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Daily Devotional, Year 2 – APRIL 26

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To Die Is Gain!?!

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Part 3:

“Heavenly Joy!”

To read Part 1, click here… “November 30th (To die is gain!?!)”

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“Turn your eyes upon Jesus,

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Look full in His wonderful face,

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And the things of the world will grow strangely dim,

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In the light of His glory and grace!”

Chorus from the song, “Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus”

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TWO DISTINCTLY DIFFERENT “JOYS”!

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This above chorus from the well-known spiritual song, “Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus”, really says a mouthful, doesn’t it?

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It really catches the essence of what differentiates the joy of a Christian, as opposed to the joy of the world.

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But it also differentiates the same in regard to the church-world!

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In the Epistle to the Corinthians, Paul addresses these two very different forms of joy… “We are fools for Christ’s sake, but ye are wise in Christ; we are weak, but ye are strong; ye are honourable, but we are despised.” 1st Corinthians 4:10

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In this epistle, Paul takes an adversarial position, constantly referring to “we” (Paul and his fellow workers), and “you” (the Corinthians). 

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Paul the Apostle – Artist – Valentin de Boulogne or Nicolas Tournier – circa 1500s – Wikipedia – public domain

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A CHRISTLIKE JOY

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And then, later on in that same epistle, Paul makes this next bold statement… “I protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily.” 1st Corinthians 15:31

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Now Paul is very subtly differentiating between his heavenly joy and the earthly rejoicing of the worldly-minded Corinthians. Paul’s joy is that which can only come from a daily death-to-self!

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The Corinthians were still seeking after the pleasures of the world; and Paul is making a comparison of their earthly joy, in contrast to his heavenly joy.

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Paul persecuted by Pharisees & Sadducees – www.thebiblerevival.com – US Public Domain

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CHRISTIAN SUFFERINGS

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Just listen to this litany of sufferings and joys which Paul and his fellow-workers suffered.

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“But in all things approving ourselves as the ministers of God, in much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses, In stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labours, in watchings, in fastings…O ye Corinthians, our mouth is open unto you, our heart is enlarged.”  (To read entire passage, go here…2nd Corinthians 6:2-11)

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Just reading this above passage almost takes one’s breath away!

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But Paul was attempting to not only shame those world-loving Corinthians; but he was also trying to open their eyes, to show them that they had not yet reached the true level of discipleship, which they needed to attain!

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Paul Shipwrecked Acts 27:41-44

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“HOW TO PERFORM…GOOD, I FIND NOT!”

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So let’s go back to our opening song… “Turn you 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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So, how can we apply the happy concept in this song to our daily lives? And how can we achieve the same heavenly joy which Paul had?

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Question Marks – At a loss – svg – Wikimedia Commons – Share-Alike License

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WHICH DIRECTION AM I GOING?

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Well, there’s a saying in the Christian world which says… “If the Devil isn’t coming against you, then maybe you are both traveling in the same direction!”

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Yes, for such a man-contrived saying, this one carries a lot of truth with it!

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You see, Satan has no real contention with the citizens of this world.

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They are his loyal subjects and he is their king!

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And so, they will have a certain amount of bubbly and giddy happiness (although much or most of the world is, in reality, suffering to one degree or another!)

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Man walking – cropped and altered image – Wikipedia – Share-alike Lic.

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FIERY TRIALS TO CLEANSE THE HEART

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No, but when a person turns his or her back on this world, and starts to climb that gently ascending pilgrim’s pathway, then will Satan become aroused, and begins making life difficult for that Christian!

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Fiery trials and fierce temptations will assail that Christian!

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And more and more, that suffering child of God will begin to understand what Paul is talking about when he says… “I die daily!”

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And so, God allows the Devil to carry on his warfare against that Christian, in part, as a means of driving the love of this world out of that Believer’s heart!

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Christian and Apollyon – Wikipedia – Public Domain

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PEACE WHICH SURPASSES ALL UNDERSTANDING!

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But God is not desiring us to live a meager and austere existence!

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No, but God replaces our lost earthly joy with a new heavenly peace and joy, which surpasses all earthly understanding!

