Daily Devotional; formerly Chaplains Corner

[ampaterry]

Thank you for the support, guys - it bolsters me first thing in the morning!!

For today, an incident I read about some time ago:

Eric Barker, a missionary from Great Britain, spent over 50 years in Portugal preaching the Gospel, often under adverse conditions. During World War II, the situation became so critical that he was advised to send his wife and eight children to England for safety. His sister and her three children were also evacuated on the same ship. Although his beloved relatives were forced to leave, he remained behind to carry on the work. On the Lord's Day following their departure, Pastor Barker stood before his congregation and said, "I've just received word that all my family have arrived safely home!" He then proceeded with the service as usual. Later, the full meaning of his words became known to his people. He had been handed a wire just before the meeting informing him that a submarine had torpedoed the ship and everyone on board had drowned. He knew that because all were believers they had reached a more "desired haven." Although overwhelmed with grief, he managed by the grace of God to live above the circumstances and to stay on the firing line for Jesus. The knowledge that his family was enjoying the bliss of Heaven comforted his heart.
All of us have suffered losses, although few as great and sudden as Brother Barker’s. The way we handle such losses is not so much a reflection of how much we will miss the loved ones as it is of how much we love and trust Jesus Christ to care for them where we cannot see for now.

Guys, I pray that we will all pass such tests - -

2 Corinthians 5:1(TLB);
“For we know that when this tent we live in now is taken down—when we die and leave these bodies—we will have wonderful new bodies in heaven, homes that will be ours forevermore, made for us by God himself and not by human hands.”

Philippians 3:20(Gods Word Translation);
“We, however, are citizens of heaven. We look forward to the Lord Jesus Christ coming from heaven as our Savior.”

[jack404]

Amen

[jericho]

I pray that I will have such peace in me through any sufferings I encounter.

[BlackEagle]

Amen. Thanks, Terry.

[skullfr]

Amen brother.God has gotten me through tough times and blesses me almost daily.He gives me strength,compassion for my brother and patience to deal with with others.May God be with you and yours.

[ampaterry]

That many 'amen's' is dangerous, guys -
If this were LIVE, I would preach right through the noon mealtime - -
LOL!
Seriously, THANK YOU!!

For today:

When I was in the service, the stories were told of how the military gained the support of the local people in different areas where bases were located. It was not unusual in a military town for the civilian population to become antagonistic against the servicemen at times, blaming them for many things which they were really not responsible for. At times like these, the base paymaster would start paying all servicemen in silver dollars instead of paper ones. Over a period of a few weeks, silver dollars are filling cash-registers all over town. Every transaction imaginable began to turn up some silver replacing paper. Soon, the town people would realize what a huge part of their local economy was dependent, directly or indirectly, upon the military. Attitudes were changed quickly.

We have the opportunity, as Christians, to make a similar impact on the world around us - the world that is in so many ways opposed to us.

Matthew 5:13-16 (KJV);
“Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men. Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.”

Everyone around us should know, on a daily basis, what a positive influence Christians are upon our community! They should all know that we are a voice for good, an influence for reason, a moral high-ground beyond reproach. It is only in this way the attacks upon Christians that are becoming more and more common have any chance of ending. When someone attacks a Christian, that Christians neighbors should be the first ones to speak up for him!

May God bless each one of you -

[jack404]

oh that it were so ,

cheers Terry

[skullfr]

Yes sir we need to walk the walk instead of talk.

[jack404]

too many teams that cant play together

the "brand issue" .....

main stream churches now days are always pointing the finger while selling out God

( gays islam etc etc etc)

and the members doing likewise

and heaven help anyone who says we are all Christians , sheeesh

best answer i've had to that was " Really and what would YOU know about Christianity? "

that from the minister ( anglican pro gay pro islam anti Christian VOTE GREENS!! plastered on the church billboard )

[skullfr]

I feel the best thing is to join a church where God is felt and and thier works they do for community speaks volumes.The others will pay for thier misdeeds and will live in shame for eternity.

