Central Minnesota Chaplaincy of Todd County

Central Minnesota Chaplaincy of Todd County Central Minnesota Chaplaincy is here to serve the needs of people who need the Love of Jesus. To bring light and hope into those dark and difficult situations

The Vision of Central Minnesota Chaplaincy:
l To Provide emotional support and encouragement, critical incident stress debriefings/management, crises support/ training, referrals and follow up by coordinating Chaplaincy services to victims survivors, Government, State, County, City and Corporate agencies.

06/08/2026

June 8
The Emphasize Exercise
By James Ryle

“Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.” (1Pe_5:7).

Yesterday we saw that sometimes you just need to hurl — to unload upon the Lord the full weight of all that burdens you, and then find rest from your troubles in His strong and loving embrace.

You can do this because, as Peter tells us, “He cares for you.”

Let’s look at the word he uses for “care.” It literally means “the distractions created by fear, worry, anxiety and dread; distractions that pull us in several directions at the same time.”

Take all these things — fear, worry, anxiety, and dread — bundle them together and throw them upon God; and keep throwing them over and over until they finally leave your hands and rest solidly upon His shoulders.

Otherwise they will pull you apart; tear you to pieces!
And here is the singular truth that makes it all happen — “He cares for you!”

Several years ago I discocvered a wonderful technique I call “the emphasize exercise.” It works like this: I take a verse of scripture and read it over several times, emphasing only one word in the verse each time I read it; repeating the process until I have emphasized every word in the verse.

The insights that open up are truly delightful. Let me take this phrase — “He cares for you” — and show you what I mean.

1. “HE cares for you.” — This is Almighty God we are talking about here; not some junior angel whose been handed your case. No, God Himself, the King of Glory, the Lord of Host, the Alpha and Omega; He who sustains all things by the word of His power; the Omnipotent God — your Heavenly Father. HE cares for you.”

2. He CARES for you.” — He is affectionate in His regard for your estate. He holds you in His heart, and looks with kind intentions upon your life, and good will toward your soul and well-being. He CARES!”

3. He cares FOR you.” — He is not passive, but active. He’s not thinking about doing it when He gets around to it — He’s on top of it right now! He has already stepped in on your behalf and undertaken the cause of blessing you in bouldless ways. And He is doing it FOR you; so you don’t have to try and do it for yourself!”

4. He cares for YOU!” — Yeah, that’s right — YOU! Sure, He cares for all the saints and great champions of yore; and for all those who are serving Him mightily in today’s world — the spiritual news-makers and world-shakers, devil-busters, kingdom-builders, and soul-savers. But you’re not overlooked in all this. NO! A thousand times NO! “He cares for YOU!”
5. Now, to put the cheery on the top, go ahead and say it all together — emphasizing all the words: “HE CARES FOR YOU!!”

You can really drive it home by making it personal, and repeating this process until the burden has lifted: “YOU CARE FOR ME!!!”

Prayer:

Dear Lord, I'm so thankful that You care more about my struggles that I do and have asked me to cast all my cares on You because You care about them more that I do. I praise You for taking them and using them for my good and Your glory. :-)

Chaplain Dave

06/07/2026

June 8
God Equipping Us to Do His Will
By Hoekstra

Now may the God of peace . . . make you complete in every good work to do His will. (Heb_13:20-21)

Again, our devotional study is from Hebrews 13:20-21. In our previous meditation, we saw that the God of peace makes obedience available through the shed blood of the crucified, risen Christ.

That shed blood forgives our sins, making friends out of formerly disobedient enemies. Furthermore, that shed blood establishes the new covenant of grace, which supplies God's sufficiency for all our needs, including, the developing of an obedient life.

Now, we will reflect upon God being the one who uses His heavenly resources to equip us to do His will.

What a hope and joy this is! God Himself is willing to undertake the task of shaping us into His obedient servants: "Now may the God of peace . . . make you complete in every good work to do His will."

This term, "complete," is exceedingly insightful. It speaks of equipping people for their intended task, getting them ready to do what they are called to do. To equip means to furnish whatever qualities are necessary to perform the task at hand.

