Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. – James 4:8

In the quiet early morning, as the sun’s first rays peak over the horizon, we may sense the presence of God. But as the day wears on and the demands of everyday life bear down upon us, we may become so wrapped up in earthly concerns that we forget to praise the Creator.

God is everywhere we have ever been and everywhere we will ever be. When we turn to Him often, we are blessed by His presence. But, if we ignore God’s presence or rebel against it altogether, the world in which we live soon becomes a spiritual wasteland.

Since God is everywhere, we are free to sense His presence whenever we take the time to quiet our souls and turn our prayers to Him. But sometimes, amid the incessant demands of everyday life, we turn our thoughts far from God; when we do, we suffer.

Are you tired, discouraged or fearful? Be comforted because God is with you. Are you confused? Listen to the quiet voice of your Heavenly Father. Talk with God and seek His guidance. Are you celebrating a great victory? Thank God and praise Him. He is the Giver of all things good. In whatever condition you find yourself—whether you are happy or sad, victorious or vanquished, troubled or triumphant—celebrate God’s presence. And be comforted in the knowledge that God is not just near. He is here.

Claim all of God’s promises in the Bible. Your sins, your worries, your life—you may cast them all on Him. – Corrie ten Boom

The next time you hear a baby laugh or see an ocean wave, take note. Pause and listen as his Majesty whispers ever so gently, “I’m here.” – Max Lucado

Blessings,

Chaplin Rob

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. – 2 Timothy 3:16-17.

Your past sometimes gets in the way of your vision for the future, doesn’t it? If you allow yourself to dwell on the areas where you’ve failed or on losses and disappointments that hurt you, you might find it difficult to look forward to the future God has for you.

King David is a man who dreamed of building a magnificent temple. When he commissioned his son Solomon to do the work he said, “Be strong and courageous, and do the work. Don’t be afraid or discouraged by the size of the task, for the Lord God, my God is with you.” (1 Chronicles 28:20) Many years later the apostle Paul said, “We who believe are carefully joined together, becoming a holy temple for the Lord.” (Ephesians 2:21)

Just as David dreamed of building a magnificent temple, you can dare to dream of building a new life. God has the blueprint already drawn up: just follow it by faith. You may be afraid that you will start and fail, but in the words of David, “be strong and courageous, and do the work.” As someone once said: Beginning is half done. In other words, take the first step, it’s the toughest.

What dreams have you been quietly suppressing? Perhaps you have dreamed of becoming a missionary? Maybe you have dreams of adopting. Or dreams of starting a new career. Maybe you’ve been dreaming about building deep friendships or making an impact on your community. Don’t be frightened. When God begins a good work, He is faithful to complete it.

It’s a shallow life that doesn’t give a person a few scars. – Garrison Keillor

The more we let God take us over, the more truly ourselves we become – because He made us. He invented us. He invented all the different people that you and I were intended to be. – C.S. Lewis

Blessings,

Chaplain Rob

But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. – Romans 6:22

My life has been littered with mistakes—my own mistakes and the mistakes of others. And in every one of those incidents, God came along, picked up the litter, and put it back together in a way that transformed it into a monument for faith. I can look back and say, “It was at that very point, in the midst of that adversity, that this part of my character began to grow and my relationship with God really deepened.”

It’s our nature to seek quick relief from pain. But Helen Keller—a woman well acquainted with adversity—said, “Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, vision cleared, ambition inspired, and success achieved.”

Let God transform and redeem the suffering in your life.

God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pain: it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world. – C.S. Lewis

Chaplain Rob

I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which He has called you, the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints. – Ephesians 1:18

Are you going through difficult times? If it does nothing else for you and to you, it will open the eyes of your heart. Walking through troubled waters is one way that God has of shifting your vision. When your heart breaks, there’s an avenue for God’s compassion to trickle in and envelop your heart with His. You’ll begin to look at others through the eyes of your heart and not through the eyes of quick judgment, harsh conclusions, or self-interest.

