Today’s Devotional – July 20th (Vaccinated Christians!)
By admin On July 15th, 2014.
.
Today’s Devotional – July 20th
.
.
.
.
THE VACCINATED CHRISTIAN
.
.
.
.
.
Have you had all your required vaccinations?
.
Well, the government requires a certain amount of vaccinations.
.
But why do vaccinations work?
.
Well, at least some of them give you a particular immunogen, which helps the system to build up a resistance to the infectious virus.
.
Typhoid inoculation – Wikipedia – US Govt. Public Domain
.
.
.
.
.
SPIRITUAL METAPHORS IN NATURE
.
Now, there are so many things in the world which can be looked upon metaphorically, in order to more clearly understand a spiritual principle. And being inoculated against viruses is no exception!
.
Yes, the Christian may experience a somewhat similar vaccination in his or her earthly pilgrimage. That is, quite often, the Lord will allow the Christian to experience a type of spiritual vaccination, so that a particular sin will never again fester and grow in that Christian’s heart!
.
Job – Wikipedia – US public-domain
.
.
.
.
.
NAGGING REMINDERS OF CRINGE-WORTHY EVENTS!
.
Or have you ever had the memory of a certain sin come back again and again to plague you? And whenever you remember that sinful act, you cringe in horror and disgust at yourself for committing that sin? Well, that’s just God’s way of inoculating you against repeating that sin.
.
Listen… “Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me.” Psalm 51:2, 3
.
Yes, David here is pleading with God for a thorough cleansing from his sin. And his sin is haunting him day and night! Listen again… “my sin is ever before me!”
.
There is a popular teaching in today’s apostate church-world, that says… “Oh, just ask God to forgive you, and that’s the last time you’ll ever have to think about that sin again!”
.
Well, such an idea is pure nonsense! God may forgive me right away. But He may also allow the Devil to haunt me over that sin for many years! Because God wants to inoculate me against ever committing that sin again! And every time the Devil harshly reminds me of that sinful moment, I cringe all over again, attempt to dispel that thought as quickly as possible!
.
Oh yes, Satan is very happy to plague me, hoping that I will get discouraged with God and His chastenings!
.
But God allows the Devil to do this, so that my heart will eventually become thoroughly cleansed.
.
David’s sorrow – wikigallery – public domain
.
.
.
.
.
BEING FILLED WITH OUR WICKED WAYS!
.
“The backslider in heart shall be filled with his own ways:” Proverbs 14:14
.
Or, when it comes to “everyday sins”, such as anger, gluttony, pride, or any other common occurrence, the Lord may just allow the Devil to repeatedly tempt me to commit that sin, over and over agai
n! And in my frustration, I keep begging and pleading with God to remove that sin forever! And such nagging sins may even cause me to doubt my Salvation!
.
And only God knows how long I may have to endure such tribulation.
.
But Jesus promises us that, “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” John 16:33.
.
As this passage reveals, Jesus won the victory on our behalf! But God will still bring us through many trials and much tribulation!
.
Trials such as Peter here went through, in this old painting. Notice that rooster statue in back of him. Peter, no doubt, heard that cock crowing for years, as it echoed down through the corridors of his mind! And it’s not hard to imagine that he grieved for many years about his sin of denying Jesus. But in the end, Peter got the privilege of dying on a Cross for his beloved Lord!
.
St Peter Brandl – 1724 – National Gallery Prague – Wikimedia Commons – Public Domain
.
.
.
.
.
CRUSHING GUILT
.
Well, it’s never wrong to beg for Salvation! And if I suffer a repeating sin, then I should not be presumptuous about my Salvation.
.
Listen… “And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.” Galatians 5:24. As this verse reveals, the true Christian is not one who lives in his or her fleshly desires!
.
Listen to the Psalmist… “O LORD, rebuke me not in thy wrath: neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure. For thine arrows stick fast in me, and thy hand presseth me sore. There is no soundness in my flesh because of thine anger; neither is there any rest in my bones because of my sin. For mine iniquities are gone over mine head: as an heavy burden they are too heavy for me. My wounds stink and are corrupt because of my foolishness. I am troubled; I am bowed down greatly; I go mourning all the day long.” Psalm 38:1-6
.
