Daily Devotional, Year 3 – February 23 (Flee To The Mountains, Part 15: “How To Be Like John the Baptist: The Signs Of Heaven”)
By admin On May 30th, 2024.
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Daily Devotional, Year 3 – February 23
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Flee To The Mountains,
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Part 15:
“How To Be Like John the Baptist: The Signs Of Heaven”
To read part 1 of this article, click here… “August 22nd (Sodom Rising!)”
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In His great mercy, the Lord raised up John The Baptist to warn His people to, “Flee from the wrath to come!” Matthew 3:7 & Luke 3:7
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And so, John The Baptist came in the traditional style of the Old Testament prophets, pointing the accusing finger, and issuing that fiery message to the curious crowds who came from all around to eagerly hear him.
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John the Baptist by J. Tissot – Wikimedia Commons – US Public Domain
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The past three articles on John the Baptist (click here) have highlighted different aspects of his life.
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But there is another aspect to John the Baptist’s lifestyle which is conducive to spiritual health. The Signs Of Heaven!
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Yes, John’s life, no doubt was largely dedicated to discovering the wild honey found in nature.
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Oh no, not just literal wild honey!
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But in addition to seeking after physical food, John no doubt also did what King Solomon did: to seek after the wild honey found in nature’s wisdom.
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John the Baptist by Harold Copping – www.wikigallery.com – US public domain
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WILD HONEY OF GOD’S LAW
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Yes, the wild honey that one eats when studying the various creations of God are every bit as beneficial to our health, as is our necessary daily bread!
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And John had all day to partake of the Old Testament prophets (symbolized by his diet of locusts), but also to study the various creatures that shared his wilderness home.
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Worker ant carrying leaf – Wikimedia – Public Domain
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NATURE’S TEACHERS
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From the hard-working little ants, to the wild canine-scavengers, to the various vegetation, to the signs in the sun, moon, and stars, all nature became John’s instructors!
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Everything in nature has the Gospel of Jesus Christ written into it: from the tiniest atom to the greatest galaxy, and beyond, the various aspects of the Gospel are inscribed in some way!
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Starry Night at La Silla – cropped/altered image – Wikimedia – Share-Alike license
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“ASK NOW THE BEASTS…”
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Listen to this revelation concerning nature…“But ask now the beasts, and they shall teach thee; and the fowls of the air, and they shall tell thee: Or speak to the earth, and it shall teach thee: and the fishes of the sea shall declare unto thee. Who knoweth not in all these that the hand of the LORD hath wrought this? In whose hand is the soul of every living thing, and the breath of all mankind.” Job 12:7-10
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Yes, the earth, the sea, the heavens and all the creatures therein had become John the Baptist’s university of higher learning!
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And this kind of heavenly education gave John a college degree in wisdom that no school of Man can even come close to re-producing!
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Birds in a One-sided argument – Flickr – Andrea Westmoreland – Wikimedia – Share-alike License
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Now just how does all this relate to you and to myself?
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Question Marks – At a loss – svg – Wikimedia Commons – Share-Alike License
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IMITATING JOHN
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Well, this little series on “How to Be Like John the Baptist”, is all about taking John’s life as a role-model for our own life, in hopes of overcoming the world, even as John overcame the world!
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And fortunately, this aspect of John’s life can easily be imitated by even those who live in a city.
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Oh no, the stars do not shine so bright in the city as they do out in the wilderness.
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But there are many gems of truth and wisdom in nature to be discovered even within the wilds of the “concrete jungle”!
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John the Baptist by Harold Copping – www.wikigallery.com – US public domain
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MANY TEACHERS, EVEN IN THE CITY
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And those who must remain prisoners of city life can turn their children away from the hellish hub-bub of today’s Sodom-&-Gomorrahs, and re-direct them down to the tiny teachers which also inhabit the cities.
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Maybe to spend as much time as possible in the city park, searching for birds, squirrels, or butterflies.
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Or to study the various trees.
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Or to grow a little garden.
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Or to even look at the ways of Mankind, and make a spiritual analogy, would help children to look at life through Heaven’s spiritual eye-glasses.
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THE EYE AND EAR ALWAYS BUSY!
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The world is full of wisdom!