Your trip to the grocery store, to church, to Wal-Mart or Starbucks will take on a new hue. You’ll look at people and wonder what their story is; what their childhood was like; what caused them to be so happy or unhappy, why they seem this way or that.

Their job titles will be less important, their type of car won’t impress you, what kind of clothes they wear, or whether they’re wrinkled or stylish won’t matter anymore. You’re more likely to understand that they are in some pain and trying to run from it or trying to hide. Or, you’ll see their smile and demeanor and wonder if they’re truly happy or masking some inner, silent suffering or anger.

Now, you won’t get answers to all that you wonder about people and their stories, but your heart will be softened. You’ll find that you have a level of compassion that most people don’t have. If your heart is broken, let His compassion trickle in to your heart through the brokenness. Let Him open the eyes of your heart today.

A kind gesture can reach a wound that only compassion can heal. – Steve Maraboli

What value has compassion that does not take its object in its arms. – Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Blessings,

Chaplain Rob

I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you. – Matthew 17:20

A wise sixteenth-century Christian once said we can only love God to the extent we know him. Think about it. Can you surrender to God if you don’t know his character? Can you trust him with your life, here and hereafter, if you’re not sure he’s willing and able to care for you?

That takes faith. And the Bible says faith ‘is the confident assurance that what we hope for is going to happen. It’s the evidence of things we cannot yet see.’ And the Bible says that faith is grounded in our very understanding of God: ‘Anyone who wants to come to [God], must believe that there is a God and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him.’ Before you can really seek God, you’ve got to truly believe that your search will lead to something, somewhere, and most importantly, to Someone worth looking for.

If you don’t have faith, ask God for it. If the faith you have is not as strong as you think it ought to be, ask God to help you strengthen your faith. This might seem like putting the cart before the horse, but the Bible speaks of faith as a gift rather than something you obtain by your own efforts.

I fear one day I’ll meet God, he’ll sneeze, and I won’t know what to say. – Ronnie Shakes

Blessings for a wonderful week!

Chaplin Rob

“Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him. – Luke 22:42-3

Have you ever heard someone say, “If you had your act together, you wouldn’t be struggling with knowing or following God’s will.” Don’t believe it! It’s a common, mistaken belief, and Jesus’ own actions teach that this isn’t so.

Jesus’ final moments before his crucifixion were spent in prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane. There he prayed three times. Each prayer was a step in letting go of things that would hold him back so that he could take hold of God’s will. The first prayer was an outburst of grief. Jesus shuddered at the chill of death’s dark shadow. Prayer seemed his only refuge.

The second prayer was one of release. Jesus was faced with two choices: If he saved his life, he would lose us. But if he lost his life, he would save us. Christ desired to do the will of his Father, and so he accepted his calling to die for us.

The third prayer strengthened his resolve. It was like the tempering of steel, in which the refined metal is reheated a second time to increase its strength. As a soldier readies himself for battle or a patient prepares himself for a difficult surgery, so Jesus gathered strength from his Father for the task and left all his anxiety with him.

If Jesus can struggle, then I guess it’s o.k. if I do, too.

Pray often; for prayer is a shield to the soul, a sacrifice to God, and a scourge for Satan. – John Bunyan

Chaplin Rob

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. – Hebrews 12:1

Our culture has become enamored with instant results and quick fixes. E-mail, on-line banking, fast food, instant mashed potatoes, hair implants, liposuction, and countless options like them have eroded our capacity for patience and perseverance. So when it comes to spiritual growth, we tend to expect instant transforma¬tion rather than viewing our growth in Christ as a long-term—and potentially costly—endeavor.

Yet I’ve learned an important truth that’s been verified time and again by the testimony of Scripture: It’s not how you start that’s important; it’s how you finish.

Finishing well in the Christian life requires purposeful planning and a clear view of reality on your part. It won’t happen by accident. On the other hand, expecting instant results and quick fixes will result in disappointment, and ultimately, discouragement.

The world is moving so fast these days that a man who says it can’t be done is generally interrupted by someone doing it. – Harry Emerson Fosdick

Chaplin Rob