To equip means to supply whatever is needed for an assigned purpose. Our calling and purpose in the will of God is that we engage in a great variety of good works. God is willing to equip us "in every good work to do His will."

Long ago, David was inspired of the Holy Spirit to speak boldly in similar terms. "The LORD will perfect that which concerns me" (Psa_138:8).

In light of David's calling to obedience (and our own calling to the same), many things concern us. We are called to serve, to sacrifice, to pray, to worship, to love, to evangelize, to edify—and the list continues.

How are we to expect progress in such a broad range of obedience? Our confidence is that "The LORD will perfect that which concerns [us]."

As we have asked previously, is this work of God to equip us unto obedience an automatic issue? Not at all! Remember, we can resist (Act_7:51), quench (1Th_5:19), and grieve (Eph_4:30) the work of the Spirit of grace in our lives.

So what is to be our response? Since the Lord is the one who must be equipping us to do His will, we are to be seeking Him. We are to be humbly dependent upon Him. We must not look to ourselves, to formulas, or to any other hope.

Prayer

O God of peace, please do what only You can do. Equip me to obey You in every type of good work that is in Your will.

I do not have what it takes to fulfill Your will for me. I often put my hope in vain places. Lord, I now look to You alone, in Jesus name, Amen.

Chaplain Dave

06/06/2026

June 6
God Working in Us Both to Will and to Do
By Hoekstra

Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure. (Php_2:12-13)

Again, our meditation is from Php_2:12-13. Yesterday, we saw that God must be allowed to work within our hearts, if we are to walk in obedience.

"It is God who works in you . . . for His good pleasure." Today, we will consider the extent to which He desires to work: "both to will and to do."

In order to fully obey the Lord, we need His work within us for both the willing and the doing.
First, the Lord wants to affect our willingness to obey Him (to fulfill "His good pleasure").

So,He invites us into His word to learn of His will. "Oh, that My people would listen to Me . . . [and] walk in My ways!" (Psa_81:13).

Then, His word goes to work within our hearts, convicting us of our need to obey it. "But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves" (Jas_1:22). All the while, He is nurturing in us a love for His word.

"Therefore I love Your commandments more than gold, yes, than fine gold!" (Psa_119:127). Increasingly, we become willing to (we desire to) obey His word. "I delight to do Your will, O my God" (Psa_40:8).

After working in our hearts a willingness to obey Him, the Lord also wants to work in us until we are doing His will.

Yes, willing and doing are two different matters. We easily forget this distinction. We wrongly assume that once the willingness is present, the doing will inevitably follow.

Jesus revealed the fallacy of this thinking in a well-known warning to His disciples. "Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak"

(Mat_26:41). Even when our hearts are willing to obey, our flesh is inadequate to bring the willingness on to obedience.

Thus, we are to be alert to our need for prayer that we might obey and not yield to temptation. The word even teaches us how to cry out to God for the internal inclination from Him that we need to actually obey His will.

"Make me walk in the path of Your commandments . . . Incline my heart to Your testimonies" (Psa_119:35-36).

Prayer

Dear gracious Lord, how wonderful You are to want to work in me unto obedience. What a gift of Your grace that You desire comprehensive involvement in this vital process—from the willing to the doing.

Lord, draw me day by day to Your word. Work in me a growing willingness to obey You. Also, strengthen me to actually do Your will, in Jesus name, Amen.

Chaplain Dave

06/05/2026

June 5
God Working in Us Unto Obedience
By Hoekstra

Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure. (Php_2:12-13)

We have been considering from various perspectives the great truth that God wants us to grow in obedience to His will. The lordship of Jesus makes disobedience unacceptable.

"But why do you call Me 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do the things which I say? " (Luk_6:46). Also, our Lord taught His early disciples to be instructing all future disciples concerning obedience: "teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you" (Mat_28:20).

Our present passage offers profound insight on this matter by describing God working in us unto obedience. "It is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure."
This subject is introduced by a call to "work out your own salvation.

" Notice, we are not called to work for our salvation. Salvation is a gift of God's grace, freely received by faith. "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast" (Eph_2:8-9).

