Today’s Devotional – June 23rd (The Natural Man’s Prosperity Gospel)
By admin On June 22nd, 2014.
Today’s Devotional – June 23rd
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The Natural Man’s Prosperity Gospel
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For most of the past 2,000 years, the world just got by.
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Oh yes, there were rich people. But for the most part, if you were born poor, chances are, you would also die poor.
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Of course, there were a few extremely clever and ambitious ones who made it their chief goal in life, to become rich.
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But there were no get-rich gospels blowing in the wind in those days. People knew that they weren’t going to hit the lottery jackpot. People knew that poverty was probably going to be their lot in life.
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Orphanage run by Christians – Jan de Bray – Wikimedia – Public domain
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FIRST & SECOND BEASTS OF REVELATION 13
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But when the first beast of Revelation 13 had received his deadly wound by God’s great and terrible sword (the Bible), an era came to an end.
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No longer would the world live in extreme poverty. Now was the time when the great Dragon would begin to flood the Christian nations of Europe and America with abundance!
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Yes, it was now time for the second beast to make his appearance on the world stage. Now came a paradigm shift so dramatic, that it completely changed how the world thought, and how they lived.
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2ND BEAST’S POWER: THE EARTH
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Yes, this second beast arose up from the earth. And this was seen as the beginning of the so-called “industrial revolution”, as Man began to take the elements of the earth, and turn those elements of the earth into goods of various types.
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And so, this was the beginning of the world-wide economy. And the nations began to enjoy a prosperity never before experienced in the post-diluvian world.
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Oh yes, this has been a gradual progression, but it began to sweep through the nations who were struggling to remain faithful to the Gospel which they once enthusiastically embraced during the Reformation.
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ABOVE PICTURE: Satan, The False Prophet who offers a world-loving gospel
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ITCHING-EARS GOSPELS
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Listen to this unnerving prophecy concerning the total apostasy of the churches…“For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.” 2nd Timothy 4:3, 4
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This above passage forewarns that a day is coming when the churches will no longer endure sound doctrine!
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Now the Dragon knew that by flooding these Christian nations with riches and material wealth, he could put out the holy fire with the complacency and self-satisfied lethargy which so often accompanies earthly prosperity.
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ABOVE PICTURE: Satan, The False Prophet who offers a world-loving gospel
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PROSPERITY DRIVEN CHURCH-WORLD
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Thus, we have come to a day in which those “get rich” gospels are enjoying tremendous growth around the world!
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And along with the promise of financial freedom, these gospels have brought in the sensual music of the world, and even comedy in the pulpit, and other such worldly attractions.
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Needless to say, these worldly gospels are attracting the great unwashed masses around the world into their gospel!
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Audience hands – cropped & altered – Wikimedia – Universal Public Domain
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“NATURAL MAN” REJECTS SPIRITUAL NATURE OF BIBLE
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But what is wrong with financial affluence?
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And where did this prosperity-driven gospel come from?
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Does the Bible promote anything like this?
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Well, listen to this… “Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.” 2nd Corinthians 2:13, 14
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God has written the Bible in earthly language, to a great extent. Hence, passages concerning prosperity have a spiritual analogy.
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Yes, the Bible is a spiritual book. In other words, when a Christian reads the Bible, the Holy Spirit begins to interpret those earthly allegories into spiritual truths.
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ABOVE PICTURE – Adding to or taking from God’s Word, the Bible
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GOD’S DOUBLE-EDGED SWORD!
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The Spirit-filled truth-seeker begins to perceive that the Bible has been written in such a way that it reveals the true motives of the heart. It is a “Two-Edged Sword” which cuts both ways! It will slay a person’s love for this world, or it will slay his love for Heaven. In other words, you can’t have both worlds. You must choose which world you will live for.
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Listen… “For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” Hebrews 4:12
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Here is a very revealing verse which helps us to realize that God’s Word will discover the deepest thoughts and intents of our heart!
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ABOVE PICTURE: soldiers of the cross – armor up! – www.signsofheaven.org
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WHICH WORLD WILL I LIVE FOR?
Listen… “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and Mammon.” Matthew 6:24
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Oh yes, the Bible speaks quite often of earthly prosperity.
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But it does so, in order to speak of heavenly prosperity.
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This is where the Holy Spirit comes in to translate such earthly types, shadows, and symbols into spiritual truths.
