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Daily Devotional, Year 3 – June 2

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The Devil Made Me Do It!

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Part 12:

“When Good Works Are Evil Works”)

To read Part 1, click here… April 20th (The Heart: Treasure Chest of the Mind!)

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“An high look, and a proud heart,

and the plowing of the wicked, is sin.”

Proverbs 21:4

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Have you ever heard the expression, “To work like the Devil”?

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Well, there are many aspects of Satan that people don’t know about.

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But one thing most people can agree on, when seeing all the evil in the world is that, “Indeed, the Devil is a very hard worker!”

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Satan presiding at the Infernal Council – Wikipedia – US Public Domain.

 

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A WORLD SINKING IN SIN AND SELFISHNESS

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Just look at all the thefts! Just look at all the senseless murders! Behold all the violence! All the swindling! All the sexual promiscuity! All the drug and alcohol abuse and misery! All the government corruption! All the lawsuits! The wars! The sicknesses! The suffering! The broken hearts! And all the destruction and death that is the final reward for our wickedness!

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It’s a horrible world, isn’t it?

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Satan presiding at the Infernal Council – Wikipedia – US Public Domain.

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“NO GOOD THING IN…MY FLESH!”

Romans 7:18

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No doubt about it! It’s Satan’s world of sin and selfishness! Just listen to 1st John 5:19…“And we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness.”

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Here above, the Lord makes a distinction between those who truly serve God and the unbelieving world.

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And He testifies that the entire world lies in wickedness!

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And His exact wordage used here is that, “the whole world LIES in wickedness”, as if this wicked world is some giant poison stew of which the entire human race has been thrust into!

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Satan presiding at the Infernal Council – Wikipedia – US Public Domain.

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MANY HARD WORKERS

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But how can this be!? After all, just look at all the hard working people, “busting their chops each day”, trying to support their family! How can THAT be evil?

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Well listen again to today’s signature verse… “An high look, and a proud heart, and the plowing of the wicked, is sin.” Proverbs 21:4

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Chisinau traffic congestion – cropped – Wikimedia – Share-alike License

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MAYBE IT’S NOT SPEAKING OF US “GOOD PEOPLE”

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Yes, listen again to today’s signature verse… “An high look, and a proud heart, and the plowing of the wicked, is sin.” Proverbs 21:4

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Well, perhaps this above verse is merely speaking of the really bad people of the world. Yes, maybe it’s just talking about those thieves and murders, and druggies, and perverts out there in the dark back-alleys of the world.

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But remember what 1st John 5:19 says, “And we know that we are of God, and the WHOLE world lieth in wickedness.”

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Yes, this above verse defines just who it is that God considers wicked! Us! All we who still have wickedness in our hearts! We’re all wicked!

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People on crowded Delhi Bus – cropped – Wikimedia – Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike

 

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MY WICKED, WICKED HEART!

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What we must remember is this: “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” Jeremiah 17:9

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Here is why it is so difficult to realize our own innate wickedness. We all have a desperately wicked and supremely deceitful heart! We cannot see just how wicked our heart really is!

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ABOVE PICTURE: Battle for the heart – www.signsofheaven.org

 

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So, for a moment, let’s explore just why a hard day’s work by the human race is considered evil.

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Magnifying Glass – Wikimedia – Share-alike License

 

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ALL OUR LABORS ARE FOR OUR MOUTH

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Listen to the Wise Man’s assessment of daily labor…“He that labors, labors for himself; for his mouth craves it of him…All the labor of man is for his mouth, and yet the appetite is not filled.” Proverbs 16:26 & Ecclesiastes 6:7

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Now these above two verses are not just speaking only of physical appetite, but of every form of human appetite.

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In other words, many hard-working people get just as much satisfaction, or even more pleasure from exulting over, “What a hard worker I am!”.

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Yes, pride is a great motivator! We love to receive the praise from the world! We love to pat ourselves on the back! The “God is Respectability” is a much-worshiped deity in this proud, Pharisean world!

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We Can Do It! Rosie the Riveter – Wikipedia – Public Domain

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SATAN IS WORKING AROUND THE CLOCK

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Think about it! To have a good-paying job, an enviable home in a desirable neighborhood, nice-looking vehicles, a well-dressed family, etc., causes many people to work hard throughout their lives for such status symbols.

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And those who will honestly assess themselves must sheepishly admit this truth.

