Today’s Devotional, January 10th (Why Isn’t This Devotional Like Other Devotionals?)
By admin On January 9th, 2014.
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Daily Devotional – January 10
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Why Isn’t This Devotional Like Other Devotionals?
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“Correction is grievous unto him
that forsaketh the way:
and he that hateth reproof shall die…
but to the hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet.”
Proverbs 15:10 & 27:7
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One reader complained that this devotional isn’t like other devotionals. “It’s just not as uplifting like devotionals are supposed to be!”
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Well, that’s very true, and is a valid complaint!
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Yes, there are countless devotionals which are beautifully and poetically written. And many devotionals from the 1800’s used very flowery language with many metaphorical and poetical analogies.
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Thumbs down – cropped image – Wikimedia – Creative Commons 2.0 License
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NICE UPLIFTING DEVOTIONALS
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The problem with many of those devotionals is that they tried so hard to be cleverly written, that the message often got lost to a certain degree by all that complexity and linguistic filigree.
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Not only so, but today’s church-world has become a veritable, “City of Confusion” by all the countless winds of doctrine blowing in every-which-direction.
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Question Marks – At a loss – svg – Wikimedia Commons – Share-Alike License
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“THE TRUTH SHALL MAKE YOU FREE!”
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This devotional series attempts to cut through the thick fog of confusion which has settled heavy upon the Christian landscape, with bright beams of sunlight from Heaven.
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And as far as being uplifting, there is nothing like truth to set one’s soul free…
“If ye continue in My word,
\then are ye My disciples indeed;
And ye shall know the truth,
and the truth shall make you free.”
John 8:31, 32
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Yes, it is the eye-salve of God’s plain truth that will remove our foggy vision and even our total blindness!
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And because we have been so badly misled by the prosperity-driven gospels of our day, it is the plain words of God’s truth that will lead us out of our Babylonish captivity.
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USMC – Prayer before Bible study – Wikimedia – Public Domain
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THE BIBLE HAS MANY HARD THINGS TO SAY
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And so, the reader is encouraged to keep up with these daily devotionals, in spite of the negativity so often presented (And to be fair, most of these daily devotions end with a positive and uplifting encouragement.)
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But let’s not be like the people of God back in Isaiah’s day which complained to the prophets…
“Prophesy not unto us right things,
speak unto us smooth things,
prophesy deceits:”
Isaiah 30:10
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The people back in Isaiah’s day wanted nice and smooth teachings. They didn’t like Isaiah’s negativity. Nor did they like Jeremiah and the other Old Testament prophets.
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The Prophet Isaiah (Bible Card from 1904) – Wikipedia – Public Domain
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“MANY OF HIS DISCIPLES WENT BACK. AND WALKED NO MORE WITH HIM”
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And for that matter, neither did they like what Jesus had to say…
“Many therefore of His disciples, when they had heard this,
said, ‘This is an hard saying; who can hear it?’
When Jesus knew in Himself that His disciples murmured at it,
He said unto them, ‘Doth this offend you?’…
From that time many of His disciples went back,
and walked no more with Him.”
John 6:60, 61, 66.
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Yes, many professed followers and disciples of Jesus did not like those more difficult and negative things He was preaching, and actually turned away from following Him!
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Brooklyn Museum – The Pharisees Question Jesus – James Tissot – US Public Domain – Wikimedia
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“ANNOINT THINE EYES WITH EYE-SALVE, THAT THOU MAY SEE”
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Eye-salve is often painful, but is given to heal one’s eyes. So too, the Word of God has many hard things to say to us. But God has to be blunt so often, knowing that it is for our spiritual health and healing.
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And so, please know and understand that all of us (including this editor) are convicted of sin as we read these devotionals.
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This is because God does not want us to remain in our errors any longer. He’s trying to free us!
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““And, lo, thou art unto them as a very lovely song of one that hath a pleasant voice, and can play well on an instrument: for they hear thy words, but they do them not!”
“Ezekiel 33:32
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And let’s face it! All those nice, flowery, and uplifting devotionals have not accomplished what they were intended to do.
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All things considered, the Church has grown weaker and more worldly with each passing decade, in spite of all the devotionals now available!
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And the apostasy continues to deepen and widen!
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And indeed, things have gotten so bad that God is now calling His people to...
“Come out of her, My people,
that ye be not partakers of her sins,
and that ye receive not of her plagues.”
Revelation 18:4
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Hallmark – Markville – Wikipedia – C.C. 1.0 Universal Public Domain
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“SURELY THERE IS AN END; AND THINE EXPECTATION SHALL NOT BE CUT OFF”
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And so, let’s rejoice that God hasn’t cast us away altogether! But in mercy and grace, He is giving us a message designed to cure us of our spiritual leprosy.
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And as our heart becomes cleansed and our soul becomes healed, we will rejoice in the very truths which once caused us so much grief and discomfort!
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USMC – Prayer before Bible study – Wikimedia – Public Domain
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TODAY’S PRAYER…
“Dear Lord, Give me a love for truth, so much so, that I begin to search the Bible for truth, no longer listening to these “feel-good” preachers of the prosperity-driven gospels…
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READ MORE…
To explore deeper into this subject, please read…September 2 (Jeremiah & the Smooth Prophets, Part 5: “When ‘Every Bitter Thing Is Sweet!’”), or you can also read this article…January 18th (Jeremiah & the Smooth Prophets)
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 (“sign”) in Heaven;
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a woman clothed with the sun,
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and the moon under her feet,
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and upon her head a crown of twelve stars:”
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Revelation 12:1
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ABOVE STAR-CHART – Summer Constellations w/ark & Rev. 12 Woman – www.theheavensdeclare.net
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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?
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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).
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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 & Rev. 12 Woman – www.theheavensdeclare.net
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READ MORE…
To explore deeper into this subject, please read… “The 12-Star Crown Constellation of Revelation 12”
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TOMORROW…
January 11th – Noble Bereans? (“Are You A Wise Man?”)
USMC – Prayer before Bible study – 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 #10 IS PRESENTED BY THE LATE HAROLD CAMPING…
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Prophet Jeremiah – www.christianimagesource.com – Public Domain
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