This kind of ongoing heavy burden by the Psalmist, is common among true-worshippers of God. Oh no, such anguish is not the entire experience of a Believer. But there are times in the Christian sojourn, that such plagues occur. That’s why God wrote this Psalm! So that we can know what we are going through, is from the Lord.
.
So we need to understand that the Christian life is not just some wonderful rapturous euphoria, as many would like us to believe! Christianity is a battle! It’s a march! And even though we can have perfect peace in the midst of the storm, there will be plenty of storms!
.
.
.
.
.
.
“…forgetting…things…behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before”
Philippians 3:13
.
Now having said all this, we also must resist the Devil whenever he attacks for whatever reason he does so. Thus, we must always pray for strength to handle such attacks even as Paul.
.
Listen to Paul’s great attitude…“Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before…” Philippians 3:13
.
We must try to quickly put away all such discouraging thoughts and accusations, and get on our spiritual knees in repentance before Christ, clinging to His “exceeding great and precious promises”, which will provide an avenue of escape from these overwhelming thoughts and temptations designed to discourage us.
.
We must cry out for grace to get our minds back upon Jesus and His wonderful Word as soon as we possibly can!
.
Christian and Apollyon – Pilgrim’s Progress – Wikipedia – US Public Domain
.
.
.
.
.
A JOYFUL END!
.
And let’s not forget that Peter found out by experience, that his fiery trials were only for his ultimate good…
.
Listen to Peter… “if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations: That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:” 1st Peter 1:6, 7
.
Yes, God will only put upon us that which is needful, as this above passage reveals. And if we endure these trials, God will finally purify us, even as precious gold is purified, so that we can say along with Job… “when He hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.” 23:10
.
And very soon, we will walk up and down those everlasting streets of gold, and we will be filled with joy and peace for evermore!
.
And we will be forever young!
.
Goldkey logo removed – Wikipedia – Public Domain
.
.
.
.
.
TODAY’S PRAYER…
“Dear Lord, As painful as it may be, please wash me thoroughly from my sin. Help me to be cleansed forever from these besetting sins…
Pray for Our Nation sign – Wikimedia – Share-alike-lic.
.
.
.
.
READ MORE…
To explore deeper into this subject, please read… “The Crown of Revelation 12: What Is “The Time of Jacob’s Trouble”?” or you can also read… ” July 17th (Kunta Kinte Christians)”
Question book magnify svg – Wikimedia – GNU license
.
.
.
.
THE END
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
TODAY’S FEATURED HEAVENLY SIGN
.
.
.
SUMMER CONSTELLATIONS
.
The above sketch is of the Summer Constellations Here we see The Two Turtle-Doves Constellation, the The Cross/Scepter Constellation, the star, Arcturus , The Flower of the Field Constellation, The Crown of Revelation Twelve, and The Woman of Revelation 12 (The Two Turtle-Doves are in the south, and the Revelation 12 Woman is in the north)
.
ABOVE STAR-CHART – Summer Constellations with Two Turtledoves (Sagittarius) & Revelation 12 Woman (Ursa Major) – www.theheavensdeclare.net
.
.
.
.
.
DOUBLE-ENTENDRES
.
But as is seen by this other sketch, there are more constellations involved. This sketch shows a box with a star on each end. This represents The Ark of the Covenant , and this other sketch to the right, shows The 7 Stars Constellation (AKA The Big Dipper). Those 5 constellations (7 counting the two double-entendres, already mentioned) listed above, make up what is known as the Summer Constellations.
.
ABOVE STAR-CHART – Summer Constellations w/ark & Rev. 12 Woman – www.theheavensdeclare.net
.
.
.
.
READ MORE…
To explore deeper into this subject, please read… “Arcturus (the star that wise-men follow!)”
.
.
.
.
.
TOMORROW:
” July 21st (A Hard Workin’ Devil!)”
Devil and Hell’s Torment – Polyptyque de la Vanité terrestre et de la Rédemption céleste-Hans Memling – cropped photo by this website – Photo by Rama for Wikimedia – Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 France license
.
.
.
.
.
.
20+ MINUTE AUDIO STUDY IN JEREMIAH 
.
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.
.
THIS STUDY #199 IS PRESENTED BY THE LATE HAROLD CAMPING…
.
above picture: Prophet Jeremiah – www.christianimagesource.org – Public Domain
.
.
.
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 or reduced by this website to make them a better fit on phone screens.
Leave a Reply