Daily devotion for August 19th
Time After Time
But as soon as they were at rest, they again did what was evil in your sight. Then you abandoned them to the hand of their enemies so that they ruled over them. And when they cried out to you again, you heard from heaven, and in your compassion you delivered them time after time.

Nehemiah 9:28
What a marvelous picture of the patience of God! He lets us taste the results of our evil. He gets our attention sometimes by letting disaster strike. But it is only in order that we might hear what He is saying and be delivered. He warns us in order to keep us free.

One evening the president of the Gay People's Union of a university was invited to come and speak to a church's group of young people on what the Bible says about homosexuality. The group gave him the opportunity to defend the position that the Bible endorses homosexuality as an alternate lifestyle. Although this man was the president of his university's debating club, he struggled as he tried to present his case. He went all through the Bible trying to prove his cause, but he floundered and could not get anything together.

The group leader made an agreement with him that when he finished, one of the church's pastors would speak on the same subject. The pastor graciously opened the Scriptures and pointed out that when God forbids something it is not because He wants to limit us or narrow our lives. It is because He is protecting us from something that we cannot handle, something so devastating it will ruin us. He demonstrated from the Word how homosexuality destroys human beings and turns them into something God never intended them to be. Eventually those embracing a homosexual lifestyle would be locked into pain, hurt, misery, loneliness, and death.

Out of that episode came opportunity for members of this church to reach out to those who were struggling with homosexual tendencies. A great number of these people were delivered by the mercy and grace of God. That is what this passage describes--the tough love of God, who will not let ruin overtake us without adequate warning.

The closing paragraph, beginning with verse 32, connects the history of earlier generations with the present generation. Here we find a change of pronouns from they and them to we and our as the Israelites begin to look at their own generation.

This is where we find ourselves today. Our cities are torn with violence and strife of such intensity that people hardly dare to go outside their homes. The only recovery is to do as these people did--confess our wrongdoing to God and praise Him for His compassionate mercy.

Notice how specific the Israelites are. You have acted faithfully, but we did wrong. There is no if in true confession. You say, Lord, I did it. I walked in my own willful way. Then God hears, forgives, and restores.

Lord, thank You for Your promise that as I confess my sin, You are faithful and righteous to forgive and restore

Three Angels Broadcasting Network Devotional.
Lessons From a Bow and Arrow.

By Bobby Davis

August 18th, 2026

“You are great in counsel and mighty in work, for Your eyes are open to all the ways of the sons of men.” Jeremiah 32:19

After growing up in South America, I felt pretty lost as a teenager, when my family returned to the United States. I spoke English, as I do now, but everything else was completely unfamiliar.

Since I didn’t understand American sports, I looked for something I could get involved with, and for some reason, I chose archery. Before long, I learned all the right techniques and follow-through, but the part I lacked in was experience. Practice does not make perfect, but it does make permanent—so I practiced a lot. I got better, and realized that every single shot had to be carefully executed in order to hit the target.

I learned many lessons from archery—persistence, the rewards of practice, and patience. But it was much later in life before I was able to see how really valuable those lessons were.

You see, I’m rather impatient at times—with other people, and with myself. I’m not sure why that is, since my parents are really models of patience that I should have learned from. I remember a time when the big family Christmas present was a garage door opener. How excited I was to unpack the pieces. I spread them all over the garage floor, and tried to follow the directions. However, it seems that it was manufactured in a foreign country, and the directions didn’t make sense. But there were pictures, so I began assembly without actually trying very hard to decipher the written directions. And that didn’t turn out well.

At times, my father would ask me, “Don’t you think you should do this or that first?” and I would impatiently tell him that I knew what I was doing. That man has the patience of a saint, because not only did he let me try to assemble it, but he also disassembled every piece when I gave up, and started over. Finally, it was done, and we put it up and tried it out. Believe it or not, over 40 years later, that garage door opener still works (although he did have to replace a fuse).

Sometimes I’m impatient with God. And that archery experience comes back again. Consider these wise words from one of my favorite authors, Oswald Chambers. “A saint's life is in the hands of God like a bow and arrow in the hands of an archer,” he writes. “God is aiming at something the saint cannot see, and He stretches and strains, and every now and again the saint says – ‘I cannot stand any more.’

“God does not heed, He goes on stretching till His purpose is in sight, then He lets fly.”