Still, this gift of salvation that God has placed within us by His grace is to be worked out (developed outwardly) unto an obedient life, a life that fulfills

"His good pleasure."

This calling is to be approached in "fear and trembling." Initially, our temptation may be to approach this request with unabashed self-confidence.

Eventually, we begin to understand that we must respond in "fear" [a reverential awe] and "trembling" (a profound sense of inadequacy).

The next phrase explains why we are to engage this responsibility with such unusual attitudes: "for it is God who works in you."

If the salvation that God has placed in our inner man is to ever become a visible walk that pleases Him, it will always be a result of us allowing Him to do an ongoing work deep within us.

"I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts . . . you are manifestly an epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of flesh, that is, of the heart" (Jer_31:33 and 2Co_3:3).

This is the wonder of true Christian living. It is based upon God working within our hearts.

Prayer

Dear Lord, I praise You for the precious gift of salvation You have poured into my heart. I earnestly desire that this gift be worked outwardly unto a life that is pleasing to You.

Lord, please touch and shape the depths of my heart that I may obey You in all things, in Jesus name, Amen.

Chaplain Dave

06/04/2026

June 4
Obedience and the Life of Jesus
By Hoekstra

And He who sent Me is with Me. The Father has not left Me alone, for I always do those things that please Him . . . Christ in you, the hope of glory. (Joh_8:29 and Col_1:27)

Our Lord Jesus wants His followers to live in obedience to His will: "teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you" (Mat_28:20).

Our Lord is also with us every step of our pilgrimage, granting us His grace unto obedience. "I am with you always . . . through whom we have received grace and apostleship for obedience to the faith" (Mat_28:20 and Rom_1:4-5).

This is also the way that Jesus lived here on earth in relationship with His heavenly Father. "And He who sent Me is with Me.

The Father has not left Me alone, for I always do those things that please Him." The Father was with the Son, as the Son lived to please the Father.

Jesus came to earth to live in humble dependence upon, and full obedience to, the Father. "And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross" (Php_2:8).

Even though obedience led to the cross, Jesus obeyed the will of the Father. In the garden of Gethsemane, the obedient Son wrestled with the implications of the impending cross. The holy, eternal One was to taste the cup of sin and death for all of us.

His entire being was repulsed by that which was so contrary to His nature. "My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death . . . O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me" (Mat_26:38-39). Yet, He obediently yielded to the Father's will.

"Nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will" (Mat_26:39). This is the ultimate example of obedience.

This same Jesus (who always pleased the Father, even unto death) now lives in us. This same Jesus is our "hope of glory."

He is our hope (expectation, confidence) of making it to glory (heaven) some day. He is also our hope of walking in any heavenly reality here on the way to glory. He is our hope of an obedient life.

Obedience is essentially related to the life of Jesus. The life Jesus lived on earth is our perfect example of obedience. The life He now wants to live in and through us is our glorious hope of obedience.

Prayer

Lord Jesus, I look at Your life on earth and I see the obedience that I yearn to experience. I know that I can not produce such a life on my own. I think of You living in me, and I have hope that I can grow in obedience.

So, I place my hope in You to express Your obedient heart in and through my choices, my words, my actions, my entire life, Amen.

Chaplain Dave

06/03/2026

June 3
Obedience and the Lordship of Jesus
By Hoekstra

But why do you call Me "Lord, Lord," and do not do the things which I say? . . . Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them . . . [and] teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. (Luk_6:46 and Mat_28:19-20)

As servants of the new covenant of grace, the Lordship of Jesus is part of our message. "For we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord" (2Co_4:5).

The early church proclaimed Jesus as Lord. "Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ . . . The word which God sent to the children of Israel, preaching peace through Jesus Christ—

He is Lord of all . . . believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved . . . Then Paul dwelt two whole years . . . teaching the things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ" (Act_2:36; Act_10:36; Act_16:31; and Act_28:30-31).

The scriptures often emphasize the fact that Jesus is our Lord. The opening verses of Paul's first letter to Corinth are a clear example.

"Paul . . . to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus . . . with all who in every place call on the name of Jesus Christ our Lord . . . Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ . . . you come short in no gift, eagerly waiting for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ . . .

who will also confirm you to the end, that you may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ" (1Co_1:1-10).