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Listen… “Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice…Be careful (worried) for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:4-7

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And so, even though the Believer loses interest in the many selfish pleasures and pursuits of this world, that same Believer begins to rejoice with his or her new-found love for prayer, Bible study, and contemplation of the Bible!

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USMC – Prayer before Bible study – Wikimedia – Public Domain

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LIVING WATERS OF LOVE!

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Yes, the Bible promises us a peace which surpasses all understanding! As Jesus puts it… “out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.” John 7:38

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The living waters spoken of in this above verse, are the abundant pleasures of Heaven’s love! (see Psalm 36:8)

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Now, the Corinthians were enjoying life, too! But they didn’t know the joy described in these above passages!

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Their joy was derived from the flesh, and from worldly pleasures!

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Waterfall at the Polynesian – cropped image – Wikipedia – share-alike-license

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“…PLEASURES FOR EVERMORE!”

Psalm 16:11

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The fact is, the more that God purifies the heart of a Believer, the less earthly joy we will experience; but the more heavenly joy, like a peaceful river, will come in to replace that old and undependable earthly joy! 

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The Apostle, Paul, said it this way… “But God forbid that I should glory, save in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world.” Galatians 6:14

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This is where we are going in our Christian walk: that we might say these same words with Paul!

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But it is a journey that we will never regret!

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Because we are going to a beautiful, joyful, everlasting place in which are, “pleasures for evermore”! Psalm 16:11

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River of Water of Life – H. Melville – Wikimedia – US Public Domain

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TODAY’S PRAYER…

“Dear Lord, help my faith to grow. Help me to become like Paul, in my faith-walk. Let me grow in grace and in the knowledge of Jesus, so that I may meet life’s challenges with “the peace which surpasses all understanding”…

USMC – Prayer before Bible study – Wikimedia – Public Domain

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READ MORE…

To explore deeper into this subject, please read… “March 6th (How To Find Perfect Peace!)”

Question book magnify svg – Wikimedia – GNU license

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THE END

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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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WOMAN ON THE ALTAR CONSTELLATION

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This “Altar” Constellation is only seen in winter through spring, in mid-sky. It is to the south of the “Fleeing Woman Constellation” (AKA Ursa Major or The Big Dipper).

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The “Fleeing Woman of Revelation 12″ Constellation is in the northeastern sky in this sketch. You would be facing east and looking very high up almost to mid-sky to see this constellation group this way. The altar is farther south but still in the eastern sky. This altar is commonly known as “Leo Major“, with the smoke rising being “Leo Minor“.

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A little farther down this page is the sketch of this same constellation in the latter part of winter, when you look at them facing westward. You will notice that what looked like Gospel seed being cast from her left hand and left foot (see “Woman of Revelation 12-The Fleeing Woman” article for explanation of casting “Gospel Seed”) now appears like smoke or incense rising from the altar.

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It is not clear why the altar is sideways in back of the Woman. It would make more sense if it were directly under the Woman. However, the Lord must have some spiritual truth to convey concerning this odd positioning of the Altar. The 7 Stars (Big Dipper) is easy to see with its very bright 7 stars. But the Revelation 12 Woman (Ursa Major) must be seen on a dark starry night, away from city lights.

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THE ZODIAC CONSTELLATION NAMES

It is not the purpose of www.theheavensdeclare.net to give any validity to the Zodiac or any pagan deities. But the common names of many constellations (such as Scorpio or Sagittarius, etc.), must be given, solely for the purpose of locating them on star-charts.

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READ MORE…

To explore deeper into this subject, please read… “Woman of Revelation 12, (“The Woman on the Altar”)” or you can also read… “The Flower of Heaven Constellation”

Question book magnify svg – Wikimedia – GNU license

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TOMORROW…

” April 27 (Strong Delusion in Scripture)”

ABOVE PICTURE: Holy Bible – cropped image – Wikimedia – Creative Commons Lic.

 

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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 #482 IS PRESENTED BY THE LATE HAROLD CAMPING, FORMER CEO OF FAMILY RADIO…

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