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And as the Preacher so aptly said…“All things are full of labour; man cannot utter it: the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing.” Ecclesiastes 1:8
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Yes, all humans, big and small, young and old, are constantly studying something! We are constantly listening to something!
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And so, the challenge for each and every Christian parent, is to attempt to redirect the eyes and ears of your children to the things which will elevate them.
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And there is no better way to accomplish this, than through nature!
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Father & Son – Wikimedia – Public Domain
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CHILDREN LOVE NATURE
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Yes, Children are naturally attracted to nature!
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But the Devil works overtime to attract children to the wrong things.
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And so, it becomes the Christian parent’s battle to redirect them back to heavenly things!
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But fortunately, God is infinitely more powerful than the Devil.
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Therefore, with God’s blessings, the parents will get the victory over the wiles of the Devil.
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And today’s devotional has highlighted just one more way in which John the Baptist won the Victor’s Crown.
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And you can too!
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And so can I!
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If neither of us gives up!
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Family Portrait – cropped image – Wikimedia – Share-alike License
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TO READ PART 16, GO HERE…
March 28 (Flee To The Mountains, Part 16: “How To Be Like John the Baptist: Flee From The Wrath To Come!”)
Brooklyn Museum – John the Baptist – The Voice in the Desert -_James Tissot
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TODAY’S PRAYER…
“Dear Lord, Help me to begin to study nature in hopes of becoming wiser in Christ…
Prayer – USMC – Wikimedia – US Govt. Public Domain
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READ MORE…
To explore deeper into this subject, please read… October 11 (Nature’s Four Witnesses, Part 2: 5th Witness, Love!), or you can also read… “Today’s Devotional – January 25th (Atheism Exposed, Part 1: Nature’s Four Witnesses)“
Question book magnify svg – Wikimedia – GNU license
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THE END
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TODAY’S FEATURED HEAVENLY SIGN
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NARROW GATE
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This most amazing phenomenon is seen throughout the winter. Although it can be observed most of the winter, it is seen best when it is the western part of the sky, at winter’s end (The end of winter being the final scene of this heavenly Gospel story). Orion , the Dragon, and the Glorious White Horse are beginning to descend into the western horizon (sketch to right is Winter Constellations descending into western horizon. This can actually be seen as early as December, in the pre-dawn hours).
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And at this point it is apparent that the Fleeing Woman of Revelation 12 Constellation is veering toward the two bright stars, known as Castor and Pollux (sketch to below left). But the Wide Gate Stars are composed of the two brightest stars of the Auriga Constellation, known as the star, Capella, and the star, Menkalinan. The two stars, Castor and Pollux, make up the concept of the Orion’s Narrow Gate Stars.
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This can even be observed into June in the western sky (for a short time just after dark). While a dark night is best for seeing the Woman Constellation, the 4 stars which comprise the Narrow Gate/Wide Gate Stars can be seen even under mediocre conditions. It begins with the Fleeing Woman of Revelation 12 Constellation (AKA Ursa Major) going towards these two doors.
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The sketch to left shows, the two doors are each composed of two bright stars. The two bright stars that comprise the Narrow Gate are the two brightest stars of the Orion the Reaper’s sickle. The two stars that comprise the ‘Wide Gate’ Stars are the two brightest stars of the wave of water that comes out of the Dragon Constellation’s mouth (for explanation of “Wave of Water”, just click here). The stars that make up the ‘Narrow Gate’ are about half the width of the Wide Gate (see sketch to right).
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(For more information on Orion’s sickle, just click here,“Orion The Reaper”.)
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Editor’s note: These sketches on this page are merely sketches. The stars are not in their exact place. However, they are close enough to find them in the night sky. But as with most stars, it takes persistence to finally locate them.
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READ MORE…
To explore deeper into this subject, please read… “Revelation 12 Woman & The Narrow Gate Stars (Orion’s Gate to Heaven)”
Question book magnify svg – Wikimedia – GNU license
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TOMORROW…
February 24 (Eternal Torment? Part 17: “Torment In Heaven?”)
Hell’s Viewing Gallery- Signsofheaven.org – copyrighted – not for public use
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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 #54 IS PRESENTED BY THE LATE HAROLD CAMPING…
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above picture: Prophet Jeremiah – www.christianimagesource.org – Public Domain
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