Clearly, it is right for followers of Jesus to call Him Lord. Yet, to call Him Lord and then disobey Him is a contradiction.

"But why do you call Me 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do the things which I say? " After believing in Jesus and identifying with Him in water baptism, disciples are to be growing in obedience: "teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you."

As we are learning to walk in obedience, Jesus is ever present with us.

"I am with you always." Day by day, He offers the grace we need for obedience: "Declared to be the Son of God with power . . . through whom we have received grace and apostleship for obedience to the faith" (Rom_1:4-5).

Prayer

Lord Jesus, I long for my verbal confession of Your Lordship to be validated by my daily growth in obedience. You are my Master. Grant me grace each day to be obedient to the faith, in Your sovereign name I pray, Amen.

Chaplain Dave

06/02/2026

June 2
The Work of the Holy Spirit unto Obedience
By Hoekstra

I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them. (Eze_36:27)

When we placed our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, we were born again. We were made new in Christ.

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new" (2 Corinthians 5:17).

We received a new spiritual heart, as promised of old. "I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you" (Eze_36:26).

Now, how does a new creature in Christ grow in a life of obedience? Our natural thinking might assume that a Christian could grow in obedience by simply doing his best to walk in the will of God.

The next verse in Ezekiel's prophecy reveals that God has a better plan in mind. "I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes."

The born again follower of Jesus is not designed to operate on his own best efforts. The Holy Spirit is to be the heavenly dynamic developing a life of obedience.

A disobedient life would include attitudes and actions that our fallen physical bodies naturally crave. These are to be taken to the cross, to be rendered as crucified with Christ.

"Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. Because of these things the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience" (Col_3:5-6).

The Holy Spirit wants to enable us to respond properly concerning such carnal desires. "If by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live" (Rom_8:13).

These fallen, natural cravings are described as the "lusts of the flesh" in Galatians. They are overcome as we yield to the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. "Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh" (Gal_5:16).

Again, this work of the Holy Spirit is not automatic or "robotic." Rather, it is a relational matter. It is realized in our lives through humble dependence.

It is possible to resist the work of the Holy Spirit in us. "You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit" (Act_7:51).

It is when we depend upon the Holy Spirit to lead us in the path of obedience that we will truly live as obedient children of God. "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God" (Rom_8:14).

Prayer

Lord God of my salvation, I desire to walk in obedience to You. I confess that I often rely upon my own resources, attempting to produce obedience.

Lord, please work deep in my heart by the power of Your Holy Spirit and lead me in paths of righteousness, in Jesus name, Amen.

Chaplain Dave

06/01/2026

June 1
The New Covenant Promise of a New Heart
By Hoekstra

I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. (Eze_36:26)

To live in obedience to the will of God, man needs more than his own best efforts and intentions.

The history of Israel emphatically demonstrates this. God gave His law. He commanded them, saying,"Walk in My statutes, keep My judgments, and do them" (Eze_20:19). Israel had promised to obey.

"All that the LORD has said we will do, and be obedient" (Exo_24:7). Nevertheless, they failed miserably. "Notwithstanding, the children rebelled against Me; they did not walk in My statutes, and were not careful to observe My judgments" (Eze_20:21).

In order to live obedient lives, people need a new life from God, followed by understanding in how to develop that new life.

Here, we see a promise from God to supply that new life. "I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you."

These promises are related to the new covenant of grace that the prophets proclaimed for Israel some day. "Behold, the days are coming . . . when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel . . . not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt" (Jer_31:31-32).

The book of Hebrews elaborates on this new covenant of grace and applies it to the church today: "Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He consecrated for us" (Heb_10:19-20).

When anyone embraces the grace of God offered in Jesus Christ (the mediator, the great High Priest of the new covenant), that person is born again by the Spirit of God.

"That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit" (Joh_3:6). This is a necessity.

"Unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God" (Joh_3:3). Human "flesh-birth" brings with it a hard spiritual heart (a dead spirit).

Spiritual new birth from God replaces this hard heart (this dead, non-responsive spirit). "I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you."

