Today’s Devotional – December 13th (Help! I’m Too Weak To Run!)
By admin On December 8th, 2013.
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Today’s Devotional, DECEMBER 13TH
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Help! I’m Too Weak To Run!
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Was there ever a race involving the Apostles?
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Well, was there?
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Yes, in a sense there was. You see, there was once a race between the two disciples, Peter and John. Listen… “Peter therefore went forth, and that other disciple, and came to the sepulchre. So they ran both together: and the other disciple did outrun Peter, and came first to the sepulchre.” John 20: 3, 4
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So, there was indeed a race: a contest between Peter and John! And that was a race to get to the tomb of Jesus!
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DEATH TO SELF IS OUR GOAL
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Oh you don’t believe it, that we Christians are also to race to get to Jesus’ tomb?
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Well, just listen to Paul… “That I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being made conformable unto His death; If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead…I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” Colossians 3:10, 11, 14.
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So we begin to see that Paul was very much intent on becoming Christ-like! He wanted to experience all those sufferings which Jesus suffered.
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Thus, in essence, Paul, like Peter and John, was also in that race to get to Jesus’ tomb.
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Paul too, “press(ed) toward the mark for the prize”!
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Painting left: Paul the Apostle-Artist-Valentin de Boulogne or Nicolas Tournier- circa 1500s
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“HAVE MERCY UPON ME, O LORD, FOR I AM WEAK”
Psalm 6:2
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“Wherefore He is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him, seeing He ever lives to make intercession for them.” Hebrews 7:25
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Now, having said all this about running the Christian Race, let it also be said: never be overwhelmed by the “Christian Race”.
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The Christian Race can even be run, as a Christian lay in bed, making a complete surrender to Jesus in heart! To simply hide under the coverings of God’s wings, trusting in His grace & precious promises, and feeling totally helpless, is perhaps the greatest victory that a person can win!
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Listen… “Commune with your own heart upon your bed, and be still. Selah. Offer the sacrifices of righteousness, and put your trust in the LORD….I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep: for Thou, LORD, only makest me dwell in safety!” Psalm 4:4, 5, 8.
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Munch – Det Syke Barn – 1896 – wikipedia – US public domain
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MARTHA & MARY
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God has not given every human the same energy level. Some Christians may be “busy Martha’s”, always abounding in the work of the Lord. But there are also others, like Mary, who are content to sit at the feet of Jesus, and hear his Word…
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Listen to Jesus as He gently scolds Martha… “And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things: But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.” Luke 10:41, 42.
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THAT GOOD PART!
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“And Jesus answered and said…Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.” Luke 10:41, 42.
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As this above passage reveals, to hear God’s Word is the best work! Thus, that Christian who, perhaps, can only lay in bed and pray, or listen to an audio Bible, may win the Christian race ahead of those who are veritable-dynamo-Apostle-Paul’s!
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Yes, those who are physically active, quite often become so busy with either religious or secular projects, to the detriment of their spiritual advancement!
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Multitask – Wikimedia – C.C. Share-alike License
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PAUL HAD ALREADY MEMORIZED
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Remember that Paul, as a supreme Pharisee (prior to his conversion), had already memorized much or most or even all of the Old Testament.
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Consequently, after his conversion, he could simply meditate on those pre-memorized Scriptures as he worked, as he walked, as he lay down. And by such meditation, God’s Word became a living and active force in his daily life!
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And so, those who are in confinement can use their time to good account, if they will imitate Paul in his reading and meditating on God’s Word, the Bible.
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For more on Mary & Martha, please click here… Martha, the “Doer” & Mary, the “Hearer”
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Paul Shipwrecked Acts 27:41-44-www.lavistachurchofchrist.org–public domain
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THE PALSIED MAN
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Just one more little encouragement!
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Remember that story in Mark, Chapter 2, in which a palsied man who had to be let down by his four friends into the house, to receive healing from Jesus? That man couldn’t even walk! And yet Jesus gave him victory right then and there, prior to him receiving healing!
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And if I am spiritually palsied; not able to do the slightest Christian duties, I too, may feel like the weakest and most worthless of all saints! But like that palsied man, I can still get the victory, though I cannot seem to walk or fight the Christian warfare, or run the Christian Race. For the real victory is won when a person truly “forsakes this world” in his heart, and begins to follow Jesus with all his (or her) heart, as one of His Disciples!
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Nevertheless, unceasing prayer for great grace and healing should be offered, that we may be strengthened, just as that palsied man, who got up and began to walk! Thus it may be said to us… “I will run the way of Thy commandments, when Thou shalt enlarge my heart.” Psalm 119:32
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Palsied Man Let Down through the Roof – James Tissot – Brooklyn_Museum – wikipedia – pub.dom.
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TODAY’S PRAYER…
“Lord, I am weak. Help me to no longer love this world of sin & deception. Purify my heart from all its selfishness & deceitfulness. And give me healing that I may “walk, even He walked” (1st John 2:6).
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READ MORE…
You may also read… “REVELATION 12 WOMAN: MARTHA & MARY: THE “DOER” & THE “HEARER”“, or you can also read… “December 8th (Lead On Softly!)”
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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“And there appeared a great wonder (or “sign”) in Heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars:” Revelation 12:1
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If you were to go out on a dark and starry night in the summer months, and lift up your head, you might just see this constellation group. Looking at this sketch, do you see this woman as she tries to take hold of that crown? Well, this is a heavenly fulfillment of the above Bible verse (“And there appeared a great wonder (or “sign”) in Heaven; a woman…and upon her head a crown of twelve stars:” Revelation 12:1). And this woman is known as the Revelation 12 Woman, and that crown is known as the Revelation 12 Crown. You can see this constellation group in the summer months by looking in the western skies.
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ABOVE STAR-CHART – Summer Constellations w/ark (aka: Sagittarius) & Revelation 12 Woman (aka: Ursa Major, including The Big Dipper) – www.theheavensdeclare.net
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HEAVENLY SIGNS
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These constellations are the Summer Constellations, and they are the beginning constellations of this wonderful message which God has inscribed in the heavens, which He promised in Luke’s Gospel… “And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring;” Luke 21:25
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READ MORE…
You may wish to read the following article…Arcturus (the star that wise-men follow!)
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TOMORROW:
“December 14th (Many Wise Counsellors)”
However pressing his duties STM2-c James Lee Frazer always finds time to read a few chapters from his Bible each day. I – NARA – 520675 – Wikimedia – Public Domain
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20+ MINUTE AUDIO JEREMIAH STUDY
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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 IS STUDY #345 PRESENTED BY THE LATE HAROLD CAMPING…
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Prophet Jeremiah – www.christianimagesource.com – Public Domain
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Click on image credit links below each photo, for licensing names, details, and tags, etc.. Most Images cropped & reduced in size.
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