Daily Devotion — August 21 | Acts 20:2 (NKJV)

The Ministry of Encouragement

As Paul continued his missionary journey, he traveled through the regions where churches had already been established. Rather than simply passing through, he intentionally spent time encouraging the believers. Paul understood that following Christ was not always easy, and God's people needed continual strengthening through biblical teaching, loving fellowship, and reminders of God's faithfulness.

Paul's ministry demonstrates that encouragement is an essential part of Christian service. His words helped believers remain steadfast in their faith despite persecution and challenges. He invested in people, knowing that strong disciples would continue the work of spreading the gospel.

For believers today, this verse reminds us that God calls us to encourage one another. A kind word, a sincere prayer, a Scripture shared at the right moment, or simply being present with someone can strengthen their faith. God often uses ordinary acts of encouragement to accomplish extraordinary work in the lives of His people.

Reflection Questions

1. Who has encouraged me in my walk with Christ?

2. Who can I encourage this week?

3. Am I intentionally helping others grow stronger in their faith?

Prayer

Lord God, thank You for the people You have placed in my life to encourage me. Help me to be an encouragement to others through my words, actions, and prayers. Use me to strengthen fellow believers and to reflect Your love each day. In Jesus name Amen.

Practical Application

● Reach out to encourage someone with a Bible verse or prayer.

● Speak words that build others up rather than tear them down.

● Look for opportunities to strengthen another believer's faith.

Takeaway Thought

God often strengthens His people through the encouragement of faithful believers.

#LordsbookDailys #DailyDevotion #August21 #Acts202 #EncourageOneAnother #StrengthInFaith #ChristianEncouragement #BibleInspiration #GrowInFaith

Blessings, dear brothers and sisters in Christ.

As another week draws to a close, it is time to loosen our grip upon the pressures and concerns of this world and turn our hearts toward the worship of the only true and living God through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Throughout this week we have carried responsibilities, faced difficulties, heard troubling news, and perhaps experienced circumstances we did not expect. Some burdens may remain unresolved even today.

But our sovereign God has not changed.

He was faithful on Monday.
He sustained us through Wednesday.
And He remains faithful today.

As we approach the Lord’s Day, let us bring every burden before Him. We do not need to carry the weight of the world into worship as though everything depends upon us. Our Heavenly Father already knows every need, every fear, every unanswered prayer, and every struggle.

“Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.” — 1 Peter 5:7

What a privilege awaits us on the Lord’s Day—to gather with the people of God, open His precious Word, hear the Gospel proclaimed, lift our voices in praise, pray together, and worship the One who redeemed us through Jesus Christ.

Let us prepare our hearts now.

Let us turn down the noise of the world and turn our attention toward Christ. Let us spend time in prayer and Scripture. Let us examine our hearts, confess our sins, forgive others, and come before our merciful God with humility and thanksgiving.

And when we gather for worship, let us not merely attend another service out of habit or tradition. Let us come hungry for God’s Word and ready to give Him the worship He alone deserves.

“O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the LORD our maker.” — Psalm 95:6

The problems of this world will still be waiting when the weekend is over. But we will face them differently when our hearts have been refreshed in the presence of God and our eyes have been fixed once again upon Jesus Christ.

So let us finish this week with gratitude and prepare ourselves for the Lord’s Day with joyful expectation.

Our God lives.
Our Savior reigns.
His Word remains true.
His mercy endureth forever.

May all glory, honor, and praise be given to Him alone.

Serving Christ Together for His Glory Alone.

Soli Deo Gloria.

Hello Lordsbook Family, I am in the midst of moving from the home I have been in the last five years. No internet in the house. so my coverage is spotty. I am trying to get into local housing, please keep me in your prayers. At this time there are two open apartments. The Lord has blessed me everyday of my life and I know if He wants me here there is a reason. Thank y'all!

THIS IS BAPHOMET


This lesson will be a little different as we will address the urgency of this topic. Baphomet was one of the early child sacrificing gods of the Bible days. But here is the issue. The worship of Baphomet continues to this day. It is Satanism pure and simple.

Worship entailed having sexual intercourse with temple priests and prostitutes. Baphomet is a creature with both male and female genitalia. Female breasts with male arms and legs. Baphomet worship is a fulfillment of base sexual desires and deviance. It is foundational homosexuality from the source that inspires homosexuality, Satan.