Think of our desperate need for this work of God that brings us a new heart, a new life.

Those not born again are described as living "in the futility of their mind, having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God . . . because of the hardening of their heart" (Eph_4:17-18).

Yet, whoever relies upon the grace of God offered in Jesus Christ becomes a newborn child of God. "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new" (2Co_5:17).

Prayer

Dear Lord, giver of new life, I praise You for replacing my old, hard, dead heart with a new, living, responsive heart. Now, I long to grow in the newness that is in Christ, Amen.

Chaplain Dave

05/31/2026

May 31
GOD'S UNFAILING LOVE
By F. B . Meyer

"Even to your old age I am He; and even to hoar hairs will I carry you" I have made, and I will bear; even I will carry, and will deliver you. — Isa_46:4.

WHAT A marvellous promise is this! In days of foreboding, when we fear what may lie behind the veil of the impenetrable future!

Disease? Poverty? Suffering? Bereavement? We cannot tell, but we may turn in confidence to our God.

He knows just how much we can bear, for He has made us: "I have made, and I will bear, and will deliver you."

Even to old age! The hoar-frost may silver the head, the sound of the grinding may be low, the silver cord may be frayed even to the breaking, lovers and friends may have passed on to the other world; like the last apple on the bough, we may be left alone; but in the second childhood as in the first—

"Even to your old age—I will carry you"; "For Himself hath said, I will in no wise fail thee, neither will I in any wise forsake thee.

So that with good courage we say, The Lord is my Helper, I will not fear" (Heb_13:5).

PRAYER

O God, our Father, we are Thine, May we never doubt Thy enduring mercy. We thank Thee! AMEN.

Chaplain Dave

05/30/2026

May 30
THE PERSISTENCE OF LIFE
By F. B. Meyer

"The God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Now He is not the God of the dead, but of the living: for all live unto Him." — Luk_20:37-38.

WHAT IS Death? It is not a condition but a transition; not an abiding-place, but a passage; not a house, but a doorway.

The Scripture refers to it as a birth—"the first-born from the dead"; as an exodus—"after my exodus," says Peter; as a striking of the tent—"I must shortly put off this tabernacle;" as the weighing of an anchor—"the time for me to loose-off from the shore is come."

Each of these metaphors accentuates the fact that Death is but a momentary act. We are absent from the body one moment, present with the Lord the next.

Persistent Personality. In that other field we shall surely recognize each other, and shall be as close akin, yea, closer than we were in long-past happy days, when heart to heart had sweet converse, or co-operated in useful ministry.

Abraham will still be Abraham; Isaac, Isaac; and Jacob, Jacob. Not bodiless ghosts, but living personalities etherealized-"(recognizable)"-and transfigured.

Moses and Elijah were recognized as such by the startled disciples on the Transfiguration mount; and Mary knew the Master in the Garden.

What gain would it have been that Jesus promised the dying thief that he should be with Him in Paradise, if, when he reached there, he could not recognize the Lord?

Persistent Love. Love will never fail! But how can it exist without an object; and how can it forget! Why did Jesus promise the "many mansions," unless He meant that there should be homes!

He knows that the heart clings, even in the light of Resurrection, to the dear objects of human affection, else He would never have mentioned Peter's name, nor have sent a message to His disciples, nor come a second time for Thomas!

And will He ignore those natural cravings for us, whom He has loved better than Himself? How deep and sweet His assurance: "If it were not so, I would have told you!"

Charles Kingsley asked that on the grave stone, which stood above his wife and himself, should be inscribed the words: "Amavimus, Amamus, Amabimus"—We loved, we love, we shall continue to love.

And who shall challenge the truth or appositeness of these words?

Persistent Activity. "His servants shall serve Him!" The tasks we bungled here with our apprentice-hands will become possible; and unravelling our tangled skeins, we shall weave such fabrics as our wildest dreams never imagined.

PRAYER

I pray You, O Lord, to deliver me from the fear of death; and when mine eyes open in the dawn of heaven, may I see You standing to welcome me, and may I receive Your Well-done! AMEN.

Chaplain Dave

Address

115 3rd Street S
Long Prairie, MN
56347

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