Today’s Devotional – April 7th (1 Preacher! 2 Sermons!)

By admin On April 6th, 2014

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Today’s Devotional -April 7th

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1 Preacher! 2 Sermons!

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.http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1a/Thumb_up_icon.svg/200px-Thumb_up_icon.svg.png

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A Christian was very excited about an up-and-coming evangelist! “You just have to hear this guy! He’s incredible”, said this friend.

.http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Circle-Thumb-Down.png

But another friend, speaking of the same evangelist, said just the opposite…“He’s no good! He’s the Devil incarnate!”

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So what was the problem?

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Why did these two people see this evangelist in two entirely different ways?

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Thumb up icon – svg – Wikimedia – Share-alike license

Thumbs Down – Wikimedia – Public domain

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VERY CHARISMATIC!

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Now it’s true that this preacher is very popular, especially among young people, college-aged and older.

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Well, upon listening to this evangelist, it’s not hard to understand why he is so popular.

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After all, he’s a great speaker, a charismatic personality, full of emotion, full of energy!

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And this evangelist is rather unconventional, not being afraid to speak against the so-called “orthodoxy” of Christendom.

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Audience hands – Wikimedia – Public Domain

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SPEAKING WITH FORKED-TONGUE!

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So what’s the problem with this evangelist?

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Why did one person love his message, while the other hated his message?

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

The problem was, this popular evangelist was preaching two sermons at the same time!

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You see, in the garden of Eden, Lucifer came speaking to the woman through a serpent (Old English, for “snake”).

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And the Bible has forever connected Satan with the serpent (snake).

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But also notice its tongue!

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Observe how the snake has a forked tongue!

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Brown tree snake Boiga – Wikipedia – public domain

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“EARTHLY, SENSUAL, DEVILISH”

James 3:15

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In other words, I can say all the right things!

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I can talk about Jesus!

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

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I can tell of His great love!

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I can encourage my audience to follow Him!

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But if my words are not accompanied by a life in harmony with His life, then I am preaching two entirely different sermons! .

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In other words, if I speak about the glories of Heaven, but most everything about my delivery of that message speaks of earthiness and sensuality, then I am like that forked-tongued snake. Or perhaps like this two-headed serpent in the above photo!

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Double-headed Aztec Snake – British Museum – Wikipedia – Share-alike license

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SPIRITUAL WORDS, SENSUAL MUSIC!

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If my chosen music presentation has Christian words, and yet is accompanied with a very earthy, sensual musical genre, then my words and music are each preaching a different sermon!

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After all, aren’t we supposed to transform ourselves into the heavenly image?

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And doesn’t all Heaven and its music reflect the solemnity and reverence of Jesus?

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And can I not imagine the celestial music emanating from the courts above?

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And haven’t there been many joyful, but reverent songs and hymns written over the centuries?

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Can I imagine David, strumming his harp in reverent, joyful tones, as he watched his flocks by day and by night? 

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David Playing Harp www.thebiblerevival.com US public domain

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REVERENT SPEECH!

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If I swoon and even fawn all over Jesus, but then I speak in hip-talk, and be cute and funny and appeal to my audience’s carnal nature, what good is that?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Smilie_2.JPG
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And so, my very speech, by its own qualities, can indeed preach two entirely different sermons!

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Do you suppose that Jesus had his audience all in stitches, like so many of today’s preachers?

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Did Jesus need to be some sort of stand-up comic, or circus clown, in order to entertain His audience?

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Listen to Thomas Brooks, in his 1676 treatise called, “7 Characteristics of False Teachers”“They preach more to please the ear than to profit the heart…False teachers handle holy things rather with wit and trifling, rather than with fear and reverence. False teachers are soul-murderers. They are like evil surgeons, that skin over the wound—but never heal it…False teachers are Hell’s greatest enrichers.”

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But Peter rather, exhorts us to reverence… “If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God;” 1st Peter 4:11

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Comedy Clown – Wikimedia – Public Domain

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EMOTIONALLY-CHARGED GOSPELS

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Much of today’s gospels are emotionally charged: the music, the speakers, the lighting, even special effects and false miracles, quite often are designed to bring the audience into an electrifying experience! 

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triumphal_entry_into_Jerusalem#/media/File:Enrique_Simonet_-_Flevit_super_illam_-_1892.jpgBut our divine role-model, Jesus, did not present the Gospel in such a earthy, sensual manner. Just the opposite! Listen to Isaiah…“Isa 53:2  For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him…Isa 42:2  He shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street. 
Isa 42:3  A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench: he shall bring forth judgment unto truth.”