It is necessary as a follower of Baphomet to sacrifice your children to him. In Bible days, that meant placing your infant to one year old child into the white-hot metal arms of a Baphomet idol and worshipping as your child writhes in excruciating pain before dying. Yes, to this day there are Captains of industry, government leaders and Hollywood elites who gather to offer the life of their children to Baphomet.

Today's worship of Baphomet still accepts the human sacrifices, but an additional provision was added. “Sacrificing your child” could mean doing so and devoting their continued life in service as a priest of Baphomet. What did that entail? It required the forced removal of a male's sexual organs. The new “priest” would live out his remaining days as a neutered sex object accepting the offerings of others.

Do you understand that the push for accepting homosexuality in this country was always headed here? That it wasn't tolerance they wanted, or acceptance. Do you understand now why so many on the left have transgendered children? How the transgendered lunacy has resulted in government leaders too afraid to even define the word, “woman”.

Within the past decade there has been another shift in culture to demonize Biblical stances and adults nowadays refuse to define the word, ‘woman’ because to do so would go counter to their agenda. So the madness that it is allowing men into locker rooms or women's bathrooms, and insisting against all science that they are a different kind of woman is not a mental deficiency, it is part and parcel of their Satanic agenda.

Does it begin to make more sense that liberal women now stand supporting a mentally ill woman who strangled her 3 children? Anything to support victimizing the innocent is front and center in todays world as a great thing.

Statistically speaking transgendered individuals make up 1% of a population of 3 to 5% of homosexuals but celebrities have 4 children, all of whom are transgendered now. This is a combination of mental illness and a demonic intent. They cannot be reasoned with, they will not apply the simplest of logic or understand reality because they can't. Why? They told us.

Earlier last year a parade of homosexuals marched through the streets chanting, “We're here. We're queer. And we're coming for your children. “ But to share the video or comment on it was somehow “phobic”. So they can openly admit to wanting to rape your children, but for us to point it out becomes problematic.

And we look around now and what used to be considered common sense is now considered bigotry. The absolute hatred that is displayed against anyone calling into question allowing a male to compete unfairly against women in sports isn't about acceptance, or equality it is rooted in the worship of Satan.

Look at the rage on the videos of the mentally ill men online screaming “It's she, I'm a she.” Or, “It's ma'am.” That is not rational. It is not natural, it is demonic. This is not political, the leftist devotion to all things anti-god has been an issue for decades. But when adults in a school charged with keeping our kids safe covers up a trans student raping a girl in the bathroom, transferring him to another school where it happens again, you know there's an evil behind it. They would rather girls get raped than to possibly offend a homosexual and will go to great lengths not only to cover it up, but to allow it to happen again.

No, what we see with Britney Griner and Lea Thompson is lackluster mediocre male athletes who aren't capable of competing against men now “declaring themselves female” so they can steal scholarships and positions from females. These men are doing this out of greed and indifference but the people defending them have a clear Satanic agenda.

Even though the individuals themselves may not be aware, this is not a rights issue, it started as and continues as pagan worship. It is a demonic stance that God has made clear He hates.

When you realize that the whole effort to deny the most basic biological fact that there are only 2 genders is not about rights, not about acceptance, it is clear that any organization or church supporting this is of a Satanic origin. They've said as much.

So when you see celebrities with multiple children who they've adopted and then altered to become transgendered ministers of Baphomet, now you understand. They've surrendered the future to Satan creating a generation of infertile devotees to a blood cult.

They must be removed from power and influence but they won't be because this is where we were always headed with the issue of homosexuality. To a culture that is either too afraid to speak up when children are being cut from the womb to be eaten by Baphomet fanatics, or they will follow cultural norms and will do nothing to stop it.

Pray, brothers and sisters in Christ. Because Jesus is coming to His own and these unbelievers will be tossed unceremoniously into the pit of eternal fire to suffer eternally. Along with every lukewarm Christian who didn't want to make a stand out of fear of consequences. Now is the time to make a stand.

