Today’s Devotional – June 2nd (Just Enough Rope!)

By admin On June 3rd, 2014

 

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Today’s Devotional – June 2nd

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Just Enough Rope!

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“And for this cause God shall send them strong delusionhttp://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Noeud_de_pendu_en_ficelle.JPG,

that they should believe a lie:

That they all might be damned

who believed not the truth,

but had pleasure in unrighteousness.”

2nd Timothy 2:11

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Noose – Wikimedia Commons- public domain

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A well-known TV minister was being interviewed in the past few days, regarding his “prosperity gospel” message. And though he denied being a “Prosperity Preacher”, he http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Noeud_de_pendu_en_ficelle.JPGwent on to say, that being a Christian doesn’t mean one has to be poor.

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And then he reached back into the Old Testament, to cite examples of rich patriarchs, such as Abraham, who were extremely wealthy..

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Now, isn’t it rather odd that he forgot to cite Jesus and His disciples for an example?

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After all, are we not New Covenant Christians?

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Noose – Wikimedia Commons- public domain

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JUST ENOUGH ROPE!

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There is a popular expression today which says… “give a man enough rope and he’ll hang himself!”

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Noeud_de_pendu_en_ficelle.JPG

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And this concept is not altogether foreign to the Bible. After all, doesn’t God plainly warn that… “And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness”? 2nd Thessalonians 2:11, 12

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Yes, God indeed gives people enough rope to hang themselves.

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And He does so right in the Scriptures!

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Noose – Wikimedia Commons- public domain

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THE BIBLE, A TWO-EDGED SWORD

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Listen again… “For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” Hebrews 4:12

.http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Noeud_de_pendu_en_ficelle.JPG

Here in this above verse, God declares His Word to be a “Two-Edged Sword”. That is, it cuts both ways. It brings out what’s in each person’s heart!

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But if a man’s heart goes after covetousness, that person will find the necessary Bible admonishments which seemingly condone his or her quest for the things of the world!

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Listen… “with their mouth they show much love, but their heart goes after their covetousness.” Ezekiel 33:31

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And so, in both cases, God’s sword will slay, howbeit to the Believer it will ultimately slay his love for the world, but to the other it will slay his connection with Heaven!

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Noose – Wikimedia Commons- public domain

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A JESUS OF MY OWN MAKING!

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Listen again… “With the merciful Thou wilt show Thyself merciful; with an upright man Thou wilt show Thyself upright; With the pure Thou wilt show Thyself pure; and with the froward Thou wilt show Thyself froward.” Psalm 18:25, 26.

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Here once again, this above passage is letting us know that the Bible will only take a person where his heart desires to go!

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If the person doesn’t want to believe in the Bible, it will be seemingly filled with errors.

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If a person wants to drink or gamble, the Bible will give the necessary permission to do so.

.http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Noeud_de_pendu_en_ficelle.JPG

If a person wishes to divorce and remarry, the Bible will seemingly excuse that person as well!

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If a person desires a deviant lifestyle, such as Polygamy or Sodomy, the Bible has plenty of passages which seem to excuse or even promote such lifestyles.

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If a woman wants to dance in front of the congregation, there’s enough verses to seemingly support that!

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If a person wishes to be saved and yet still desires to pursue earthly dreams, riches, and ambitions, there will be many verses which seemingly allow for that!

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If a person wishes to have a Social-Justice gospel, the Bible has plenty of verses which seem to promote Socialism.

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Or one of the eastern religions!

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Or just about any other ideology one desires!

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Noose – Wikimedia Commons- public domain

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“WITH ALL YOUR HEART!”

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Now for those who want to win the victor’s crown, and follow the Lamb of God, the Bible will become, “clearer than the noonday”! Job 11:17 & Psalm 37:6

.http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Noeud_de_pendu_en_ficelle.JPG

Listen to Jeremiah… “And ye shall seek Me, and find Me, when ye shall search for Me with all your heart.” Jeremiah 29:13

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As this above verse indicates, there are many who think that once they dip into the baptismal pool, their search for Jesus has ended. 

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But truth-be-told, when coming up out of the baptismal pool, the search for Jesus has only just begun!

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PILGRIM’S PROGRESS

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John Bunyan brought out this truth in his earth-shaking allegory, Pilgrim’s Progress, which told the tale of a pilgrim’s journey to the Promised Land.

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And it was only halfway through his journey that he finally came to the foot of the Cross!

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But his journey continued, far beyond his arrival at the Cross!

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And so it is with every true Christian!

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Pilgrims Progress – His Burden Fell Off His Back – Wikimedia – Public Domain

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SERPENTS IN THE PULPIT!

