Daily Devotional – FEBRUARY 20 (Jesus Is Come in the Flesh? Or Not?)

By admin On January 19th, 2021

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Daily Devotional – FEBRUARY 20

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Jesus Is Come in the Flesh? Or Not?

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“Hereby know ye the Spirit of God:

Every spirit that confesseth that

Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God…

…And every spirit that confesseth not

***that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh* *is not of God…***

…and this is that spirit of antichrist,

whereof ye have heard that it should come;

and even now already is it in the world.”

1st John 4:2, 3

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A somewhat new Christian was ordering his pizza, and got into a momentary discussion about Jesus with the pizza parlor employee. And because the conversation became a bit confrontational, the employee, with narrow eyes asked… “Do you believe that Jesus has come in the flesh?”

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Well, the customer confidently replied, “Of course I do!”

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But this didn’t satisfy the pizza parlor employee. And so, he replied back… “Well then, can you say the words… ‘I believe that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh!'”

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So then, the customer finally replied… “Yes, I believe that Jesus Christ came in the flesh!”

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And upon hearing this answer, the employee was somewhat satisfied with that answer, but not really!

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Kartoffel pizza – Wikipedia – Share-alike License

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CONFESSIONS BY SPIRITS

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Now what was the problem in that conversation?

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After all, the Bible does say… “Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.” 1st John 4:2, 3

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So, from a quick reading of this above passage, one might get the idea that the pizza parlor employee was correct by trying to pin down the customer by making him say the words… “Yes, I believe that Jesus Christ came in the flesh!”

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

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MERE WORDS ARE MEANINGLESS!

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But the fact is, that the church-world is literally teeming with persons who would have no trouble at all, in saying the words… “Yes, I believe that Jesus Christ came in the flesh!”

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But does that mean that they all are God’s children? Well, of course not! Saying mere words means absolutely nothing!

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Listen… “And they come unto thee (Ezekiel) as the people come, and they sit before thee as My people, and they hear thy words, but they will not do them: for with their mouth they show much love, but their heart goes after their covetousness.” Ezekiel 33:31

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So here we see that God is totally unimpressed with mere words!

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Christianity, true Christianity, is a relationship which exists in the heart!

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Pilgrim’s Progress – Converse with Ignorance – Wikimedia – Public Domain

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GOD’S KINGDOM WITHIN THE HEART

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Yes, God’s kingdom dwells within the heart of each and every true worshipper of God!

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Listen… “The kingdom of God comes not with observation: Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you!” Luke 17:20, 21

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And so, by this above passage, Jesus was presenting to those Pharisees a great and awesome concept: by the power of the Holy Spirit, the kingdom of God, with all its spiritual temple and holy priesthood, exists within the heart of each and every true worshipper of God!

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PICTURE – Most Holy Place of the Heart – Signs Of Heaven

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SATAN’S DECEPTION

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Now, the question needs to be addressed about “Why such an error is so widely taught in today’s churches? Why do so many teach that merely mouthing the words, “I believe that Jesus came in the flesh” can only be uttered by true Christians?”

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TWO REASONS:

**1. Such a simplistic test to determine whether a person is a Christian or not, seemingly “widens the gate-of-entrance” into Christianity for many lost and deceived souls!**

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In other words, if all I have to do is merely parrot the words, “I believe that Jesus is come in the flesh, then, this proves that I’m a Christian!”, this erroneous “low-bar” greatly deceives the church-world, allowing many unsaved pretenders into the Church, thinking they are saved, when they’re really not!

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2. One of Satan’s desires is to play down the great soul-saving truth that, “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me” (Galatians 2:20). And such a truth as this makes Satan and his fellow-angels very nervous.

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In other words, if a churchgoer realizes that all true Christians reveal to the world, that Christ is dwelling within him or her, manifesting Himself through their Christlike words and holy conduct, this alarming truth can be a great wake-up call to that churchgoer, that “Something’s greatly lacking in my own life! My words and actions are seldom very Christlike. Perhaps I’m just fooling myself and need to really repent and allow Jesus to come live within my heart!”

Pilgrim’s Progress – Converse with Ignorance – Wikimedia – Public Domain

Christian in Pilgrims Progress – Wikimedia – Public Domain

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OUR LIFE IS THE TRUE WITNESS!

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So just how does this incredible revelation relate to our signature passage from 1st John, concerning confessing that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh?

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Because, if we read this passage correctly, it actually is saying that when a person has the Spirit of Holiness dwelling within, his or her life will testify that Jesus is also dwelling within their fleshly body!

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Listen… “He that believes on the Son of God hath the witness in himself:” 1st John 5:10

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Here it says that those who believe, truly believe, have the witness of Christ dwelling within! Yes, the true light of Jesus will shine out from that Believer in such a way that, people will sense that a different Spirit is emanating from that person!

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There doesn’t even need to be audible words spoken!

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People will sense that a purity exists within that Believer that just seems to say… “My kingdom is not of this world!” (John 18:36)

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Braet von Überfeldt – Woman with Bible – 1866 – Wikipedia – US Public Domain

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A DIFFICULT DOCTRINE FOR NEWCOMERS

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And so, those two “babes in Christ”, the pizza parlor employee, and the customer, did not yet fully grasp what John, the Apostle, was actually speaking of, when he said… “Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.” 1st John 4:2, 3.

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**No, they both lacked the spiritual maturity to understand that “Jesus is come in the flesh”, refers to Him taking up residence in our mortal bodies of flesh!**

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Kartoffel pizza – Wikipedia – Share-alike License

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TOMORROW’S DEVOTIONAL

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Now of course, there are two sides to this coin!

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That is, there are those whose lives confess that Jesus is come in the flesh! But there are also those whose lives do not confess that Jesus is come in the flesh!

Lineart Presalident Reverse side - Wikipedia - Public Domain

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And that side of the coin will be dealt with in tomorrow’s daily devotional.

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To read Part 2 of this topic, click here…

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George Washington Presidential $ Coin obverse – Wikipedia – Public Domain

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TODAY’S PRAYER…

“Dear Lord, Give me the discernment to understand just what is the motivating spirit within my own heart! And if I detect a worldly spirit, then help me to not rest till I have found the forgiveness and saving grace…

The Christian Martyrs Last Prayer

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THE END

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TODAY’S FEATURED HEAVENLY SIGN

Info & pics of constellations on this site from Wikipedia & Internation Astronomical Union (click here)

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THE FIVE FOOLISH VIRGINS STARS

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Serpent Constellation

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A new constellation has been revealed, as of about May 29th, 2014. This constellation appears as a serpent (snake). Its body is comprised of stars from the Bootes Constellation, and its jaws are made of the four stars which Babylonians saw as the head of Draco, the Dragon. It also has a small single star for an eye.

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Now in this constellation is a group of five stars, which will be called “The Five Foolish Virgins Stars”. These are located on the opposite side of the Glorious Crown of 12 Stars (AKA Corona Borealis), from the Five Wise Virgins Stars. But one big difference between the two is, that The Five Wise are curved around the Glorious Crown, while the Five Foolish are curved away from it!

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ABOVE STAR-CHART (with constellation drawn in by this website)- Serpent with Wise Virgins not Attached – seen late summer into fall only – Serpent Constellation – comprised of the head of Draco, plus stars from the Bootes Constellation – www.signsofheaven.org – not for profit use

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TOMORROW…

“FEBRUARY 21 (Jesus is Come in the Flesh? Or Not? Part 2)”

Question Mark – Wikimedia – 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 #416 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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