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These above verses describe a very low-keyed individual who never played upon the emotions of His hearers in attempt to win them over through passionate presentations.

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But today, such emotionally charged church-services eventually leave a vacuum in the hearts of the attendees, actually bringing many down into depression and sadness, a day or two after the excitement wears off.

Church Worship Music – Wikipedia – Share-alike-license

Jesus over Jerusalem – Enrique Simonet Flevit – 1892 – Wikimedia – Public-Domain

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IMITATION: THE HIGHEST FORM OF PRAISE!

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People are not dumb! They perceive many things. And they instinctively know the difference between the way Jesus behaved, and the way the world behaves. 

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And so, when we Christians profess to be followers of Jesus, but behave like the world, the world takes it as a compliment to their own worldly behavior!

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To imitate the world, is to praise the world. And the “god of this world” is happy to have a Christian behave as one of his loyal subjects!

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But we are to be, “ambassadors for Christ” (2nd Corinthians 5:20). And the more truly we reflect His glorious image, the greater will be our witness to the world; and the more that God will bless our efforts!

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“Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:” Hebrews 12:14

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ABOVE PICTURE: Satan, The False Prophet who offers a world-loving gospel – www.signsofheaven.org

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http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:USMC-06831.jpg.

Well, the Good News is, that there is still time to change my worldly ways! I can turn away from this form of hypocrisy, and bring my lifestyle into harmony with my words, and with Christ!

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USMC – Prayer before Bible study – Wikimedia – Public Domain

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http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:USMC-06831.jpg

TODAY’S PRAYER…

“Dear Lord, Give me a desire to find the true Jesus. Give me the grace to become transformed into His holy image…

USMC – Prayer before Bible study – Wikimedia – Public Domain

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

READ MORE…

To explore deeper into this subject, please read… January 19th (Who Wants To Hang Out With Holiness?) or you can also read… “Ark of the Covenant Constellation, Pt. 2: How To Enter The Most Holy Place”

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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ORION, THE GOOD SHEPHERD

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.Orion the Good Shepherd (5th personality of Orion)

“The LORD is my shepherd;

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I shall not want (lack).

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He maketh me to lie

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down in green pastures:

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He leadeth me beside

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the still waters…

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I will fear no evil:

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for Thou art with me;

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Thy rod and thy staff

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they comfort me….”

Psalm 23:1, 2, 4

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ORION, THE GOOD SHEPHERD

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01.17.20133

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This star-chart from Wikipedia, has Orion sketched in by the editor of this website. With the addition of a single star, Theta Geminorum (the left hand of the Castor twin of Gemini), the sickle in Orion, the Reaper’shand (sketch to left), now extends the blade, thus transforming that sickle into the hook of a shepherd’s rod and staff. And so now this little Gemini star becomes the tip of Orion’s Shepherd’s rod & staff. Thus with this additional star, Orion the Reaper Constellation now becomes the 5th personality of Orion: The Good Shepherd (sketch below right). Theta Geminorum is a class A3, 4th magnitude star, which means it is much fainter than either of the stars, Castor or Pollux. But faint as This little star may be, it nevertheless presents a giant concept, turning Orion’s sickle into a shepherd’s rod. And this is a very wonderful and beautiful Bible truth: namely, that Jesus is the Good Shepherd, as is written…

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01.17.20132

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“As a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered; so will I seek out My sheep, and will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day.” Ezekiel 34:12

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And so God has placed this Starry Shepherd in the winter-night heavens to remind us of His great love for a planet which has wandered away: just like sheep that wandered to where the grass looked greener.

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ABOVE WIKIPEDIA STAR-CHART: Orion the reaper – Wikipedia star-chart (with the Reaper drawn over by this website)

ABOVE WIKIPEDIA STAR-CHART – winter – Orion the Good Shepherd (Orion Constellation and rod made of Gemini stars – with the Shepherd drawn over by this website) – www.signsofheaven.org

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

READ MORE…

To explore deeper into this subject, please read… “Orion, The Good Shepherd”

Question book magnify svg – Wikimedia – GNU license

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TOMORROW:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Martin,_John_-_Satan_presiding_at_the_Infernal_Council_-_1824.JPG

“April 8th (The True Nature of Evil)”

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

 

 

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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 #97 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

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