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And let’s face it, there are many pastors with great congregations, saying the things which tickle their itching ears!

.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Brown_tree_snake_Boiga_irregularis_2_USGS_Photograph.jpg

Listen… “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.” 2nd Timothy 4:3, 4.

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Yes, God does allow a person enough rope to hang his or her own self! 

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Brown tree snake – Boiga – Wikipedia – Public Domain

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“I AM THE WAY” 

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The very Good News is, we don’t have to surround ourselves with the deceptive preaching so common today!

.http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Noeud_de_pendu_en_ficelle.JPG

God has given Jesus to be our example in all things! His life is to be our life! His ways are to be our ways!

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And His truth is found by forsaking all and following Him.

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Listen once more… “So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be My disciple.” Luke 14:33

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Noose – Wikimedia Commons- public domain

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“THIS WORLD WILL GROW STRANGELY DIM!”

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Yes, the only way that a person can become His disciple is to decide to live for Heaven, and no longer for this selfish world!

.http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Noeud_de_pendu_en_ficelle.JPG

Now this doesn’t mean that we must immediately trash all our belongings, grow a beard, wear a robe, and speak in “Thee’s and Thou’s”. 

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No, but when a person truly becomes a follower of Jesus, it is like that popular old song…

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“Turn your eyes upon Jesus. Look full in His wonderful face. And the things of the world will grow strangely dim, in the light of His glory and grace!”

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Yes, when we keep our eyes upon Jesus, the deceptive treasures and pleasures of this selfish world will begin to loosen their tight grip on us.

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Noose – Wikimedia Commons- public domain

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THE PILGRIM’S PATHWAY

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Yes, when we begin our journey up the Pilgrim’s Pathway, the heavy burden of all our sins and selfish desires will eventually fall from off our backs, when we truly come to the Cross!

.The True Upward Pathway www.signsofheaven.org share-alike license. please credit if copy

But the journey doesn’t stop there! No, when we truly come to the Cross, our journey is just beginning!

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And there will be a growing desire for the things of Heaven.

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And our great longing of heart in life, will be for the merging of our heart and soul with Jesus!

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And our great hope will be for the world to witness, that of a truth, Jesus is in us!

 

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TODAY’S PRAYER…

“Dear Lord, Keep me far from vanity and lies! Help me to follow the true Jesus, though it costs all my earthly desires…

Woman Praying – cropped image – Wikimedia – Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license

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https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Question_book_magnify2.svgREAD MORE…

To explore deeper into this subject, please read… November 22 – (The Greatest Jig-saw Puzzle Ever!) or you can also read… November 23 – (The Two Spirits In The World)

Question book magnify svg – Wikimedia – GNU license

 

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THE END


Orion Constellation at Eagle Ridge

 

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TODAY’S FEATURED HEAVENLY SIGN

Info & pics of constellations on this site from Wikipedia & International Astronomical Union (click here)

 

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WHERE IS THIS SERPENT GOING?

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Serpent Points To Valley & Destroying Mtn.

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Now it appears as this snake/serpent and its passengers are on a mission. But where are they headed? Well the snake is travelling away from Christ’s heel, that is for sure. Well, if you go out at night and find this serpent Constellation, you will notice that the four stars which make its jaws are pointing in two directions.

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In other words, if you were to draw a line from the two stars which compose its upper jaw, and a straight line from the two stars which compose its lower jaw, and extend those lines across the sky, one line would go to the Valley of Decision Constellation, while the other would go to the Broad Way to Hell Constellation (AKA Pisces).

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https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Question_book_magnify2.svg

READ MORE…

To explore deeper into this subject, please read… “The Five Foolish Virgins Stars” or you can also read… “The Five Wise Virgins Stars”

Question book magnify svg – Wikimedia – GNU license

 

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TOMORROW:

“June 3rd (Keeping 1 Day Holy!)”

Ten Commandments – cropped photo – Wikimedia – Share-alike License 4.0

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20+ MINUTE AUDIO STUDY IN JEREMIAH 

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ALL ‘NOBLE BEREANS’ (open-minded seekers of Bible truth) ARE ENCOURAGED TO BEGIN FOLLOWING THIS 650+ AUDIO BIBLE STUDY THROUGH THE BOOK OF JEREMIAH EACH DAY ON THIS DAILY DEVOTIONAL. 

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THIS STUDY #151 IS PRESENTED BY THE LATE HAROLD CAMPING…

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above picture: Prophet Jeremiah – www.christianimagesource.org – Public Domain

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Those who are interested in using photos on this page may click on provided link below each photo, to get to Wikimedia Commons for various licensing details & tags, and all other necessary information on any particular photo. Most tall, narrow photos have been cropped by this website to make them a better fit on phone screens.

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