The famous dinosaur track site at Cal Orck’o in Bolivia is one of the most spectacular locations of its kind in the world. This massive wall stretches for nearly a mile and stands over 328 feet high, with a steep 72-degree incline. The site features more than 5,000 individual footprints and 462 trackways, made by at least eight different species that, according to the conventional dating, roamed the area around 68 million years ago. Among these tracks is one that extends for more than 984 feet. Paleontologists have noticed that the majority of the tracks were made by dinosaurs running. The fossilized tracks, with deeply imprinted toes rather than heels, indicate that the dinosaurs were moving quickly. These fossilized dinosaur footprints were originally discovered in 1985 during local limestone mining, and the tracks were found beneath seven deep layers of rock. Landslides in Bolivia in 2015 exposed another 5,000 dinosaur tracks. Today, these trackways are preserved across a massive rock face, with some extending hundreds of feet across the steeply tilted surface.

Secularists claim these footprints were made by dinosaurs stepping across soft, moist ground that preserved the impressions, followed by a drought that solidified them. This pattern of wet conditions followed by drought supposedly repeated seven times to explain the seven layers of rock. Then, over millions of years, tectonic movement supposedly caused the land to move, eventually forming the enormous cliff we see today. I would normally just swallow that pill and accept this explanation—EXCEPT there were also marine fossils discovered here. That raises an important question: why are marine fossils found in the same geological setting as these dinosaur tracks? A better explanation is that these tracks were caused by a worldwide Flood. Ninety-six percent of these dinosaur tracks, representing eight different species of dinosaurs, both herbivores and carnivores, are moving in the same direction, and many appear to have been moving very quickly. What were they trying to get away from? If these dinosaurs were simply walking through this area under ordinary conditions, why were so many different species moving in the same general direction at the same time? A better explanation is that they were fleeing from rapidly rising floodwaters.

For forty days and forty nights, it rained, while the fountains of the great deep burst forth. A destructive and powerful Flood carried enormous amounts of water and sediment over the land until the entire earth was under water. Dinosaurs seeing the rising floodwaters would have immediately begun moving toward higher ground. Different dinosaurs fleeing across this specific area left their tracks in the soft ground. The powerful floodwaters, carrying massive amounts of sediment, would have rapidly covered and buried those tracks, preserving the delicate footprints before erosion or other environmental processes could destroy them. As the Flood continued, more and more sediment was deposited, producing the layers of rock containing the tracks. This was not a gentle flood that slowly covered the earth; it was a powerful, destructive Flood that killed all living creatures outside the Ark.

After the Floodwaters eventually receded, the enormous volume of rapidly moving water continued to reshape the landscape, forming and carving massive geological features. Science has proven and observed that powerful moving water can erode rock, transport enormous quantities of sediment, carve canyons, and dramatically reshape the landscape. If ordinary floods can produce dramatic geological changes, imagine the destructive power of a worldwide Flood involving vast quantities of water moving across the continents. Science has also demonstrated that huge amounts of water exist deep inside the earth, including water stored within the planet’s interior. This fits with the biblical description of the fountains of the great deep bursting forth. The rapidly moving Flood waters explain the enormous cliff at Cal Orck’o and the surrounding geological formations. And the marine fossils found in these deposits provide another important piece of evidence: marine organisms were buried and fossilized in the sediment alongside the dinosaur tracks. The presence of marine fossils alongside these dinosaur tracks is exactly the kind of evidence we would expect from a catastrophic worldwide Flood carrying enormous amounts of water and sediment across the earth.

When we put all of these pieces of evidence together—the thousands of dinosaur footprints, the rapid movement and overwhelming directional movement of the tracks, multiple dinosaur species including both herbivores and carnivores, the soft sediment in which the tracks were made, their rapid burial beneath additional layers, the enormous geological formation now standing at a 72-degree incline, the tremendous quantities of water stored within the earth, the proven geological power of rapidly moving water, and the marine fossils found within the same geological setting—we have powerful evidence for the biblical account of Noah’s Flood. The Flood was not a myth or a local event. It was a catastrophic worldwide judgment that covered the earth, destroyed all living creatures outside the Ark, buried enormous numbers of animals in sediment, and dramatically reshaped the world we live in today. The evidence is still there. It is written into the rocks.

The name of the LORD is a strong fortress; the godly run to Him and are safe.

Proverbs 18:10 NLT
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Understanding envy and its destructive impact can encourage us to confront and overcome it.
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Spend time each day in the Word of God, guarding your heart so that only righteous words come out of your mouth. “From the mouth of the righteous comes the fruit of wisdom.” The tongue reveals what the heart is storing.
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Heavenly Father, may I serve You and others faithfully today.
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I could have no greater joy than to hear that my children are following the truth.