[jericho]

THIS LITTLE LIGHT OF MINE

Chorus:
This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine.
This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine.
This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine.
Every day, every day, every day, every way,
Gonna let my little light shine.
Light that shines is the light of love,
Hides the darkness from above,
Shines on me and it shines on you,
Shows you what the power of love can do.
Shine my light both bright and clear,
Shine my light both far and near,
In every dark corner that I find,
Let my little light shine.
(Chorus)
Sunday gave me the gift of love,
Monday peace came from above,
Tuesday told me to have more faith,
Wednesday gave me a little more grace,
Thursday told me to watch and pray,
Friday told me just what to say and
Saturday gave me the power divine
Just to let my little light shine.
(Chorus twice)
Shine, shine, shine, shine, shine.


More lyrics: http://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/s/seekers/#share

[BlackEagle]

God promised Abraham 3 times in Genesis: Gen 22:18 and other passages:

And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.

And in Isaiah 49:6 He says, He says,

“It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant To raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved ones of Israel; I will also make You a light of the nations So that My salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”

Thanks again, Terry;
from the "Amen corner".

[ampaterry]

The Amen Corner is growing -
Might have to add a couple more pews over there - -

THANK YOU, guys!

For today, I will start with an article written in the CPA bulletin about personnel directors around the country who were asked for the most unusual things that happened during job interviews. These were some of the responses:

* Man wore a jogging suit to an interview for a job as financial VP.
* Applicant offered to have the company's logo tattooed on his arm.
* Applicant interrupted interview to telephone his analyst to talk over the answer to a question.
* Not only did applicant ignore No Smoking sign, but twice lit the wrong end of filter-tip cigarettes.
* Balding candidate excused himself abruptly and returned a few minutes later wearing a hairpiece.
* Job applicant challenged the interviewer to arm wrestle.

Notice the lengths some people go to in order to be BELIEVED! Sometimes, the lengths and nervousness are so great they have the opposite effect, and they blow any chance of being believed. Here is a fellow willing to tattoo the company logo on his arm as an indication of loyalty!

And some folks don't care in the least. I remember an applicant for a drafting position at work who was qualified and was hired, but when the results from his drug test came in, the boss called him in to his office and told him he had failed. But he was a GOOD drafter, so the boss told him that we know some prescription meds can effect a drug test, so he was going to take it again a month later. The boss asked him if he understood what he was saying (wink wink), and he said he did. When he took the test the next month, he failed it again.

Matthew 5:33-37 (NLT);
“Again, you have heard that the law of Moses says, ‘Do not break your vows; you must carry out the vows you have made to the Lord.’ But I say, don’t make any vows! If you say, ‘By heaven!’ it is a sacred vow because heaven is God’s throne. And if you say, ‘By the earth!’ it is a sacred vow because the earth is his footstool. And don’t swear, ‘By Jerusalem!’ for Jerusalem is the city of the great King. Don’t even swear, ‘By my head!’ for you can’t turn one hair white or black. Just say a simple, ‘Yes, I will,’ or ‘No, I won’t.’ Your word is enough. To strengthen your promise with a vow shows that something is wrong.”

May we all live our lives in such a way that, outside of legal requirements, we are not asked to promise, take an oath, or pinkie swear to anything because everyone we deal with knows that our word is true - -

[jack404]

Terry , i read you every day , most days i dont comment , i'm not a big commenter in church , i prefer to listen to others and weigh , funny that way .. but at times yes

more times here than most places ..

Cheers to you eh

and Thank You

[skullfr]

Although I am new I really love this post.Brings me a lil comfort.Thank and keep up the good work.Here is one of my favorite songs.A lil sumthin for the amen crowd.

http://youtu.be/mj3I0YKplnI

[jericho]

How true; society has changed in the past 4 - 5 decades that to take sombody's word usually isn't good enough. Also, due to deceit of satan, people want to back up their word with -- vows, breaking one's word is all to commonplace nowadays.
Whatever happened to looking someone in the eyes and giving your word backed up with a handshake. Trusting in our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ to guide and protect his flock.