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ABOVE PICTURE: Satan, The False Prophet who offers a world-loving gospel
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THEY CANNOT DISCERN SPIRITUAL THINGS
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And so, if those who stumble at the Word had really been searching for truth, they would have understood this following parable…
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Listen… “There is that maketh himself rich, yet hath nothing: there is that maketh himself poor, yet hath great riches. The ransom of a man’s life are his riches: but the poor heareth not rebuke.” Proverbs 13:7, 8.
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As this above verse reveals, the riches of this world are merely “fool’s gold”. But the true riches are Salvation, as well as the golden gift of faith and love, which grows within the Believer’s heart.
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But we poor deluded souls don’t see what this passage is truly saying, because our carnal hearts cannot see these spiritual truths… “Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.” Romans 8:7, 8.
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Yes, a carnal Christian is numbered among “false brethren”. A mere “make-believer”.
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Pyrite (Fools Gold) – cropped – Wikimedia – share-alike license
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GOOD NEWS!
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Now amidst all this doom and gloom is some very Good News! Yes, if we find that our heart has been deceived by the deceitfulness of earthly riches, there is time to turn and flee from these things.
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Listen… “In that day a man shall cast his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, which they made each one for himself to worship, to the moles and to the bats; To go into the clefts of the ragged rocks, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of His majesty, when He ariseth to shake terribly the earth!” Isaiah 2:20, 21
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Yes, as this prophecy reveals, there is coming a day in which God’s true worshippers will finally wake up to our peril. And when that day finally comes, we will cast our, “idols of silver of and gold to the moles and to the bats, to go into the clefts of the ragged rocks…when He arises to shake terribly the earth!”
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TODAY’S PRAYER…
“Dear Lord, Let me not be deceived by the deceitfulness of riches. Let me keep my eyes fixed on Jesus, and pattern my life after His glorious life…
Pray for Our Nation sign – Wikimedia – Share-alike-lic.
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READ MORE…
To explore deeper into this subject, please read… “June 9th (The Power of Positive-Thinking Gospels!)” or you can also read… “Revelation 12 Woman & The Narrow Gate Stars (Orion’s Gate to Heaven)”
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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THE ARK IN THE HEAVENS
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So what importance to us is all this information? Well, if a person goes out at night, beginning in April (earlier in southern-most latitudes, and later in northern-most), in the pre-dawn hour, they just might locate the constellation commonly referred to as the Sagittarius Constellation . It is located in the southern sky. (Each night it appears a little earlier, slowly inching westward, through the summer, until it finally disappears below the western horizon in November.)
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At first, it simply appears as two twin birds flying westward. But if you look once again, it just might appear as a long box-like figure, with one star on the right, as you face it, and two stars on the left. The box, of course would be the Ark, and the stars on either side would represent angels, which are sometimes referred to as stars in the Bible (for instance, “the seven stars are the angels…” Revelation 1:20). To the right is a star-chart from Wikipedia, in which the editor of this site has sketched in this Sagittarius Constellation, to show how God created it to appear.
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THE ARK, CROSS/SCEPTER & FLOWER OF THE FIELD
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“And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament: and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail.” Revelation 11:19
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The below sketch is of the southernmost constellations: The Ark of the Covenant, the Flower of the Field, and the Cross/Scepter Constellations. As you can see in the sketch, the two stars in this Ark of the Covenant Constellation, (on either side of the Ark) do not look like these two angels. This sketch is just an overly generous rendering of this constellation. This sketch does however, present a view of the Ark, as it might have appeared (somewhat) in Solomon’s temple. This constellation is commonly known as “Sagittarius”. Why the ancients saw this as a centaur (man/horse figure) is a mystery. Maybe someone knows.
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TEMPLE IN HEAVEN OPENED
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But the really big important fact is that this constellation is spoken of in Revelation… “And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the Ark of His Testament: and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail.” Revelation 11:19. This constellation begins to fulfill this prophecy in this above verse. But as you read more and more of Signs Of Heaven, you will see a greater fulfillment of this prophecy. Because not only will the temple be opened in Heaven, but you will receive instructions as to how you may enter by faith into the true temple in Heaven and into the true Most Holy Place where the actual Ark is (the heart of God).
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(To read more on this subject, go to… “Ark of the Covenant Constellation, Pt. 2: How To Enter The Most Holy Place”
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EDITOR’S NOTE: these are sketches, and are not charts. They are not 100% accurate. But hopefully, they are close enough, so that the reader may locate them in the night sky.
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READ MORE…
To explore deeper into this subject, please read… “The Ark of the Covenant Constellation”
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TOMORROW:
” June 24th (The War Nobody Prepared For!)”
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 #172 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 or reduced by this website to make them a better fit on phone screens.
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