried to collect too much, and hoarded it, it went bad and smelled up the place.
There are lots of other examples in the Bible of people who accumulated wealth and forgot God, and warnings against doing just that.

[ampaterry]

I'm glad you enjoyed it, BlackEagle - and I appreciate the support!

Today, a story I have heard in half a dozen forms:

Two shopkeepers were bitter rivals. Their stores were directly across the street from each other, and they would spend each day keeping track of each other's business. If one got a customer, he would smile in triumph at his rival.

One night a genie appeared to one of the shopkeepers in a dream and said, "I will give you three wishes. Whatever you ask for, though - your competitor will receive twice as much. Would you be rich? You can be very rich, but he will be twice as wealthy. Do you wish to live a long and healthy life? You can, but his life will be longer and healthier. What is your desire?"

The shopkeeper said "make me handsome", and the genie did so, but informed him that his competitor was now twice as handsome as he.

The shopkeeper said "make my business very prosperous", and the genie did so, but informed him that his competitor was now twice as prosperous.

The shopkeeper said "now send two thugs to catch me on my way home tonight, and beat me half to death."

This old story is very close to reality in many cases. How many people are so concerned with getting ahead of someone else that they completely fail to enjoy their own lives and accomplishments?

One sign of jealousy is when it's easier to weep with those who weep than it is to rejoice with those who rejoice.

Saul displayed jealousy to the point of hatred:
1 Samuel 18:8 (KJV);
"And Saul was very wroth, and the saying displeased him; and he said, They have ascribed unto David ten thousands, and to me they have ascribed but thousands: and what can he have more but the kingdom?"

But we are told to love our neighbor, not hate him:
Leviticus 19:17 (KJV);
"Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart: thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbour, and not suffer sin upon him."

1 John 2:9 (KJV);
"He that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until now."

May God bless each one of us with a generous nature that overwhelmes our natural jealousy.

[ampaterry]

Today is Stephen Foster Memorial Day. This song writer of over one hundred and fifty years ago had a tremendous influence on how black people were looked at in America. He should be considered one of the first to work for an end to prejudice in our country.

During my lifetime, I have seen the Civil Rights movement come to full fruition, and seen the legal means put into place to ensure that Prejudice, whenever and wherever it raises it's ugly head, will be dealt with by the justice system. Stephen Foster started this battle, and only today is it reaching it's final victory.

But the battle is not won yet. A quick and cursory search of the internet will turn up a long list of White Supremacist sites where a group of people are ranting and raving against blacks, and talking about joining local groups that “know how to get things done”.

Things like this are truly disgusting to me – but I must admit that they are not shocking. I live in the boondox of Tennessee, and I am sad to say that prejudice is alive and well in this area.

Am I claiming that I am above prejudice?

No, I am not.

When our citizens are attacked and killed in incident after incident, and the perpetrators are young Muslim men, I feel it behooves me to learn more about the Muslim faith. When I read the Koran and Hadith and learn that killing the 'infidels' (that's all non-Muslims) is part of their doctrine as written by their prophet Muhammad, I feel perfectly justified in dealing very carefully with Muslims.

But in my own defense, I am not prejudiced against people of Mid-Eastern lineage, but rather against Muslims of ANY ancestry. Considering their history, practices and teachings, is that actually prejudice?

Remember these words of Jesus;

John 7:24 (KJV);
Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment.

I believe this is what I am doing. I care not one whit what color a persons skin is, nor the slope of their eyes, nor the color of their hair. But I am vitally concerned with the content of their heart.

May God bless each one of you -

[pipeman525]

I fully agree with your opinion on Muslims. The Koran is a very strange and contradicting book. It says somewhere to respect Jews and Christians because of our common father Abraham. Then it says to kill us. If we are worshiping the same God of Abraham then how can we be infidels?

Pray for me guys as I am heading to Phoenix next week on a job. I know God has his hand in this and has something for me to do there but leaving home and family is always unsettling.

[BlackEagle]

Thanks again, Terry;
The advisory is spot on.

Originally Posted by pipeman525

Pray for me guys as I am heading to Phoenix next week on a job. I know God has his hand in this and has something for me to do there but leaving home and family is always unsettling.

Praying for you, Pipeman.

[ampaterry]

Thank you for the support, guys!

Heavenly Father, we come before you this morning thanking you for the job you have for our brother here in Phoenix.
We ask, Lord, that you would put a hedge around him on the trip, that he will arrive without problems of any kind.
We ask that this job would be beneficial to him, and that he would be beneficial to this employer as well.
We ask that you would watch over him there, and over his family here, and keep them all safe.

And we ask these things in the name of Jesus the Christ, the omnipotent.

[ampaterry]

In Genesis, we are told that God created everything, and that it was all "very good".

The question is often raised about such things as sand fleas, wood ticks, rattlesnakes, bacteria, and viruses. How could these things be called "very good" when they are all so damaging to many animals as well as to man?

The answer to this conundrum is found in Genesis as well. God directed Adam and Eve to stay away from one tree, that it was forbidden to them. Satan tempted Eve, and she disobeyed God, followed by Adam who also disobeyed. As part of the curse for this disobedience, God caused the introduction of troubles into the lives of man. Living things began to consume each other rather than just plants. I believe it is then that bacteria and viruses became harmful to all living things. All the things which we cannot understand why God created can be traced to the fall from grace in the garden, for it is here that pain and death entered into the world.

There is another reason for these obviously bad things, though, which was brought out by a young person at a Christian camp during a discussion period. One of the counselors was leading a discussion on the purpose God had for everything He created. They found many good reasons for clouds and trees and rocks and rivers and animals and just about everything else in nature. Finally, one of the children said, "If God had a good purpose for everything, then why did He create poison ivy?"

The following silence was broken by another child who said "The reason God made poison ivy is because He wanted us to know there are certain things we should keep our cotton-pickin' hands off of."

True.

If we had kept our cotton pickin hands off of the forbidden fruit, we wouldn't be in the mess we are in!

Psalm 19:1 (KJV);
"The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament showeth his handywork."

May God bless each one of you -