Although I’m not much of an archer anymore, I know that if I’m an arrow in the hands of the Master Archer, He will never miss.

WAIT… THAT’S IN THE BIBLE? — DAY 15

A lighthearted look at some of the wonderfully unexpected things you discover when you actually read your Bible, context still matters!

“Am I so short of madmen that you have to bring this fellow here to carry on like this in front of me?” 1 Samuel 21:15

David is running for his life and ends up in Gath.

There’s just one problem…

THEY RECOGNISE HIM.

So David quickly comes up with a survival plan.

Disguise himself?

Sneak away?

Hide somewhere?

Nope.

HE PRETENDS TO BE COMPLETELY MAD.

He scratches marks on the doors.

He lets saliva run down his beard.

The servants bring him before King Achish, who takes one look at David and basically says:

“DO YOU REALLY THINK MY PALACE DOESN’T HAVE ENOUGH CHAOS ALREADY?!

WHY ARE YOU BRINGING ME MORE CRAZY?!”

In fact, Achish’s actual words are almost as funny:

“Am I so short of madmen…?”

Basically:

“Gentlemen, my crazy department is FULL.
We are NOT accepting new applicants.”

PALACE VACANCIES

Madmen required

POSITIONS FILLED.

Context still matters!

David wasn’t simply behaving strangely for a laugh. He was frightened for his life and pretended to be insane so Achish wouldn’t regard him as a threat.

There’s actually something beautiful underneath this bizarre episode.

David looked ridiculous.

He was frightened.

His circumstances were completely out of control.

But God still brought him through.

Sometimes deliverance doesn’t look quite like we imagined it would.

But still…

Somewhere around three thousand years ago, an exasperated king essentially looked at his staff and said:

“I HAVE ENOUGH CRAZY AROUND HERE ALREADY!”

And honestly…

some sentences are timeless.

WHY DO I HAVE TO PRAY?

You pray to build a close relationship with God, share your inner thoughts and heavy burdens, and show that you trust and depend on Him instead of trying to handle life all by yourself.

Building a Connection

Talk to God: Prayer is simply having a personal conversation with your Creator.

Grow Closer: It lets you feel God's love and get to know His heart.

Show Trust: Asking for help proves you rely on God to care for you.

DAILY HOMILY - AUGUST 15TH SAT | WEEK 2: DIVINE DIRECTION AND OPEN DOORS
CHRIST CRUCIFIED OUTREACH INTERNATIONAL
TEXT: COLOSSIANS 4:3 - "A DOOR FOR THE WORD"

VERSE:
"At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison." – Colossians 4:3

MESSAGE:
Not every open door is about money, promotion, or opportunity.
Some of the most important doors God opens are doors for the Word.

Paul was in prison, yet his prayer wasn’t just “get me out.”
He said, “Pray that God may open to us a door for the word.”
He wanted access to speak Christ. To share truth. To bring light.

Divine Direction And Open Doors this week includes doors to:
1. Influence – A conversation where you can speak life
2. Impact – A platform to share what God has done
3. Purpose – A place where your testimony meets someone’s need

God opens doors so the Word can run free.
Your job, your business, your family, your social media — they can all be a “door for the Word.”

Ask God today: “Lord, open a door for Your Word through me.”
Because when the Word goes through, lives change.

KEY LINE: The greatest open door is the one that lets Jesus in.


PRAYER:
Father,

Open doors for Your Word through my life this week.
Give me boldness to declare the mystery of Christ.

Use my mouth, my work, and my story.
Let every door You open become a place where people encounter You.
In Jesus’ name, Amen.


Prophet Israel Aviedo
Founder & General Overseer CCOI.

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God's Creation,100 / evolution,0
THE ANGLERFISH

Did you know that the anglerfish has a built in lantern to lure its prey? It lives in the deepest waters that are pitch black. It dangles this appendage from its head that lights up so other fish are lured in making it so much easier for the anglerfish to hunt when the unsuspecting fish come too close. Did this just magically appear after supposed millions of years while the angler fish just starved it out? Not a chance.

The angler fish also has a very strange mating strategy. When the male latches onto the female, it never lets go, and slowly will morph his body into hers, becoming one single fish with a new circulatory system and everything!

I'd like to see the evolutionist explain this one! Again, not a chance!