[BlackEagle]

"Let your yea be yea and your nay be nay" has been one of my standards for decades. A simple yes or no should be all the word I need. If I say I'll do something I'll do my best to do it.

Thanks again, Terry.

[ampaterry]

Thank you for that support, guys!!

Today is another recognized day. Today is the start of Ramadan for the Muslims. Like all Muslim dates, it moves earlier by 11 or 12 days each year, so falls throughout the year due to the Muslim calendar being based on the moon instead of the sun. This makes sense, since Islam can be traced back to the moon worship of ancient Arabia at least as far back as 2,000 BC, and the symbol of the moon-God was the crescent moon presently found on all Muslim mosques. The ancient moon god was Hubal, also called Al-ilah, later shortened to Allah.
Ramadan is said to be a time of inner reflection, devotion to God, and self-control. It is also a time of fasting. The daily period of fasting starts at the breaking of dawn and ends at the setting of the sun. In between -- that is, during the daylight hours -- Muslims totally abstain from food, drink, smoking, and marital sex. Note that only MARITAL sex is forbidden during the daylight hours; the other types of allowed sex are not mentioned, so during this holy month they can have sex with their wives at night and with slaves and prostitutes during the daytime.
Sheikh Maher Hammoud, a prominent Sunni cleric in Sidon in south Lebanon, says that Ramadan is perceived by all Muslims as "the month of jihad." He then addressed MODERATE muslims, and said occupation should be met with resistance. "So in Iraq, shooting a US soldier on Iraqi soil might be seen as jihad," he says, "but shooting an American worker, businessman, or journalist - anything other than military - is not jihad. For the most part, I agree with that."
So we civilians are safe from moderate Muslims during Ramadan.
For the most part.

God (Jehovah, YHVH, Yahweh, you know, the REAL God) mentions the worship of the moon:
Deuteronomy 4:14 & 19a (KJV);
"And the LORD commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and judgments, that ye might do them in the land whither ye go over to possess it.
And lest thou lift up thine eyes unto heaven, and when thou seest the sun, and the moon, and the stars, even all the host of heaven, shouldest be driven to worship them, and serve them . . . . "

I could develop this theme, but I resist that urge and just leave this right there.

God bless you, guys!

[BlackEagle]

Psalm 121 was our favorite travelling Psalm. We would sing it as we started out on a journey.

Verses 6-7 jumped to mind from your thoughts today...
121 I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help.
2 My help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth.
3 He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth thee will not slumber.
4 Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.
5 The Lord is thy keeper: the Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand.
6 The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night.
7 The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul.
8 The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore.

Thanks again, Terry.

[ampaterry]

A letter from a newspaper advice column some years ago:

Dear Ann Landers:
"Please come home early." This was the most unreasonable request ever made by my wife of almost 40 years.
She didn't make this request often. It came mostly on Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays, but it seemed that I always had so many things to do that in spite of her gentle urging, I rarely came home early.
I don't want to give the impression that I was never at home. I was at home a lot. We rarely did anything out of the ordinary. We enjoyed the kids and the grandchildren. We listened to music, read the paper, and had meals together. Sometimes we would just talk about how the day had gone.
Now I know why she asked me so often to "Please come home early." She wasn't just lonely, she was lonely for me. When she passed away a short time ago, I learned firsthand what loneliness is all about.
I have a supportive family and many good friends. I'm free now to go places and do things, but I'm lonesome. Lonesome for her.
Now that she's gone, I've found the time to "come home early," but there is nobody to come home to. There is nobody to do those simple little things with, such as watching the evening news, listening to music, and reading the paper. And nobody cares how my day went.
If I should get a call from the good Lord to "Please come home early," I won't fight it.

Lonesome in K.C.

The Word of God tells us to not miss out on the wonderful companionship of our mate -
Proverbs 5:18-19 (KJV);
Let thy fountain be blessed: and rejoice with the wife of thy youth. Let her be as the loving hind and pleasant roe; let her breasts satisfy thee at all times; and be thou ravished always with her love.