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Or maybe not so sheepishly!

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Rolls Royce 200EX ‘Ghost’ – Flickr – The Car Spy – cropped – Wikimedia Share-alike license

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TELEVISION: THE TALKING IMAGE

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Just look at television, for instance.

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Why do you think that so much of television programming is concerned with the outward tokens of pride? A shiny new car! A swanky vacation resort! A glamorous home! Nice clothes! Nice family! Desirable neighborhood! The buffest body! The latest, most expensive name-brand phone, or shoes, or shirt! Owning your own business! Enviable careers, high-paying jobs, fame, fortune, being “the toughest dude on the block”, or the cleverest wit or smartest guy in the room, or the most gorgeous gal or the handsomest guy! The greatest personality, or musician, or artist, or scientist, innovator, sportsman, sports-star, rock-star, dance-star, movie-star, home-maker, humanitarian, moralistic-respectability, holiest-religiosity, or whatever other status-symbol/badge-of-honor one might name!

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Yes, it’s a proud and selfish world!

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And most all we do is for our own self-satisfaction!  

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This is what makes us happy!

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ABOVE PICTURE: Dream Maker of Babylon – Signs Of Heaven.org

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Okay, so enough of this negativity!

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So what can we do about our seemingly hopeless condition?

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

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“YE MUST BE BORN AGAIN!”

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Well, let’s return to 1st John 5:19 for the answer…“And we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness.”

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Here is the answer! To become a new creature in Christ!

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That’s right! God is willing to give us a new heart! A heart motivated by genuine love! A heart that longs to be filled with the attributes of Jesus: patience, kindness, unselfishness, charity, long-suffering, faith, temperance, understanding, wisdom, goodness, meekness, lowliness, and such like virtues.

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Chaplain reads Bible – Wikimedia – US Govt. Public Domain

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OUR DAILY BREAD

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And we joyfully and prayerfully read the Bible each day in hopes of finding more and more about Jesus (via the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit).

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And we spend our day keeping our wonderful Savior before us in our mind’s eye.

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And then, with entirely new motives, we can enthusiastically go about our daily labor, with hearts on fire for Jesus, and minds lazar-focused upon His Word!

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USMC – Prayer before Bible study – Wikimedia – Public Domain

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TO READ PART 13, GO HERE…

August 11 (The Devil Made Me Do It! Part 13: “Revelation 11:18: Why Are The Nations Angry?”)

Antifa @ Protest Trump in Phoenix – 8-22-17 – Wikipedia – GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2

 

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TODAY’S PRAYER…

“Dear Lord, Help me to no longer serve this proud and selfish world, but instead to serve the One who is altogether meek and lowly in heart…

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

 

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READ MORE…

To explore deeper into this subject, please read… Today’s Devotional – July 21st (A Hard Workin’ Devil!) or you can also read this article…May 13 (Planet Earth, Devil’s Island, Part 7: “Planet Earth: Experiment In Selfishness”)

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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“THE SCORNER (THE PHARISEE)”

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Listen to the following revelation concerning the evil which exists within the hearts of men…“For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, AN EVIL EYE, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.” Mark 7:18-23

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Please tilt your head to the left. Do you see a man with a very long pointed nose. (Obviously, the sketch to the right is just an exaggeration in order to help you find the face in the photo to the left.)

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Do you see an angry look? His right eye-brow is raised as if he is judging.

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This second face in the Moon appears to be that of a combination of a man as well as a fox. Or maybe a wolf. Doesn’t he have a long narrow nose like a wolf or fox? Maybe even a dog. Nevertheless, the expression on his face, as he appears to look down upon the Earth, is that of scorn. Unlike the first Moon-man’s sad shock and awe; this ‘man/fox/wolf/dog’ appears to be that of anger and scorn. As if he is disgusted at the sinful planet below.

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He is very moral, you see!

 

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Moon – Public Domain – 2nd face Pharisee Scorner – by Cezar Popescu for Wikimedia – Universal Public Domain – cropped, highlighted & rotated photo

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READ MORE…

To explore deeper into this subject, please read… “Moon Into Blood-2nd Face”

Question book magnify svg – Wikimedia – GNU license

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TOMORROW…

June 3 (The Pre-Trib Rapture, Part 4: “We Clueless Laodiceans!”)

ABOVE PICTURE: Unfunny Judgment Day Cartoon – a party tonight – signsofheaven.org

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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.