WELCOME TO THE JOY OF TROY
  • Home
  • About Us
    • Services
  • Ministries
    • Sabbath School
    • Adventurer and Pathfinder Clubs >
      • Club Calendar
    • Children
    • Community Service
    • Family Ministries
    • Health
    • Men
    • Women
    • Youth
  • Calendar
    • Financial Peace University
    • 2025 Family Fun Nights
    • Annual Retreat
    • Tuesdays with the Doctor
    • Discover Something Bigger
  • Sermons
  • Devotional
  • Tithes-Offerings
  • Contact Us
  • Bulletin

March 12, 2017

3/12/2017

0 Comments

 
 And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia, write....Rev. 3:7.
 
    As most Americans know, the name Philadelphia means "brotherly love."  Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, has become called, therefore, the City of Brotherly Love.  I'm not sure how the ancient city of Philadelphia received its name, but the Turkish people who live there now still exhibit this characteristic.
 
    I have visited the ancient site of Philadelphia twice.  It is located in the modern city of Alashehir.  I have never been in a place that more warmly receives strangers.  The first time we visited I was not feeling well.  So I was walking down the street on market day, noticing my surroundings, but not wanting to talk or be involved with people.
 
    Suddenly a man rushed toward me from behind a vegetable stand.  Unable to speak English, he pointed to my camera and then himself and his vegetable stand.  He wanted me to take a picture.  I was used to this Middle Eastern drill--or so I thought.  "You take picture--I take baksheesh."  In other words, the privilege of taking his picture would relieve me of some of my dollars.  In a bad mood to begin with, I was not interested in a picture of his vegetable stand.  But for some reason I went along, expecting to get fleeced.
 
    When I finished taking the picture, an amazing thing happened.  He motioned for me to wait, pulled out a paper bag and filled it with vegetables from his stand, then handed them to me and said, "Welcome!"  With a smile and a wave he sent me on my way.  I was truly humbled and somewhat ashamed of my attitude.  It dawned on me at that moment that here was a great example of the brotherly love that lay behind the ancient name of the place.
 
    A little later my family and three students found a place to eat.  It was a little restaurant a few hundred meters from the market square.  Their specialty was Turkish cheese bread and salad.  As we were vegetarians, that sounded like the perfect meal for a traveler.  We watched, fascinated, as the baker laid out long strips of bread, filled a tiny trench with local cheese, and then put the results in a brick over with an open fire.  The food was delicious and cost the eight of us only US$5!  I was so moved by the experience that I left a 25 percent tip in gratitude.  Since the children were sometimes slow, we left ahead of the students to head for the bus.
 
    The students arrived 15 minutes later with another whole meal of cheese bread.  The man had been so moved by my tip that he refused to let the students go until he had prepared a second meal for all of us as a gift!  It deeply touched me.  Brotherly love is a wonderful thing that brings profound joy to both the giver and the receiver.  I will never forget my Turkish friends!
 
Lord, I want to show Your love today by giving of myself to others.  May You exhibit the meaning of Your love through me.
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    CONNECT ON
    ​
    Facebook

    Instagram
    ​
    YouTube
    JOIN A BIBLE STUDY

    Listen to
    My Take with Pastor Miguel Crespo

    Picture

    2023 Devotional

    This year's devotional comes from the book, Jesus Wins!--Elizabeth Viera Talbot,  Pacific Press Publishing Association

    Archives

    May 2025
    April 2025
    March 2025
    February 2025
    January 2025
    December 2024
    November 2024
    October 2024
    September 2024
    August 2024
    July 2024
    June 2024
    May 2024
    April 2024
    March 2024
    February 2024
    January 2024
    December 2023
    November 2023
    October 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Thank you for visiting our website!  
Joy of Troy Community Seventh-day Adventist Church
600 3rd Avenue, Lansingburgh, New York 12182 | 518-273-6400
Picture