Don’t miss chances to be with anyone you love – your time with them may end anytime, and you will regret every missed opportunity.

[ampaterry]

Today is the 19th annual celebration of Parents Day. Bill Clinton signed the resolution into law that designated the fourth Sunday of each July as Parents Day, beginning in 1994.
A few days ago, I had a message on the importance of the marriage bond, and the responsibilities one has to their spouse. I have thought on it a lot, and I simply cannot decide whether one has a greater responsibility to their spouse or to their child.
On the one hand, you chose your spouse, and swore before God to be true to them, making you two into one flesh:
Mark 10:8-9 (KJV);
“And they twain shall be one flesh: so then they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.”

On the other hand, your child is born of the flesh of this union. Your blood and the blood of your spouse, genetically different from each other, has been united and flows in the veins of this child, and is spoken of as a reward to you from God:
Psalms 127:3 (KJV);
“Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.”

I will grant you, there are times in the raising of a child – especially in the teenaged years – when it seems they are more a curse than a blessing, and the direction of their origin is somewhat lower than Heaven. Thankfully, though, these times pass, and the child that thought you were completely ignorant when they were sixteen is surprised by how much smarter you have become when they reach thirty.

Raise them well, teach them the truth of God, prepare them for life, and your reward will be the time when they choose a spouse and leave you to join them, as Christ said in the previous verse to the above:
Mark 10:7 (KJV);
“For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and cleave to his wife;”

They have not deserted you; they have graduated into the next phase of their life, the one you spent years preparing them for. Do the best job of this which you are capable of.

May God bless each one of you -

[BlackEagle]

Well said, Terry;
I'm enjoying some time off with my wife as we are visiting our daughter, who has graduated into building her own family with her husband and our grand daughter.

Psalm 127 describes children as God's gift, and it also looks ahead to what you described as them graduating to their own families as we parents send them out like an archer shoots his arrows...As a mighty archer, he hits his target with the arrows, so he can be unashamed when talking with adversaries.

As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth. Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate.

Once again, Terry, you have hit on one of my favorite Psalms.

Thanks, and Amen.

[ampaterry]

Today, a bit more about relationships -

Openness is essentially the willingness to grow, a distaste for ruts, eagerly standing on tiptoe for a better view of what tomorrow brings. A man once bought a new radio, brought it home, placed it on the refrigerator, plugged it in, turned it to WSM in Nashville, and then pulled all the knobs off! He had already tuned in all he ever wanted or expected to hear. Some marriages are "rutted" and rather dreary because either or both partners have yielded to the tyranny of the inevitable: "What has been will still be." Stay open to newness. Stay open to change. In Engineering, we call this ‘thinking outside the box’, which means NEVER be restricted by what has BEEN done, but look at what MIGHT be done.

Ecclesiastes 9:9 (TLB);
“Live happily with the woman you love through the fleeting days of life, for the wife God gives you is your best reward down here for all your earthly toil.”

1 Peter 3:7 (TLB);
“You husbands must be careful of your wives, being thoughtful of their needs and honoring them as the weaker sex. Remember that you and your wife are partners in receiving God’s blessings, and if you don’t treat her as you should, your prayers will not get ready answers.”

These are GREAT passages for getting along with your spouse, and should be followed. This idea is also true, however, in ANY relationship. It is easy to get into a rut with a friend, co-worker, family member, in such a way that the relationship never develops into the true friendship it could, if we would only be OPEN to new ideas. Listening to WSM is FINE – but don’t remove the knobs from the radio – because sometime you might find that a bit of KDF or WTN is nice! A bit of Classical, easy listening, even hard rock, is a pleasant change, and may add a whole new dimension to your relationship. Who knows – you may discover that your old fishing buddy also likes to play golf, or bowls, or is a movie buff – and here you have always restricted your conversation to fishing!

May God bless each one of you -

[jericho]

I sought out my wife this morning, gave her an extra long hug and kiss; I also let her know how much I appreicate everything she means to me.
Thanks.

[skullfr]

great piece Terry