3 John 1:4 NLT

Good morning to everyone. Grace and Peace be with you.

I told you about our trying out a new translation ap so that my friend and I can communicate without someone to translate for us. She is my husband’s age and then there is my catawampus brain. I told you about how we laughed so hard and loud that I got into trouble … haha. Let me give you another giggle from that wonderful ap.

Yesterday while I was cooking dinner, my oldest little came and asked for help with her new baby doll that needed batteries. I told her to go see Opa because he had the screwdrivers. She did. Then she came back to ask for batteries. I looked all over my house and found batteries in every size but the one I needed. As I was trying to explain that we would go to the store after dinner, my German disappeared. So I asked, “Kanst du liesen?” which in my version of German is “Can you read?” She said yes. I was like Yes, I can use the app. I typed that we would go to the Dollar Store after dinner and turned the phone for her to read. I asked if she understood. She shook her head. I looked at the phone and the words looked wrong. (All languages have a vibe and this was not right.) The app had reset itself to Spanish. So, no, my German little could not read the Spanish translation. We giggled. I fixed it. She understood.

Later, my daughter-in-law had a great conversation, in English, about how we each have the same fear. When we attempt the other’s language, we are afraid of saying the wrong word. This brought up some memories of when I tried to ask her in front of her house if s he remembered the keys … however, the word for keys is similar to shoes and castles. So I actually asked if she had her shoes, castles and then keys, trying to make my brain and mouth work together.

There is a language barrier between us, but it is only a barrier if we allow the enemy to hold it between us. The barrier is only as strong as we allow it to be. Fear is a powerful tool and can keep you from trying new things. Such as … having a conversation with someone who speaks a different language. Last year, when they came, I purchased translating ear buds; they were slow on the translation and sometimes did not translate. This year we are trying the app and if I make sure it is set to German and English, I have even attempted to pronounce what it tells me. The attempt is there. The love is there. The barrier is coming down one word, one attempt, one text at a time. As we endeavor to be able to speak to each other, play goofy nugget games and faces with each other, breaking through the barrier one brick at a time … we take away the enemy’s fortress.

The enemy would have us all cowering in our little corners, afraid and resistant to step out in faith. But … I was not made to live in fear. I was not made to cower. I was made to step out in the power of Jesus Christ and share his Peace and Love while planting seeds of hope.

Today I encourage you to seek His face. Lay at His feet the barriers that you are facing, the fear that has you stationary, the battles that seem to be holding you back in your mind. I urge you step out in the faith and power of the Father and watch the fear barriers crumble. I am not completely confident in speaking German, but when it does start coming out … even if it is wrong…I tried. Trying is half the battle.

Be blessed.

**For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. – Hebrews 4:12

Three Angels Broadcasting Network Devotional
A Wrinkled Wardrobe

By Deborah Shaffer

August 21st, 2026

“In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” 1 Peter 1:6-7

I have a love-hate relationship with my spring and summer wardrobes. I’m always excited to pack up my heavy winter garments and replace them with the light colorful fabrics of springtime. However, what I don’t like are the wrinkles. It doesn’t seem to matter how carefully I fold or hang them after washing, my wardrobe is plagued by ugly wrinkles—and that’s when I have to reach for that dreaded iron. It is one of my most hated chores! However, I know that without the pressure of this heated tool, those wrinkles will remain. The article of clothing will stay in its unsightly condition and will not be worn, rendering itself useless.

That’s how it is for Christians, too. Even though we’re heaven-bound, we live in a world damaged by sin; and, at times, we allow it to contaminate our lives, causing ugly “wrinkles.” It’s at those times that the application of heat may be needed! Our Father knows exactly what it takes to get our wrinkles out. Pressure from the heat of trials—so unbearable when we’re going through them—may just be the exact thing needed to perfect us. The heat is not meant as punishment. The heat is a tool.

Maybe we’re going through a time in our lives when we’re feeling the heat. We know we are God’s children, we have called upon Jesus for salvation, we follow after Him; but life is hard.

Let’s not get discouraged. After the ironing is finished, we will be a beautiful garment—unwrinkled and pleasant to those around us.