Created, not evolved.

THE PROBLEM WITH SHEEP

“Once you were like sheep who wandered away. But now you have turned to your Shepherd, the Guardian of your souls.” —1 Peter 2:25

On more than one occasion, the Bible compares Christians to sheep. I don’t know if I’m really happy about that because sheep aren’t the most intelligent animals on earth. It would have been nice if God had compared us to dolphins. Now, there’s an intelligent animal. I once had the opportunity to talk to a man who trained dolphins. I asked him, “Are dolphins really as intelligent as they seem?”

He said, “In some ways, yes, and in some ways, no. They are very intelligent in many ways because a dolphin can read a symbol and understand what it means.” That is amazing to me.

But Jesus didn’t compare us to dolphins. He compared us to sheep. And sheep are some of the stupidest animals around. They are vulnerable, easily spooked, can’t run very fast, and lack any means of defending themselves. What’s more, they are in constant need of care and attention. Sheep are known to follow each other even to their own death. It has been documented that if one sheep walks off a cliff, others will follow.

The Bible says, “All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God’s paths to follow our own” (Isaiah 53:6 NLT). And, you have to admit, that description hits pretty close to home. Think about how many people have bought into the same lies, generation after generation. They fall into the same junk, the same addictions, and the same traps again and again. If we’re honest with ourselves, we must admit that we are strayers. We put distance between ourselves and God.

Of course, our Shepherd will not stand idly by while we get lost following our own path. Jesus makes that clear in His parable of the lost sheep. “If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them gets lost, what will he do? Won’t he leave the ninety-nine others in the wilderness and go to search for the one that is lost until he finds it? And when he has found it, he will joyfully carry it home on his shoulders. When he arrives, he will call together his friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep’” (Luke 15:4–6 NLT).

Psalm 23, one of the best-known passages in all of Scripture, reminds us that there are advantages to being sheep. “The LORD is my shepherd; I have all that I need. He lets me rest in green meadows; he leads me beside peaceful streams. He renews my strength. He guides me along right paths, bringing honor to his name” (verses 1–3 NLT).

We are like sheep. There’s no getting around that. The question is, are you going to be a smart sheep or a dumb one? Smart sheep stay close to the Shepherd. And that’s where we all need to be.

God bless you!

Have you ever had a difficult team member, co-worker, servants in the ministry who's position is often “refusal” of your instruction at certain times.

How do you handle such? Lets share, learn and grow.

To all my dear friends

I have been sharing on social media for many years and have been blessed by all the posts.

This year has been very traumatic. I was a writer for a well- regarded ministry, which the owner chose to close, I was then left in Limbo...what was I to do.. then my whole address book on Hotmail disappeared.. I manged to rescue some.

I have been busy though, creating a new word press website, which you can see below.

https://totallylovedbygod67.cw.center/

This has many categories, which you can see on the right of your screen.

There are no more than 12 posts in each category, there are categories for prayer and devotional categories.

Over the next few years, I am aiming to write on Psalms, Proverbs, Nehemiah, Acts, John and James ..oh yes and climb Everest.. write on Romans.

I will do one chapter at a time, so you will hopefully have a devotional commentary.. the first chapter has been completed on Acts 1.

I am retired now, I have time on my hands and this seems a good time to go full time into writing, although I still have a few students to teach English.

It is time to go full time into writing and serving the body of Christ throughout the world, please share the website and lets get the WORD OUT INTO THE WORLD.

Please take time to view the website, please share and leave a comment

Thanks so much

Keith

My email is
keitherichobkirk@hotmail.com


SOAK IN SCRIPTURE

The Good, the Bad, and the Ungodly
Stephen Spinnenweber

https://www.sermonaudio.com/sermons/21818184336/a?autoplay=1

TYNDALE (2025)
TBS Audio
Trinitarian Bible Society

https://www.sermonaudio.com/sermons/96252038123377?autoplay=1




Living in a world full of disease and death!
02:31J. C. Ryle • 26/7/29400+
Psalm 119:67-75; John 11:3


https://www.sermonaudio.com/sermons/73026323395187/a?autoplay=1



The Horrendous Sin of Apostasy!
09:27Various • 26/6/25100+
John 13:21; Hebrews 10:29



https://www.sermonaudio.com/sermons/62626330127729/a?autoplay=1