Devotionals by Chaplain (Col) Stephen W. Leonard, USA, Ret.
Doubt
“Doubt indulged soon becomes doubt realized.
Sunday Morning Coming Down: Part Two
Scriptural Basis: [Jesus said], "But a time is coming, and has come, when you will be scattered, each to his own home. You will leave me all alone. Yet I am not alone, for my Father is with me." John 16:32 "But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed." »
Sunday Morning Coming Down
There is no person, no family, no friend who is able to remove the loneliness resulting from a powerlessness to change, to lead you to any lasting fulfillment, to give you genuine satisfaction in your existence, nor to give hope in an unknown future. Death, especially, is a great dread.
Who Did I Say That I Am?
Jesus is the suffering servant of Isaiah 53, led as a lamb to the slaughter, silent before His accusers. He is also the One in Revelation with a voice like the sound of rushing waters in the midst of a description of which Spurgeon says it is impossible to make a graven image.
A Daunting Book
Get your vision and your mind on the Lord’s final exclamation: “Behold, I am coming soon! Finally, consider if you truly empathize with John’s passionate response to the Lord’s promise: “Even so. Come, Lord Jesus!
Look…and Listen
The rebellious Israelites in the Sinai had but one means of surviving their painful and deadly snake bites and living to tell about it. Every one of us right now has only one means of experiencing the power of God unto salvation and escaping a fiery hell: the message of the cross!
Does This Promise Make Any Sense?
Our problems, questions, and consternation with God’s providence and plans arise primarily from myopic vision in two areas: (1) We fail to see beyond this world to what lies “over Jordan and consequently view this world in that light (or rather, darkness); and (2) we fail to fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, to understand what God is about in our lives now.
Blah, Blah, Blah, Blah
When we are preparing to give our cat, Coco, a can of wet cat food, she, knowing what is coming, begins meowing like crazy. My wife was saying to her, “Hold your horses! Be patient! It’s coming. And not being able to interpret every meow, I said maybe she is saying, “Oh, thank you, thank, thank you! You take such good care of me.
The Hound of Heaven
“I sought the Lord, and afterward I knew He moved my soul to seek Him, seeking me; It was not I that found, O Savior true, No, I was found of Thee.
Living in an Atmosphere of Lies
The disciple of the Lord Jesus must hold the truth dear and seek truth not only in what he says, but in what he hears and receives as truth. Lying and liars are assured of falling, having their mouths eventually stopped and ultimately receiving their just punishment according to the Word of the Lord.
Is It Hot Enough Yet?
If the days of too hot sun and heat can become a physical reminder of the spiritual desert of your soul, then as you pursue a cool drink of water, or a plunge in the pool, or the inside air-conditioning, you should be reminded that these physical “inconveniences and “refreshments are comparatively trivial; but the life-giving and reviving Spirit is paramount in your life now!
Joseph: The Modern Anti-Hero
Anti-heroes in the modern age are those who seek not popularity with the masses, but faithfulness to the One who made them and who is worthy of his creatures’ obedience.