Guidelines for living.
August 21st, 2026

Here’s The Only Way to Begin to Love

This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 1 John 4:10-11



The greatest rivers in the world usually begin on the cold, frozen slopes of high mountains as the sun begins to melt snow and ice, and from the trickle of crystal-clear water a steam begins to flow and eventually a cascade of water plummets down the mountain. In the valley far below, the stream becomes a river, then a great river which we call the Nile, the Amazon, the Ganges, the Rhine, or whatever. By the time these massive bodies of water reach the ocean, they may be kilometers wide, and they are muddy and polluted.

Now, apply that same concept to the biblical truth that God is love. John tells us this in the New Testament, and the farther we are from Him, seemingly the more polluted love becomes. By the time it has been filtered through human lust, what we call love is a far cry from the compelling love which caused God to send His Son long ago.

Love is not a platitude, it is an action, an unconditional commitment to care, a decision of your heart. True, love is what the world needs. The words of a song popular a generation ago said it all: “The world is dying, dying for a little bit of love,” says one verse.

If you’ve been following this series based on Paul’s great chapter on love, found in the New Testament in 1 Corinthians 13, you have focused on love’s characteristics, but any discussion of the subject would be incomplete without a few words of encouragement for you whose river of love has either evaporated in the desert of life, or else become so polluted you hardly know what the real thing is.

When God touches your heart, your life will change. God takes up residence in your life, and the mud of sin is washed away. When pollution is eliminated, you start loving. This is the miracle of conversion. This is the answer to the lovelessness and the selfishness which destroys relationships.

Joining a church, turning over a new leaf, going to confession, just “being religious,” is not the solution. A relationship with God through His son is the only way you will really begin to love.

I will give you three simple guidelines that will help.

Guideline #1: Acknowledge you need a relationship with God and confess that sin has stopped the flow of love in your life. It’s easy to point a finger and say, “Well, it was his fault; her fault.” The solution is saying, “God, I need you. Forgive me. Touch my life.”

Guideline #2: Ask God’s forgiveness for your failure—not the other person’s—and ask Him to be Lord and Savior. Jesus gave us a promise. He said, “I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in and have fellowship with him, and he with me” (Revelation 3:20). That promise has your name on it, friend.

Guideline #3: Begin loving in simple steps, one day at a time. When you fail and fall back into those old habits and a loveless way, quickly admit your wrong; ask God’s help to overcome it.

Friend, you can talk about love until you have calluses on your vocal cords, but until you get back to the fountain and the source of love, who is God Himself, you’ll never lay hold of the real thing: the God kind of love that changes the world. So, go back to the source. It’s the only way to fill your cup and have enough left over for someone else in your life. Love is not a pious platitude. It’s the answer.



Resource Reading: 1 John 4:1-21

Gods Creation, 100 / evolution,0
KANGAROOS - THE POUCH, THE MILK, AND THE MIRACLE

A newborn kangaroo enters the world barely larger than a grain of rice. It cannot see, it has no fur, and its back legs are useless. Yet the moment it is born, it begins climbing. Using only its tiny front claws, the joey crawls through its mother’s fur all the way up to her pouch, a hidden pocket on her belly that it has never seen and could not possibly have learned about. There is no wandering. It moves in the right direction from the start. Miss the pouch and it dies. That instinct had to exist from the very first kangaroo, or kangaroos would never have survived.

Once inside the pouch, something even more astonishing begins. The mother’s body produces milk that is custom matched to the baby’s stage of development. Early milk is thin and immune rich, designed for an embryo like joey that cannot yet digest complex nutrients. As the joey grows, the milk changes its chemistry, becoming thicker and richer. It is not a simple on or off switch. It is a biological program that runs in stages, adjusting itself as the baby develops. That system has to exist before the baby ever arrives.

Even more remarkable, a mother kangaroo can care for multiple babies at once, each at a different stage of life. One joey may be deep inside the pouch, another may be peeking out, and a third may be hopping alongside her. Her body can produce different types of milk at the same time from different teats, each perfectly matched to the needs of each baby. One animal running several independent feeding systems at once is something engineers would struggle to design.

The baby knows where to go. The pouch is already prepared. The milk changes at exactly the right time. The mother can nourish several lives at once. This is not blind chance stumbling forward. It is foresight written into flesh, and it points straight back to a Creator who planned life before it ever began.